PORK BELLY WITH PRUNES
Stephen Doyle
Alex enjoys pork and cooks it beautifully too.
I usually cut the fat off in one piece, stuff and roll the pork belly with the prunes, dried apricots, deseeded cumquats and a chestnuts/hazelnut or chestnut puree, finely sliced onions and salt and pepper to taste.
I then drape the fat over the meat and roast for 3- 4 hours at 150 degrees on a bed of bay leaves.
Baste the meat occasionally, turn it around in the oven, pour off the fat and keep adding a splash of water every now and then to keep the meat moist and the drippings from burning.
Deglaze the pan at the end with some of the wine you are drinking, adding mustard seeds and juniper berries to the sauce. Rest the meat and turn the oven up to high heat to crisp up the crackling.
You can grill the crackling if it is not satisfactory by the time you want to serve it but be careful it can burn very quickly. Or follow this recipe which shortcuts and avoids all that trussing and tying. http://www.waitrose.com/home/recipes/recipe_directory/s/slow-roast-pork-bellywithprunessage.html
Tip: Get rid of any excess fat in the sauce by carefully placing fresh pieces of kitchen paper over the top of the sauce and discarding until all the fat has been absorbed by the paper.
VEGETABLES
Orange coloured ...Cut the butternut pumpkin and carrots into similar sized pieces and toss them in some olive oil with rosemary, salt and pepper. When they are half roasted, add the ripest cumquats that have been halved and deseeded to roast as well.