Modern Meals in Melbourne

My nephew and his wife bought me this fabulous cookbook, Flavours of Urban Melbourne for Christmas.  It is chockerblock full of fantastic recipes and ideas, featuring recipes from 120 different restaurants, bars and cafes in the urban Melbourne area.  My niece was pointing out some of the restaurants they’ve been to, which makes it even more special.  Next time we go back, I’ll have to go visit as many of these places as time allows.  My dad was from Melbourne, and I still have a lot of family and friends there, so we go back fairly often.

I don’t normally have pork side and pork belly on hand, but oddly enough, this time around I did.  So I made pork belly with an apple butter I made quite awhile ago (apple sauce is fine too), served with white cannelinni beans sauteed with spinach, garlic, red onions and apples.  It was very, very tasty.  I served it with an light, crisp chardonnay.

 

2 lbs Pork belly or pork side

cardamon

cumin

corriander

salt & pepper

olive oil

 

I coated all the pork with the spice rub and and the olive oil.  Cover tightly in foil and roast in a shallow baking pan at 350* for  about 2 hours.  The coating comes out nice and crusty and the meat inside is very tender.

Spread the apple butter or applesauce on the plate and place the pork on top.   The flavors of the pork and the apple butter just melt in your mouth.