Pork Belly is delicious and is best when the fat has been rendered for a long time. Sous Vide cooking is perfect for this purpose. Here is a great recipe that will combine sous vide pork belly and sous vide potatoes.
Start with the brine. Mix all the ingredients together. Bring to a boil. Check that the salt is fully dissolved then cool. Immerse the pork in the brine. Vacuum seal and refrigerate for 48 hours. When brined for 48 hours, rinse the pork belly well under cold water. Place in sous vide bag with 2 cups of water. Seal under full pressure. Set up the water bath to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Insert the bag and cook for 36 hours. When done, remove and cool at room temperature for 15 minutes, then chill in ice water for another 30 minutes. Remove the belly from the bag and wipe off all the jelly that has extracted from the pork belly during the cook. Remove the skin and most of the fat - leave only a thin layer. Cut the pork belly into blocks and seal individually in smaller sous vide bags. Refrigerate until needed. Chop the bones into small pieces and rinse a couple of times in cold water. Dice the pork. Chop the onions and slice the carrots finely. Place the pork bones in saute pan over high heat with butter and fry until evenly golden. Make sure that you don't burn the butter. Drain and transfer to large sauce pan. Now add the cubed pork to saute pan and brown evenly. Cook for about 8 minutes. Transfer meat to sauce pan. Cook the carrots and onions in the rendered fat until soft and beginning to color. Transfer to sauce pan. Pour away excess fat then deglaze saute pan and add to sauce pan. Add chicken stock (you can add some additional spices here as well, like Thyme, Bay leaves, Sage). Simmer for 4-5 hours, skimming the surface from time to time. When done strain the stock into clean pan. Reduce to sauce consistency. Set aside. To make the potatoes, cut the potatoes into segments and use an apple divider to create potato rolls + trim so they have similar lengths. Put in sous vide bags with thyme and 1 Tbs butter. Seal under high pressure. Set water bath to 194 degrees Fahrenheit and cook for 1 hour. After 1 hour the potatoes are cooked. Heat a sautepan on medium-high with some butter and brown the potatoes. While the potatoes are browning saute the onions and start re-heating the pork sauce. Reheat the pork belly in a water bath at 140 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes. Heat a saute pan over high heat. Remove the belly from the sous vide bag and blot dry with paper towel. Sear the fatty side until crips and golden. Transfer belly to tray and glaze with the pork sauce. Place a dollop of sauce on a plate. Place 6+8 potato-rolls on top of the sauce. Place 2 Pork belly slices on top of the potatoes. Place Cipollini onions on one side of the potatoes. Serve immediately.
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Street tacos are fun because you have a lot of freedom to mix your favorite ingredients together. I really like this recipe because it brings together tangy notes from the onions, sweetness from the pineapples, creaminess from the Queso Fresco and avocados, some spicy notes from the Sriracha mayo, and finally the rich flavor of the braised pork belly. This recipe will take some time to finish, but don't let that scare you away. The final result is a wonderful blend of flavors and you will most certainly get rave reviews from your guests. Start with the marinade. Mix the ingredients together. Put the pork belly in a vacuum bag and pour the marinade into the bag. Seal and refrigerate over night. Also make the pickled onions a couple of days earlier. Slice the onion thinly and mix with the rest of the ingredients. Place in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours. Cube the pineapple into small cubes. To make the texture better for tacos - vacuum seal the cubed pineapples. It will make for a more dense texture and richer flavors, this is optional though. Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium high heat. Add pineapple, sugar, and ancho chili powder and stir to coat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 4-5 minutes, until pineapple caramelizes with a nice golden brown color. Set aside until time to serve. reheat oven to approximately 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Heat oil in a sautepan and add the pork belly, skin side down. Brown for approximately 5 minutes and the flip and brown other side for another five minutes. Put the pork belly in a ovenproof casserole. Pour the chicken stock over the belly so it covers the belly by an inch. Add the brown rice on top of the belly. Cover the casserole with a lid and braise for 8 hours. When done a lot of the fat from the pork will be absorbed by the rice. Remove from the oven, uncover and let the pork cool for a couple of hours in the cooking liquid. Carefully remove the pork from the casserole and refrigerate for at least 8 hours. Mix the soy sauce, sake and sugar with the water. Slice the pork belly and carefully transfer it to a medium sauce pan. Add the liquid and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and partially cover the pan. Simmer until pork belly is very tender, about two hours.
Let pork belly cool slightly, then slice into approximate ½" slices. Top tortillas with a couple slices of pork belly, chopped avocado, ancho chili roasted pineapple, pickled onions, and a sprinkle of queso fresco and cilantro. Top the tacos with some Sriracha Mayo. Serve with lime wedges and preferably a margarita. Enjoy!!!
Paella is a fantastic dish that can be combined in so many different ways. There is a book from Phaidon filled with only Paella recipes. I prefer a seafood paella but I have noticed that not everybody like seafood. So here is my 3C Paella with chicken, chanterelles and chorizo. Chorizo can toughen up and become chewy when used in Paella but I really like the flavor so I throw it in there anyways. Just remove the casing and get a good Spanish brand and you should be okay. Start with the Sofrito. Cut the tomatoes in half. Scoop out the seeds. Finely chop the onions. If you can find Spanish onions that would be your best choice. If you cant, shallots is a good substitute. Place a grater over a large mixing bowl. Rub the open face of the tomatoes over the grater until the flesh is grated. Discard the skin. Watch your fingers and knuckles when you do this. Heat the oil in a saucepan on low-medium temperature. Add the onions, sugar and salt. Cook, stirring frequently until the onions become soft and tender. The key to a good Sofrito lies in a good caramelization of the onions. Keep cooking until the onions turn brown, about 35-40 minutes. Add the sweet Spanish paprika (Pimenton), and stir. When thoroughly mixed , add the tomato puree. Cook for another 20 minutes. The Sofrito is ready when the tomato has turned deep-red and the oil is separated from the tomato-onion mix. Now, prepare all the ingredients for the Paella. Chop the Jamon, slice the Chorizo, trim and cube the chicken, clean and half the chanterelles, trim and slice the asparagus, chop the garlic. You can do this on a stove top, but I prefer to do it on the grill. I have a large Paella pan and it heats more even on the grill than when spanning several heating areas on the stove. Make sure that you have all the ingredients ready before you start the paella - there are several steps and timing is important. You don't want to overcook the ingredients. Heat the olive oil over high heat - this could take a while if you use the grill. Be patient and test with dripping some drops of water into the pan. When it sizzle, it is hot enough. Add the chicken and saute until it is brown on all sides. When they have a nice color - remove and set aside. Add the chanterelles to the pan and saute until they are golden. This will take about 3 minutes. .Add the ham, the asparagus, the garlic, and the chorizo to the pan. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add the chicken back to the pan. Deglaze the pan by adding the wine and stir. Reduce until half of the wine has evaporated. Add the Sofrito and cook for another 3 minutes. Make sure that you stir constantly. Add the peas. Pour in the chicken stock. Add the saffron thread. They are best if you toast them in some aluminum foil first and then crush them. This will release even more flavors. Add the rice - make sure that you distribute it evenly in the pan. Cook for another five minutes - stirring every 30 seconds or so. You will see the rice floating to the surface when it starts absorbing the chicken stock. Reduce the heat to low and cook at a slow boil until all the liquid is absorbed. This normally takes 10-15 minutes. This is important: DO NOT put your finger or spoon into the paella during this part. If you do, the rice will cook unevenly. It is really hard to resist but if you want a great paella - don't!! On the two pictures above you can see the rice absorbing the liquid slowly. Remove from grill and let the paella sit for 3-4 minutes There should be a nice shine to the paella and all the liquid should be absorbed. The rice in the bottom should be crisp and crunchy and the rice on the top should be creamy and smooth. The great thing about paella is that if done correct - you will have rice with different textures that add a nice touch to the dish. Serve immediately!! Another great thing about paellas is that it is easy to switch out ingredients and you will get a different kind of paella. Instead of chicken stock - use fishstock and instead of chicken and chorizo, use shrimp and mussels and you have a great seafood paella. Experiment and enjoy - this is a great base recipe.
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Cooking at home
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