Pork belly at Perennial

Prop Stylist: Amy Lauhoff O’Brien; Food Stylist: Lisa Benitez Kuehl; Photo Assistant: Nicole Stege

Chef Ryan Poli’s ode to porcine has many more components—mustard spaetzle, parsnip puree and apple gastrique among them. But we think this sumptuous pork, with sweet poached apples and smoky, bitter greens, is just as satisfying.

Makes eight servings.

Pork belly
3 lb Berkshire pork belly
1 medium onion, diced
1 leek, cleaned and diced
2 cups dry white wine
1 carrot, diced
4 quarts veal stock
4 thyme sprigs
10 parsley stems
1 bay leaf
8 black peppercorns
Salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place the pork belly in a large roasting pan with high sides. Cover the pork with vegetables, wine, stock, thyme, parsley, bay leaf and peppercorns. Bring to a simmer on the stove top, then cover tightly and transfer to the oven for two hours.
3. After two hours, check on the pork—you should be able to break it apart easily with a spoon. When it’s ready, remove the pan from the oven and let the pork rest at room temperature in the braising liquid for 30 minutes.
4. Transfer the pork from the braising liquid to a sheet pan. Place another sheet pan on top of the pork, and put a six-pound weight on top (a large cookbook works well). Place the trays in the refrigerator until the pork is cool throughout, at least 90 minutes.
5. Remove the pork from the tray and cut into one-inch by three-inch rectangles. Season the rectangles with salt and pepper, and grill (using an outdoor grill or indoor cast-iron version) until the top is crisp and the pork is warm throughout, about six minutes on each side.

Mustard greens
3 bunches mustard greens
2 oz vegetable oil
2 oz smoked bacon, cut into cubes
½ onion, diced
Salt and pepper

1. Remove stems from mustard greens and discard. Wash the greens under cold water and dry completely.
2. Heat the oil in a stockpot. Add the bacon and onion; cook until the onion is translucent.
3. Add the greens in batches (they will shrink as they cook) and cook until tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
4. Season with salt and pepper. If necessary, drain on paper towels to remove excess liquid.

Red wine–poached apples
6 Granny Smith apples
10½ oz (about 7/8 cup) honey
150 ml red-wine vinegar
1.5 liters dry red wine
2 tsp ground sumac
6 black peppercorns
2 cloves

1. Peel and core the apples. Set aside in a bowl of water to avoid browning.
2. Bring the honey and vinegar to a boil in a wide saucepan.
3. When the honey is completely dissolved, reduce the heat to low and add the wine, sumac, peppercorns and cloves.
4. Halve the apples lengthwise and place rounded-side down in the poaching liquid. Cover loosely and allow the apples to poach on low heat for 30 minutes.
5. Store the apples in the refrigerator covered in the poaching liquid until ready to use. Thinly slice the apples lengthwise just before serving.

TIPS
• We found (non-Berkshire) pork belly and veal stock at Paulina Meat Market. The stock is in glacé form (a concentrate you dissolve in water). Beef stock will do the trick, too.
• Sumac, a ubiquitous spice in Middle Eastern food, isn’t so prevalent in most U.S. grocery stores. Find it at the Spice House (1512 N Wells St, 312-274-0378).

AT PERENNIAL $22 per serving
AT HOME $7 per serving (without the spaetzle, parsnip, etc.)

NEXT>>