Pork Scratchings!

I made Belly Pork Stir Fry yesterday, for which the skin is not required.

Today, for a little snack, I made Pork Scratchings!

The belly pork is cooked, skin on at a low(ish) temperature (say, 150C for 3 hours) and then removed to cool down ready for the main dish.

Skin removed, just a little fat on the inside and even left overnight in the fridge this will still work ...

Put your grill on high; as high as it goes. My grill goes up to 250C, but I have done this quite happily at 220C.

Pop the skin (outside up) onto a tray and under the grill ...

Now watch it!

Watch it closely! The skin will puff up, but left too long it will burn ... quickly!

Remove once the majority has puffed up as much as it is going to before you smell or see any part burning. It's a compromise - you might not get it all perfectly puffed up, but we DO NOT want any part of it burned.

Turn over and sprinkle good sea salt over the juicy fat which will absorb all that good salty flavour. Optionally, flavour - Chilli Powder!

Enjoy as a crunchy, salty treat.

Kale Crisp

Our American friends call this 'Kale Chips' but I'm calling it Kale Crisp, since we call "chips ... crisps" and "fries ... chips" and this is not really crisps, either but just crisp.

Dead simple ...

Take all the stalky bits of the kale, spread it out on an ovenproof tray, drizzle of olive oil and some sea salt.

Into the oven at 200C for 10-15 minutes, keeping an eye on it and retrieving it once it has gone crisp, but before it really starts to brown.

Cool!

Great as part of a meal and fun to just eat while watching a film, or something.

Have fun ...

Pork Scratchings!

Known the world over under all manner of names, pork rind is a seriously tasty and perfectly paleo snack.

I'm calling mine Pork Scratchings, since that's what we know them as in the UK, and will keep the name despite them not being deep fried.

I'm not one for snacking, preferring to go from meal to meal and savour any hunger in between.

I'm also not one for waste!

I'm making Puerco Pibil, that meal Johnny Depp's character in 'Once Upon a Time in Mexico' will execute the Chef for if it is too good, thus restoring balance to the country. I decided to use belly pork and then pull the fibres from the fat and skin.

The skin left over, not totally scraped of fat, but not too much, seasoned lightly with a little sea salt and then put under the grill. That's the broiler, salamander, whatever you call your overhead heat source.

Couple of minutes ...

Puffed up and cracking up a beauty!

Cut roughly, place on a sheet of kitchen paper and push into a bowl. Pass around ...