Faux Porchetta

Dear readers. It has been a month since my last confession…

That doesn't mean I've not been cooking. I have.

There was the Duck Prosciutto I made and topped a pizza with it. A simple Margherita from Pagliacci, and I added the duck and re-baked after getting it home.

There was Hooni Kim's Recipe for Pork and Tofu Stir-Fry with Scallions. It's a "Mapo Tofu" type recipe. We didn't like it. It lacked flavor. I can do better Korean than that, because I learned Korean from the best, my ex-mother-in-law and her mother. Don't argue. (My suggestion: needs soy sauce and heat.)
http://www.wsj.com/articles/hooni-kims-recipe-for-pork-and-tofu-stir-fry-with-scallions-1423847860?tesla=y

There was Pepián (again, lacked flavor in spite of all the spices and seeds). Not sure how to fix this.
http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/feb/24/real-street-food-pepian-from-guatemala

There was noodle night.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/fresh-egg-noodles-recipe-1424960737?tesla=y

And there was Chicken with Caramelized Onion and Cardamom Rice from Yotam Ottolenghi and Sammi Tamimi's "Jerusalem: A Cookbook" that again failed to impress. (My suggestion: smash/pound all the spices, put into a cheesecloth bag, and soak like a tea in the hot water for the rice - or use ground spices but that means you need to scale back and I can't tell you how much without testing. What was interesting is the rice tasted so much better as left-over, because the whole spices had time to infuse the dish.)
http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1014925-chicken-with-caramelized-onion-and-cardamom-rice

There was the Mac & Cheese last night. And this past weekend the Faux Porchetta.

With all the failed recipes, I can fix most (see suggestions)

The Mac & Cheese was great. The Faux Porchetta was really good.

I followed a recipe from The New York Times. Followed it, kind of. I used a 2-inch thick slice of pork shoulder topped with a skin-on piece of pork belly. Although I had half the weight of pork called for in the recipe, I used the flavorings at full amount. I rubbed it all down, tied the pieces together, and roasted as directed. Yum.
http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017068-porchetta-pork-roast

No pictures.

There is a side project. To serve, you have to remove the skin. I did. The side project is that I boiled it for 30 minutes, spread it out to dry a bit, then cut it into small pieces. It's in the dehydrator right now. Yes, we're going to make PORK RINDS!