Caporegime
- Joined
- 13 May 2003
- Posts
- 34,663
- Location
- Warwickshire
As mentioned in my toad in the hole thread, we had twice-cooked (confit then roast) belly of pork tonight.
The confit process involves submerging the meat (in this case pork belly, duck leg is a classic confit also) in fat and slowly cooking it in said fat. This might seem very unhealthy (and to be honest it's not exactly diet food), but you end up with a superbly lean, yet succulent piece of meat, as the confit process renders a lot of the fat out of the joint, and the oil protects the meat from the direct heat of the oven.
What to get
- ~1Kg belly pork (be generous; it's cheap, and leftovers are great for nibbles or in a roll with butter and mustard). Even though it's a cheap cut, it's worth going to a farm shop or butcher as opposed to a supermarket for the meat, as it's leaner and tastier. I used Waitrose actually so did not heed my own advice.
- 500g goose fat (or substitute with a neutral tasting oil if the taste of goose fat puts you off). I suggest 'investing' in the goose fat though...you can retain and freeze the fat after the confit process. I supplemented with ghee butter and sunflower oil, as it didn't quite cover the pork.
- A confit vessel that just about fits the meat in it. Too big and you'll need more fat:
- Herbs, such as thyme or rosemary to add to the confit fat.
- Two baking trays and some teans of beans or something, for pressing the pork in the fridge.
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
The parmentier potatoes method is described in my beer-in-the-butt chicken thread here.
The gravy method is described in the toad in the hole thread above. The recipe I went by used an onion and apple veloute, but I had some gravy left from yesterday, so used that up instead.
What to do
- Pre-heat oven to 130 degrees (fan).
- Melt the goose fat in a pan and pour it over the pork in the confit vessel. Add a stalk of rosemary or thyme to the fat.
- Cover the dish tightly with tin foil and roast for 3 hours, by which time the pork will be very tender.
- Remove pork from dish and pour the fat into a freezable container (if you want to re-use the fat). Or just drink it. Kidding.
- Put some grease-proof paper on a baking tray. Season the pork with sea salt and black pepper on both sides (bit more heavily on the skin). Put the pork skin side down on top of the paper, then put more paper and another tray on top of the pork. Weigh the trays down with some bean cans or something, and refrigerate or freeze. It will keep for 3 days in the fridge and a month in the freezer. I honestly don't know what the purpose of the pressing is, maybe someone can enlighten me. I suppose it's to make it look neater in restaurants? Or maybe to make the layers of fat flatter and therefore more pleasant?
- When you're ready to roast and eat, pre-heat to 200 deg. C (fan) and get an oven-proof pan on the hob. Add a little oil to the pan (some use olive oil, I like clarified butter as it has a higher smoke point and adds a richer flavour imo).
- Fry the pork skin side down for five minutes on a high heat, or until the skin starts to bubble.
- Roast skin side down for 20 minutes, flip over for a few minutes to crust up the bottom, then rest for ten minutes and serve.
Serve with whatever you fancy. I served it with parmentier potatoes, pe**** pois, and beef and onion gravy.
Pork after being confit'd and pressed:
Roasted and resting:
Served:
What I would change:
Flash the pork skin side up under a grill, if the crackling doesn't crackle. The crackling was pretty good, thin and tasty, but not amazing in terms of the lightness and crispiness. The pork itself was super tender though.
References
- Gordon Ramsay / BBC
The confit process involves submerging the meat (in this case pork belly, duck leg is a classic confit also) in fat and slowly cooking it in said fat. This might seem very unhealthy (and to be honest it's not exactly diet food), but you end up with a superbly lean, yet succulent piece of meat, as the confit process renders a lot of the fat out of the joint, and the oil protects the meat from the direct heat of the oven.
What to get
- ~1Kg belly pork (be generous; it's cheap, and leftovers are great for nibbles or in a roll with butter and mustard). Even though it's a cheap cut, it's worth going to a farm shop or butcher as opposed to a supermarket for the meat, as it's leaner and tastier. I used Waitrose actually so did not heed my own advice.
- 500g goose fat (or substitute with a neutral tasting oil if the taste of goose fat puts you off). I suggest 'investing' in the goose fat though...you can retain and freeze the fat after the confit process. I supplemented with ghee butter and sunflower oil, as it didn't quite cover the pork.
- A confit vessel that just about fits the meat in it. Too big and you'll need more fat:
- Herbs, such as thyme or rosemary to add to the confit fat.
- Two baking trays and some teans of beans or something, for pressing the pork in the fridge.
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
The parmentier potatoes method is described in my beer-in-the-butt chicken thread here.
The gravy method is described in the toad in the hole thread above. The recipe I went by used an onion and apple veloute, but I had some gravy left from yesterday, so used that up instead.
What to do
- Pre-heat oven to 130 degrees (fan).
- Melt the goose fat in a pan and pour it over the pork in the confit vessel. Add a stalk of rosemary or thyme to the fat.
- Cover the dish tightly with tin foil and roast for 3 hours, by which time the pork will be very tender.
- Remove pork from dish and pour the fat into a freezable container (if you want to re-use the fat). Or just drink it. Kidding.
- Put some grease-proof paper on a baking tray. Season the pork with sea salt and black pepper on both sides (bit more heavily on the skin). Put the pork skin side down on top of the paper, then put more paper and another tray on top of the pork. Weigh the trays down with some bean cans or something, and refrigerate or freeze. It will keep for 3 days in the fridge and a month in the freezer. I honestly don't know what the purpose of the pressing is, maybe someone can enlighten me. I suppose it's to make it look neater in restaurants? Or maybe to make the layers of fat flatter and therefore more pleasant?
- When you're ready to roast and eat, pre-heat to 200 deg. C (fan) and get an oven-proof pan on the hob. Add a little oil to the pan (some use olive oil, I like clarified butter as it has a higher smoke point and adds a richer flavour imo).
- Fry the pork skin side down for five minutes on a high heat, or until the skin starts to bubble.
- Roast skin side down for 20 minutes, flip over for a few minutes to crust up the bottom, then rest for ten minutes and serve.
Serve with whatever you fancy. I served it with parmentier potatoes, pe**** pois, and beef and onion gravy.
Pork after being confit'd and pressed:
Roasted and resting:
Served:
What I would change:
Flash the pork skin side up under a grill, if the crackling doesn't crackle. The crackling was pretty good, thin and tasty, but not amazing in terms of the lightness and crispiness. The pork itself was super tender though.
References
- Gordon Ramsay / BBC
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