Seared belly of pork, braised pigs cheeks with sautéed red cabbage and cauliflower purée
Recipe by chef Kurt Fleming and chef Dean Way of Ffresh restaurant & lounge bar, Cardiff, Wales
PORK BELLY
Order a belly pork from your butcher with bones removed; for the cheeks, ask for them to be removed from the fat so that you are left with just the meat. Braise the belly the day before. When preparing the meal, preheat the oven to 350 F. Then place the belly in a tray fat side up.
Add to the tray:
1 leek, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves
1 carrot, roughly chopped
3 bay leaves
A handful of peppercorns
Fill the tray with water and cover with foil. Cook in the oven for approximately 3 hours and 30 minutes.
Once the belly is cooked, put it in a clean baking tray lined with grease-proof paper. Put a piece of parchment paper on the top and add a smaller tray with weights on top. Cool the pork belly in the fridge overnight. The following day, remove the belly from the fridge and cut into squares.
PIGS' CHEEK
Preheat the oven to 350 F. The pigs' cheeks can be made in advance using the same techniques as above, but also add:
5 cloves
2 star anise
1 orange, sliced
Braise in the oven for one hour and 30 minutes.
RED CABBAGE
Thinly slice and add to pan. Then add two glasses of orange juice, 1 cinnamon stick and 300 grams of brown sugar. Cook until the mixture has reduced by half and cabbage has thinned down.
CAULIFLOWER PURÉE
Cut 1 cauliflower into small florets. Place in a pan and cover with a mixture of 2 parts cream and 1 part milk. Cook until soft. Then blitz cooked cauliflower in food processor, adding a little of the cooking liquor. When the cauliflower is a smooth paste, place to one side.
RED WINE JUS
375 ml of beef stock
375 ml of red wine
Combine and reduce by half.
TO SERVE
Score the belly with a sharp knife and put into a hot pan to brown, remove from the pan and put in a pre-heated 350 F oven for 15 minutes. Then reheat the cabbage, cauliflower purée and pigs' cheeks in the red-wine jus.
Serve and enjoy.