Local chefs to face off in Cochon 555 competition

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The Cochon 555 national whole-hog cooking competition returns to Chicago on Sunday, April 26, 2015. Local chefs go head-to-head in a culinary combat to find creative ways to use pork from snout to tail. Cochon 555 features five top chefs, with over 36 dishes prepared from locally-raised whole heritage breed pigs with endless wine, brews and spirits.

The competition was created in 2008 in response to the lack of education around heritage breed pigs. In 2014, the tour donated over $100,000 to local charities and spent over $90,000 on heritage breed pigs.

Local chefs Kurt Guzowski and Thomas Rice from TETE Charcuterie stopped by our ABC 7 studios to show us what they're whipping up for this year's competition.

Cochon 555 Chicago

Sunday, April 26

5 p.m.

Morgan Manufacturing

401 N Morgan St, Chicago, Ill. 60642

Tickets: $130.95

Recipes:

Filipino-inspired longanisa with garlic fried rice

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients:

Longanisa sausages 4 each

Butter 4 tablespoons

Grapeseed oil 4 tablespoons

Garlic cloves, thinly sliced 4 each

Jasmine rice, cooked 440 g.

Green onion, bunch of, thinly sliced 1 each

Kosher salt, as needed

Freshly ground black pepper, as needed

Eggs, soft poached, 4 each

Romaine lettuce heart, chiffonade, 1 each

Bunch of cilantro, 1 each

Bread and butter pickles, jar 2 oz.

Chili marmalade or chili sauce, 4 tablespoons

1. Heat a medium saute pan over medium-high heat. Add longanisa and lightly brown on all sides, then transfer to a 350-degree oven and cook for 7-9 minutes, or until sausage is cooked through. Baste with butter throughout cooking.

2. Heat grapeseed oil for 30 seconds in a saute pan over high heat. Add garlic and lightly toast, then add rice and saute until light, fluffy and slightly crispy. Add green onions, salt and pepper, stir to combine and remove from heat.

3. To serve, place one-quarter of rice mixture in middle of bowl, then place an egg in middle of rice. Garnish with a handful of lettuce, 1 tablespoon chili marmalade, 2 oz. pickles and some cilantro. Top with the sausages.

Longanisa sausages

Yield: 8-10 5-6 oz. sausages

Ingredients:

Pork butt, lean, large dice 800 g.

Pork belly, large dice 350 g.

Kosher salt 16 g.

Pink salt 0.35 g.

Brown sugar 15 g.

Soy sauce 7.5 g.

Freshly ground black pepper 5.75 g.

Garlic, minced 56.75 g.

Shallot, minced 56.75 g.

Sweet paprika 28.5 g.

Fresh hog casing, soaked

Grind lean pork and pork belly through 1/4-inch grinder die. Transfer ground meat to bowl of stand mixer with paddle attachment. Add salts and mix on the lowest speed to incorporate, then add sugar, soy and pepper and mix to incorporate. Add garlic, shallot and paprika and mix until pork pulls away from side of bowl, about 2 minutes. Add mixture to sausage-stuffer canister and stuff mixture into fresh hog casings that have been soaked. Twist links 5-6 inches long; links should weigh 5-6 oz. Refrigerate for 24 hours to allow sausage to marinate and casings to dry out. Reserve refrigerated until needed.