I post this in the Low Countries forum section, but porkbelly isn't all that popular here as a roasted piece of meat. Pork belly gets salted or smoked and is sold as bacon in my country. So, believe it or not, even for me this is a first! All suggestions and remarks you have concerning my try-out is wellcome. I have to add that it tasted a bit dry, maybe I did something unorthodox?

It's not a really big piece of meat but for 2 people it's plenty. I carved the top in a pattern for the fat to drip out more easy. Then I dry-roasted a bunch of spices; black and blonde mustard seeds, fennel seeds, all spice berries, juniper beries, koriander, lavas seeds chili...

I dry roast on a low flame for a long time so they get somewhat crunchy and easy to crush in the mortar.

Then I rubbed the meat with sunflower oil and the crunched spices and it went on a bed of onion in a roasting tray, a couple of chunks of butter on top.

I started cooking the meat in the oven at 200°C for around 20 minutes, then reduced the heat to 160°C and let the meat in the oven for 2 hours.

After that I covered the meat with "Sirop de Liège", an apple-and-pear pasta which tastes nicely balanced sweet and a bit sour. I'm not sure if this pasta is available in other countries. In case you're interested; http://www.sirop-de-liege.com/en/sirop-de-liege/index.php

Another half hour later, it's done. I served it with salsify and Brussels sprouts and a jus made from the roasting juices. Simply take the fat off, pour in a dash of vinegar to deglaze the tray, add white wine and let reduce. Add a few chunks of cold butter to emulsify.

Salsify is one of my favorite vegetables in wintertime. It's also known as "the poor man's asparagus", which is nonsense as salsify tastes very different. You need to wash them first, the're always sold sandy dirt included. Then peel them, cut and preserve in lemoned cold water to keep them from oxydizing. Normally we would serve them in a white sauce. I simply boiled them first in what is known as a "blanc". You can see in the 3rd picture below a milky liquid. That is simply cold water and a generous tbsp of flour mixed in. Bring a pot of water to a boil with a dash of vinegar, add the flour/water mixture and you have a "blanc". White vegetables come out nice and white after boiling in a "blanc". Brussels sprouts were boiled for approx. 10 minutes. Both veggies were sautéed in butter with s&p before serving.

Ron, I'll have to do a search on the first link (it doesn't work) you posted (chops with apple molasses) which interest me enormously. There are still a few more artisanal manufacturers compared to the "sirop de Liège" who make that kind of apple sirop or paste. It's one of our respected regional products. Delicious on preparations like this. It can replace the use of brown sugar and what not. It's very stick, so a nice coating and you're done.

Interesting that the name scorzonera or similar rings a bell; the dutch name for salsify is "schorseneren". You're right, there seem to exist two varieties, the french names are scorsenère versus salsifis. We translate them both as schorseneren in dutch, but they are different, scorsenères are known to be somewhat more refined, they are smaller and don't come as one straight root, but more as a cluster of several roots of different sizes. What I used are the salsifis noirs (black salsify).

I always rest any meat after cooking, Dave. The slices look indeed moist, but the meat was a little dry. I presume to have overcooked it and yes, a spoon more sauce and a good beer aside and it goes down really well. This is however my first try-out with pork belly. Ron's suggestion to cook at 115°C instead of my 160°C might give a better result.

Any suggestions from experiences with cooking times and temperatures are very wellcome!