Older Bolder Life

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the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Two Fire Pork Belly

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As many of you have, we’ve played around with pork belly over the years, most often doing a home cure in the fridge to make pancetta, which then hangs in a closet during cooler winter months to dry and tighten up, though the inclusion of a bit of pork belly in our Christmas Eve tamale filling has been nothing short of revolutionary in terms of taste and texture too.

That said, a buddy was recently in Kansas City on business, and dined at what appears to be a damned nifty restaurant called Q39. My friend gushed poetically (an unusual move for him) about their smoked and grilled pork belly, and has been pestering me almost daily for a recipe to try and replicate the dish at home.

After consulting our own files, and finally me pestering Chef Libby down in Austin as well, she steered me to a recipe that Raichlen published a few years back intended to mimic this very dish pioneered at Q39.

While I didn’t have a full or half belly on hand last week, I did have some pork belly strips (attaboy Costco) totaling about 4 pounds, so I gave them a spin using our go to rib rub developed by my son and I some years back.

In a nutshell, the pork belly is trimmed (you’re cooking skin-off pork belly here), seasoned well with a flavorful rub, slow smoked at 225 to golden perfection, then chilled before a quick flash-type grill over high heat.

The idea behind the rest overnight (or at least 4 to 6 hours) in the fridge is apparently to tighten up the smoked bellies so they’re a) easier to slice, and b) the fat holds up better during a quick grill over higher heat to caramelize and crisp up the slices.

This is one of those stupid simple recipes that literally takes a few minutes to get started, and offers a fairly blank canvas for you to paint upon in terms of different rub spices and flavorings to consider.

As Raichlen noted, bacon is about smoke and salt, and barbecue is about smoke and spice. The marriage of the two in this dish yields a damned tasty, and most unusual treat most of us haven’t enjoyed before.

The main caution with this recipe is to smoke this one low and slow so as not to melt the belly’s fat off during the initial cook, and to grill quickly over higher heat during the second cook to crisp and caramelize the pieces to perfection.

Hot damn, this one’s good.

3-4 pounds pork belly, skin off

Your favorite pork rub
Good salt
Fresh ground pepper

Remove the skin from the pork belly, and score on all sides using a sharp knife in a 1-inch crosshatch pattern (roughly 1/4-inch deep).

Sprinkle the rub over all sides of the belly (pieces), and massage in.

Fire your trusty smoker to 225, and smoke to an internal temp of 165 (for most will be in the 3-4 hour range); you’re looking for the belly to tighten, become a nifty bronze color, and hit the temp target noted.

Set on a wire rack at room temp to cool, then into the fridge overnight.

Cut into 1/2-inch thick slices (against the grain), season each slice generously with salt and pepper, then grill over medium high heat until sizzling and caramelized on both sides (2-3 minutes per side).

Serve immediately with your favorite sauce or aioli; Q39 serves this with a bacon onion marmalade (savory marmalades are a great concept – we’ll post our favorite soon).

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Grilled Tacos al Pastor

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Working from the premise that my clan hasn’t really met a taco they didn’t like, over the past couple of months we’ve been on a(n) (intermittent) quest to perfect a recipe for Tacos al Pastor.

This culinary journey started after a trip to see family in San Antonio and a venture downtown to a friend’s favorite hole-in-the-wall eatery where we enjoyed an ambrosial taco feast lunch one still-too-damn-hot early October afternoon.

My lovely wife was particularly taken with the Tacos al Pastor, roughly translated “shepherd style”, which prompted a bevy of research including a couple of focused chats with friend Chef Libby in Austin, who like us resonates mightily with the chile-infused flavor palate of the American Southwest and Mexico.

She reminded me of the history involved here – what most of us refer to as tacos al pastor is loosely based on the lamb shawarma that Lebanese immigrants brought to Mexico during the 18th century. History authorities suggest these immigrants were mainly Christians (i.e. the Maronites) who had no religious dietary restrictions regarding pork consumption, and of course brought with them an affinity for shawarma from back home.

Food historians suggests that as they and their progeny began to adopt culinary influences from Mexico, and with the eventual advent of a more widespread Mexican restaurant industry in the 1960s, the taco al pastor we know today was born.

In it’s most classic form, tacos al pastor has traditionally featured pork marinated in a slather based on dried chiles, pineapple, onion, achiote paste, and a handful of different spices, then stacked and cooked on a rotating spit, eventually being sliced off in a fashion akin to gyros from Greek cuisine, providing a perfect crust and tender underlying meat in every morsel.

Of course there are regional variations today, and most of us – and many restaurants / street vendors – don’t have a rotating spit available to prepare our tacos al pastor.

This recipe is one that Libby has crafted to suit the palates of her staff and clients in Austin, a place with a fairly solid understanding of tacos (understatement of the year), certainly from a Tex Mex perspective. The beauty of recipes like this one is you can certainly vary the chile profile to suit your own tastes (for example, I think this is better with 2-3 dried chipotles thrown in, along with a bit of cumin), and this one finishes really well right on your trusty grill over a slow fire.

For those who indulge in the occasional classic corn-based taco, these are divine with the Quick Grilled Pineapple Habanero Salsa from last week, and they’re damned good on one of the gluten free tortillas available today (we still favor the Siete brand around our campfire).

Pro Tip: Trim most of but not all of the fat off the pork shoulder, you want some of that fat to render down as you cook these low and slow over your fire.

3 pounds boneless pork shoulder, sliced roughly 3/4-inch thick

10 guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
3 dried ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
2-3 chiles de arbol, stemmed and seeded
2-3 dried chipotle chiles, stemmed and seeded, optional

1/2 fresh pineapple, peeled, cored, roughly chopped
1/2 onion, roughly chopped
8 garlic cloves, peeled
1 cup distilled white vinegar
3 tbsp achiote paste
3 ounces kosher salt
1 tbsp ground cumin
Optional: 2-4 tbsp sugar in marinade

Gluten free or corn tortillas if you’re going full out taco

Prep the pork and set aside.

Bring 2 cups of water to a gentle; pour over the prepped chiles in a bowl, cover, set aside to steam and soak for 30 minutes.

Now puree the chiles and soaking liquid, chopped pineapple, chopped onion, garlic cloves, vinegar, achiote paste, sugar if using, and the salt until smooth; pour over the pork, making sure each slice of pork is coated. Cover and chill overnight (at least 6 hours).

Fire the grill; build a two-zone fire if using live fire or set your trusty gas grill to low.

Remove the pork slices from the marinade, gently shake off excess marinade, and slowly grill until the marinade is caramelized and slightly charred on each side and the pork is just cooked through, 9-11 minutes per side (remember, this is over a slow/low fire).

Pull the pork, let it rest for 7 to 10 minutes, when slice against the grain into 1/4-inch strips; build your tacos and top with the Grilled Pineapple Habanero Salsa from last week.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Grilled Diablo Chicken Margherita

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I was chatting again recently with our chef buddy Libby in Austin a couple of weeks ago and the topic of the migration of her catering menu to her fall rotation came up.

She has a boatload of great ideas (always) and is a magician when it comes to putting together innovative and unique menus; her skills are truly a gift and I stand in awe of her ability to pull things together based on what’s fresh in the market and staying diligently attuned to her clientele in Austin.

Much to my surprise, and her’s as well, one of the most requested menus for her fall events is a Grilled Diablo Chicken Margherita, referenced by most clients as “one like they serve at Olive Garden”.

I had to admit to Libby that we haven’t set foot in an Olive Garden in over a decade, and she responded by saying it’d been even longer for her. (We both had plenty of exposure years ago to the food industry scuttle that OG cooked very little fresh in their kitchens, and they’ve reportedly had a long history of “issues” in the kitchen from a health standpoint. Nuff said.)

Her Grilled Diablo Chicken Margherita has a couple of interesting twists that are ridiculously easy for the home cook to incorporate; after all, who doesn’t like a tender, juicy grilled chicken breast or thigh topped with melted mozzarella and a great pesto?

Living in Austin Libby has a client base that’s tuned in to, and clamors for spicy foods – that’s in part why she and my family resonate so well.

That said, one of her versions of this dish uses a classic Italian seasoning mix (house made of course) with a healthy dose of fresh red pepper flakes thrown in. She tops that with a classic pesto, though she agrees with us that roasting the garlic and pine nuts is essential for a great pesto, and then uses this same tomato/basil/lemon juice relish or topping, the lemon providing a great burst of acidity to the dish. Now and then if good lemons aren’t handy, she’ll use balsamic vinegar as well for the relish.

Her more TexMex version of this recipe features an ancho chile based rub for the chicken with a cilantro pesto – we’ll have that recipe upcoming before too long, as well as recipes for the ancho rub and a great Italian spice mix too.

This recipe comes together quickly, and happens to be one of my wife’s favorite dishes to take to work for a quick lunch these days.

4 boneless chicken breasts
4 chicken thighs
2 tbsp olive or avocado oil
1 tbsp good Italian seasoning mix
1-3 tsp fresh red pepper flakes (optional)
8 slices mozzarella cheese
1/2 to 1 cup fresh basil pesto (try this one)
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup basil leaves, chiffonade prep
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Good salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Rub the chicken pieces with your oil of choice and dust with the spice mix and red pepper flakes; set aside at room temperature while you fire the grill and complete your prep.

While the grill is preheating, combine the halved tomatoes, basil leaves in chiffonade, the lemon juice, and salt/pepper; set aside.

Now grill the chicken until done, 6-8 minutes per side, topping with a slice of mozzarella during the last couple of minutes. Covering your grill during the cheese melting window will make speed the process.

Pull the chicken, plate it, spoon on your pesto (up to 2-3 tbsp each), and top with the tomato/basil relish.

Enjoy.