Not really. We used our normal fennel rub (fronds, seed, pollen, salt & pepper) on the meat. The only thing we do that might be called special is dry it in front of Chicken Fan (he works just fine for pork) for most of the day on the counter. Then just put it in the regular oven for 1.5hrs at 400F with convection on. Buying really good pork belly with the skin on is obviously key. W don’t even use the baking soda “cheat” which a lot of cooks use to get the skin to bubble and crisp.
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On paper, that should work. I’ll give it a try. I just so happen to love Tannat.
Are you up late, or I’m up early or both? LOL.
Report back if you try it, please. I find those wines to be pairing geniuses, and very gently priced.
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I’m up late. My nap from earlier today is now backfiring on me. 
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2 dishes for a Saturday night. Diet January is still going strong, with nary a carb in sight. Tonight’s secret ingredient is: Sweet Garleek!
The ‘sweet garleek’ is a hybrid vegetable grown by row7 seed company https://www.row7seeds.com. It looks like a baby leek but with a more garlicky flavor than a normal leek. For those who don’t know, Row7 was originally founded as a partnership between chef Dan Barber and the Cornell University Agriculture dept. Their mission is to create new varieties of vegetables that are bred for flavor first instead of yield, stability, disease resistance, etc. It may sound like a no brainer of an idea, but our food supply in America especially, is not grown with flavor or nutrition in mind. Row7 is getting pretty big now, and you can find their products in Whole Foods markets in my area (Philadelphia) and Id assume other major metros too. I bought these there, but you can also buy their seeds and grow all their veggies yourself!
Albacore Tuna Tartare - Avocado, Cucumber, Fried Garleek, Salsa Roja
my fish supplier got in a shot of wild Hawaiian albacore, which is always exciting. This is stuff is close to yellowfin in its color and richness, fantastic stuff. cubed and dressed with mashed avocado, lime, diced cucumber and some dots of a roasted chipotle salsa I made the other day that aren’t visible. This was fantastic and the tuna was not overpowered by the other ingredients.
Crispy Branzino, Spinach, Garleek Salsa Verde
For this dish I used the green stalks of the garleek in the spinach, sautéed simply in a little butter. The salsa verde has the diced green tops along with parsley, caper, anchovy, lemon, olive oil and a little splash of the leftover oil from frying the garleek for the first dish. I also used that oil to cook the fish (carbon steel pan with a weight on top)
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Miso glazed salmon. Green curry vegetables. The bean sprouts don’t add much visually. There was an assortment of broccoli, bok choy, a different Choi variation that I can never remember the name of (my default Asian market is Vietnamese so all the vegetable have their Viet names) mushroom and sweet potatoes. My wife pronounced it good but too spicy for her.
I had rice noodles with mine. She opted to go noodle free.
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The green vegetable I verified at lunch as cai bo xoi. My wife likes it a little better than bok choi.
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Okay, help me out here…what am I looking at? The 244 I got. 
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Haha…it’s a quick n easy, quite tasty, little Asian put together! Pot stickers and fresh broccoli, tossed in with PF Chang’s Chicken fried rice! Bachans bbq sauce…Mmmmm! 
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Veal chops from a couple of nights ago prior to adding the (very simple) reduction sauce/glaze. With Parmesan dusted asparagus not pictured.
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I was imagining Chinese leftovers all mixed together in one takeout container, then poured in a pan to reheat. I was close! 
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Pork Butt soft tacos, refried black beans and some peppers and onions. Nothin says lovin like a pork butt in the oven. I purée the roasting vegetables and chiles after I defat. The leftovers after pulling get vacuum bagged and sent home with the kids.
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Yeah…this is the gourmet version! 
I don’t take a lot of food pictures, but I thought this came out great. A pizza frittata. Spinach, mushrooms, red peppers, and, of course, pepperoni and mozzarella. I also added some dabs of ricotta. Very tasty.
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Made dinner for 5 tonight:
Spaghetti con bottarga di muggine.
Duck confit.
Parsnips purée.
The cook made the vegetable side dish of green beans, cherry tomatoes & portobellos sautéed in duck fat.
Had some Quintarelli Bianco Secco with the pasta course.
And there you go.
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Grilled Sea Bream.
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Accompanied by beets with a spiced yogurt sauce, Gai lan, and blistered cherry tomatoes. Cheeks in front of the collar (they were not extra tasty the way cheeks often are).
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2022 Hermann Ludes - Kabinett Riesling Feinherb “Gackes Unten” paired perfectly.
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Chicken Soup, White Beans, Kale
A simple and unassuming dish that took an immense amount of effort. And a tale of jealousy.
When I learned how @Sarah_Kirschbaum and Johnathan run their kitchen, making massive batches of stock (multiple kinds) so that there is some on hand at all times, I wanted to do a similar version for myself. and so I bought myself a big ass 40 quart stockpot. It needs 2 burners! I will never have kids, but if I did I would bathe them in this mf.
I *only had about 12-15lbs of bones, wings, necks and feet, along with some white meat as well that was added raw. here’s a pic of the bones pre-roast
after a thorough roast in a hot oven (don’t skimp!) the bones were covered with water and a mess of aromatics went in - mirepoix, bay. thyme, parsley, peppercorn. Then the extra white meat went in, and everything was covered with a cartouche. After about 18hrs it looked like this:
I ended up with about 8L, I was making closer to 3 with my previous setup. I don’t think I’ll ever make a full batch, unless I buy another freezer.
Tonight’s soup was the base stock, seasoned with dried chanterelles, Anaheim chiles and fermented green garlic and steeped for about 30 mins, then strained. The chicken was poached in the stock, then brought back to a boil, greens and beans added, then simmered until the greens were cooked through. Season to taste with both salt and soy.
Many more rewards in store for my efforts.
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