Pork Confit Recipes

GRILLED PORK CONFIT WITH BRAISED RICE SOUBISE AND ROASTED FIGS

Steps:

• Three days before serving, trim the pork of excess fat and sinew, and place it in the brine. It should be completely submerged. Refrigerate the pork in the brine for 48 hours.
• After 48 hours, remove the pork from the brine. Pat it dry with paper towels, and let it sit out 1 hour to come to room temperature.
• Preheat the oven to 300°F.
• Heat the duck fat in a large Dutch oven over low heat until just warm and melted.
• Carefully lower the pork into the fat. It should be completely submerged. Cook 5 to 6 hours, until the meat yields easily to a paring knife when pierced. If at any time the fat starts to boil, turn the oven down to 250°F.
• When the pork is done, remove it from the oven and let cool in the fat about 1 hour. Carefully take the pork out of the fat, and refrigerate it overnight. Strain the fat, reserve 4 tablespoons, and store the rest in the freezer.
• Light the grill 30 to 40 minutes before you're ready to cook.
• Preheat the oven to 400°F.
• Slice the figs in half lengthwise. Place the halves in a roasting pan, and drizzle them with the olive oil. Season with the thyme, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and a pinch of pepper. Roast in the oven 10 to 12 minutes, until the figs are slightly caramelized and sizzling.
• Place the chilled pork confit on a cutting board, and slice it against the grain into 1/2-to-3/4-inch-thick slabs (about 5 to 6 ounces each). Brush the slabs with a little pork fat. Taste a little piece of the pork to make sure it's seasoned correctly. If not, season with salt and pepper.
• When the coals are broken down, red, and glowing, place the pork on the grill and let it sear a few minutes without moving it. Cook a few more minutes, rotating the meat, to crisp and caramelize it. Turn the pork over and finish cooking, another 4 to 5 minutes, on the second side. The meat should be very crisp with a deep golden crust.
• Spoon the soubise onto a large warm platter, and scatter the dandelion greens over it. Arrange the pork confit and figs (with their juices) over the soubise and greens.
• Crush the juniper berries coarsely in a mortar. Repeat with the allspice and then the fennel seeds.
• Dissolve the sugar and salt in 2 cups hot water (just hot enough to dissolve the sugar) in a large, very clean container. Add the juniper berries, allspice berries, fennel seeds, cloves, bay leaves, chiles, onion, fennel, carrot, thyme, and parsley. Add 3 quarts very cold water, and stir to combine all the ingredients.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Heat a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat for 1 minute. Add the butter, and when it foams, add the diced and sliced onions, thyme, 2 teaspoons salt, and the white pepper. Turn the heat down to medium-low, and cook the onions gently, for about 10 minutes, stirring often. They should soften and wilt but not be allowed to color at all.
• While the onions are cooking, bring a small pot of water to a boil. Cook the rice 5 minutes in the boiling water and drain well. Stir the rice into the onions.
• Remove the pot from the heat. Cover it with aluminum foil and a tight-fitting lid if you have one. Cook in the oven 30 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and let the soubise "rest," covered, about 30 minutes.
• Just before serving, uncover the soubise (it will emit lots of steam, so be careful). Heat it over medium heat, stirring once or twice. When the soubise is hot, stir in the cheese and cream. Taste for seasoning, and stir in the parsley.
• Brine the pork 3 days before serving. After 2 days, when the pork comes out of the brine (the day before serving), confit it, and chill overnight. The meat should be very cold, or it will be hard to slice. Start the braised rice soubise 1 hour and 15 minutes or so before serving. It can sit covered and then be rewarmed and finished with the cheese and cream right before serving. Roast the figs while you grill the confit. You could crisp the pork in cast-iron pans rather than grilling it, if you prefer. Heat two large cast-iron pans over high heat 2 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons fat to each pan, and heat another minute. Carefully place the meat in the pan, and cook 4 to 5 minutes on each side, until nicely browned. You can store the leftover fat in the freezer.

PORK CONFIT

Steps:

• Combine first 8 ingredients in large bowl. Add pork; turn and rub to coat well. Cover and chill overnight.
• Preheat oven to 275°F. Place onions, garlic, thyme sprigs, and rosemary sprig in large ovenproof pot. Pat pork dry with paper towels and place atop vegetables in pot. Pour enough melted lard over pork to cover by 1 inch. Cover and place pork in oven. Roast until pork is tender, turning occasionally (keep pork covered with lard at all times), about 4 hours.
• Using slotted spoon, transfer pork to another large bowl, packing tightly. Strain liquid in pot into 4-cup measuring cup; discard solids in strainer. Allow juices to settle at bottom of cup, about 15 minutes. Carefully pour enough fat from cup over pork in bowl to cover by 1 inch. Pour juices from bottom of cup into resealable plastic freezer bag; seal and freeze to use for making thePork Cassoulet (it's also great as a sauce). Cover and refrigerate pork at least 2 weeks and up to 2 months (keep pork covered with fat).
• Rewarm pork confit to melt lard. Drain pork before using.
• *A dried herb mixture available in the spice section of many supermarkets and at specialty foods stores. A combination of dried thyme, basil, savory, and fennel seeds can be substituted.

PORK CASSOULET WITH PORK CONFIT AND WINTER TOMATO SAUCE

Steps:

• Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add beans. Boil 3 minutes. Remove pot from heat, cover, and let stand 1 hour. Drain; return beans to pot. Using kitchen string, tie parsley, thyme, and bay leaves in double layer of cheesecloth; add to pot. Add remaining 4 quarts water, pancetta, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper to beans; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer over medium-low heat until beans are just tender, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Drain beans, reserving 2 cups cooking liquid. Discard herb bundle, onion, and garlic. Transfer pancetta to work surface (reserve pancetta for wine sauce).
• Heat olive oil in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions to pot and sauté until tender and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add wine; boil until liquid is reduced by half, stirring occasionally, about 6 minutes. Add reserved juices from confit. Bring to boil; reduce heat to medium and simmer 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cut reserved pancetta into 1/2-inch cubes. Heat heavy medium skillet over medium-high heat; add pancetta and sauté until beginning to turn brown and crisp, about 4 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer pancetta to wine sauce. Add Winter Tomato Sauce to pot; season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Preheat oven to 400°F. Heat 2 heavy large skillets over medium heat. Divide sausages among skillets; cover and cook until brown and cooked through, turning occasionally, about 20 minutes. Transfer sausages to work surface. Cool slightly, then cut into 2-inch pieces.
• Spoon 1/3 of beans (about 4 cups) into 8-quart ovenproof pot, spreading in even layer. Arrange half of confit and half of sausages over beans. Pour 1/3 of wine sauce (about 2 1/3 cups) over meat. Spoon half of remaining beans (about 4 cups) over sauce. Arrange remaining confit and sausages over beans. Pour half of remaining sauce over meat (about 2 1/3 cups). Spoon remaining beans over sauce, then pour remaining sauce over beans. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cover cassoulet and reserved cooking liquid separately and chill. Let stand at room temperature 2 hours before continuing.) Drizzle enough reserved bean cooking liquid over beans to barely submerge if needed. Sprinkle breadcrumbs over. Drizzle breadcrumbs with olive oil.
• Bake cassoulet uncovered until bubbling around edges and crumbs are beginning to brown, about 1 hour.
• Emergo beans can be purchased through chefshop.com, and heirloom French horticultural beans can be purchased through beanbag.net. If you can't find them, Great Northern beans or cannellini (white kidney beans) will also work.