braised pork belly with balsamic barbecue sauce

Remember the cheesecake lollipops from last week? I made them, among other things, for a fundraiser for my friends the Treehouse Shakers, a dance/theater company that I actually used to compose music for. It was held at the Moore Brothers Wine Store in Manhattan, just across the street from Gramercy Tavern, and it was a lot of fun. It was a welcome change of scenery for a night and even though I was still cooking, it was not the same old cookies and marshmallows. I made seven different hors d’oeuvres, some sweet and some savory, along with a nice cheese platter, fruit, and a few cookies, of course. The hors d’oeuvres included Thai Shrimp Ceviche with Lychee and Mango, Mini Herb Quiches, Falafel with Lime Yogurt Sauce, and my favorite, Braised Pork Belly with Balsamic Barbecue Sauce (pictured here). I served the pork belly in the nice ceramic spoons lent to me by my friends at the Central Park Boathouse and topped it off with crispy white beans and pea shoots (I could eat over twenty of those spoons and I probably did). Along with the chai cheesecake lollipops, I had mini strawberry shortcakes (that one guest just could NOT stop eating), and our old friend, cinnamon s’mores. Everyone loved everything and I had to field a few questions about catering other events. The answer? “Well, this is not something I normally do…”, which actually means I wish I could but you’d have to add two extra days to each week.