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.

A little about frugality and a lot about pork.

The Easter break, for those of us who work at the chalkface, is a welcome respite from the rigours of preparing youngsters for public exams. It provides me with a chance to plan meals with a little more order and organisation. This inevitable leads to making much more from the food that I buy, grow or earn. I spent a couple of days with the Kitchen Gardener over the break and so feel I have had my "hands in the soil" as well.
So, on to the pork.
I am a little loath to tell you about my adventures with pork belly for one very good reason. From almost nowhere, over the past three or four years, the whole chefy world has begun to talk more and more about the less expensive cuts of meat and how they provide great flavour and value.
The first to fall foul of this was the Lamb Shank. Those of us who cared knew that this was probably the best tasting piece of the beast and that it was very inexpensive. Then some celebrity chef slapped it on their menu, probably using words like "unctuous" or expressions like "fall off the bone" and then the price rocketed to beyond the spending power of Midas! The beautiful wife referred to this as the "Lamb Shank redemption": it now turns up on the tables of the hottest restaurants and Gastro pubs in the country.
I am pretty sure that this has now happened with chicken thighs as their price is starting to climb and I am very worried that my beloved belly pork will soon go the same way. Rumour has it that there have been sightings on some Michelin Stared tables already.
Anyway, back to the cooking. I purchased a 2Kg piece of belly from Newitts in Thame. I always ask for a bit from the Thick End if given a choice, this means that you will have some rib bones attached. Buying from a proper butcher also means that you can score the skin yourself or ask the expert behind the counter to do it for you. I then headed home to Corner Cottage with my prize.
A word about Crackling. For those who did not grow up in this green and pleasant land, most of the UK is obsessed with pork skin. Many a mother's ability to produce crackling with roast pork is the reason their children never leave home.
I have my own "never fails" way of producing great crackling (don't we all?) Mine is, however quite controversial. I remove the skin from the roast, score in shallow thin strips and the throw a handful of sea salt on top of it. After an hour or so I brush this off and repeat the process. This dries out the skin and helps it to be wonderfully crunchy. I then roast it on a baking tray before I even consider putting the main meat in the oven.

Scoring the skin for great crackling

The crackling is then allowed to cool and broken up to be served as a garnish to the roast (and its a super cheeky snack for the person who is taking all the trouble to make dinner!)
Then we move onto the meat itself. The first thing I did was separate the bones from the main slab of the meat. Do not worry if bits of the meat comes away with the bones, it will be fine, I promise you.
I was then left a reasonably square piece of meat with alternate layers of fat and lean. A handful of Fennel seeds were bashed up in a pestle and motor and several cloves of garlic sliced thinly. This fennel and garlic mix was then strewn over one side of the pork with ample seasoning.

Garlic and Fennel, Salt and Pepper

I then rolled the pork and tied it with three lengths of string. I used the butchers knot taught to me by the guys at Ginger Pig but any knot that holds it tight will do.
The next Job I did was to split the ribs into individual bones. This is very easy, I simply slid a knife between the ribs and, when I met resistance pushed through it. If you hit bone whilst doing this, just change the angle and it should slide though the connective tissue. I was then left with a board of rolled belly, bits of bones, and a sheet of skin!

The board ready for cooking.

This time I roasted the crackling and belly, in separate trays at the same time, keeping an eye on the crackling to ensure it didn't burn too much!
I roasted potatoes, boiled carrots and made a gravy using the ample juices flowing from the roast. After resting the belly was carved and served with a garnish of crackling.

Garnish or cook's treat? You decide!

The pork carved like a dream, into nice thick slices, the fat on the outside had formed a soft crisp, delicious and salty.If you wish to find out what happened to the leftovers and the bones, tune in next time......

Carved and steaming

Ready to eat?