A recipe from Paul Seale from The Bee Keepers Inn

Ingredients

• 1 Kg Pork Belly – skin scored
• Sea Salt
• 2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 12 Eschallots
• 6 Cloves Garlic
• 150ml Stout
• 50ml Shiraz
• ¼ Cup Red Wine Vinegar
• 4 Stalks Rosemary
• 6 Stalks Thyme
• 2 Fresh Bay Leaves
• 1 Teaspoon Fennel Seeds
• 1 Cup Chicken Stock
• 1 Tablespoon Vino Cotto

Method
Rub pork generously with salt then leave in refrigerator over night. Next day rinse salt off. Soak pork in bowl of water for 10 minutes. Remove & pat dry.

Preheat fan forced oven to 140C.

Heat olive oil in heavy base frying pan, add pork and caramelize on all sides. Add eschallots and garlic cloves and cook till browned (5 mins). Combine stout, wine, vinegar, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, fennel seeds and stock in heavy base casserole pan, bring to boil. Add pork skin side down, eschallots and garlic and reduce heat to low.

Cover and cook in oven for 90 minutes. Remove lid and cook for another hour.

Remove pork, place skin side down in baking tray, top with another baking tray – add containers of water to form a press and leave overnight. Reduce braising liquid until syrupy and then add vino cotto.

Cut pork belly into 4 to 6 pieces, colour skin side down in heavy base fry pan, turn over and glaze with vino cotto mix and place in hot oven for 10 minutes.

Serve with bitter leafy greens and sliced waxy potatoes.