A surprisingly delish dinner arose from a spot of kitchen freestyling and fridge clearing last night. It was a sort of a sweet and sour pork casserole with capers, lemon and chorizo. It was really delicious with unctuously soft pork, savoury chorizo, sweet carrots and onions, and a tangy jamminess provided by vinegar and lemon. Once the zingy high notes of chilli and parsley are accounted for you’ve got a winner. I highly recommend giving it a go. It went something like this (should feed three):
- 500g Pork belly
- 100g Chorizo, roughly diced
- 2 Red Onions the size of tennis balls
- 3 Medium Carrots
- 3 Large Ripe Tomatoes
- 4 Cloves Garlic
- 2 Scotch Bonnet Chillis
- 1 tblsp Capers
- Fresh Rosemary
- 3 Fresh Bay Leaves
- Cider Vinegar
- Half a Juicy Lemon
- Flat Leaf Parsley
Start by cutting the Carrots into bite sized chunks, the pork (trimmed of any rind) into slightly bigger than bite-sized chunks (it will shrink dramatically), the onions into chunky wedges and the garlic cloves in half, removing any signs of green sproutings.
In a Le Creuset style lidded pan cook the veg in a little oil over a moderate to low heat for about twenty minutes, adding the bay leaves and plenty of chopped rosemary about halfway through. Remove from the pan and reserve.
Preheat the oven to Gas 2 (150c).
Set the gas hob to high and proceed to sear the pork pieces on two sides (only disturbing them to turn them) until golden brown with the fat starting to render and crisp. Do this in batches so as not to crowd the pan. Towards the end of the searing introduce the diced chorizo to the pan.
Set the gas to moderate and return the veg to the pan along with any juices.
Slice the chillis seeds and all (they only add a fruity piquancy and will only render the dish too spicy for only the most pathetic of palates) and add them to the pan along with a hearty seasoning of salt and pepper.
Deglaze the pan with a good slug of cider vinegar and add just enough water so as to have liquid going about halfway up the pork and veg. You want to braise the meat rather than stew it.
Put a cartouche of dampened greaseproof paper on the surface of the casserole and put the lid on the dish. Transfer to the oven for 1.5 hours.
Remove from the oven and stir in the capers, the juice of the lemon along with its shell torn in two and the tomatoes cut into eighths. Replace the cartouche and the lid and return to the oven for another hour.
Garnish with some chopped flat leaf parsley and serve with the ballast of your choice. We had crushed new potatoes which were really good, but I suspect proper Jamaican rice and peas would be even better.
Don’t worry about the fattiness of the pork belly. After the long slow cooking all the fat has melted and lubricated the meat and generally given a lip-smacking savour to the whole dish. I used these pork belly strips that Asda sell for £2 for a 500g pack. They resemble really thick (an inch at least) rashers of uncured streaky bacon, and cut up easily into nice big cubes.
I think the general cooking method and timings, alongside the matching of piquancy with the uber-savoury pork is a template that could be extensively and successfully riffed upon. I’m already planning full-on Jamaican Jerk and Mexican versions. Yum!
In a Le Creuset style lidded pan cook the veg in a little oil over a moderate to low heat for about twenty minutes, adding the bay leaves and plenty of chopped rosemary about halfway through. Remove from the pan and reserve.
Preheat the oven to Gas 2 (150c).
Set the gas hob to high and proceed to sear the pork pieces on two sides (only disturbing them to turn them) until golden brown with the fat starting to render and crisp. Do this in batches so as not to crowd the pan. Towards the end of the searing introduce the diced chorizo to the pan.
Set the gas to moderate and return the veg to the pan along with any juices.
Slice the chillis seeds and all (they only add a fruity piquancy and will only render the dish too spicy for only the most pathetic of palates) and add them to the pan along with a hearty seasoning of salt and pepper.
Deglaze the pan with a good slug of cider vinegar and add just enough water so as to have liquid going about halfway up the pork and veg. You want to braise the meat rather than stew it.
Put a cartouche of dampened greaseproof paper on the surface of the casserole and put the lid on the dish. Transfer to the oven for 1.5 hours.
Remove from the oven and stir in the capers, the juice of the lemon along with its shell torn in two and the tomatoes cut into eighths. Replace the cartouche and the lid and return to the oven for another hour.
Garnish with some chopped flat leaf parsley and serve with the ballast of your choice. We had crushed new potatoes which were really good, but I suspect proper Jamaican rice and peas would be even better.
Don’t worry about the fattiness of the pork belly. After the long slow cooking all the fat has melted and lubricated the meat and generally given a lip-smacking savour to the whole dish. I used these pork belly strips that Asda sell for £2 for a 500g pack. They resemble really thick (an inch at least) rashers of uncured streaky bacon, and cut up easily into nice big cubes.
I think the general cooking method and timings, alongside the matching of piquancy with the uber-savoury pork is a template that could be extensively and successfully riffed upon. I’m already planning full-on Jamaican Jerk and Mexican versions. Yum!
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