Pork Belly day 1 recipe !

In an attempt in the New Year to reacquaint myself with some healthy living habits which have been left hidden for most of this year I am doing what all sensible dieters do in the days before you start a weight loss campaign and that's eat as much naughty things as you can and drink as if it was your last ! ha ha.
So yesterday I started defrosting anything in the freezer that might tempt me while I am on my resolution challenge in 2012 and eat it.
The first devils temptation was a lovely bit of Pork Belly. Although its not as fatty as you might think its still pretty bad so I thought it best to defrost it and devour it with great haste. The trouble is I have enough belly for two days so today's martyr like eating sacrifice is going to be tomorrows as well ! ha ha !

Slow Roast Pork Belly with Snowdonia Mature Cheese and Brussels Sprout bubble and squeak.

Set the oven to about 220 degrees and place the Pork in the oven for about 30 minutes until the skin begins to blister. Turn the oven down to 160 degrees C and cook for a further 2 hours. (this is for about a 1kg weighted piece of belly).
Go and watch the telly for a bit but maybe I should have gone for a run to help compensate for the on coming gluttonous feed.
After about an hour boil some potatoes for mash. When mashed add cream, butter and the cheese. You can use any cheese you want but I have still got to work my way through the Snowdonia range which includes the Whisky flavoured one which is going to see the New Year in nicely. Let it cool. I then boiled the Sprouts and let them cool and then quartered them and added them to the mash.
The pork was ready but the crackling needed finishing off so I cut it away from the meat of the Pork and placed it back in the oven at 220 degrees to finish it off.

I don't think their are calories in Porkie scratchings !!!!!!

A pot of gravy would go down well with this so 2 table spoons of flour were mixed with two Oxo cubes into a pan. I added a little water to make a smooth paste and then cooked it on the stove to remove the flour taste for 5 minutes. I then added about 1 litres of boiling water and stirred it to a thick consistence. I love thick gravy ! JUS ARE FOR WORK ONLY !
I then added 1 Knox Beef jelly pot and 2 tablespoons of apple sauce for a bit of sweetness and finished it off with a sprinkle of dried sage. I then let it infuse for about 30 minutes.

The Bubble and squeak was next and to a hot pan I added the mash mix and spread it evenly and then let the crunchy brown bits form and then mixed it up and then repeated this process a few times. You do not want too many crunchy bits but its up to you.

A Potato explosion of flavour !

I did have some frozen French beans with it so they were quite healthy....until I tossed them in butter ! ha ha.

Fantastic and full of calories !