Sticky Pork Belly with Pickled Apple

Here is a cooking extravaganza where I thought 90% of the time it was a failure.

Do you want to know why I don't have one picture of this dish? Because we had friends over and there was lots of wine flowing... it just slipped my mind. And then there was the fact that I thought this was a disaster the entire time.




Here is the recipe I used for prepping and cooking the Pork Belly
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/roasted-pork-belly-with-gingery-rhubarb-compote-51155460
But the Pork Belly went back into the oven at lower temp for a while longer after I cranked the heat up for 30 minutes. I continued to cook on a low, 250 degrees for about an extra hour.

I didn't have time to let cool before slicing, so I did it right when it came out of the oven. I understand why the recipes usually say to cool in fridge first - it's slippery and falls apart. I used a serrated knife to help cut through while keeping all the layers intact.

Then I dusted the Pork Belly in a Potato Flour - not sure I would do this again. I thought the flour (and I used potato because that is what I had within arms reach) would help create a crust when I seared it. I don't think it was that big of a help.

I heated olive oil to smoking and then seared the portions on every side until crispy, and removed to a plate.

In the dirty pan, I followed this recipe for sauce:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/flattened-pork-chops-with-greens-and-mustard-pan-sauce-51255250
Honey
Vinegar
Mustard

When the sauce was thick and sticky I put the Pork Belly back in and turned to coat.

Lastly I plated the sticky Pork Belly with these pickled apple pieces.

Pickled Apples
http://sharedappetite.com/recipes/slow-roasted-pork-belly-with-cider-bacon-jam-and-pickled-apple/#_a5y_p=2873435

All in all they were really good and it wasn't a ton of hands on cooking time. I will have more confidence next time having done it once before.