Skip to main content

Who doesn't love pork belly? Chicharones de Cadiz



This recipe is probably not high up in the British heart foundation's heart friendly cooking but who cares?

We all love pork belly and this is a great tapas style version of it than can just be picked at with your fingers. It also has the distinct advantage that you can do most of the cooking ahead of time and just fry them off at the last minute.

I made this for us to have at a Morito sunday lunch (bank holiday Monday really)and we all really loved it.

Be really generous with the lemon juice and cumin at the end it adds flavour and provides a great contrast to the fatty crispy pork.

the basic recipe for the belly is the same as a jamie oliver one that I have blogged about before but I thought that the idea of putting it on an onion to create the convex shape is a really good idea

Ingredients

2 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste with a teaspoon of salt
1 tbs ground fennel seeds
1kg piece pork belly skin scored
1/2 medium onion peeled
Lemon cut into wedges to serve

To finish

Juice of 2 lemons
3 tsp cumin seeds, lightly toasted and roughly ground

Method

Preheat oven to 230c.
Mix the garlic and fennel seeds and rub it all over the flesh side of the pork belly.
Turn the meat over and dry the skin thoroughly ( they say use a hair dryer!) generously sprinkle the skin with salt and leave for 20 minutes, then dust off excess.

Place the onion half in a roasting pan and put the pork on top to make a convex shape which will help the crackling to form. Place on the top shelf of the oven. It is important that the oven is really hot to start off with to help the skin to blister and the crackling to form.
Roast at this high level for 20-30 mins or until a hard crackling has formed, then reduce the heat to 180-190. Pour in 3 or tbs of water to stop the oil burning on the pan ( you will need to do this occasionally through the cooking time)
Continue to cook for two hours or until the meat is soft and tender. Cool completely and then cut into generous bite sized cubes.
You can do all of this in advance
Heat a frying pan until hot, but don't add any oil. Fry the cubes of meat until they have caramelised, crisped and heated through.
Transfer to a plate and squeeze over plenty of lemon juice and sprinkle liberally with the cumin. Add extra salt to taste if needed.



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Crack potatoes courtesy of Ottolenghi. Harissa and confit garlic roast potatoes

Another recipe from Ottolenghi's Simple, another recommendation from Will Saunders.   I know its the middle of summer but who doesn't love a roastie? These little tinkers are so good that they are like crack, class A calories. The clever bit is the addition of semolina and caraway seeds which adds a new level of crunchiness to add to the delicious warm heat of Harissa. Heres the recipe These make a lovely, spicy change from the traditional Sunday roasties. They’re especially good with spiced roast meat. Serves six to eight. 2 large heads garlic, cloves separated and peeled 130g goose or duck fat 4 sprigs fresh rosemary  6 sprigs fresh thyme  2kg maris piper potatoes, peeled and cut into 5cm chunks 40g ground semolina 2 tsp caraway seeds, toasted and lightly crushed 2 tbsp rose harissa Flaky sea salt Heat the oven to 150C/300F/gas mark 2. Put the garlic, fat and herbs in a small ovenproof pan or saucepan for which you have a lid. Cover and roast for 40 minut
1 comment
Read more

Nigel Slaters deceptively brilliant monkfish

Lisa discovered this recipe in her favourite Nigel book. It is one of those fish, 'but not as we know it Jim' recipes. Not just because Monkfish is the fish that can best impersonate meat but also because of the marinade ingredients that are more often featured with lamb. It's not difficult to do but the flavour is a revelation, which makes it a perfect recipe in my book. This can be cooked on a grill pan or a barbecue. Ingredients 3 bushy sprigs rosemary, leaves finely chopped 4 anchovy fillets 2 large cloves garlic salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 large lemon, juice only 3 tbsp olive oil 800g/1½lb monkfish fillet Method Pull the leaves from the rosemary stalks and chop them finely, then tip them into a bowl large enough to take the fish. Rinse the anchovy fillets and smash them to a rough pulp with the flat edge of your chopping knife. Peel the garlic, crush it flat, then smash it to a purée in the same way. Stir together the herb, anchovy and garlic, adding a grind
1 comment
Read more

Sea Bass on mushroom potatoes with salsa Verde

I felt the overwhelming need to cook something new on Saturday night. I didn't want the tired and tested I wanted to explore new culinary waters. However combined with this desire was an equal and opposing force, driven by being absolutely knackered, that meant it had to be simple too. I returned to one of Jamie's early books, to a recipe that IO had meant to do on countless occasions but never quite got round to. I have done several versions of Sea Bass on a bed of potatoes, some that I have written about on this blog. The one question I would have is about the thickness of the potatoes and the length of time they need to be cooked through ... in my oven I reckon they need about 10 minutes more than the recipe suggests. I would suggest a bit of a trial run if you are going to do it for a dinner party ... however once you have given it a whirl I think this makes for a very easy recipe for a crowd. Here's the recipe. Roasted slashed fillet of sea bass stuffed with herbs, bak
1 comment
Read more