FLOWER POT KITCHEN: SUPER EASY SLOW BRAISED FIVE SPICED BELLY PULLED PORK

6 May 2016

SUPER EASY SLOW BRAISED FIVE SPICED BELLY PULLED PORK

WoW what a fabulous dinner, aromatic sticky naturally sweet juicy pork and once again I had to fight the hoards off with chopsticks! Simple one pan cook with mouthwatering results goes great tossed through noodles, rice or stuffed into pancakes. I served this with pan seared multiple greens, julienned carrots and rice.

Prep Time 5 minutes / Marinating Time 0hrs - 24hrs / Cooking Time 1 hour ish

Ingredients

(serves 3-4)

1kg belly pork piece

2 tsp five spice

(want to make your own see below)

2 ltr home pressed natural apple juice

sea salt

white pepper

The longer you can marinate your pork the better, I will often marinate the pork for 24hrs, this seems to make some people feel daunted, it is no big deal, it takes five minutes the night before and then you are good to go and the pork is loaded with so much more flavour, but if you only have a few minutes don't worry the flavour is almost as good.

To marinate rub the the belly pork with the five spice, salt and pepper, place in a deep plastic tub and pop in the fridge to marinate anywhere from 30 minutes to 24hrs.

Pre heat the oven to 160 degrees C / 320 F, in a small but deep roasting tin place the belly pork, add the apple juice and cover with baking paper and then tin foil to create a seal, pop in the oven and slowly cook for approx 1 hour or until you feel you could pull the joint apart easily with a fork. I decided to slice the joint for this dish but you can easily pull the pork.

Remove from the oven and leave on the side for 15 minutes to rest and absorb the cooking juices, if you are going to serve this later leave in the cooking juices until completely cool this makes the belly pork even more succulent, that's is simple.

To serve I pan seared a bunch of greens and julienned carrots and steamed some rice and then tossed together and served with the pulled pork on top. This pork also goes great in a toasted bun topped with a apple slaw.

Five Spice Powder

(makes 2 tbsp)

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp toasted fennel seeds ground

1 tsp whole star anise ground

1 tsp toasted szechuan peppercorns ground

Mix all together, yields approx 2 tbsp in total, keep in a air tight glass jar until needed, best used within three months of making.

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.