Neighborhood Eats: 'BarBacon' BBQ Burnt Ends
HELL'S KITCHEN, Manhattan (WABC) -- For so many people, everything is better with bacon - and one chef is hoping to capitalize on that.
Peter Sherman may be a classically trained chef, but bacon is his jam. At his 'Bar Bacon, it appears in so many ways.
"Everything and anything you can think of on how to put bacon onto it, but always with the mindset of not bacon for the sake of adding bacon - but how does it make it better?" Sherman says.
Take the pulled pork sandwich - it is not traditional, but it works.
There are bacon-laced Brussels sprouts, pork belly tacos, a lamb Reuben, a flight of bloody marys paired with lemon.
Bacon isn't just in the appetizers, entrees and cocktails, it is in the dessert. Take for example, the bacon cannoli.
One of the most popular items is burnt ends, but made with pork belly that is first brined and then rubbed and smoked. The cut up pieces are glazed five times, and do not dry out.
BarBacon BBQ Burnt Ends
5 pounds Pork Belly Fresh Skin Off
cup Kosher Salt
cup Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Pink Curing Salt (Optional)
1 quart peach juice (orange juice to substitute)
BBQ Spice Rub
cup Sugar
cup Smoked Paprika
cup garlic powder
cup Cumin Ground
cup Kosher Salt
cup Black Pepper
4 tablespoons Mustard Powder
6 tablespoons Chipotle Powder
6 tablespoons Ancho Chili Powder
1 tablespoon Cayenne Powder
BBQ Wash
1 cup apple cider vinegar
cup brown sugar
1 bottle Favorite BBQ Sauce
1 jar Bread & Butter Pickles
1. From your local butcher as for a five pound skinless piece of pork belly. Make sure that this cut is at least one half inch thick
2. Using the salt and sugar mixture (curing salt optional) rub the belly with the mixture and pour over the orange juice.
3. Let this sit in the refrigerator covered for 3 - 5 days with a max up to 10 days on this cure. This is an important step to both season and flavor the meat.
4. Rinse the meat after the curing time and pat dry with a towel. Season the pork belly with the BBQ spice rub, any additional can be saved for anything else you roast or grill from chicken to vegetables.
5. Roast in an oven (or use a home smoker) at 225 degrees or until the internal temperature of the pork belly is 195 degrees. At this time take the BBQ wash and use half on the pork belly and return to the oven. Bake for 10 minutes and repeat with remainder of the BBQ wash. Bake for another 10 minutes.
6. Rest the meat for 30 - 40 minutes before cutting into 2 inch cubes. Return cubes to oven or in a skillet on the grill with BBQ sauce to warm through and glaze with sauce.
7. Serve with bread and butter pickles and a cold beer.
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