Pork belly most assuredly kicks bacon’s ass any day. If you know me, you know that that statement does not come lightly.
There’s a reason it’s called the poor man’s fois gras…which I think is a pretty unfair statement considering that it doesn’t involve goose torture by definition, but hey, that’s just me. (Except…who am I kidding…I’m still a sucker for fois gras.)
Either way, pork belly is where it’s at.
We’ve actually done sort of a “grown up” breakfast deal several nights these last couple of months that involves frying up thick slices of pork belly and frying a bunch of eggs in the drippings. Top it all off with some shaved Parm and cracked pepper…it’s exquisite.
But as we so often do, we got bored with it and figured we’d branch out and add something else to the mix. I did do breaded pork belly and waffles a couple of weeks ago and it was pretty bangin’ (think chicken and waffles on crack), but sadly it never made it on film…I’m working on that one, I swear!
But yeah, as you may have guessed, I whipped up a bunch of beer bread and made French toast with it. I’ve actually made an absurd amount of beer bread lately and needless to say, beer bread French toast has been happening quite a bit because a) beer bread is amazing, and b) French toast is the food of the gods, and c) they obviously belong together for eternity.
This is not the last you will see of beer bread French toast. Just you wait…I promise that by the end of the month you’ll hate me for it.
So, yes. I fried up a bunch of pork belly, used the drippings to fry up some French toast, and made what I can only imagine is what you’d get for brunch in heaven.
You’re welcome.
Succulent pan-fried pork belly over beer bread French toast with blackberry compote.
Ingredients
- 1 (3-4 pound) pork belly
- salt and pepper
- 1 loaf beer bread
- 5 eggs
- 1 c heavy cream
- 1 pt blackberries
- 1/2 c water
- 1 T sugar
- dash apple cider vinegar
- 1 t corn starch, dissolved in 1-2 t water
Instructions
- Place the blackberries in a saucepan with the water, vinegar, and sugar.
- Heat to medium low and bring to a boil.
- Mash the berries with a whisk or fork and add the corn starch mixture, stirring to combine.
- Cover and reduce heat to low. Allow to simmer while you prepare the pork belly and French toast.
- Slice the pork belly into 1-inch sliced. Think big, fat slices of bacon.
- Season with salt and pepper and allow to rest at room temperature for 10-15 minutes.
- Fry thoroughly on both sides until cooked through (about 4 mins on each side over medium high).
- Set aside. Reserve the drippings to fry up your French toast.
- Cut the beer bread into slices of desired thickness.
- Whisk together the eggs and cream.
- Dip the bread slices into the mixture, coating on both sides.
- Fry the French toast on medium heat until browned nicely on both sides.
- Serve French toast topped with pork belly slices and blackberry compote.
Notes
*any beer bread recipe will do...since I'm gluten free, I obviously made this with gluten free beer bread
