Little Foodies Disastrous Pigs Cheek #2

I'm not going to be beaten by this. During our time spent in Spain over the Summer, Hubby had a delicious meal of pigs cheek. We all tried it, we all loved it. I didn't think to ask how it had been prepared or cooked. Being a cooking dish and not baking, I thought I'd easily be able to re-create it at home... WRONG! You may remember my first go with pigs cheeks didn't even make it to brining. Click here and read the third paragrah for my admission of what happened to the first lot of pigs cheeks I bought.. This second lot of pigs cheeks were very kindly brined by our butcher. I collected them on Wednesday and cooked them on Thursday (3 different styles). Here's what I did... At the end I'll tell you what I should have done!


Pigs Cheeks in Stones Ginger Wine (keeping with the British theme)
One whole very large onion (we used red) peeled and chopped
One carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
One parsnip, peeled and roughly chopped
2 tablespoons of Garlic Olive Oil
2 Pigs Cheeks (brined and prepared by your butcher)
Pinch of mixed herbs
6 black peppercorns
1/3 bottle of Stones Ginger Wine
2 pints of boiling hot water

In a very large pan, gently fry the onions in oil for a few minutes until starting to colour, add the carrot and parsnip. Add the ginger wine and simmer for a couple of minutes.
Place the pigs cheeks on the top and add the mixed herbs, peppercorns and boiling water. Cover with a tight fitting lid. Let it bubble for a few minutes then place in a pre-heated oven (medium heat) for approximately 2 hours.


Pigs Cheek with Tomato and Herbs
Half a large onion peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
Half a carton of Sieved Tomatoes/Passata
11/2 pints of boiling water
Good pinch of mixed herbs (I used dried)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Few grinds of black pepper
1 Pigs Cheek (brined and prepared by your butcher)

In a large pan, fry the onion and garlic. Place the pigs cheek on top then pour in the passata and hot water. Add herbs and a few grinds of black pepper. Cover with a tight fitting lid and let it come to boil for a few minutes, then cook in a pre-heated (medium heat) oven for approximately 2 hours.

Pigs Cheek in Pedro Ximenez (an intensely sweet dessert wine / sherry)
Half a large onion peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 cup of Malaga Virgen Pedro Ximenez
2 pints of hot stock (I used chicken)
1 pigs cheek (brined and prepared by your butcher)
2 tablespoons of olive oil

In a large pan, fry the onion and garlic. Add the sweet wine/sherry and bring to boil. Place the pigs cheek on top then pour over the hot stock. Bring to boil for a few minutes. Cover with a tight fitting lid then cook in a pre-heated (medium heat) oven for approximately 2 hours.

My MISTAKE - I only rinsed the pigs cheeks. I should have steeped them in water and changed the water regularly to get rid of some of the salt from the brining process OR alternatively I should have boiled them in water and thrown that water away prior to cooking them. Hubby thinks we had salt poisoning as we both felt like 'you know what' the next day. That's a score of one all, he once made me a dish which, ever we talk about, usually starts with... "Do you remember the salty pork?" Let me tell you Hubby's salty pork has nothing on mine!

A little like my very hot cheat's tom yam soup, which I made for my in-laws once. Whenever they now have something really hot, the heat intensity is always compared to that tom yam soup with the usual response of.... "It's not as hot as Amanda's tom yam soup.' How come your cock ups are so much more memorable than the great things you achieve?

p.s. I hasten to add, the children didn't eat the pigs cheeks. I dread to think what it would have done to their systems. The next day I kept getting a terrible taste in my mouth, it felt like I'd been swimming in the sea, hit by a big wave and swallowed a lot of it.