August is National Peach Month and the super fabulous people at Sunday Supper are sharing recipes with peaches in them! You’ll find over 50 recipes from starters to desserts to help you celebrate peaches for the month of August.

A big shout out to Sue Lau over at A Palatable Pastime for being our event host!

Bourbon Peaches & Pork Belly

Bourbon Peaches & Pork Belly

To create a recipe with peaches, I had to include Bourbon.  Why? Well, I’m currently in Kentucky, the birthplace of Bourbon. It produces 95% of the world’s supply. It was a given that anything I made with peaches needed to include Bourbon.

 

Peaches and Bourbon go well together

Peaches and Bourbon go well together

 

How else would I be able to knock on a bunch of my neighbor’s (strangers) doors and ask them to sample my tester recipes if I didn’t include bourbon? Hmmm, what goes well with peaches and bourbon – pork of course.  I’m a big fan of pork belly.  I wasn’t sure which recipe would go over well, so I made 7, yes SEVEN pork belly recipes during the developmental stage.

Of the 7 pork bellies I made, I burnt beyond a crisp one, 1 was cooked on the stove top only, 2 was cooked on the stove top and finished in the oven (one of them is the recipe below), 3 were slow cooked in the oven at 200 degrees for 5 hours, then rested, then cooked again at a higher temperature between 30-2 hours. The additional 2 hours is because I forgot about it (sssshhhhhh).  The strangers neighbors provided excellent feedback.  Why did I knock on doors asking people to taste some of them?  I’m currently in the heart of bourbon country.  One third of the world’s Bourbon is made in Louisville, Kentucky.  These folks KNOW their Bourbon.  I’m new to tasting bourbon so it was best to seek the advice of Bourbon aficionados.  They take their Bourbon seriously around here.

Two recipes were stand outs amongst the test-tasters but I choose to use this recipe because it avoided the 5 hours of slow cooking.

 

Peaches02web

 

The combination of the bourbon and peaches melds well together.  An oaky caramel taste from the bourbon is a bridge to the sweetness of the peaches.  This combination is subtle and lets your pallet enjoy both flavors. I hope you enjoy this recipe.

 

Recipe:

1/2 Cup Bourbon

4 Peaches

1 Slab Pork Belly

1/4 Sea Salt

1 Cup Brown Sugar

1 Cup Peach Marmalade

 

peaches03web

 

Steps:

  1. Make the Bourbon Peach Dipping Sauce first because it takes a minimum of 1 hour over low heat.  You will need to stir this sauce on a consistent basis (every 4-8 minutes). The recipe is below.
  2. Take your thawed out slab of pork belly and score the fat side with the tip of a sharp knife.
  3. Rub 1/4 cup sea salt on both sides of the pork belly.  Shake off excess salt.
  4. Next, rub 3/4 cup brown sugar on both sides of the pork belly. Make sure you’ve really rubbed it into the scored side of the fat.  Shake off any excess brown sugar over the sink (and not the pan – trust me on this one, unless you want the fire department to make a house call).
  5. Place the fat side down in a hot pan over medium heat.  Turn over once it is golden and some of the fat has rendered.
  6.  Once you turn over to the other side, lower the heat to medium low.
  7. After achieving a golden brown color, use tongs to crisp each side of the pork belly.  This mean you will need to stand at the stove holding the pork belly in the pan so each side is golden.
  8. Finish in the oven at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.
  9. **While the pork belly is in the oven, this is a good time to grill your peaches.
  10. Remove from oven, place on a cutting board fat side down.  Let the pork belly rest a couple of minutes.
  11. This is a good time to slice the grilled peaches.
  12. Slice the pork belly in bite size shapes.

Assemble the pork belly bites:  Pork belly, a dab of bourbon marmalade and 1/2 slice of peach on top. Hold together with a toothpick.

Serve with the Bourbon Peach Dipping Sauce.

Bourbon Peach Dipping Sauce recipe:

Mix together: 1 Cup Peach Marmalade, 1/8 Cup brown sugar, 1/2 Cup quality Bourbon and cook slowly over a low heat on the stove for 1 – 1  1/2 hours.

Grilled Peaches:

  1. Cut a peach in half and remove the pit.
  2. Press the cut side of the beach into brown sugar.
  3. Grill for 5-8 minutes.
  4. Remove the peaches from the grill.
  5. Let cool for a few minutes before slicing.

Tips:

  1. To thaw out pork belly, place in the sink and let sit in tepid water. It took about an hour.
  2. Dry the pork belly off well before seasoning.
  3. Sharpen your knives before scoring the pork belly and later slicing it.
  4. Shake off the brown sugar over the sink.

 

                                         Enjoy!

 

Starters:

Breakfasts:

Beverages:

Condiments:

Sides & Salads:

Main Dishes:

Desserts:

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