View source for Breaded belly of pork fingers with creamy cabbage and red wine jus

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|title=Breaded belly of pork fingers with creamy cabbage and red wine jus recipe
|titlemode=replace
|keywords=#pork #vegetables #stock #porkbellies #redwine #tomatoes #rapeseedoil #porkbelly #breadcrumbs #panko #cup 
|hashtagrev=032020
|description=Chef Brian Turner cooked this recipe for Michael Buerk on the BBC2 series; My Life on Plate. It looked interesting so I thought I would make my own
}}
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{{recipesummary
|TotalCalories = 13006
|PortionCalories = 1625
|DatePublished=16th November 2015
|Author=Chef
|ImageComment = 
|Servings = Serves 8
|Difficulty = 3
|TotalTime =  3 hours, 55 minutes
|PrepTime =  8 hours, 25 minutes
|CookTime =  3 hours, 30 minutes
|Image = [[Image:Breaded belly of pork fingers with creamy cabbage and red wine gravy recipe.jpg|alt=Electus]]
<span class="review">
<span class="reviewHeader">
====Best recipe review====
</span>
''<span class="reviewTitle">Sounds fancy, tastes brilliant</span>''

<span style="line-height:180%"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span class="reviewScore">5</span>/5 </span>

<span class="reviewDesc">Quite a 'fussy' recipe, but taste it and you'll be glad of the effort you made.</span> 

<span class="reviewAuthor"> [[User:PSmith|Paul&nbsp;R&nbsp;Smith]] </span></span>
}}
Chef Brian Turner cooked this recipe for Michael Buerk on the BBC2 series; My Life on  Plate.  It looked interesting so I thought I would make my own version.

It was an astounding success and will become one of my [[:Category:Favourite recipes|favourite recipes]].

Basically the [[Pork belly|pork belly]] is slow [[Roasted|roasted]] in [[Vegetables|vegetables]] and half a bottle of [[Red wine|red wine]].  Then the [[Pork|pork]] belly is pressed under weights, cut into strips, [[Breaded|breaded]] and [[Pan fried|pan fried]]. The whole process is quite a palava, though definitely worth the trouble.  Because of this I decided to buy 2 [[Pork bellies|pork bellies]] and slow cook them together.  At about £5.00 each it seems to make financial sense as well as time saving.  The spare pork belly has been [[Vacuum packed|vacuum packed]] and will be used to make this recipe again in the very near future.

As far as the [[Vegetables|vegetables]] are concerned, they are to flavour the [[Meat|meat]] and to enrich the [[Stock|stock]], use whatever you have handy, there is no fixed rule for what to use. They will be discarded after cooking (and  fed to our [[Chickens|chickens]] in this case)  I often [[Freeze|freeze]] unused fresh vegetables; this is an idea recipe in which to use them up.

The [[Pork belly|pork belly]], [[Cabbage|cabbage]] and [[red wine]] jus can be all be cooked beforehand finally reheated while the [[Pork|pork]] is being [[Fried|fried]].
{{RecipeIngredients

}}
====to slow cook the pork belly====
{{RecipeIngredientsNB
| ''use whatever similar [[Vegetables|vegetables]] you have to [[Hand|hand]]''
| 2 kg boneless [[Pork bellies|pork bellies]], skin removed
| 1 [[Leek|leek]], chopped into rings
| 4 [[Cloves of garlic|cloves of garlic]], unpeeled and smashed under a knife
| 2 sticks of [[Celery|celery]], with leaves if possible, chopped into moons
| 2 [[Carrots|carrots]], [[Split|split]] down the middle
| 1 [[Parsnip|parsnip]], guess, [[Split|split]] down the middle
| Half a [[Turnip|turnip]], cut into chunks
| A handful of [[Tomatoes|tomatoes]], halved
| A bunch of [[Fresh herbs|fresh herbs]], [[Thyme|thyme]] and [[Sage|sage]] are good with this
| 300 ml [[Red wine|red wine]]
| 400 ml of [[Chicken stock|chicken stock]]
| Splash of [[Light soy sauce|light soy sauce]]
| Pinch of [[Chilli powder|chilli powder]]
| A pinch of [[Sea Salt|sea salt]] and [[Freshly ground black pepper|freshly ground black pepper]]
}}
==== for the breaded pork fingers====
{{RecipeIngredientsNB
| Half a [[Cup|cup]] of [[Plain flour|plain flour]]
| Half a teaspoon of [[Tex-Mex seasoning]] [or whatever you fancy to give them a little lift]
| 2 large [[Eggs|eggs]], beaten
| 1 [[Cup|cup]] of [[Panko]] [[Breadcrumbs|breadcrumbs]]
| [[Rapeseed oil]] for shallow [[Frying|frying]]
}}
====for the creamy cabbage====
{{RecipeIngredientsNB
| 1 small [[Savoy cabbage]]
| 300 ml pot of [[Single Cream|single cream]]
| Freshly chopped [[Parsley|parsley]]
| [[Salt]] and [[Pepper|pepper]]
}}
===[[Mise en place]]===

* Preheat the [[Oven|oven]] to 160° C (32° F - gas 3), [fan oven 140° C & reduce cooking time by 10 mins per hour]

===Method===
{{RecipeMethod

| [[Sautee]] the [[Leeks|leeks]] (or [[Onions|onions]]), [[Celery|celery]] and [[Garlic|garlic]] in a little [[Olive oil|olive oil]] for a few minutes
| Add the [[Tomatoes|tomatoes]] and [[Red wine|red wine]] and heat for 3 or 4 minutes
| Place the chopped [[Vegetables|vegetables]] in the base of a [[Roasting tray|roasting tray]], large enough to accommodate both [[Pork bellies|pork bellies]]
| Arrange the [[Fresh herbs|fresh herbs]] over the [[Vegetables|vegetables]] and sprinkle with [[Salt|salt]] and [[Pepper|pepper]]
| Sit the [[Pork bellies|pork bellies]], on top of the [[Vegetables|vegetables]], fatty side to the top
| Pour the [[Wine|wine]] mixture over the [[Pork bellies|pork bellies]]
| Pour the [[Stock|stock]] around the side of the [[Pork|pork]]
| Cover with just enough [[Tin foil|tin foil]] to stop the [[Pork|pork]] from [[Drying|drying]] out.  Don't completely cover as you want the [[Stock|stock]] to reduce while the pork cooks
| Slow cook in the middle of the [[Oven|oven]] for about 3 hours
| Remove the [[Pork|pork]] and allow to cool
| Drain the [[Stock|stock]] for later and discard the [[Vegetables|vegetables]]
| Press the [[Pork|pork]] under a heavy weight for a few hours at least.  I used a [[Granite pizza stone|granite pizza stone]].  Hardly any liquid comes from the pork but the [[Meat|meat]] is compressed a little more
}}
====cooking the breaded pork fingers====
{{RecipeMethod
| Cut each [[Pork belly|pork belly]] into four square 'fingers'
| Beat the 2 [[Eggs|eggs]] into a bowl and season the [[Plain flour|plain flour]] with [[Tex-Mex seasoning]] or just [[Salt|salt]] and [[Pepper|pepper]] and add to another bowl
| Add the [[Panko]] [[Breadcrumbs|breadcrumbs]] to a final bowl
| Heat the [[Rapeseed oil|rapeseed oil]] in a [[Frying pan|frying pan]], meanwhile [[Bread|bread]] the [[Pork|pork]] fingers
| Press a [[Pork|pork]] finger into the seasoned [[Flour|flour]] so it is completely covered
| Dredge the finger through the [[Egg wash|egg wash]] and then press each side into the [[Breadcrumbs|breadcrumbs]] - don't forget the ends. repeat for all the fingers
| [[Shallow fry]] the [[Breaded|breaded]] [[Pork|pork]] in [[Rapeseed oil|rapeseed oil]]. Cook each side until it is golden [[Brown|brown]], then turn over onto an [[Uncooked|uncooked]] edge
}}
====red wine jus====
{{RecipeMethod
| Scrape and  discard any [[Fat|fat]] from the cooled [[Stock|stock]] and press through a [[Sieve|sieve]]
| Heat the [[Stock|stock]] in a [[Saucepan|saucepan]] and reduce by about half.
}}
====creamy savoy cabbage====
{{RecipeMethod
| Separate the leaves, remove and discard the stems from the middle of each leaf, place the leaves together and chop into strips
| Drop into [[Boiling|boiling]] [[Salted|salted]] water and allow to return to the [[Boil|boil]], then drain
| Plunge into a bowl of cold water to retain the colour.  Cold water does the job just as well as iced water to my mind
| Heat the [[Single Cream|single cream]] and a knob of [[Butter|butter]] in a pan and season. Add the [[Cabbage|cabbage]] and gently heat until warmed through.  I used half of the [[Cream|cream]] in the cabbage and half in the [[Mashed potatoes|mashed potatoes]].
}}
<gallery widths=300px heights=300px perrow=5>
Image:Breaded belly of pork fingers bubble and squeak and red wine gravy recipe.jpg|Also nice with [[bubble and squeak]] and grilled tomatoes
Image:Savoy cabbage plunged into cold water.jpg|[[Savoy cabbage]] plunged into cold water
Image:Vegetables laid in roasting tray.jpg|Vegetables in the roasting tray and cooking off [[onions]], [[tomatoes]] and [[red wine]]
Image:Skinned pork bellies sitting on the veg.jpg|Pork bellies sitting on the vegetables, fat-side up
Image:Tomatoes and wine on pork bellies.jpg|Tomato mixture poured over the pork
Image:Just covered with tin foil.jpg|Just covered with tin foil
Image:Pork after slow cooking.jpg|Pork after 3 hours of slow cooking
Image:Pork bellies after 8 hours of pressing.jpg|After 8 hours of pressing
Image:Squared off pork fingers for breading.jpg|Squared off pork fingers ready for breading
Image:Breading process.jpg|The breading station!
Image:Pan frying pork fingers.jpg|Pan frying, ready for assembly

</gallery>
===Serving suggestions===
Serve with creamy [[Mashed potatoes|mashed potatoes]]
===Recipe source===

* Chef Brian Turned cooked a recipe similar to this for Michael Buerk on the BBC2 series; My Life on  Plate.
===Variations===
The next day we used the remaining cabbage, potatoes, onions and a small cooking apple to make [[bubble and squeak]] as a replacement for the mashed potatoes.  Grilled tomatoes finished this dish off nicely.
[[Category:Recipes]]
{{RecipeLine}}
[[Category:British recipes]]
[[Category:Main courses]]
[[Category:Meat recipes]]
[[Category:Potato recipes]]
[[Category:Pork recipes]]
[[Category:Vegetable recipes]]
[[Category:Cooking with wine]]
[[Category:Pan fried]]
[[Category:Slow cooked]]
[[Category:Boiled or simmered]]
[[Category:Favourite recipes]]
[[Category:Unusual recipes]]

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