Baked Pork Belly

New Year's Day feast looked slightly different this year. For years Andy and I would get up and put on black-eyed peas and cook some hog jowl to eat with breakfast. Shortly after that, we would start cooking all the traditional foods folks in the South swear by for good health and prosperity for the upcoming year. Normally we would fix some variation of cabbage or any other green vegetable (for folding money), cornbread, and the peas along with more hog jowl.

This year I changed it up a bit. After consolidating three deep freezers into one; I realized I had several packs of pork belly, so that covered the pork option. I roasted fresh Brussels Sprouts with bacon and onion; cooked up a pot of black-eyed peas after soaking them the night before, and made a skillet of Mexican corn bread. After what I have been through in 2023, here's hoping this meal brings me a kinder 2024.

Typically we would smoke or grill pork belly but baked is perfectly fine.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with aluminum or parchment paper. Lightly spray the rack. Season the pork belly with your favorite rub. I used Kinder's All Purpose Meat and Veggie rub. Andy always liked to season with salt and pepper. I want a little zing in my flavoring.

Place strips on rack and bake for 20 minutes. Turn and set time for another 20 minutes.

After a total of 40 minutes, the thermometer was showing just over 165 degrees so I pulled the pork belly and let the strips rest about 15 minutes before I sampled. Depending on the thickness of the pork belly, you may need to turn and bake longer.

 

Like anything else in life...enjoy in moderation!