Day 258: aromatic, salty, tender, crunchy
In my recent pledge to start eating through my freezer, it was about time I pulled out and thawed the big slab of pork belly that’s been in there since just before Easter. I know it’s not ‘rib-in’ but I had to devote it to this: Day 258 is Nigella’s Norwegian Pork Ribs.
I’ve been a little off my game in recent weeks. And I confess that in my usual haste, coupled now with the additional distraction of children asking me a hundred questions a minute, I didn’t read the recipe properly and cooked the pork covered for the whole duration (instead of covered for the first stint and then uncovered for the second, longer one). It was nothing a little high-force, oven-with-the-fan-on blasting couldn’t fix and I managed to end up with near-perfect crackling; if I were famous for my patience, then I probably could have achieved a more even blistering and crunch all over. However, there were no complaints. Only harmonious groans of utter contentment between the synchronised crunching.
Despite this little hiccough, It’s quite likely I’ll never cook pork belly any other way again; the dill, the garlic and the juniper punching through the tender meat like a Viking is just heaven! In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if Andhrímnir, chef of the Æsir (Norse Gods Odin, Frigg, Höðr, Thor, and Baldr), prepared the beast Sæhrímnir in his trusty cauldron Eldhrímnir in the same way to feed the legendary gods every night. It’s certainly a god-worthy creation.
Nigella’s Norwegian Pork Ribs
I’d planned to serve this with the Roast Quinces and a selection of salads. However, as is the norm in parenting life - and probably the thing I’m struggling with the most (for an anxious person who relies on certainty) - the day never does quite go to plan, does it? So, it was a quick bowl of - and, Italians, I’m very sorry - pasta shells, sweetcorn, cream, chorizo, parsley and parmesan for the kids; and a couple of soft, white sesame-studded rolls filled with chunks of this aromatic pork (fresh from the oven) and Fermented Hot Sauce for the adults, once the kids were in bed.
I’ll be serving it with the Roast Quinces tomorrow. I can’t tell you how excited I am about those.
The recipe for Nigella’s Norwegian Pork Ribs is on p265 of Cook Eat Repeat and on nigella.com (link below).
