Pork Confit from Forest Grill

Fall is here and that means a return to rustic and hearty meals.  Chef David Gilbert, of Forest Grill, shared his Pork Confit recipe which is the perfect autumnal dinner.  Garnished with Spiced Apple Slow Jams, this dish will warm your heart and your soul!  

Recipe...

2 tablespoons kosher salt

3 bay leaves

4 garlic cloves, crushed

½ bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped

2 tablespoons black peppercorns

1 bunch fresh sage

3 tablespoons chopped shallots

½ teaspoon pink salt

5 pounds boneless pork shoulder butt, cut into 2-inch chunks

2 to 4 cups rendered duck fat or lard or a combination (see recipe below)

1 jar Spiced Apple Slow Jams  

1.   Combine all the ingredients except the pork and the fat in a spice grinder and pulverize to a powder.

2.   Rub the mixture evenly all over the meat. Place it in a nonreactive container, cover and refrigerate for 24 hours if you’re using pork shoulder pieces, 48 hours if you’re using pork loin.

3.   Preheat the oven to 180 to 200 degrees F.

4.   Rinse the pork under tepid water, wiping off all the seasonings, and dry thoroughly with paper towels. Submerge the meat in the rendered fat in a stockpot or dutch oven. The meat must be completely covered in fat. Bring the fat to a gentle simmer on the stovetop, then place the pot, uncovered, in the oven, and cook until fork-tender for 4 to 6 hours for a shoulder, 3 hours for loin.

5.   Cool in the fat, then cover, making sure all the meat is submerged in the fat and refrigerate for at least 24 hours.

6.   To serve, allow the pork to come to room temperature, remove from fat, and sauté over medium heat or roast at 425 degrees F. until hot.

7.   Remove crispy pork from pan, top with Slow Jams Spiced Apple Jam. Serve with apple butter, roasted cippolini onions, and toasted sourdough.

To Render Fat

1 pound duck or goose skin and fat, scraps of pork fat

1.   Combine the fat and ¼ cup water in a heavy bottomed saucepan and set it over very low heat, uncovered, for several hours to render. The fat will liquefy and the water will evaporate, leaving pure fat. Don’t let the fat come to a boil or turn brown, or it will taste harsh.

2.   Strain the fat through a sieve lined with cheesecloth. Let cool, then store covered in the refrigerator.

Stuffed Eggplant with Tomato Jam

Fresh summer eggplant and Slow Jams Tomato Jam are combined to create a simple and delightful dinner, perfect for the last weeks of dining al fresco.  Right now, tomatoes are at the peak of their season, so we had to capture their delicious flavor in a jar!

Recipe…

5 Japanese Eggplants

3 Tbs Olive Oil

2 lbs Ground Beef (Lamb or Chicken will also work well)

1 Small Onion

3 Red Peppers

6 Cloves Garlic, Minced

½ Cup Fresh Parsley Leaves

½ Cup Fresh Basil Leaves

1 ¼ Cup Parmesan Cheese

¾ Cup Slow Jams Tomato Jam

Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cut eggplants in half and remove center, leaving “boats”.  Dice eggplant and chop onions and red peppers into ½ inch square pieces.

Heat 1 Tbs. olive oil in a medium sauté pan and season ground beef with salt and pepper.  Sauté ground beef and brown.  When beef is browned (8-10 minutes), remove from the pan and set beef aside.  Heat 2 Tbs. olive oil in pan and add onions, peppers and garlic.  Sauté until browned (8 minutes) and then remove from the heat.  Add cooked beef, herbs, 1 cup of cheese and ½ cup of Slow Jams Tomato Jam to the mixture.   

Season eggplant “boats” with salt and pepper and place on a greased baking sheet.  Divide meat mixture between 10 boats and top with remaining cheese.  Bake eggplant for 30 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and brown. 

Remove eggplant from oven and garnish with remaining Slow Jams Tomato Jam.  Enjoy!  

Sausage and Sweet Pepper Stuffed Portabellas

This dish is usually gobbled up within seconds of hitting the table.  While we use whole portabellas, feel free to use smaller button mushrooms, bell peppers – whatever catches your eye at the market and seems like it could hold such wonders.     

Recipe…

1 lb Corridor Sausage Vietnamese Chicken Sausage

1 Cup Chopped Fresh Spinach

½ Cup Slow Jams Sweet Pepper Jam

5 Large Portabella Mushrooms

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease a baking sheet.  Hull the mushrooms so there is room to stuff them.  Place the inside mushroom pieces into a mixing bowl and add the Vietnamese Chicken Sausage, spinach and Sweet Pepper Jam.  Mix all ingredients until they are combined and stuff each mushroom. 

Bake the mushrooms at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes, you’re your broiler on and broil mushrooms for 5-8 minutes, keeping an eye on them so they don’t burn.  Serve in wedges, halves or individual caps.       

Cranberry Red Onion Glazed Bacon Snuggled Sea Scallops

What happens when you mix savory and sweet Slow Jams Cranberry Red Onion jam with smoky bacon and giant sea scallops?  Magic, that’s what!  With a short list of ingredients, you can conjure these up in no time, for an enchanting Tuesday dinner.     

Recipe…

2 lbs Sea Scallops

1 lb Bacon  

½ Jar Slow Jams Cranberry Red Onion Jam

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Mini wooden forks/toothpicks

If your scallops are fresh, place them in the freezer for up to an hour.  If they are frozen or still thawing, that’s fine – they will cook in the oven perfectly.  You sort of want them semi frozen (not rock hard) or not completely de-thawed, because scallops cook very fast and can become chewy if overcooked.  To combat this, we suggest this method of preparing your scallops. 

Place wooden forks or toothpicks in a glass filled with water.  This will help keep them from burning when you are broiling your scallops.  The mini wooden forks work best because they are a bit sturdier than toothpicks, but work with what you have.

Lightly grease a large baking pan with olive oil.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Season scallops with salt and pepper.  Cut bacon strips in half and wrap each scallop with a piece of bacon.  Secure the bacon wrapped scallops with the mini forks or toothpicks and place on baking sheet. 

Bake the scallops on the top rack of the oven for 15 minutes.  Remove pan from oven and turn on the broiler. Brush the scallops with Slow Jams Cranberry Red Onion Jam and return to the oven.  Carefully broil scallops until bacon is crispy – this will not take long, perhaps 5-8 minutes.  When bacon has crisped up, remove the scallops from the oven and again brush with Slow Jams Cranberry Red Onion Jam.  Serve immediately, with jam on the side.     

Jam Wings

Who says jam and football don’t go together?  We know, it’s not the usual combination, but we use Slow Jams as a sauce for juicy chicken wings.  Serve them on Super Bowl Sunday – they will probably only last through the first quarter!   

Recipe…

3 ½ pounds Chicken Wings/Drumsticks

½ Jar Slow Jams Strawberry Balsamic Peppercorn

½ Jar Slow Jams Peach Rosemary

4 Tbs. Apple Cider Vinegar

4 Tbs. Habanero Hot Sauce (we used the Detroit Spice Company’s)

Salt and Pepper

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.  Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper and place on a baking sheet and place in the oven. 

While chicken is baking, take Slow Jams Strawberry Balsamic Peppercorn jam and place in a small mixing bowl.  Mix in 2 Tbs. of apple cider vinegar and 1-2 Tbs. of hot sauce to taste.  In a separate bowl, repeat the same process with Slow Jams Peach Rosemary.  Set sauces aside.

After chicken has baked for 15 minutes, remove from the oven and baste half of chicken wings with strawberry sauce and the other half of the chicken wings with peach sauce.  Set chicken wings back in the oven for another 15 minutes. 

After 15 minutes has passed, remove chicken wings from the oven and turn the broiler on.  Baste the chicken wings again with the two sauces, separately, and place under the broiler for 5-10 minutes until they are brown and crispy. 

Baste the chicken with any remaining sauce and serve to your favorite football fans!     

Sweet Pepper Pork

This. Dish. Rocks.  There is nothing else I can say other than to tell you to look at the picture above and dare you not to drool.  Make this dish.  Run to the kitchen and make this dish (fine..if you have to run to the market for pork first, that is acceptable).  And go! 

Recipe…

1 (4 pound) pork shoulder roast (we buy ours from Melo Farms at Eastern Market)

3 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon crumbled dried oregano

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

5 cloves chopped garlic

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cups chicken broth

Salt and Pepper

1 Jar Slow Jam's Sweet Pepper jelly

Directions

Mix cumin, oregano, coriander and cinnamon in a bowl.  Coat the pork with the spice mixture. Place the onions and garlic in the bottom of a slow cooker and place the pork on top. Pour the chicken broth around the sides of the pork, being careful not to rinse off the spice mixture.

Cover and cook on Low until the pork shreds easily with a fork (usually about 10 hours). Turn the meat over once, after it has cooked for 5 hours. When the pork is tender, remove from slow cooker and shred with two forks. Use cooking liquid as needed to moisten the meat.

Brown shredded pork in a single layer on a large baking sheet with oven at 450 for 10 minutes or until browned on most edges, but not burnt.  Heat 1 Jar of Slow Jam's Pepper Jelly over low heat, stirring frequently, until it begins to lose its gel.  Remove Jelly from heat.  When you are ready to serve, place pork on a platter and pour sweet pepper jelly on top. 

Peach Rosemary Chicken

This evening we were busy making jam but our stomachs were only thinking of dinner!  We whipped up this meal in minutes - it’s easy and fast, with only 5 ingredients.  If you want a little more heat, substitute our Raspberry Jalapeno jam for an extra kick! 

Recipe…

2 lbs Chicken Breast

1 Onion, Sliced

2 Cloves Crushed Garlic

1 Jar Slow Jam's Peach Rosemary Jam

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Season chicken breast with salt and pepper.  Heat olive oil and sauté chicken breast until juices run clear.  Remove chicken breast from pan and add onions and garlic.  Sauté onions and garlic until tender and remove from heat.  Add ½ a jar of Peach Rosemary jam to onion and garlic mixture and stir.  Pour sauce over chicken – Viola!

Slow Jams Scandinavian Ribs

We have some great friends in Norway and sometimes they join us in our kitchen!  When we introduced them to our blueberry jam, naturally, they wanted to add their own flavors from home and this rib recipe became a top hit!

Recipe…

2 Slabs Baby Back Ribs          

2 Apples (your choice, just make sure they are Michigan!)

2 Pears (read above - Michigan!)

2 Garlic Cloves

10 Sprigs fresh Thyme

Salt and Pepper 

Slow Jam's Blueberry Jam

1 cup Water

3 tbs Juniper Berries

1 tbs. Ground Cardamom

Cheesecloth and Butcher String

Salt and pepper ribs generously, making sure to get both sides of ribs.  Crush garlic and rub ribs with garlic and thyme (no need to take off stems).  Cover and place ribs in refrigerator for up 24 hours. 

When you are ready to cook ribs, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Take ribs out of refrigerator while oven preheats and roughly chop apples and pears in long slices, about an inch thick.  Wrap ribs and apples and pears in foil and place on baking sheet and then put in oven. 

While ribs are baking, take juniper berries and cardamom and crush roughly with the back of a heavy knife or in a mortal/pestle.  You don’t want to pulverize the spices, you just want to release their aroma and open them up so they will infuse with the jam.  Wrap crushed spices in a round of cheesecloth and secure with butcher string.   Bring the water to a low boil in a sauce pot.  Add spice mixture and let boil for 10 minutes (secure the spice bundle to the pan handle).  Add 1 jar of Blueberry Jam and bring mixture to a low simmer keeping spice mixture inside the pot.  Keep heat on low and allow flavors to infuse for up to 1 hour (check occasionally to see how flavor develops).  Stir occasionally to make sure jam does not burn.   

After ribs have been baking for an hour, open the foil to expose the tops of the ribs.  Bake for another hour so the meat gets nice and brown. 

When ready to serve, remove ribs from foil and place on cutting board.  Let the ribs sit at least 10 minutes after they have been removed from the oven.  Cut ribs into 2-3 bone sections and place on platter.  Serve blueberry jam on the side.