Best Crispy Pork Cheek Belly Or Turkey Thigh Salad Recipes

CRISPY PORK CHEEK, BELLY OR TURKEY-THIGH SALAD

Steps:

• Sprinkle the meat liberally with salt and pepper. Refrigerate overnight, uncovered.
• When you're ready to cook, rinse the meat in cold water; if you're using the oven (see next step), heat to 300. Put the fat in a pot that will allow you to submerge the meat, or nearly so. If you're using lard or duck fat, heat it in the oven until melted; if you're using oil, warm it.
• Submerge the meat in the fat, put a piece of parchment paper directly on top and weigh the paper down with something (I used a wooden spoon) to keep it in place. Cook slowly on top of the stove or in the oven, adjusting the heat as necessary so the fat bubbles gently - not rapidly - and turning the meat once or twice if it is not completely submerged. (You may wind up cooking at a temperature as low as 250.) It's done when you can easily pierce it with a skewer, 2 hours or longer for cheek and belly, 1 hour for turkey.
• Remove the meat from the fat. Proceed or refrigerate the meat, lightly covered, for a day or two. Heat the oven to 350. (If you're using turkey, drizzle the bread with olive oil.) Place the meat skin-side up directly on top of the slice of bread (you want the meat to just cover the bread; any bread that's exposed may burn). Put on a rack set over a rimmed baking sheet and roast, checking occasionally and adjusting the heat as necessary, until the skin becomes quite crisp, as little as 45 minutes or somewhat longer. Remove.
• Meanwhile, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, mustard, capers, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust the seasoning; the dressing should be quite sharp. Wash and dry the greens. If you're using turkey, pull out the thigh bones (they should slip out easily). With the meat still on top of the bread, chop the meat and bread into bite-size pieces (it doesn't matter if it crumbles a bit). Toss with the greens and the dressing, and serve.

CRISPY PORK BELLY

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees F (95 degrees C).
• Season pork belly all over with smoked paprika, salt, and black pepper. Wrap pork in parchment paper; wrap a second time in aluminum foil, and a third time in another sheet of aluminum foil. Place pork packet in a baking dish.
• Roast in the preheated oven until tender for 6 hours. Let cool in wrappings to room temperature; place cooled packet in refrigerator and chill for 8 hours or overnight.
• Unwrap chilled meat. Save any rendered fat that falls away when unwrapping pork.
• Cut meat into 6 equal-size portions. Cut 1/8-inch by 1/8-inch slashes in the fat-side of the pork. Season with salt.
• Heat 2 tablespoons reserved pork fat in a skillet over medium heat. Place pork belly, fat side down, in hot fat; cook until well-browned on all sides and heated through, 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer pork belly to a plate, drizzle with olive oil and season with pepper.

CRISPY CRACKLED PORK BELLY WITH FENNEL & APPLE SLAW

Steps:

• Using a pestle and mortar, crush together the fennel seeds, coriander seeds and chilli flakes, then mix the spices into the salt. Put the pork belly in a roasting tin and slash lines across the skin (about 5mm apart) using a sharp knife. Rub the skin with most of the salt mix, and chill, uncovered, overnight.
• The next day, heat the oven to 170C/150C fan/gas 3. Remove the pork from the fridge and scrape off the salt mix. Pat well with kitchen paper to remove the moisture, then re-season with the remaining salt mix. Roast for 2 hrs, then reduce the oven to 150C/130C fan/gas 2 and cook for a further 1 hr. Turn the oven up to its highest for 15-20 mins or until crackled. If your pork still hasn't crackled enough, heat the grill to its highest setting. Transfer the pork to a baking sheet and grill for 4-5 mins (watch it to make sure it doesn't burn). Cover and rest for 30 mins.
• To make the slaw, mix together the lemon zest and juice with the olive oil, chilli and some seasoning in a large bowl. Toss the with the shallot, fennel and apple. Top with the fennel fronds, if you like.
• Whizz together all the ingredients for the mojo verde and season to taste. Slice and serve the pork with the slaw andmojo verde on the side. Any leftover pork can be warmed and piled into crusty rolls with the slaw and mojo verde.