More pork

Carrying on with my series of my recipes that aim to clog the arteries of my readers (and also, because everyone seems to be watching the World Cup) I wanted to share something I came up with that was inspired by a great looking recipe published by Logia Cervecera the other day (in SP).

Vepřový Bok na Nakouřenem Pivu (Side of pork in Smoked Beer)
Ingredients:

750g side of pork (you know, the cut that after curing and smoking becomes bacon)
500ml smoked beer
2-3 garlic cloves
Plenty of  fresh thyme, rosemary, sage and a couple of bay leafs
1 tbsp. cumin
1 tbsp. paprika powder
A few beans of cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper

With a very sharp knife cut a few incisions on top part of the meat (the thick, fatty one) and salt it. In a bowl add the spices, herbs and garlic cloves cut in half or crushed by hand. Add then half of the beer and mix. Put the meat into the mix, cover and take it to the fridge to marinade for several hours or overnight. Pour the rest of the beer in a glass and sip it while watching the telly or listening to music.
Put the meat in a baking tray together with the garlic, herbs and part of the marinade. Add a bit of water and put it to roast for at least one hour in an oven preheated to 180ºC. Every now and again, "paint" the thing with the rest of the marinade. Ten or so minutes before it's ready, add the rest of the marinade and raise the heat to 220-230ºC.
To serve, cut in rather thin slices. It can be served with almost anything. I garnished it with onion stir fried in duck lard until golden, to which I added the juice left in the tray and finished it off with a bit of butter. It was great. As a side, we eat a simple salad of lettuce, spring onion and herbs, all from our garden.
Pairings: I drank a Polotmavý Speciál, but I guess a Vienna Lager, a Dunkles, maybe even a Bock or a Mild or a not too hoppy Ale would do the job just fine. Besides, of course, a good Rauch or any other smoked beer you may happen to have.

But wait, that's not it! If there is something left, you can eat it the morning after. Cut some even thinner slices and roast them slowly in a pan, letting the fat melt, and then fry an egg and maybe a tomato in it. With some rye bread and a nice Stout or Porter this is a breakfast that offer all the nutrients any decent person needs for the day.

And while I was writing the above I realised how good this food is for these World Cup days. You don't need much time to prepare it, you can have it ready to roast since the morning or the day before. When the preliminary bollocks, mandatory before every game start, you can put it in the oven and it won't need much attention, other than going a couple of times to baste it, and it will be ready on the plates by the time the second half starts.

Na Zdraví! a Dobrou Chuť!