300 ml Reserved braising liquid from pork shoulder
75 ml Cream
10 g Soy lecithin
Procedure
This recipe was created in collaboration with Club House for Chefs and Hawksworth Young Chef Scholarship by: Joshua Adamo, Chef of Auberge du Pommier in Toronto, ON.
Braised Pork Shoulder:
For the Lardo Terrine: Start by curing the shoulder. Blitz all of the cure ingredients in a robot coupe until well combined, and thoroughly coat the shoulder with cure on all sides. Place on a resting rack in a hotel pan in the fridge for 5 hours. Rinse all of the cure off the shoulder with cold water and pat dry.
For the Braise: Place the shoulder in a cold braising pot and cover the fennel, apples, leek, tomatoes, onion, celery and garlic. Put the spices and fresh herbs in a sachet. Cover the meat and vegetable stock with wine and apple juice and only add enough vegetable stalk to cover everything evenly. Bring to a boil then turn down to a low simmer. Cover the pot with a cartouche then a fitting lid and cook for about 4 hours until pulls apart. When the braise is done let the shoulder cool down in the braising liquid. Remove shoulder and put in a bowl and pass the vegetable and liquid through a fine chinois. Squeeze out the flesh of the apples into the pork and pick down until very fine almost like pate. Reduce the braising liquid down by half. Once the liquid is reduced, set aside half for jus, and use the other half to add gelatin. Bloom the gelatin in ice water, and add it into the boiling liquid. Add 250 ml of this gelled braising liquid into the pork and mix well.
To Assemble: Line a 2 inch third pan with cling film and brush a thin layer of the remaining gelled braising liquid covering all sides. Start with the braised shoulder packed tightly on the bottom, then brush another thin layer of braising liquid to help the lardo bind to the shoulder and hold everything together. Layer the shaved lardo on top of the shoulder and repeat the process until you reach the top of the pan. Once you reach the top, cover with the remaining cling film from the sides, place another third pan on top and press with something heavy. Leave to set pressing in the fridge overnight. Remove from pan, wrap tightly in more cling film and put it in the freezer until frozen solid. Shave your portions on the meat slicer and set aside in a fridge on line.
For the Cracking: Start by using a blow torch to burn off any remaining hair from skin. Remove all remaining fat from the skin by cutting and scraping with a sharp knife. Lightly season each piece with salt and sugar. Wrap a half sheet pan fully with cling film, then layer the skin onto the cling film on the bottom flat side of the sheet pan. Once you have an even layer with no skin overlapping, wrap again as tight as possible covering all sides. Repeat this process until all of the skin is wrapped up nice and tight in layers. Cook in steam oven for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the cling film release its air. Once it is flat again, press in the fridge with another sheet pan and heavy jars or cans on top to prevent the skin from curling. Once fully cooled down, remove the skin from the layers of cling film and arrange evenly on the back side of a sheet pan on top of a sil pad. Place another sil pad on top of the skin covering them, and another sheet pan on top pressing the skin so that it doesn't curl up. Put a cast iron pan on to keep them pressed together and bake in a 350-degree oven until fully crispy and dehydrated. Dust them with fennel seed and black peppercorn powder with a pinch of salt. To make the power, toast 20g of fennel seeds (20g) with black peppercorn (5g) in a hot pan. Then grind them down in a mortar and pestle until they resemble a fine powder.
Sweet Potato and Beurré Noisette: Start by roasting the sweet potato in the oven at 350 degrees F until tender. While the potato is in the oven, gently heat your butter with crushed garlic cloves, thyme and bay leaves until they turn a nice dark golden brown. Strain out the garlic and herbs and reserve the infused beurre noisette to be added into the potato. Peel the skin off and push through a resting rack into a bowl. Mix in the still warm beurre noisette and season with salt to taste. To serve, quenelle with two spoons and finish with toasted fennel seed and black peppercorns.
For the Preserved Summer Vegetables: Sterilize mason jars and lids in boiling water then remove to air dry. Once the vegetables are fully cleaned, pack them tightly in the designated jars. Place the jars on a weight scale, and tare it to 0. Fill the jars with room temp non chlorinated water, on the scale, measuring the total weight. Calculate 2.5 % of the number on the scale and add that in kosher salt. Close the lids to the jars and leave out at room temperature in a dark place for 1 week. You must open the lids once a day to relieve the pressure built up in the jars. After a week, check the ph level of the liquid by dipping one end of a test strip in the liquid. It must be around 3 to 3.5 (botulism cannot survive under a 4.5ph). During this time of salt brining the vegetables take on the acidity that is required to preserve them safely. Next shave navet's very fine, leave the carrots whole and crunchy, pan sear the onions, and make little florets with the cauliflower.
For the Pork and Apple Jus: Reduce down the braising liquid until a desired flavour. Reduce it quickly and taste often. Add enough 35% cream to lighten the colour and give it body. Cook for another minute reducing the cream down. Add Soy lecithin and hand blend until bubbles start accumulating onto of the jus. Scoop the bubbles off and sauce the dish with them.
For Serving: Place a slice of your terrine on a warm plate under a heat lamp. Neatly place a quenelle of warm sweet potato mid-way coming off the terrine. Arrange the pickled vegetables lengthwise along the terrine, trying to use the carrots to give height to the dish. Crack some smaller pieces off the crispy skin and arrange it along with the vegetables. Finish the terrine with maldon salt, and lightly sprinkle club house fennel and black peppercorn powder on both ends of the veg. Garnish along the vegetables with sage leaves and mizuna cress. Right before the dish goes out, hand blend your jus, scoop out the bubbles, and neatly sauce along the vegetables and onto the terrine.
