The first annual pork belly-off, part three: Louisa's book.

So, some very exciting news came out today...my best friend, Louisa, hostess of the pork belly-off and romance novelist extraordinaire, has gotten her first book deal! It's for a series of romance novels set in the New York restaurant scene, and her publisher wants them to have actual recipes in them!

So, of course, we spent a good amount of time this week working on recipes for food and cocktails (more on that later). An autumnal pork belly dish figures into the plot of the first novel, and Louisa thought it would be cool to serve the pork belly with what a pig (in an ideal world) would eat - apples and walnuts.

First, she braised the pork belly in cider (with a little cinnamon and nutmeg added for extra kick), then seared it on all sides. Meanwhile, she improvised a recipe for candied walnuts, using ginger syrup and cayenne, among other delicious things. She spread the walnuts on a parchment-covered cookie sheet and baked them till they were crisp and dark brown.

Finally, she cut a Granny Smith apple into batons, placed the pork belly on top, and spread the walnuts around. The cold apples and hot pork belly were a great combination, but probably not as sophisticated as she's looking for - we talked about making an apple sauce and walnut butter and sprinkling chopped candied walnuts on top - but it's a work in progress, after all.

Either way, I was a happy eater.