So here we go, as promised: the second installment of my adventures with pork belly.
First and foremost the left over rolled roast formed a lunch the day after. The left over veg was turned into a wonderful bubble and squeak. The cold cuts were then sliced, much thinner than the hot roast, and a little salad on the side with leftover gravy re-heated made for a splendid lunch.

If you cast your mind back (or alternatively you can look back at the previous entry) when I made this roast I took a handful of ribs and of cuts from the underside of the belly. These bones and bits actually contain a surprising amount of very tasty meat. These were all popped in a pan with stock a chopped chili, a bashed garlic clove and some chopped ginger. This was brought to the boil, covered and then allowed to simmer for a couple hours.
This was then strained (reserving he liquid) and, after cooling, all the bits of bone were picked and chopped, producing a nice little pile of delicious meat. I had kept the stalks of a couple of broccoli heads, these were now pealed and finely shredded. A carrot was given the same treatment as was an onion and a couple of left over mushrooms were sliced. Sometimes a cook must stand back from their toils and enjoy looking at ingredients, all poised and ready for action.

I cooked off some noodles and allowed them to cool. Then, with all my ducks were in line I began.
A little garlic, ginger and chili and oil were popped into a smoking hot pan; these were swiftly joined by onion. carrot and the broccoli stem. A period of mad stir frying then ensued and then  the mushrooms and meat were added. After a quick spin of the pan, the noodles were added with a ladle of the reserved stock mix, soy sauce, rice wine, and sesame oil. this was then thickened with cornflour (if its ok for Ken Hom its ok for me) and another meal was created.
From a single slab of belly, six heart main courses were produced. In fact, if push came to shove, I reckon that I could have stretched it even further. Now get to the pork belly before its too late and you need to take out a second mortgage to buy any.

On a very serious note, I dread to think how much cooked meat is wasted. As I write it is early Sunday evening and I can only imagine all those Sunday roasts being sent straight to the recycling or, suffering the indignity of languishing in the back of the fridge till it starts to smell bad. It is vital, both to our pockets and environmentally, that we eat all the meat we buy. it is far too expensive (in many ways) and precious (in even more ways) to throw away.

The weekend - and how it seemed to carry on.

I am planning what the Beautiful Wife and I eat much more these days. I have become almost manic about not wasting food. I am no theologian but if there is such a thing a "sin" then it is a sin to waste good food. The "Love food, hate waste" guys have been raving about this for ages and celebrity chefs have recently got on board with the adaptation of the Great British Menu where all the ingredients were sourced from food which had been discarded.
I think a change is slowly happening. Years and years ago there used to be an American TV show called "The Frugal Gourmet" - a middle aged chef with a calm voice and a gentle manner would show the audience how banquets could be produced for pennies and high cost ingredients could be substituted for much cheaper alternatives. At the end of every programme he would lay out everything he had cooked and finish with the line, " I bid you peace" ; there was more than a little of the aging hippy about this fellow.
The word "frugal" has come to mean something negative almost miserly in recent times and this is a shame. If people do not view you as a tightfisted individual then they look at you with pity as if you are suffering for some religious cause or can't afford good food. This is idiotic. To be frugal or thrifty with food is to the advantage of us all, just as we should be eating all of the animals we kill for food, we should also not throw out carrots because they're cheap and look a little beyond their best.
This weekend just gone was one where I cooked more than normal. After shopping on Saturday our evening meal was a carved piece of lamb chump over creamed spinach with roasted onion squash, served with a redcurrant jus and a "kinda" salsa verde. This was inspired by what was in my veggie box and "Saturday Kitchen" a week before.
On Sunday I braised a belly of pork in soy sauce and stock with various Asian spices (inspired by a recipe in Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Secrets). This I served with broccoli and carrots on a bed of creamy mash. I removed the skin before I rolled and tied the pork and roasted it to produce the most wonderful crackling.
During Sunday I did all the chopping (giving myself a blister on my finger!!) for another batch of green tomato chutney (see recipe from a few days ago). This time I added some chili, root ginger and garlic. I finished this all last night with the boiling and potting.
The leftovers from my weekend's cooking made the most amazing bubble and squeak which I served wit a little bacon and a poached egg - sometimes being frugal is no hardship at all Saturday and Sunday's meals fed us well on Monday. Now my veg box has arrived, I can plan another week....