I actually made both of these last night, but couldn't rally to get the braise finished by dinnertime. It was nice to just reheat and eat. Plus, I think this tasted better having sat overnight, too.
Here's the pork cheeks in the pot.
This is the celeriac slaw.
And, the pork cheeks, again, in a bowl.
I wanted to be able to link you to some information about pork cheeks, but sadly, I couldn't really find anything very helpful. It's not your ordinary cut of meat, but it's very tasty. Each piece was about 2-3 inches big. I had a package of about 6 pieces that was given to me as a gift from a friend who works on a farm that I order my meats from (www.thunderinghooves.net). I have been waiting for the weather to cool down to cook them. Since we also got some cranberry shelling beans from our Oxbow Farm CSA last week, I knew it was time.First, I cured the meat with just salt, pepper and crushed garlic cloves overnight. Normally, I would throw in sprigs of thyme and bay leaves, but I didn't have either on hand. Oh well.
To cook, I dried each piece of meat on a paper towel, then seared each side in a hot dutch oven. I removed the meat, & cleaned the pan with a paper towel. Then, I cooked cut up mushrooms in butter and olive oil in the same pan, and removed those as well. Next, I sweat diced carrots, onions and celery in olive oil until the onions became translucent, and deglazed the pan with white wine (chardonnay is what I had on hand). I let the wine reduce by half, the fresh cranberry beans, the mushrooms, and the pork cheeks. I just barely covered the ingredients with chicken stock, brought to a boil, then reduced to a simmer, and cooked covered for about 2 hours.
To cook, I dried each piece of meat on a paper towel, then seared each side in a hot dutch oven. I removed the meat, & cleaned the pan with a paper towel. Then, I cooked cut up mushrooms in butter and olive oil in the same pan, and removed those as well. Next, I sweat diced carrots, onions and celery in olive oil until the onions became translucent, and deglazed the pan with white wine (chardonnay is what I had on hand). I let the wine reduce by half, the fresh cranberry beans, the mushrooms, and the pork cheeks. I just barely covered the ingredients with chicken stock, brought to a boil, then reduced to a simmer, and cooked covered for about 2 hours.
Tonight, I reheated the ragu, and finished it off with a tablespoon of butter to thicken things up.
That's it! It was so yummy. You could really taste the sweetness of the carrots.
For the celeriac (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celeriac) slaw, I made it just like I would've made a regular coleslaw. Ingredients are: celeriac, carrots, celery, apples, shallots, mayo, and vinegar.
- add the corn kernel, fresh thyme sprigs (about 2 or 3), one bay leaf, the starchy potato, peeled and diced, and one cup of cream (that’s all I had in house)
**I didn't end up adding the waxy potato to the dish because I felt like one potato was enough.
Behold, my pesto.
The potatoes were cut into eighths & quickly sauteed in a hot pan with olive oil, butter, salt, pepper and minced garlic, then roasted in the oven with diced shallots uncovered for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees.
