Slow Cooker Braised Pork Belly

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 Ok. I've never cooked pork belly before.  Mr CC has had it in restaurants and has pretty much swooned over it.  Me? Way too much fat to ingest.  It was never on the list of foods I simply must prepare.

Until I saw a large slab of it at my most favorite local co-op.  Look at that meat to fat ratio, people!  The clincher was it's local, organic, pasture-raised pork and I wasn't going to take a pass on that.

All I know about pork belly is this:  It usually has a very high fat to meat ratio; has become de rigueur in many fine restaurants; bacon resides therein.

That's it.

Here's what I observe about pork belly:  The fat is mostly around the meat, not really in the meat.

Deduction:  Braising must happen.

So I went merrily on my way, winging this recipe.  I must tell you now that today I actually looked up the methods used to braise pork belly and almost all of them instruct to cover the meat in a liquid. Hmmm...

Didn't do that.  I thought with so much fat around the meat the slow cooker would render it into liquid and the liquid fat, along with the aromatics, would make the pork tender.

I got most of that right, but you know what they say about horseshoes...  Turns out that after 4 hours the pork was actually cooked through but really tough, the liquid covering only about half of it.

That's when I punted, set the slow cooker on Low for 8 more hours (12 total) and every few hours turned the belly over and occasionally basted the top with the juices.  After 12 hours it was pull-apart tender yet still slice-able, and very, very tasty.

Now let me tell you about the liquid:  It's good. It's Really good.  A combination of rendered fat, juices from the meat, the spice berries, bay leaves and gin.  I have no idea what inspired me to use that combination of  aromatics, they just sounded good. When I got to the juniper berries is when I jumped to gin; seemed like a good idea and I'm happy with it.  Mr CC is too.  Use a good gin for this: not too dry, not too floral.

The fat?  As I said, the meat to fat ratio in this particular belly was high on the meaty side.  Also, I'm not so worried about a moderate amount of animal fat when I know the source and this comes from an organic, sustainable farm about 60 miles from my kitchen, Alexandre Farm.  If you're going to eat meat, you should know whence it hails.



Slow Cooker Braised Pork Belly
Christine's original recipe
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Ingredients:
3 pounds lean pork belly
8 allspice berries
8 juniper berries
3 fresh bay leaves, crushed
Generous amounts of kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper
1/4 cup good gin (could use more)

Preparation:

• If silver skin is present, remove as much as you have the patience for, using a sharp boning knife.
• Season the meat all over with the kosher salt and cracked black pepper then place in the bottom of a slow cooker large enough to hold the meat without touching the sides too much.  I put the fattier side down first then turned it over later.
• Sprinkle the spice berries over the meat and put the crushed bay leaves around the edges.
• Pour the gin around the sides of the meat so it gets underneath.
• Turn the slow cooker on low for 10 - 12 hours and walk away, returning occasionally to turn the meat and baste it.
• When the meat is fall-apart tender, remove from the crock pot and allow it to rest for a bit before serving.

Serving suggestions:
Thinly sliced over a salad of garden greens.  Use some of the juices to make a vinaigrette.
Dice small, sear briefly in a hot pan, sprinkle on scrambled eggs.
Warm, thick slices over green lentils (leave out the duck). (You may want to prepare this when most of the US is not experiencing the heat of this particular summer.)
Place warm slices with juices on a sturdy grilled bun, top with favorite condiments, garden lettuce, sliced tomato.

More notes:
Store the pork belly in its juices in a covered container. Refrigerate.

Copyright © 2005-2012, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Slow Cooker Braised Rabbit with Garlic, Cippolini Onions & Thyme

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I am not feeling well.  Haven't been for almost a month.  That nasty cold/flu thingy knocked me flat.  A few days ago I began to recover; almost felt like myself again.  Went back to work, saw a few plays in Ashland.  Felt not perfectly fine, but at least better.  Then the headaches began, temperature spiked, felt hot, clammy, chilled all in the same minute.  Went to the doc and whaddaya know?  I have a sinus infection.  Arrrg.  Back to laying around, trying to rest, trying to get better.
Soooo boring.

Why am I sharing this?  Two reasons:  1) If you get, or have, that nasty cold/flu thingy?, take good care of yourself. Get plenty of rest and do not jump up and do the samba just because you think you are better. It's a nasty, nasty virus that will knock you down again if you get too cocky;  2) The dish you see above is directly related to how much effort I was willing to put into dinner.  For all that, I was able to use ingredients I already had in the house and garden, it required very little prep time, and turned out to have the taste and comfort level my weary self was craving.  The look of the finished dish isn't going to win any awards, I know that, but comfort level?  A winner for sure.

So here's what you do (and in the Cook's Notes I'll tell you what I would do differently next time):

Pull a rabbit out of your hat freezer and defrost it overnight in the fridge.  If you don't have a rabbit, use a chicken.

Peel six red cippolini onions and twelve or more cloves of garlic.  Leave them whole.  Get out some whole peppercorns (Tellicherry are my favorite), some flakey sea salt, a couple of bay leaves (fresh if you can get them; I happen to have a bay tree growing just outside my door) and a handful of fresh thyme sprigs.  If you have some bacon hanging around, already cut into large-ish dice and already cooked (because Mr CC has been cooking for me and he loves bacon), use about a half cup of that.  (If you are feeling well enough to go to the store, buy some good smokey bacon, cut it into large-ish dice - about 3/4-inch square -  and cook it.)

You will need some dry white wine (I used a Sauvignon Blanc) and some homemade or low-sodium store-bought chicken stock.

And that's it.

                             

In the slow cooker, lay down the whole onions, garlic cloves and peppercorns first then place 1/2 of the thyme sprigs over them, then 1/2 of the bacon pieces.

                             

Sprinkle the rabbit all over with sea salt and fresh-ground black pepper to your liking.

Quickly sear the rabbit in a hot skillet, in a slick of bacon fat if you have it, if not, olive oil with a small amount of butter is fine, until lightly browned all over, then place the rabbit over the aromatics in the slow cooker.  Using 1/2 of the white wine, deglaze the skillet, scraping loose the browned bits from the bottom and pour that over the rabbit.

Sprinkle the remainder of the bacon pieces and the remainder of the thyme sprigs on top of the rabbit.

Gently pour in the rest of the white wine and the chicken stock.

Set the slow cooker to high for the first 4 hours, then low for the next 4-6 hours, depending on how long it takes your slow cooker to render the rabbit fall-off-the-bone-tender.

Go back to bed and wait rest.
After 4 hours the scent wafting through the kitchen will drive you crazy, but you must wait until tenderness is achieved.
Sleep a little, it'll help.

Slow Cooker Braised Rabbit with Garlic, Cippolini Onions and Thyme

Christine's Original Recipe

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Ingredients:

1 whole rabbit, skinned (a chicken may be substituted)

12 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole

6 cippolini onions (red or yellow), peeled and left whole

10-12 sprigs fresh thyme

2 bays leaves, fresh if you have them, dry are ok

1/2 cup cooked bacon pieces in approx. 3/4-inch dice

5-6 whole peppercorns

sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste

1 and 1/2 cups dry white wine, divided

1 cup low-sodium stock (preferrably home made)

Preparation:

Place the onions, garlic and peppercorns in the bottom of a slow cooker. Sprinkle with 1/2 of the bacon and 1/2 of the thyme sprigs.

Sear the rabbit in a skillet over high heat in a small amount of fat (bacon fat, duck fat, olive oil, butter - your choice) until golden brown.  Adjust heat so rabbit doesn't burn.

Place the seared rabbit over the aromatics in the slow cooker.

Pour 1/2 of the white wine into the hot skillet and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom, allowing the wine to reduce by half.  Pour this over the rabbit.

Sprinkle the remaining bacon pieces over the rabbit followed by the remaining sprigs of thyme.

Pour the chicken stock and remainder of the white wine into the slow cooker, put the lid on and set the cooker to High for the first 4 hours, then to Low for 4-6 hours thereafter.

If necessary, it's okay to turn the rabbit over once or twice during cooking.

When the rabbit is tender, turn the slow cooker off or set it on Hold.  Using tongs, remove all the thyme stems.

Transfer the rabbit to a warmed plate and divide into individual portions.  Spoons the onions, garlic and juices over and around the rabbit and bring it to the table.

Cook's Notes:

Had I been feeling better, I'd have cut the rabbit into serving pieces before searing and cooking. I think it would be much more manageable that way.  That said, this wasn't all that unmanageable.

Watch out for bones:  this isn't chicken (or maybe you used a chicken?), rabbit bones are tiny. 

Copyright © 2005-2012, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Recipe For Crock Pot Braised Pork Ribs With Whole Garlic Cloves and Fresh Rosemary

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I don't use my crockpot often enough, and more's the pity.

Truth is, I don't usually think about how I'm going to cook something until I'm in the kitchen around 6 PM deciding what's for dinner.  I'll bet I'm not alone in this.

There were these gorgeous pork ribs in my freezer that had come from Yolo County pig farmer extraordinnaire, John Bledsoe, and I had taken them out to thaw thinking I had all the time in the world to braise them into a tasty meal.

Well, the minute I stepped into my office, saw the quite large stack of paperwork on the desk, and realized that I would be working all day and probably into the night, I turned around, went back to the kitchen and pulled out the crock pot.

In a few minutes I had onions, carrots, celery and leeks prepped, 21 cloves of garlic peeled, and the zest of one quite large Meyer lemon waiting on a plate.

Aren't those ribs beautiful?

The rest was easy; here's what you do:  Layer the ingredients as shown in the photos, sprinkle the lemon zest over all the vegetables, ribs on top with generous sprinklings of kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper, and finish it off with fresh sprigs of rosemary.

Pour in some rich stock, red wine, plonk the lid on, program the crock pot to high for 4 hours then low for 6 hours then warm to hold.  And walk away.

When you return to your kitchen, after dark, eyes bleary and neck achey from crunching numbers all day, the aromas that greet you will lift your spirits and the meal that has pretty much prepared itself will pamper your palate, warm your tummy and remind you that taking the crock pot out of the cupboard once in a while can be such a good thing.


Christine's Recipe for Crock Pot Braised Pork Ribs with Whole Garlic Cloves and Fresh Rosemary
(print recipe)
Ingredients:
1 medium onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 leek, white and light green parts only, cleaned and cut crosswise into 1/2-inch thick pieces
3 ribs celery, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch thick pieces
4 carrots, pared, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch thick pieces
21 cloves garlic, peeled, left whole
Zest of one large Meyer lemon or regular lemon
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 pounds meaty pork ribs on the bone
1 cup rich stock (I used my rich and robust chicken stock)
1/2 to 2/3 cup Merlot or Merlot-Cabernet blend
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black peppercorns
Preparation:
Beginning with the onions, layer the vegetables in the crock pot, ending with the garlic cloves.
Top the vegetables with the lemon zest then lay the ribs over, nestling them snugly into the pot.
Sprinkle the ribs with kosher salt and pepper then lay the rosemary sprigs over them.
Pour the stock down the edges of the crock pot then do the same with the red wine.
Put the lid on the pot then set the programming to High for 4 hours, Low for 4-6 hours, Hold or Warm until you're ready to eat.
The meat will be fall-off-the-bone tender, the vegetables not mushy. I always find that amazing.
Remove the rosemary sprigs before serving.

Enjoy!

Copyright © 2005-2011, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved