Niman Ranch Collared Pork Rib Roulade

Blood Sausage, Sauerkraut Butter, Caramelized Onions, and Burnt Apple

Chef Marc Sheehan of Loyal Nine | Cambridge, MA

Adapted by StarChefs | April 2021

INGREDIENTS:

Blood Sausage:
250 grams pork blood
175 grams smoked back fat, small dice
175 grams cooked oatmeal, cooked in roasted pork stock
175 grams cooked pearl barley, cooked in roasted pork stock
175 grams cooked coarse white flint cornmeal, cooked in roasted pork stock
1 onion, brunoise
2 tablespoons rendered pork fat
40 grams kosher salt
6.5 grams black pepper, ground
1 grams mace, ground
2 grams allspice, ground
1 grams cayenne pepper
1 grams coriander seed, ground
3 grams garlic powder
1.5 grams curing salt #1

Caramelized Apples and Onions:
4 ashmead's kernel apples, cores removed, thin slice
1 onion, thin slice
3 tablespoons rendered pork fat
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 pint savoy cabbage, julienne
5 sprigs thyme, leaves picked
¼ cup hard cider
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon butter
Kosher salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste

Collared Pork Rib Roulade:
1 rack Niman Ranch pork ribs
1 pint kosher salt
½ cup maple syrup
1 pint brown sugar
1 cup madeira
6 grams curing salt #1
1 tablespoon black peppercorns, toasted
2 juniper berries
5 cloves, toasted
5 whole allspice, toasted
1 sprig rosemary
3 garlic cloves
6 quarts water
1 ½ quarts ice
Blood Sausage
4 tablespoons Caramelized Apples and Onions

Sauerkraut Butter:
1 quart sauerkraut
8 shallots, thinly sliced
10 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 bay leaves
1 pint roasted pork stock
1 quart yogurt whey
¼ cup creme fraiche
1 pound butter, diced
Kosher salt, to taste
White pepper, to taste

Burnt Apple Purée:
3 ashmead's kernel apples, cored
⅓ onion, cut into rings
1 fresno pepper, cut in half and deseeded
1 cup sweet cider
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
3 tablespoons rendered pork fat
Ground allspice, to taste
Ground clove, to taste
Ground black pepper, to taste
Kosher salt, to taste

Grilled Onion Powder:
1 whole onion, cut into 1 inch thick rings
10 black peppercorns
5 allspice berries
1 clove
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon cider vinegar powder

To Assemble and Serve:
Rendered pork fat
2 ounces Caramelized Apples and Onions
Roasted pork stock
5 ounces Sauerkraut Butter
Flaky sea salt, to taste

METHOD:

For the Blood Sausage:
Sweat onion in pork fat. Let cool to room temperature and combine with salts and spices. Add onion mixture to the blood and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Combine and rewarm the grains in a rondeau to 145 F. Add in the pork blood mix and stir through. Add in the diced fatback and gently rewarm to 145 F, stirring frequently. Let it remain at this temperature for at least 15 minutes. Remove the mix and place over an ice bath and cool. Line a pullman loaf pan with plastic wrap. Rub the interior with pork fat and add in the pork blood mix. Bake in a 300 F oven until the blood mix hits an internal temperature of 160 F. Remove and cool in a refrigerator overnight.

For the Caramelized Apples and Onions:
In a hot heavy bottomed pot, melt the pork fat. Add in the apples, onions and garlic and caramelize quickly. When nice and honey colored, add in the thyme leaves, season with salt and pepper and deglaze the pan with the hard cider. Reduce until almost dry. Add in the savoy cabbage. Season with salt and sweat down until tender. Add in the cider vinegar. Stir through the butter. Adjust seasoning as necessary and chill.

For the Collared Pork Rib Roulade:
Place the ribs on a cutting board with the interior of the ribs up. Slide a boning knife along the side of the ribs, making sure not to cut through the meat and carefully remove each rib bone as well as all cartilage. Remove the silver skin from the back of the ribs as well. You should now have empty “slots” where the bones once were. Use all bones and scraps to make roasted pork stock. Place salt, maple syrup, brown sugar, madeira, curing salt, spices, herbs and water in a pot over medium heat and whisk to melt the salt. Remove from the heat and whisk in the ice. When the brine is cold, add in the deboned ribs. Let brine 12 hours. Remove ribs from the brine and lay out flat on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper and let dry for a few hours. Once again, lay the ribs down on a board with the interior of the ribs facing up. Cut slices of the blood sausage into roughly the same size as the removed ribs. Place the blood sausage pieces in the “slots” where the ribs once were and reform the meat snuggly around the blood sausage. Now take 4 tablespoons of the caramelized apple/onion mixture and smear over the top of the rib/blood sausage. Starting from the thinnest end of the ribs and working towards the widest end, roll the pork ribs into a pinwheel shape. Transfer to plastic wrap and roll the pork pinwheel into a few layers of plastic wrap, as tightly as possible to form a roulade. Poach the roulade in a water bath for 16 hours at 153 F. Remove from the bath, let rest 30 minutes and then plunge into an ice bath. To portion, remove the roulade from the plastic wrap and portion into 5 ounces disks.

For the Sauerkraut Butter: 
In a hot rondeau, sweat down the shallots, kraut, garlic and bay leaves in ¼ lb of butter. Season with salt and white pepper. Add in the pork stock and reduce by half. Add in the yogurt whey and reduce until roughly 1 quart of liquid remains. remove the bay leaves. Place in a blender. Add in the creme fraiche and puree on high. Add in the diced butter in stages

For the Burnt Apple Puree:
On a hot grill, char one side of the onion ring until completely black. Grill the Fresno pepper. Place the whole apples on the hottest part of the grill and char all over. Place all the veg in a half hotel pan. Drizzle with the rendered fat. Season with salt and roast in a 450 F oven until the apples are soft. Place all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Adjust seasoning as necessary. Pass through a chinois set over an ice bath and chill. 

For the Grilled Onion Powder:
Grill one side of the onion on the hottest part of the grill until fully blackened. Place the onion rings in a dehydrator overnight to dry. The next day, place all ingredients in a spice grinder and grind to a uniform powder. Store in an airtight container.

For the Assembly:
Heat a sauce pan with rendered pork fat and sear the rib/ blood sausage disk to form a crust. Place in a 350 F oven to warm through. Gently reheat about 2 oz of the caramelized apple mixture in a small saucepan with a little roasted pork stock. Gently reheat about 5oz of the kraut butter in a small saucepan. Bring the burnt apple puree to room temperature. Place a nest of the caramelized apple mixture in the center of a plate. Place the disk of pork rib on top. Pour the kraut butter around the pork ribs on the base of the plate. To the right of the pork ribs roulade, place a single spoon quenelle of the burnt apple puree into the kraut butter. Dust the dish with some of the grilled onion powder. Season the rib roulade with some flaky sea salt.

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