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.
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