It was The Builder's birthday over the weekend and he asked if we could have a piece of pork for Sunday lunch. We have LOTS of pork in the freezer, so I took a piece of belly out and went hunting for something interesting to do with it.
I ran across this recipe, and decided to give it a go. The idea of pork, scallops and caramelised onions seemed especially appropriate for a birthday celebration.
I had terrible trouble sourcing squid rings. No one had any at all. Even Chatsworth let me down. So I bought some prawns instead.
The caramelised onions in their balsamic dressing were mouthwateringly delicious. I have got them noted down as something to make many times again.
The balsamic sauce was equally lovely.
The scallops and prawns I cooked very briefly on my griddle. They were quite nice too.
I'm just not sure about the belly pork. It seemed like an awful lot of work for not much dividend. The pork was absolutely delicious - but it was going to be delicious anyway; it was a piece of pork produced by Farmer Jayne and Farmer David. I ended up having to deep fry it to get any crunch to the crackling, so it's not as though I gained in the fat stakes. It didn't seem to be any more succulent than it would have been without the simmering. It's true I ended up with a really nice stock which I have made soup with - but I have loads of home made stock lying about in the freezer and wasn't really in need of any more.
So this is what I'll do next time. I'll slow roast the pork belly in the usual way. The caramelised onions and balsamic sauce are definitely staying. We had our meal with mustardy mashed potato and home grown purple sprouting broccoli. These were excellent additions. We enjoyed the scallops and the prawns - but they got a bit lost in amongst all the rest of the robust flavours. Next time we'll have them as an entree.
But I'll keep the excellent stock recipe for the next time I have a ham I need to cook - and then I'll roast the ham rather than frying it.
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