The Pork Pilgrimage Continues with a Grilled Pork Belly Banh Mi

 

After the successful Porchetta Challenge last weekend, I decided to continue my pork pilgrimage by recreating a sandwich I ate the day of my wedding.  Scott and I got married in the Central Coast of California this summer.  After a lengthy Catholic mass, we returned to our hotel room before the reception.  My sister Ana, brilliantly had a pork belly banh mi from Thomas Hill Organics (Paso Robles, CA) waiting in the room for us.  Unbeknownst to Scott and while still wearing my wedding dress, I inhaled the sandwich not leaving my new husband even one bite.  To this day I still salivate every time I think of that sandwich. With left over pork belly from Larder and Butcher in the fridge, I would salivate no more.  

 

Grilled Pork Belly Banh Mi

2lbs pork belly skin removed

Several sprigs of cilantro

Several sprigs of mint

Shredded carrots

Julienned cucumbers

Julienned red onion

Sliced avocado

2 Limes

1 red jalapeño or red Thai chilies

French baguette

Sriracha Aioli

1 tablespoon of cilantro

1 tablespoon of sriracha

1 tablespoon of Japanese mayo or regular mayo

¼ cup olive oil

1 grated garlic clove

Marinade for the belly

1 knob of grated ginger

2 cloves of grated garlic

1 stick of chopped lemon grass (bang it with the back of your knife first then chop it)

2 tablespoons of chopped cilantro

2 tablespoons of chopped mint

1 tablespoon of fish sauce

2 tablespoons of light soy sauce

2 tablespoons of teriyaki sauce

2 tablespoons of pomegranate syrup (sub agave syrup)

1 teaspoon Sriracha sauce

½ cup rice wine vinegar

½ cup of olive oil

Combine all the marinade ingredients in a bowl and pour into a plastic Ziploc bag.  Cut the pork belly in half and place into the Ziploc bag.  Allow pork belly to marinate over night turning it frequently.

  

Heat up your grill to 500 degrees.  While you wait for the grill to preheat, prepare the Sriracha aioli.  Using a whisk, combine one tablespoon of chopped cilantro, one grated garlic clove, the juice of one lime, one tablespoon of Japanese mayo and 1 tablespoon Sriracha.  Slowly begin to add a quarter cup of olive oil, whisking while you add it. 

Place your marinated pork belly on the hot grill.  Grill five minutes on each side; be mindful of the flare-ups that can occur with the high amounts of fat.  Allow the pork belly to sit for ten minutes before slicing.  

To begin the banh mi construction, butterfly the French baguette in half being careful not to slice it into two.  Smother both sides of the baguette with the Sriracha aioli, place the hot sliced pieces of pork belly into the baguette and begin layering your veggies.  I like to put carrots on first, then the cucumber, cilantro, mint, onions, chilies and avocado.  Top the sandwich with a squeeze of lime.

My own Cochon 555

One butcher, one(well not quite one pig, more like a chunk), one home cook ... the challenge, to make the most perfect porchetta.   Whether you pronounce it porch-a-ta or pork-et-ta, it was just given the title of “The Years Greatest Dish” by Bon Appetite.  One thing is for sure, I have always admired this dish.  Whether at Delfina in the Mission neighborhood of San Fran or closer to home at Avec, the porchetta has haunted me, taunting me to put my cooking skills to the test and recreate this “Unicorn” of a dish at home.

I am not sure what happened on my drive home from work on Friday, but somewhere between the kosher butcher shop in Highland Park and Chicken Shack #34 I decided this weekend I would put my cooking skills to the ultimate test.

Act One / Scene One:  Where to get the meat?

My porchetta challenge began with a trip to Larder and Butcher (L&B) on Saturday afternoon.  I heard about them several weeks ago when I was at the Whole Foods (WF) on North Avenue looking for baby back ribs. As expected, they were all out.   Disappointed, I walked away from the meat counter defeated and needed to rethink my Labor Day BBQ menu.    As I sulked by the trail mix bar, a gentleman approached and mentioned he had overheard my conversation.  He suggested I visit his friend’s butcher shop, Larder and Butcher.   I gave them a call to see if they had any ribs in stock and unfortunately, no dice.  I decided my porchetta challenge would be a good excuse to try them again. 

Larder and Butcher has a minimalist storefront on Milwaukee Ave.  The storefront is inviting and screams “old world butcher shop”.  Larder and Butcher is the first whole animal butcher shop in Chicago, supplying all local, sustainable meat products.   Don’t expect to see a WF type meat counter.  L & B has a very small meat case and the rest of the store is a work counter.   My plan was just to purchase some pork belly that I would use to roll my pork loin in.   After ordering my pork belly, the gentleman returned not with one piece of pork belly, but two.  After further conversation with the butcher, I explained my goal of utilizing the pork belly to wrap my loin.  He said he had a better idea and ran back into his meat cooler.  He returned with half of a pig, ribs removed of course.  The piece he brought back had a pork loin already attached.  He explained this would make the rolling process easier.  Just then, the owner of the shop, Rob Levitt came out and spotted our scruffy dog waiting in our car outside.  He politely asked if she would like a bone and quickly retrieved a cow’s femur joint.  Greta was thrilled (26lb Schnauzer mix Vs 5lb femur joint…lol).  You can guarantee we will back for more, meat for human consumption and for more Greta bones of course.

Act One / Scene Two:  OMG it has nipples

Yes, it had nipples.  I sent the picture to my sister and she freaked out, bad, so I won’t post it.  Plus I am hoping to earn a PG rating from the MPAA.  BTW…it also had hair.   Now this might discourage the typical home cook, but in actuality it made me happy to know that this animal under went minimal processing.

24 hours before serving, I prepped my piglet.  The skin side of the pork belly was poked many times to tenderize the meat.  About 3 tablespoons of fennel seeds and 1 tablespoon of red pepper flakes were heated on low heat till they became aromatic; they were then grinded in a coffee grinder.  3 garlic cloves, 3 springs of rosemary and 2 springs of sage were minced and mixed with the fennel red pepper mixture.  The meat side of the pork was seasoned with salt and pepper and then the spice mixture was rubbed all over.  Some Italian chicken sausage from WF was removed from its casing and spread on the loin section.  I then wrapped the pork belly flap around the loin and secured it with some cooking twine.  My creation was placed in the frig, uncovered to rest and dry overnight.   

Act Two / Final Scene:  A long day of cooking

My morning began with some mathematics.  This porchetta would serve as a birthday feast for my mother.  

My parents were to arrive at 3, we would eat at 4, the porchetta had to sit at room temperature before cooking for 2 hours, then had to roast at 500 degrees for 40 minutes, then bake at 300 degrees for about 1.5 hours, another quick roast at 500 degrees for 10 minutes and then a 30 minute rest period before it is sliced.  Luckily I had a calculator handy and pulled my pork right on time.

After letting my porchetta sit at room temp for 2 hours I seasoned it with some salt pepper and chopped fresh herbs (Sage and Oregano).  I placed the porchetta on a rack and in it went, into a 500 degrees, preheated oven.  After twenty minutes I turned my porchetta to sear the other side.  Another twenty minutes later I reduced the temperature to 300 degrees.  As the porchetta roasted for about an hour and a half (internal temp of 145 degrees) I turned it periodically.  I finished it off with another high temp roast (500 degrees) for ten minutes, which left the skin crispy and brown.   

The hardest part had arrived, I was forced to allow my porchetta to sit at room temp to allow the juices to settle as my hungry family circled the kitchen like wolves (love you guys J).  Thirty minutes later, anxious to finally see if the porchetta 555 would be my last, I sliced my porchetta with a serrated knife.  The crowd went crazy!  No, they didn’t, but in my mind I was one step closer to the real Cochen 555. 

To accompany my porchetta 555 I decided to serve it with a roasted carrot and herb salad.  I simply tossed some Nichols Farm purple and red carrots in some olive oil, fresh basil, red pepper flakes and oregano and grilled them.  I then tossed them with some baby greens, cucumber, avocado, fresh parsley and a lemon juice vinaigrette.

The Tomatoes Have Arrived...Canning has Begun

It's not a farmers market in Chicago unless you see a tomato. I'm not saying that they are always delicious and plentiful but they are always there. Around late August when tomatoes are finally harvested around the Midwest the Chicagoland farmer markets fill their stalls with all varieties of tomatoes. Although I planted my own little tomato heaven upstairs on my rooftop, my harvest will not yield nearly enough tomatoes for canning. These tomatoes will be used throughout the winter months. So on this sunny Saturday afternoon I set out to the Lincoln park farmers market at LPHS to find some tomatoes suitable for canning.

First, I want to mention that I love the market at LPHS. It is smaller than Green City but the variety is great and it's well priced. On this particular outing I was looking for yield. Nichols Farm always has large crates of various tomatoes for around 14-20 dollars so that would be my first stop. Low and behold, there they were, crates of tomatoes for 14 dollars. I snatched up a crate, grabbed a peach for the road and headed back home to battle my 20 lb crate of toms.

I have struggled with canning in the past. I would slave away in my tiny kitchen canning crates of tomatoes only to have them explode days later, ridden with bacteria and fungus. Yuck!
This year I was determined to succeed. Luckily "Bon Appetite" happen to have an article in the August issue on canning.  I don't follow instructions well so here is my synthesized version.

Step 1. Sanitation.
Killing all the nasty critters both in the jars and lids is imperative. These can include E. coli and salmonella. This is simply done by boiling the ball jars and lids in a large stock pot of water for 10 minutes. The key is that the water needs to reach 100 degrees celcius and therefore needs to be boiling.

Step 2. Prep those tomatoes
While you sanitize, start prepping your tomatoes. Give them a quick rinse with cold water then begin scoring the bottom of each tomato with an x. This little x will help you remove the skin. Once you have a good amount of tomatoes scored, place them in a bowl and completely cover them with boiling water. Let them sit in the hot jacuzzi until you see the skins peeling away from the meaty flesh. Using a sharp paring knife start peeling of the skins and cutting off each tomato top. Do this over a bowl and collect any juices that escapes.

Step 3. Grab the basil and pack them in
Into each clean ball jar add a couple of clean basil leaves(I used mine from my garden) and start adding the peeled tomatoes. If you are using a small jar you could probably get 5-7 into each jar. The large jars hold 10-13. Add tomatoes to the rim of the jar. Fill the spaces between the tomatoes with any juice left behind or by smashing the tomatoes down. You do not want air packets between the tomatoes. A spatula can assist in the smashing process.

Step 4. Processing
Processing the jars is the key to a successful canning session. Place a lid on each jar and tighten the lid till it's finger tipped tightened, meaning you could unscrew it using little force. Place the jars onto a wire rack in a large stock pot and cover them completely with water. Bring the water to boil. Once it is boiling, begin timing. It is imperative that the jars remain at 100 degrees celcius for 10 minutes to kill any bacteria or mold lingering on the tomatoes or basil.
****Caution: some fruit and veggies need to be heated to 130 degrees celcius to kill C. botulinum, the bacteria that causes botulism. This high temperature can only be achieved with a pressure cooker.***
After 10 minutes of boiling carefully remove the jars from the boiling water and set them on a dish towel on the counter-top. Let them sit for 24 hours un-disrupted.

Step 5. The test
After 24 hours of rest, test to see if your jars are pressure sealed by pushing the little button on the lid of each jar. If it gives, your jars did not seal correctly and will need to be stored in the refrigerator. These should be consumed within 7 days. If there is no give...congrats you just successfully sealed your jars. Store these in a dark cool place to use in the winter. Make sure to check on these regularly just in case.

Look for recipes to come using your canned tomatoes.