INGREDIENTS
PORK BELLY AND GLAZE1 liters of apple juice
125 milliliters of cider vinegar
125 grams of caster sugar
125 grams of Demerara sugar
1/2 cinnamon stick
4 cloves
1 bay leaf
5 sprigs of fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoons of smoked paprika
1 pinch of cayenne pepper
1 kilograms of pork belly with skin on
BALSAMIC GLAZED CARROTS
200 grams of chantenay carrots, peeled
140 milliliters of balsamic vinegar
30 milliliters of olive oil
2 1/2 star anise
4 grams of tarragon
4 grams of thyme
1 bay leaf, small
4 pinches of freshly ground black pepper
1 pinch of salt
4 grams of caster sugar
10 grams of butter
CARROT PURÉE
515 grams of baby carrots, peeled and finely chopped
35 grams of unsalted butter, diced
6 grams of tarragon, sprigs tied together with string
6 grams of sprigs of thyme
3 grams of Sea salt
3 star anise
160 milliliters of chicken stock
80 milliliters of double cream
35 milliliters of lemon juice
15 grams of caster sugar
PREPARATION
1First make the pork belly glaze. Place all the ingredients together in a pan and reduce on a low heat until syrupy. Leave to infuse for a day before passing through a fine strainer
2To make the carrot and star anise purée, heat a pan over a low heat and melt the butter. Add the carrots, salt, sugar, tarragon, thyme and star anise and cover with a lid. Cook for 8-12 minutes without colouring the carrots, stirring now and again
3Add the stock and cream and cook at a fast simmer for approximately 20 minutes until reduced. Add the lemon juice and reduce further until thick and soft
4Remove two thirds of the star anise from the carrots as well as the thyme and tarragon. Place a third of the carrots into the blender with the star anise and purée until very smooth. Pass through a fine sieve
5Purée the remaining carrots coarsely, mix together with the finely puréed carrots and cool until ready to serve
6Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C/gas mark 4. Place the belly in a large medium hot frying pan with a dash of oil and sear on all sides until evenly browned. Warm through in the the oven for 30 minutes, season and then glaze generously with a brush
7Reduce to oven to 170˚C/gas mark 3.5. Add the pork back to the oven for 1.5 hours, glazing every 20 minutes
8Start the balsamic glazed carrots while the pork is roasting. Heat a casserole pan on a medium heat with the olive oil. Once hot add the butter. When the butter is golden, add the peeled carrots, star anise, tarragon, thyme, bay leaves, salt, pepper and sugar
9Cook on a medium heat for approximately 10-15 minutes. Turn the heat right up so that they start to colour. After 3-4 minutes they should be a golden brown. Add the balsamic vinegar and cook until the vinegar has reduced by two thirds and is thick and syrupy
10Drain the carrots and remove all the herbs. Use the reduced vinegar to reheat the carrots so they are nice and glazed when ready to serve
11When the pork belly is ready, divide into 4 even portions and trim of any excess to create 4 even rectangular portions. Coat with the hot glaze and set aside
12Heat the carrot puree and place down the centre of the dish, followed by the hot glazed pork belly and re-heated balsamic glazed carrots
