Cider Braised Pork Belly with Grilled Fennel and Apple by Zique, Glasgow 

You can get your hands on a selection of Zique’s tasty treats at the Edinburgh Food Festival, Assembly George Square Gardens, Edinburgh, 25-29 July 2018. 
#EdFoodFest18 
For more information visit www.byzique.com and www.edfoodfest.com

Ingredients: Serves 4
For the pork belly:
1kg pork belly (in one piece)
1 litre cider
1 litre chicken or veg stock
1 onion
1 fennel bulb
1 bulb of garlic, peeled
1 bunch sage leaves
4 bay leaves
1 tablespoon each of toasted & crushed fennel seeds & dried chilli seeds
Salt
For the grilled fennel and apple:
2 Cox’s Pippins
2 bulbs fennel
1 lemon, juice and zest of
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped
For the gremolata:
1 tsp each of chopped garlic, lemon zest, parsley, toasted almonds.

Method:
1.    Preheat the oven to 220°C.
2.    Cook the pork in a roasting tray that fits all the ingredients for the pork belly snugly. Use the chopped vegetables as a trivet, place the meat on top of the vegetables, add the liquids, 
3.    Season the skin with salt and place in the oven. 
4.    After half an hour, once you see the skin start to crackle, turn the oven down to 170°C and cook for a further hour or until the meat is tender.
5.    Once cooked, cool the meat in the liquid then remove. Save the liquid. 
6.    Place on a tray lined with greaseproof paper and place another tray and a weight on top of the pork, cool in the fridge. Pass the cooled liquid through a sieve.
7.    For the roasted fennel and apple, place the chilli, thyme, garlic, lemon zest and juice in a large bowl with a glug of olive oil. 
8.    Core the apple and slice in cross sections to about 1cm thick. Place the apples on a hot griddle pan turning after about a minute when there are nice bar marks on them. Then toss the apples in the bowl with the olive oil and spice mix. 
9.    Cut the fennel into wedges, repeat this process with the fennel.
10.    For the gremolata, mix the chopped garlic, parsley, lemon and toasted almonds together in a small bowl or ramekin.
11.    To serve, cut the pork into 4 portions, squares or rectangles, removing the greaseproof paper. Place in a medium hot pan with a little veg oil and cook until crispy and golden on all sides, and hot in the middle. Place the pork on serving plates.
12.    In the same pan, while still hot toss the apple, fennel, marinade and liquid remaining from the pork. Bring to a quick boil and then place on the plate with the pork. 
13.    Sprinkle the gremolata over each plate and enjoy. 
 
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