Wild Pepper Pork

By Cedric Tovar, Chef & Restaurant Director, Peacock Alley Restaurant at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, New York

Serves 8

2 teaspoons wild black peppercorns (Available in ethnic markets. If they are unavailable, you can substitute with Szechwan peppercorns)
4 shallots, roughly sliced
½ carrot, roughly sliced
1 sprig thyme
1 bay leaf
1 stick lemongrass, pounded and chopped
1 ounce ginger, peeled and sliced
4 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 bunch of Thai basil
1 head garlic, peeled and crushed
2 6-pound racks of organic pork (ask your butcher to remove the loin from the bone and chop the bone into small pieces for you to use for the pork jus)
sea salt to taste
1 tablespoon butter

For the parsnip puree:
4 parsnips
1-1/4 cups milk
2 cups water
4 tablespoons butter
sea salt to taste

For the pork:
Combine a teaspoon of cracked wild peppercorns, shallots, carrots, thyme, bay leaf, lemongrass, ginger, olive oil, half of the basil and 5 crushed cloves of garlic. Rub the loins of pork with this mixture and allow them to marinate in the refrigerator overnight.

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 225˚F.  Peel and halve the remaining garlic cloves. Wipe off the marinade from the pork loin, reserving it for later. Season the pork with sea salt and crushed wild pepper. Heat a roasting pan to medium on the stove top and add a tablespoon of butter. When the butter has melted, sear the pork on all sides until it is nicely caramelized. Add the chopped bones, saved marinade and the halved garlic cloves to the pan.

Place the roasting pan in the oven and cook the pork until it reaches an internal temperature of 132˚F (medium), approximately one hour. Turn the oven off and let the pork rest in the oven until you are ready to serve.

For the parsnip puree:
Peel the parsnip root and cut it into large dice. Place in a pot along with 1 cup of the milk and the water and season with salt. Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook slowly for 30 minutes.

Place the cooked parsnips into a food processor with two tablespoons of butter and ¼ cup milk. Process the parsnips until they are smooth and set aside, keeping warm for service.

To serve:
Skim the fat from the jus in the roasting pan and set aside. Slice the pork loins into 24 slices. Rub the pork slices with the cooking fat and re-season with 1 teaspoon of crushed wild peppercorns and sea salt. Strain the natural jus left in the pan to remove the solids. Place the remaining whole leaves of basil in the jus and allow it to sit for 15 minutes to infuse the flavor, then remove the leaves before serving.

Divide the parsnip puree onto eight serving plates (see photo). Place three slices of pork over each serving of puree. Finish the dish with a spoon of natural jus, and a sprinkling of sea salt and black pepper.