Roast pork belly

Catastrophe has struck the Nield household this week – We have no internet.

For one week Mr Nield and I will not be checking the 10 day weather forecast on the met office website, seven whole days must past before I am able to feed my obsessive impulsion and browse the internet freely for recipes that I can print off and never use, It will be 168 hours until R is able to craftily leave his browser open on the page that indicates what he wants for his next birthday present and  It will be 10,080 minutes when I can next randomly search the web looking for some kind of instant inspiration that will give me an idea on where my life is headed.

As you can tell by my last paragraph, I’m not remotely worried about the fact that I won’t be able to whip my laptop out at any given moment and search Google for the latest fad that has entered my head nor are my recent heart palpations and midnight sweats caused by my lack of being able to fill some of my free time by whiling away hours looking at rubbish on the internet. No, I think you will find it has not affected me at all, in fact I have chosen to see this minor snag in our day to day living as an opportunity to recall some of the life’s lesser known pleasures.

Home cooked bread can be smelt daily through the cracks of my newly decorated door, the veg patch has never looked smarter having been daily pruned and pried of any weeds visible,
our kitchen is now sporting some very chintz but hopelessly countrified chequered pelmets across the top of the windows and our bathroom is modelling a highly sophisticated Laura Ashley handmade blind.

Whilst my newly appointed all-purpose pinny has never left the front of my chest, R has also been embracing our lack of 21st century technology by busily buzzing around making a summerhouse for us to enjoy the rest of the oncoming months in. Our interior design ideas may clash somewhat (more on this to come) but our intentions for this extra space are the same – a place where we can relax, replenish and enjoy living the slower side of life.

I  suspect that upon reading this you are questioning my age of 27, even I am beginning to wonder whether I have been mysteriously possessed by a woman of a much greater age than myself in my sleep but being without something that we have artificially learnt to rely on so heavily is actually a refreshing change . I’m not implying that I am about to bin my laptop and chuck my iPhone down the toilet, but with the spare 10 minutes I get here and there I am more inclined to read a few chapters from a book than burrow my eyes into the computer screen searching it relentlessly for answers that it is unable to give me.

Given my recent more mellowed outlook on life ( I give it a week – tops ), It has come upon me that we have a freezer full of extraordinary contents that take some working out what they were in their natural state – pre frozen.

Shoved down at the back of the bottom shelf is an undesirable looking bag that looks like it contains the organs from a recently autopsied animal (chicken livers), in the middle drawer there seems to be enough beef brisket to feed the village twice over and some unidentifiable meat patties are looking like they have got a serious case of frost bite.

Determined to stick to my guns (albeit cold ones now having spent so long in my freezer) I carry on delving until I come across something that may vaguely resemble something edible. Running my now blue fingers across the frozen lumps in the over compacted components I felt something that resembled a small but notable nipple, grabbing at it with both hands and pulling it free from its frozen chambers I could clearly see a small but perfectly formed square of belly pork.

I’ll be honest and say that whilst I relished the thought of turning this unattractive looking and rarely used piece of meat into something of undeniably crispy skinned pork pleasure, I am not its biggest fan. From no fault of the meat itself, it just doesn’t appeal to me in a way a freshly picked green salad would or a slowly roasted tomato, fortunately I have a husband who is more than willing to for fill my meat based quota and for that I was determined to cook it to the best of my ability.

To make something of this pure and simple nature truly mesmerising, I find that less is always more.
Take whatever herbs you have available (matching them with the meat is not a priority but It can help), chop finely to extract their best characteristics and mix to a paste with some chopped garlic and some good oil. Massage this mixture into the underside of the pork belly to help improve and tenderise its flavour pressing in hard into any crevices that are exposed then lay skin side up on a cooling rack that is resting over a roasting tray

If your butcher has not already scored the skin of your pork belly you will need a clean Stanley knife to make 1cm wide cuts quite deep down into the skin, this along with a good rubbing of salt will ensure the most crispiest crackling possible - no extra moisture is necessary due to the high fat content of the pork belly skin.

Even for a non – pork lover like me, It was virtually impossible not to snap some of the meltingly crunchy skin off and quickly pop it in my mouth before the health conscious side of me noticed. To counteract the hard to ignore high calorie content of this meat serve it with something fresh and appropriately green to balance out the richness this luscious piece of meat secretes.

Now excuse me but I must dash, my favourite programme is due on on radio 4 and that embroidery won’t do its self.

Simple crispy pork belly

1 slab of pork belly about 1.2 kilos – scored
Salt and pepper
A mixture of herbs – sage, rosemary, thyme etc. – finely chopped
Rapeseed/olive oil
1 clove of garlic – finely chopped
One bottle of cider
1 tbls corn flour mixed with 3 tbls water

Take the meat out of the fridge an hour before and pat dry to ensure there is no moisture on the skin.
Preheat the oven to its highest setting

Take your chopped herbs, garlic and a pinch of salt and pepper and mix to a runny paste with some of the oil.

Place the meat skin side down and lovingly massage the oil mixture into the flesh side of your pork belly taking care not to allow any to touch the skin.
Place the meat on a wire rack on top of a roasting tray and with dry hands rub the salt well into all of the scores of the skin.
Place the meat in the oven for half an hour then turn the heat down to 180oc and allow to cook for another hour.

Take the pork out of the oven and remove the fat that has collected in the bottom of the roasting tray, then pour the cider into the bottom of the tray, place the pork on top of it ( without the wire rack ) and place in the oven for another half an hour. Once the meat has cooked, remove from the tray and allow to rest.

To make a sauce mix the corn flour with the water to make a smooth paste, place the roasting tin with the cider in over a direct heat sauce and wait for it to start simmering away.
Once bubbling, add a teaspoon at a time of the corn flour mixture and vigorously whisk quickly into the sauce. When the sauce starts to thicken add your stock until you have reached your desired consistency, whisking all the time. If you want to impress, sieve your gravy to eradicate any lumps that may have appeared whilst cooking.