In an outstanding feat of restaurant leftovers I created a delicious brunch this past Sunday.  Anyone in Portland could tell you how cold it was this day, and a how a lavish, greasy breakfast was in order.  At the restaurant we serve pork belly, naturally.  It’s one of Chef’s greatest dishes. The precise bacon wrapped portions create a bit of side product, which we sometimes use for sliders or staff meal. Sometimes I take home a little package for the freezer; a lazy Sunday.  I rendered off about 4 ounces of meat.  Combined with a bit of fat I had reserved from another project, I had about 3 ounces.  Emulisfing it into one egg yolk, It was just enough for one portion of silky sauce.  Snow drifted down outside, and the smell of fat filled the house, warming us.  I toasted the leftover brioche and poached the eggs.  Spinning the water and dropping the eggs, they simmered lightly just below the boiling point.  I usually use vinegar in this situation but not using any had a pleasant result.  Unseemly as they cooked, most of the whites dispersed into the water.   I ended up with perfectly cooked yolks however, and it’s all about the yolks right?  I loose chopped the pork belly and warmed it in a pan with butter. Everything came together on a warmed plate and smoked black sea salt. A most satisfying of meals, I felt it filled me up nicely.  I wasn’t even hungry until I saw the pulled pork that night at Jaybill’s.

My brother Jaybill has perfected southern style smoked pork.  He finally showed me how to do it, and it really got my faithful readers excited.  The 20 hour process involves brining, rubbing, smoking, roasting and only about 15 minutes of actual work.  Most of it is a drinking waiting game.  The night before you’re going to smoke, you need to get your pig in the brine. I used two six or seven pound boned-out boston butts. Jaybill swears by the bone-in cut, and I tend to agree with him.  I think the bone adds flavor as it cooks, and my dogs just love those things.  So you’ve got your meat, now crack a beer.  The brine is a simple recipe, taking just a few moments to prepare.  Whisk the ingredients together then sink in your meat.  Make sure the pork is covered with the flavorful liquid.  Optimal brining is about 12-14 hours.  Any longer, it might get too salty.  I floated mine at 6 pm the day before I was going to smoke, and pulled ‘em out at around 7:45 am the following morning.  Pat the meat dry to remove any excess moisture.  Now comes the rub.  As a cook, there have always been certain jobs that I’ve found naughty, almost erotic, and spice rubbing meat is certainly one of them.  Prepare your rub and go to town on that meat.  Every inch of that sucker should be crusted with spicy goodness.  When the meat is enrobed in deliciousness, get the smoker ready.  The genius of Jaybill’s smokers comes from their simplicity.  The parts for which can be found at any home and garden store, the heating element at your local Fred Meyer.  These things are everywhere. Fellow Alton Brown fans the world over embraced this DIY set-up, and our recipe featured here is adapted from his “Q” episode. Jaybill taught me to smoke the butts for four hours.  You’ll need at least a 12-pack of crsipy Longhammers for this part.  When four hours is up, remove the pork and tightly wrap it in tin foil.  Roast for an additional four hours in a pre-heated 300 degree oven.  Don’t be tempted to raise the oven temperature to shorten the cooking time.  All of those delicious juices you’ve worked so hard to create are going to escape.  Don’t you know, that with the pork bro, slow and low that is the tempo?  After 8 hours of cooking you’ll be well brined yourself no doubt and ready for the fun part, pulling.  After proper resting (about 20 minutes)  pull back the foil and take in the sweet smelling steam.  A pair of latex gloves will ensure your tender skin won’t get too warm as you pull apart the porky goodness.  At this point, the entire neighborhood will be lined up to sample your pork.  The smoke signal was sent out hours ago.  Don’t  Jersey up your meat with store bought barbeque sauce.  I recommend a North Carolina style vinegar sauce and some srirachanaise.  You can find AB’s original recipe here.  For our adapted ones read on.

Brine:
1/2  cup molasses
24 ounces kosher salt
1 gallon water
2- 6 to 8 pound Boston butts

Rub:
2 tblsp whole cumin seed
2 tblsp whole fennel seed
2 tblsp whole coriander
2 tblsp chipotle powder
2 tblsp onion powder
2 tblsp paprika

Combine molasses, pickling salt, and water in large bucket.  Completely submerge pork in brine, cover, and let sit in refrigerator 12 hours.Grind all spices to a fine powder in a coffee grinder.

Remove pork from brine and pat dry.

Rub them shits!!

Smoke them shits!!

Eat them shits with Foie Gras Baked Beans!!

I guess we were really braising, in duck fat, since the meat had already been brined and roasted. Left-over pork loin rejuvenated into a barbeque sandwich. I had some duck fat in the fridge, so I brought it to a boil on the stove and threw in the pork. We covered it, and in a 210 F oven it cooked for 4 hours. The resulting meat was tender and flaky and tore up easily for sauce slathering and sando assembly. The sandwiches provided no photo opportunities as they were quickly munched down by the hungry inhabitants of our household. Jaybill was available to pose with his barbeque sauce, which was delicious. I used some of Chef’s chorizo vinaigrette to make a paste with mayonnaise, we spread that on the toasted buns. The tastiest morsel of the meal was found on the side of the dutch oven we used. An incomprehensible ducky-pork flavored paste stuck to the inside rim. It was like eating candy.

Here’s a pork loin sandwich created by Ten-01 sous chef Arturo Lopez. Brined and slow roasted pork loin with provolone, pickled shallots, and pea tendril salad. Arturo puts such love and concentration into everything he cooks, I love when he cooks me food. For example, on this sandwich, he puts the shallots in between the slices of cheese so they don’t slide around. He thinks about shit like that. He’s got the love, simply put. He always sends extra food my way or over to the dishers. Like Thai-Style Pork Ribs. Lately I’ve been enjoying the new Lamb set, with the ever-delicious goat cheese gnocchi (which Arturo always makes) and artichokes. I watched him cook me one up the other night. He knew it was for me but he still bent over it in concentration, standing up the pieces just right. Arturo is the kind of chef who watches all day. He even observes when I don’t eat, and then brings me some food. “I saw you ate some fries but…” He knows the mise on my station, so he’s always asking me if I need this or that, and if I know about today’s party. He’ fucking on it. Chingon. I’ve learned so much working with this him that I feel like I’ve known him for years. He humbly knows all I know, and if he doesn’t know he can still do it better than me. He’s always got a better way, from the simple to the complex. Chef and he have been working together for a long time, and I can see why. It’s like father and son almost. Also coming off Arturo’s station is Chef’s new Squab Dish (below.) The legs are meticulously de-boned and stuffed with foie-gras torchon. Then they get bacon wrapped. I haven’t eaten this one yet, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

No, this isn’t about the thing with the butter and the guniea pig, so dont get excited.  Sometimes when I look at food being prepared or served I think: That is Food Porn.  Seeing a pig rotate slowly rotate over a hot fire, watching someone fold whip cream into eggs and choclolate, a case of red peppers cut up into a perfect julienne, are all great examples. This pig spun over hot coals for 27 hours.  Then I ate an eyeball.