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Video: Pork belly and roasted squash

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    >> we're cooking pork belly .

    >>> food suppliers bring them to your table. he applies this philosophy in our brand new restaurant called la farm in westport, connecticut connecticut. chef, good to see you.

    >> good to see you.

    >> how's the restaurant going?

    >> good. we're about seven days old.

    >> and they said it wouldn't last. anyway, what are you making here?

    >> so, we're going to do one of my favorite things in the world, which is a porkby.

    >> yeah.

    >> and what's really important, if you're not familiar, you can see a pork belly is really just bacon.

    >> i was going to say, looks like bacon.

    >> without the cure, without the smoke. all we're going to do is capping this fresh pork belly . so, i started already and we'll go through. the idea here is you've got all this fat on top. so we want to score this fat and allow it to get surface area so it can crust up. and what we're going to do is take a quick cure. we're going to do about three parts of salt, one part of sugar and then we'll throw some herb in and mix it around and take it through.

    >> so it's kind of like a rub.

    >> exactly. and we're looking to just seal the juices within the pork. and this is seasoning. we're going to throw it onto a roasting pan and that's going to go --

    >> in the oven?

    >> we'll sit it for an hour to six hours and throw it into a high oven, 425, 450, about a half hour and then lower the heat really low for a few hours.

    >> you're teaming up with my favorite, butternut squash --

    >> acorn squash .

    >> well, that's another favorite of mine.

    >> acorn squash .

    >> so --

    >> another simple preparation. beauty of acorn squash , why i chose it today was it has its own guidelines. so, if you never cut squash before --

    >> look at that, little ridges.

    >> all you're going to do is follow the lines of the squash and we're going to throw this in a bowl, have a little bit more over here. then again, we're sticking with fall spices, so right here we have some cinnamon, cayenne, and allspice. throw in some brown sugar . throw some brown sugar in here.

    >> little olive oil ?

    >> a little olive oil if you want to throw it in. don't be shy. we'll throw a couple knobs of butter here. then really quick, i'm going to throw a pinch --

    >> of each one.

    >> of each spice. we'll toss it around real quick. doesn't have to be perfect. it's going into the oven to roast. this is about 450 degrees. it depends on your offensiven.

    >> so when it's already done, we come back here --

    >> you want to let it caramelize.

    >> we pull out the pork belly .

    >> this is the pork belly . tell me it's not gorgeous. there's only a couple things and this is one of them. we take the pork belly and slice it. i like to bring it to 360 degrees internal temperature. you can see it's a little pink from the salt. all we're going to do is take a piece of pork belly here and slice it for you and bring it over here and start a plate.

    >> we've got one over here. what kind of greens?

    >> baby arugula.

    >> one of my favorites. where's the ladies? any time now. come on.

    >> fine, fine. we were having --

    >> sorry.

    >> we didn't know. hi, how are you?

    >> how are you?

    >> all right.

    >> delicious.

    >> look at that.

    >> i love this stuff.

    >> well done.

    >> fantastic. fabulous.

    >> what is this --

    >> you can watch it on the web.

    >> we have vivica fox coming up, mario lopez , our man panel, all things, all guy.

    >> interesting.

    >> hot.

TODAY recipes
updated 10/15/2009 10:41:42 AM ET 2009-10-15T14:41:42

This autumn make a home-cooked meal that is hearty and filling. Chef Bill Taibe shares fresh and flavorful roasted pork belly and acorn squash recipes that are perfect for a fall family dinner.

Recipe: Slow-roasted pork belly with apple pulp, fresh horseradish root and arugula (on this page) Recipe: Roasted acorn squash (on this page)


Recipe: Slow-roasted pork belly with apple pulp, fresh horseradish root and arugula

Ingredients
  • 4 pounds pork belly
  • Salt and pepper
  • Herbs de Provence
  • White organic sugar
  • 2-3 local apples
  • 1 piece fresh horseradish root
  • Arugula
  • Olive oil
  • Creme fraiche - store-bought, e.g., Kendall Farms Crème Fraiche
Preparation

Rub pork belly with 3 parts salt, 1 part herbs de Provence, 1 part sugar and a little cracked pepper. Let sit and dry cure for 1 hour.

On wire rack, roast in 425-degree oven for 20-30 minutes until oven seared. Lower oven to 250 degrees and slow-roast for approximately 5 hours or until internal thermometer reads 160 degrees.

Grate apples and horseradish root over the pork belly. Drizzle creme fraiche and add a handful of arugula to the plate, drizzle some olive oil over arugula.

Serving Size

Serves 6-8 people

Recipe: Roasted acorn squash

Ingredients
  • 2 acorn squash
  • 3-4 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons diced butter
  • Olive oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon allspice
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
Preparation

Cut squash in half and remove the seeds. Cut into sections following the lines of the squash. Toss sections with brown sugar, butter, olive oil, spices and salt. Bake in 450-degree oven for 15-20 minutes.

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