BLACK PEPPER MAPLE PORK BELLY WITH TRES LECHES CORNBREAD, APPLE PAVE, SMOKED APPLE CREMA AND CHERRY BUTTER

Recipe by Christine Hazel, Executive Chef and Food Network Chopped Champion at
​ Huntingdon Valley Country Club, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, USA

​Yield: 5 portions

Ingredients

Pork Belly

• 3 pounds Pork Belly (skin on and scored)
• 3 Shallots (rough chopped)
• 1 Carrot (peeled and rough chopped)
• 1 Celery Stick (rough chopped)
• 4 Garlic Cloves (roughly crushed)
• 5 sprigs Fresh Thyme
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 2 quarts Hard Apple Cider 
• 1 quart Chicken Stock

Glaze

• Cracked Black Pepper
• ½ Cup Maple Syrup
• 1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
• 1 cup Reduced Braising Liquid
• Salt and Pepper

Smoked Apple Crema

• 6 Granny Smith Apples
• Cherrywood Wood Chips
• ½ cup Heavy Cream
• 1 cup Bourbon

Paprika Oil

• 1 cup Blended Oil
• 4 teaspoons Ground Paprika

Tres Leches Cornbread

• 1 cup All-purpose Flour
• 1 cup Yellow Cornmeal
• 2/3 cup Granulated Sugar 
• 3.5 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• 1 Egg
• 1 cup Milk
• 1/3 cup Vegetable Oil

​
Tres Leches Mixture

• 1 cup Milk
• 1 cup Heavy Cream
• 1 cup Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 1 Tablespoon Thyme (chopped)
• 1 Tablespoon Garlic (minced)
• 2 Tablespoon Bourbon
• 1 cup Bacon Fat (for searing)

​
Apple Pave

• 15 Granny Smith Apples
• 2 cups cornstarch (as needed)
• Salt and Black Pepper (to Taste)
• 1 pound Butter (melted)
• Pastry Brush

Cherry Butter

• 2 pounds Cherries (pitted)
• 1/3 cup Granulated Sugar

​
Garnish

• Bull’s Blood Microgreens
• Pickled Mustard Seeds
  

Preparation

Pork Belly 
Season the pork, then place it on a large roasting tray. Place the shallots, carrot, celery, herbs, and spices over the pork. Pour the cider and chicken stock over the pork. Cover with foil and braise at 300 F for 3-4 hours until tender. 
Remove the pork from the braising liquid. Place on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Cover with another sheet of parchment paper and top with another sheet pan. Place a weight on top of the sheet tray and place in the refrigerator for 2 hours.  
Glaze: Strain the braising liquid and reduce it down to 1 cup. 
Add the maple syrup and Dijon mustard. Season with salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Set aside. 

Fry the pork belly at 350 F until golden brown and warmed through. Coat with maple-black pepper glaze, then cut the pork into 3-inch squares.  

Smoked Apple Crema
Cut and core the apples into wedges. Place the cherrywood chips into a full sized hotel pan. Place the sliced apples into a perforated half hotel pan. Ignite cherrywood chips and create smoke. Cover with foil. Relight every ten minutes for an hour.  
Place the apples into a saucepan with the bourbon and simmer for 20 minutes.  
Puree in a Vitamix until smooth. Add the heavy cream and season with salt.  

Paprika Oil
Place the oil and paprika into a saucepot and bring to a simmer. After 3 minutes, turn off the heat and allow it to steep for 10 minutes. Let cool. Strain through a chinois lined with cheesecloth. 

Tres Leches Cornbread
Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix all wet ingredients in separate bowl. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.  
Lightly grease a baking pan with butter. Pour the batter into the pan and bake at 325F until golden brown and cooked through. (Approximately 35 minutes).  

Tres Leches Mixture
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.
After the tres leches cornbread has cooled, take a toothpick and poke holes in the cornbread to create room for the tres leches mixture.
Pour the mixture over the cornbread and allow to soak for 3-4 hours.
Remove the cornbread from the pan and cut into 3-inch squares.
Heat a nonstick pan to medium heat, then coat the bottom of the pan with the bacon fat. Sear the cornbread on all sides until golden brown. 

Apple Pave
Line a baking pan with parchment paper and coat with a nonstick spray. 
Quarter the apples. Slice thinly on a mandoline keeping the skin on.
Layer the apples facing one direction and overlapping (covering the entire surface area of the pan).
Lightly brush the melted butter to coat all the apples. Season with salt and pepper and lightly sprinkle with cornstarch—Layer the apples facing 180 degrees opposite. (creating a patchwork effect). Completely cover the surface area of the pan. Season with Salt and Pepper and lightly sprinkle with cornstarch.
Chef Note: Repeat these steps until the top of the pan is reached. 

Press down on top of the layers and place in the freezer with a weight on top. Freeze for an hour.
Next bake at 325F for 2 hours. Remove from oven. Cut into triangles. Sprinkle with cornstarch and fry at 350F until golden brown.  

Cherry Butter
Pour the sugar over the cherries and let the natural juices come out for approximately 30 minutes.
Puree the cherries and sugar in a Vitamix until smooth. Simmer for 15 minutes. Let Cool. 

Assembly
Using a spoon, place ¼ cup cherry butter in the bottom of the plate using a circular motion and place the cornbread in the center. Glaze the pork belly and set it on top of cornbread. Lean the apple pave on the side of the cornbread. Put the smoked crema into a piping bag and dollop around the pork. Top with Bull’s Blood Microgreens. 
 
Wine Match 

Spindler Pfalz Riesling Heinrich Spindler - Schatzi Wines 

Many moderately priced Rieslings can be extremely pleasant but lack depth and substance. This is not one of them. It’s rich and deep, fresh and incisive, with electric acidity. The Musenhang vineyard is a cool site high on a slope in the foothills of the Haardt Mountains of Southwestern Germany, where the vines are planted on limestone and sandstone.

~Schatzi Wines

The Rock wall at the 11th green at Huntingdon Valley Country Club. I
mage courtesy Huntingdon Valley Country Club