Either last Christmas or the year before I got Gordon Ramsay's Great British Pub Food. I've made a couple of the recipes but one I really wanted to try was the pork cheeks in spices and bashed neeps. I really like my unusual cuts of meat, but being a townie with no butcher, I'd never seen pork cheeks anywhere. The Waitrose near me just had a refit with a bigger butcher counter though, and yesterday I spotted what I'd been waiting for: 600g of pork cheeks reduced to clear for £1.27. Bargain!
Recipe (serves 4-6):
1.4kg pork cheeks
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 sticks of celery, chopped
1 tbsp tomato purée
175ml clear honey
1 tsp cloves
1 star anise
1 sprig thyme
750ml chicken stock
I made half-quantity - one for me and the other for the freezer.
First things first, chop the veg and cut any large bits of fat from the cheeks. I have arranged this photo to make it look as authentic as possible and with the recipe book in place so as not to claim this recipe as mine in any way
So what's a cheek like then? Well I've cooked ox cheek before. It's a smooth shaped piece of meat, firm to the touch, very dark in colour, with marbling running through it. It's a slow-cook cut, inexpensive, and makes the most unctuous stew you can imagine.
Ox cheek trumps oxtail for me, so I was very excited when I spotted the pork cheeks. The 600g I bought was a total of 10 cheeks, so 5 per portion and this was just right for me.
Brown the cheeks in a little oil in batches so as not to overload the pan:
Set them aside and fry off the vegetables in a good knob of butter until golden brown. Add the tomato purée and continue to fry for another minute. Then tip everything into a casserole dish, all the remaining ingedients and put it into the oven at 150 for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. I did mine in the pressure cooker at full pressure but a low heat because of the honey, for 30 minutes. At which point it should look like this:
Take the meat out. It is so soft and untuous at this point, so take care:
Then pour the sauce through a seive and boil it down by about two thirds, which thickens it up and darkens it. It needs a lot of seasoning because of the honey, so be prepared to put a lot of salt in! It's worth it though. Serve with buttery swede mash:
I have to say, this is probably the finest tasting stew I've ever had. I don't like licking balls, but I guess it is the sign of a truly great chef like Gordon Ramsay: I can create a pretty good tasting stew myself, but he is able to take it to another level without complicating it. The only changes I made was I used a pinch of Chinese 5-spice because I didn't have any star anise and I put a small pinch of chilli flakes in. I'd have never used that much honey myself, but it really does work in this recipe. Have a go at this with some stewing pork, because the recipe is really delicious
Recipe (serves 4-6):
1.4kg pork cheeks
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 sticks of celery, chopped
1 tbsp tomato purée
175ml clear honey
1 tsp cloves
1 star anise
1 sprig thyme
750ml chicken stock
I made half-quantity - one for me and the other for the freezer.
First things first, chop the veg and cut any large bits of fat from the cheeks. I have arranged this photo to make it look as authentic as possible and with the recipe book in place so as not to claim this recipe as mine in any way
So what's a cheek like then? Well I've cooked ox cheek before. It's a smooth shaped piece of meat, firm to the touch, very dark in colour, with marbling running through it. It's a slow-cook cut, inexpensive, and makes the most unctuous stew you can imagine.
Ox cheek trumps oxtail for me, so I was very excited when I spotted the pork cheeks. The 600g I bought was a total of 10 cheeks, so 5 per portion and this was just right for me.
Brown the cheeks in a little oil in batches so as not to overload the pan:
Set them aside and fry off the vegetables in a good knob of butter until golden brown. Add the tomato purée and continue to fry for another minute. Then tip everything into a casserole dish, all the remaining ingedients and put it into the oven at 150 for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. I did mine in the pressure cooker at full pressure but a low heat because of the honey, for 30 minutes. At which point it should look like this:
Take the meat out. It is so soft and untuous at this point, so take care:
Then pour the sauce through a seive and boil it down by about two thirds, which thickens it up and darkens it. It needs a lot of seasoning because of the honey, so be prepared to put a lot of salt in! It's worth it though. Serve with buttery swede mash:
I have to say, this is probably the finest tasting stew I've ever had. I don't like licking balls, but I guess it is the sign of a truly great chef like Gordon Ramsay: I can create a pretty good tasting stew myself, but he is able to take it to another level without complicating it. The only changes I made was I used a pinch of Chinese 5-spice because I didn't have any star anise and I put a small pinch of chilli flakes in. I'd have never used that much honey myself, but it really does work in this recipe. Have a go at this with some stewing pork, because the recipe is really delicious
