Our second recipe is one I love and never tire of making, roasted pork belly crispy skin style. Cooking a pork belly is easy, forgiving and satisfying. Just about everyone loves bacon, but most don’t realize it comes from the belly. Many recipes for pork belly also call the cut fresh bacon, for its more approachable associations. Whatever you decide to call it, one thing is guaranteed, it delicious anyway you make it. The belly’s high fat content keeps it moist and tender during the cooking process, making it hard to overcook. You can roast, braise and steam this almost perfect cut and almost never screw it up.

Roasted Pork Belly

1 Pork Belly – 2-2.5lbs
Salt – Kosher
Black Pepper – Fresh ground

Prepare the pork belly: Preheat your oven to 425°. Dry the belly throughly with paper towel, this will help crisp the skin. Score the belly with a sharp knife in a diagonal pattern about 1/2″ apart. Scoring the belly allows seasoning to penetrate the meat and helps to keep the skin flat when roasting. Season the bellies aggressively, to taste, with salt and pepper. Rub the salt and pepper into the scores, making sure no areas are missed.

Roasting: Roast the belly on a wire rack over a sheet tray, so it doesn’t sit in it’s own fat when roasting. Make sure to place the belly fat side up, so its fully exposed to the heat of the oven. You can also place the belly on a bed of cut vegetables, like onions, celery and carrots when roasting to keep the pork off the bottom of the pan. Start the pork at 425° for 45 minutes uncovered, then reduce the oven to 350° and roast for 2 hours. Starting at a high temperature will give a jump start to the crisping process, lowering the oven assures the pork won’t over brown.

Note: Some bellies are fattier than others. To keep a smoke free kitchen, check the belly after 30-40 minutes and pour off the excess fat from the pan. Feel free to do this as many times as needed.

Out of the oven: Remove the pork from the oven once crispy and tender. Most importantly, let the beautifully goldened brown pork belly rest for 20-30 minutes before slicing. Once rested slice thickly and enjoy!

Chili Garlic Rub
Here’s a quick and easy rub to put on the pork belly before roasting to add even more flavor.

5-6 Dried Cascabel Chiles – A mild, slightly sweet dried chile
5-6 Fresh Garlic Cloves – Peeled
1tsb Black Pepper – Fresh ground
2tsp Salt – Kosher
Zest of 1 Lemon

Make the Rub: Combine all ingredients in a spice grinder or coffee grinder. Pulse the ingredients until a thick paste is formed. Rub the paste on the raw pork belly before roasting.

Roasting: Follow instructions as posted above.

Oaxacan Style Roasted Pork Belly Tacos
A great taco made from a few simple ingredients and fresh roasted pork belly.

Roasted Pork Belly – Sliced or pulled
1 Wedge of Orange – Any type
Radish – Thinly sliced
Red Onion – Finely diced
Fresh Chopped Cilantro
Corn Tortillas

Warm the tortilla: Wrap a stack of corn tortillas (15-20) in foil and bake at 300° for 5-6 minutes, just until warm.

Make the tacos: Place a few strips of pork belly in a tortilla and garnish with a bit of radish, red onion, cilantro and a twist of orange.

Our first recipe is one that falls close to the heart, roast chicken. A properly roasted chicken is one of the simplest things to cook, most delicious to eat and one of the easiest to screw up. Old school French kitchens would even use the notorious roasted chicken and a test to judge a young apprentices value and culinary skill. Legend has it, they always came out dry. We’re going to fix that!

The Perfect Roast Chicken

1 Chicken – Fryer size (3-3.5lbs)
Olive Oil
Kosher Salt & Pepper – We like to use herbs too, but its not necessary
Root vegetables – half onion, 1-2 stalks celery, 1 carrot, 1 small parsnip and 1 potato
Roasting Pan

Prepare the vegetables: Preheat your oven to 425°. Cut your vegetables in a 1/2″ dice/rough cut and place them on the bottom of your roasting pan. Season the vegetables lightly with salt, pepper and fresh herbs if available (thyme is a particularly nice edition).

Prepare the Chicken: Remove any liver, giblets or hearts from the chicken. Blot the chicken paper towel so it’s dry (this will help to make the skin crispy). Sprinkle the inside of the bird with a small pinch of salt and pepper. Tie the two legs together at the very end, with a bit of butchers twine. Rub the bird all over with a light amount of olive oil and season with salt and pepper (don’t be afraid to be heavy handed, this is where you get your flavor). Place the bird atop the raw vegetables in your roasting pan.

Roasting: Place the bird in the oven at a reasonable distance from the heating elements. After the first 30 minutes in the oven, turn the heat down to 375.° The initial high heat helps to achieve the “sizzle” or caramelizing of the flesh that gives roasted meat its distinct flavor. We reduce the heat as the bird will benefit from finishing at a lower temperature after the initial caramelization.

Roast the chicken for a total of 1-1.25 hours (depending on the size of the bird) or until the dark meat reaches 160°. To test your bird for doneness you can take a temperature reading by inserting a meat thermometer into the inner part of the thigh, close to the bone.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, Let the bird rest for 30-40 minutes before you cut into it. This allows the temperature to reach its highest point (170-175°) and then drop to a temperature more suitable for carving. If you cut into right away, the juices will bleed out, steam fills the air and the chicken goes dry. During roasting, the high temperatures pull moisture towards the surface of the meat. Letting the bird rest allows the moisture to retract back from the surface.

Enjoy your chicken with the vegetables you roasted in the same pan. Their flavor will be greatly enhanced by the juices and fats absorbed from the chicken.

Note: Salt and pepper (especially Kosher salt) are the two most important seasonings on your spice shelf. Never underestimate them and never hesitate to use them, but we’ll talk more about that at a later date.