Slow-braised smoked pork belly

Sunday's adventure consisted of a large chunk of pork belly slow-braising in my crock pot. A perfect Sunday dinner...minimum work, maximum pay off.

Per my usual style when I'm not totally familiar with an ingredient or a recipe, I did a ton of research, reading as many recipes as I could get my hands on, and then, with a basic understanding of temperature, timing and the flavours I want to achieve, throw it all out and wing it.

I took this glorious piece of smoked pork belly, and let it bathe in the crock pot for 6+ hours with the following:

one onion, roughly chopped
4 whole cloves of garlic
2 huge spoonfuls of grainy mustard
apple juice
chicken stock
a splash of cider vinegar
generous amounts of salt and coarse black pepper

When I took it out of the braising liquid, here's what I got. A juicy, succulent piece of bacon, with beautifully melted fat and tender meat just waiting to be pulled off.

I then cut it into two portions and popped it into a 400 degree over for about 10 minutes to crisp the top and further render out a little more of the fat.

Et voila!
Tender and decadently rich. The smoke definitely came through and the sweetness from the apple juice penetrated to balance the saltiness of the meat. Served with roasted garlic and parmesan white beans and pan-roasted carrots with crispy sage. All in all a great success!