Can there be too much pork?

[Jenise]

I'm considering an all pork menu for a small dinner party tomorrow night. It's really a practical issue: I have homemade smoked pork ravioli and a tomato-fennel sauce ready to go, I have a sous-vided pork belly on hand, and I desperately need to use up stuff in my freezer, so it would be great to cook that wild boar roast I bought from D'Artagnan early in 2014. The menu would go something like this:

1) The ravioli. One nicely sized ravioli per diner, about 3" square, served as an amuse bouche.
2) The pork belly: rubbed with something sweet and spicy, broiled, then cut/served in slices about 1/2" x 3" x 3", topped with a small nest of raw slaw of shaved Brussels sprouts and served on top of oregano-scented black eyed peas. Nice nod to New Years.
3) Braised wild boar. Compared to my usual meals, this one so far is rather low on raw/green/fiber, so maybe I'll skip the carbs here and serve the boar with red spinach lightly sautéed with just garlic. This would balance the meal nutritionally but at the same time it feels rather incomplete. Add polenta? Or something crunchier--maybe atop a thin slice of grilled bread?

Thoughts?

Overall, it sounds pretty good to me. It's a lot of pork but the portion sizes don't sound too big and the pork manifestations are all different enough that it should be a fun and interesting meal. I do see your point regarding carbs, though. I'm pretty carb-centric, so a meal that's completely without a potato/rice/wheat dish of some form might come off as incomplete. A little polenta or a thin-ish potato puree would work well with the juiciness of the braised pork without loading the dish up too much. The grilled bread idea doesn't really grab me although I can't say why.

[Jenise]

Mike, good thoughts. I love putting grilled bread under braised meats, but for this meal it just didn't read Italian enough and I think, starting out with a ravioli, the meal should go in that direction. Here's a new idea: milk braised wild boar shoulder with rosemary, served on a celery root puree and garnished with a triangle of crispy fried polenta. Colorful, and a crisp texture; homey but elegant. Sound better?

Mike, good thoughts. I love putting grilled bread under braised meats, but for this meal it just didn't read Italian enough and I think, starting out with a ravioli, the meal should go in that direction. Here's a new idea: milk braised pork with rosemary, served on a celery root puree and garnished with a triangle of crispy fried polenta. Colorful, and a crisp texture; homey but elegant. Sound better?

Oooooh yeah! Nice mix of flavors and textures, the starch component is in there, and still not too much food.

I have homemade smoked pork ravioli and a tomato-fennel sauce ready to go

That sounds excellent! I have been very active and experimenting with smoking meats over the last few years. Did you cold or hot smoke the pork? Also, what kind of wood did you use for your homemade smoked pork, Jenise? I always enjoy hearing about the details so I can pick up some new ideas.

3) Braised wild boar. Compared to my usual meals, this one so far is rather low on raw/green/fiber, so maybe I'll skip the carbs here and serve the boar with red spinach lightly sautéed with just garlic. This would balance the meal nutritionally but at the same time it feels rather incomplete. Add polenta? Or something crunchier--maybe atop a thin slice of grilled bread?

Thoughts?

Farro.

[Jenise]

I have homemade smoked pork ravioli and a tomato-fennel sauce ready to go

That sounds excellent! I have been very active and experimenting with smoking meats over the last few years. Did you cold or hot smoke the pork? Also, what kind of wood did you use for your homemade smoked pork, Jenise? I always enjoy hearing about the details so I can pick up some new ideas.

Hot smoked, apple wood. A friend nearby had cut down a tree so we're rich in that kind of wood.

[Jenise]

Mike, good thoughts. I love putting grilled bread under braised meats, but for this meal it just didn't read Italian enough and I think, starting out with a ravioli, the meal should go in that direction. Here's a new idea: milk braised pork with rosemary, served on a celery root puree and garnished with a triangle of crispy fried polenta. Colorful, and a crisp texture; homey but elegant. Sound better?

Oooooh yeah! Nice mix of flavors and textures, the starch component is in there, and still not too much food.

Yeah, I like it too. As soon as I typed out the description it sounded perfect. That's a 'go'!

I have homemade smoked pork ravioli and a tomato-fennel sauce ready to go

That sounds excellent! I have been very active and experimenting with smoking meats over the last few years. Did you cold or hot smoke the pork? Also, what kind of wood did you use for your homemade smoked pork, Jenise? I always enjoy hearing about the details so I can pick up some new ideas.

Hot smoked, apple wood. A friend nearby had cut down a tree so we're rich in that kind of wood.

Good choice on the type of wood. A few years ago an apple tree in my yard died and I cut it down, let it dry for a year and use it to smoke pork. It is a good type of wood to use because the flavor does not overwhelm the taste of the pork. My thinking is why purchase an expensive piece of heritage pork and bury the flavor under something like hickory or mesquite smoke.

Do you ever use wood pellets? A friend of mine uses those. They are all natural, reasonably priced and he has had very good luck with them.

[Jenise]

No, haven't used pellets; we've had a pretty good supply of desirable woods from the yards of friends, which we've supplemented with a variety of storebought chips . The sporting goods stores, we've discovered, have a good selection.