Recipe: Chef Brochu’s Porchetta with Black Pepper Relish

MILKCRATE PORCHETTA with RED PEPPER RELISH

Chef Steve Brochu has shared his passion for Alberta Pork with us on several occasions, and at the Taste Alberta food stage at this year’s Porkapalooza BBQ Festival, he handed out tips on tricks on how to season and roll a slab of pork belly into beautiful porchetta. Chef Brochu sliced and served his porchetta on the food stage with a sweet and sour black pepper relish and locally baked fresh bread, but the base porchetta recipe can be topped with your favourite homemade jam, jelly, mustard or relish.

Chef Brochu, who recently opened MilkCrate coffee and sandwich shop in EPCOR tower, serves MilkCrates’s signature porchetta sandwich weekdays along with several rotating daily features. Pop in weekdays for a taste of the original:

MilkCrate – EPCOR TOWER
10423 101 Street NW, EDMONTON AB
MONDAY – FRIDAY 6:30AM – 4:30 PM
CLOSED WEEKENDS

MILKCRATE PORCHETTA
What you’ll need…

Porchetta stuffing  / rub
Pork Belly – skin on 
3 tbsp thyme leaves
3 tbsp rosemary leaves
6 tbsp parsley, chopped roughly
1 cup sliced red onion
150ml Saskatoon berries, pureed
4 tbsp paprika
1/2 cup Chopped Garlic
Salt / Pepper

Directions:

  1. Combine everything but salt and pepper in a bowl.
  2. Season the inside for the pork belly with Salt and Pepper. Spread the rub all over the inside of belly.
  3. Roll the belly tightly on itself , and using butchers twine, tie off the belly so it looks like a tightly wrapped log or sleeping bag.
  4. Place Porchetta in 250F oven for 8 hours or until the skin is golden and breaks apart easily.
  5. Slice and pile on top of a fresh crusty roll and accent with red pepper relish. Enjoy.

 

MILKCRATE RED PEPPER RELISH
What you’ll need…

5 tsp canola oil
1/2 cup minced garlic
3/4 cup minced ginger
30 green onion
20 button mushrooms chopped
2 tbsp crushed black pepper
3/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1 cup  granulated sugar
1/3 cup lime juice fresh
1 cup Saskatoon berry
1 tbsp salt

Directions:

  1. In a pan over medium-high heat, get oil hot but not smoking. Sauté garlic, ginger, onion until they are golden.
  2. Add pepper and mix until you can smell pepper.
  3. Pour in the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 10 min or until it is thick enough to cover the back of a spoon.
  4. Cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a blender, and blend till smooth in texture. Once completely cool, store in a jar and refrigerate until use.