Denmark: Stegt Flæsk (Cripsy pork belly with parsley sauce and potatoes)

Made this quite a while back, around June last year--trying to finish up the remaining drafts in my posts lists, so expect some more like these soon.  When I did this one, the recipe intrigued me, as I've never cooked pork belly before, and it's supposedly Denmark's most popular dish.  Plus, the pictures of it looked really good, like a thicker version of bacon.  Unfortunately, the recipe I used did not specify exactly how thick the "strips" were to be...well, let's just say I learned the hard way and my strips took far longer to cook thoroughly than anticipated.  Hubby loved them; I thought they were just ok.  The parsley sauce and potatoes were very yummy, though, so it's kind of hard to give this recipe a true rating.  At any rate, I wanted to share it in case anyone else wanted to give it a go...I might do so sometime in the future.

Link to original recipe: https://www.copenhagenet.dk/CPH-Map/CPH-Recipes-Stegt-Flaesk.asp

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs of pork belly, excess fat trimmed off and sliced lengthwise in strips sightly less than 1/4" thick (I would have butcher do for me next time)
2.2 lbs. new potatoes
1/4 c. butter (it says Danish butter in the recipe, but I did not find any)
4 T. whole wheat flour (I think I may have subbed all-purpose)
1 2/3 c. whole milk
7 T. heavy cream
1/2 c. chopped fresh parsley
salt & pepper, to taste
1/4 tsp. grated nutmeg, if desired

Instructions:

1. Dry the slices of pork belly on paper towels for a while, then season with salt and pepper.

2. Peel the potatoes (if desired--can leave skin on if preferred), place them in a large saucepan, then cover with cold water.  Bring to a boil (over high heat) and let boil for 15-20 min.  Drain in a colander. (I cut mine in pieces to make sure they would cook all the way through)

3. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat and sprinkle flour over it--whisk continuously for 1 minute.  Whisk in milk a little at a time until a sort-of thickened consistency is reached--but do NOT boil the sauce!

4. Add in the cream and season with salt and pepper (and nutmeg, if desired; I can't remember if I did, but I am guessing yes, as I love nutmeg).

5. Whisk in the parsley and season with salt and pepper.  Keep sauce simmering for 5-10 min to meld the flavors.

6. In a skillet over medium to medium-high heat, cook the pork belly for 2 minutes on each side, or until they have a crispy/golden outside (this took far more than 2 minutes because mine were too thick).  Drain on a paper towel.   **Alternatively, you can bake at 390°F for 20 min or grill over charcoal grill.

7.  Drizzle sauce over the crisped pork belly and potatoes to serve.