Pork Cheek

We picked up some rare breed pork cheeks at the Masterton market, I decided to slow braise the meat and serve with some polenta. The cheeks have a beautiful layer of tasty fat and I thought the slow cooking would enhance its flavour.


I first prepared the pan for braising, I lined the bottom of the pan with tin-foil so I could seal it better later. Diced carrots, sliced onion, paprika (smoked), bay leaf, garlic, coriander and fennel seeds made up a bed for the cheek.


The meat got heavily browned on both sides and seasoned with salt and pepper. I then deglazed the pan with some chicken stock. The cheek was then placed on the bed of vegetables and the stock carefully poured around it.


Sealed up nice and tight, cooked for about 3-4 hours at 130°C. When cooked, the meat was placed in a bowl and the cooking liquid strained over it and it was left to rest (Don't discard the vegetables).

While the meat was resting I got the polenta on the go (I use 8 parts liquid, 1 part instant polenta and 1 part semolina flour). A mix of milk, water and butter made up the liquid part, when the liquid starts to boil remove it from the heat and while whisking sprinkle in the dry mix. Place the pot back on a very low heat and stir constantly until a thick porridge consistency is achieved.

Retrieve the pork from the liquid and cut in to generous slices. Spoon some polenta in to a bowl and top with the vegetables, pork slices and spoon over some of the cooking liquid.

Semolina...

It's crazy how supermarkets bury away the cheaper options on their shelves. This weeks shop we were hunting for some polenta (we have a preferred brand) but could only find $6+ packets of the stuff, after a hunt managed to find our favorite brand in the "international" section (which is usually more expensive) for only $3. Also the same for fine semolina, 500g packs were all above the $6 mark, which is crazy expensive, but then when checking out the Instant Pudding section found a pack for $3.

Well the polenta and semolina got put to good use last night, Polenta with grilled sausages and ratatouille. Semolina apart from being able to make tasty pudding from it, and creating a great crust on breads/pizza, loosens polenta so it doesn't set into the firm brick it usually does.

Semolina/Polenta
125g each of Fine Semolina & Instant Polenta
2 Litres of Water/Stock (+salt if just water)
Big knob of butter

Bring the water with the butter to a boil and then scatter in the mixed polenta/semolina while whisking so no lumps form. Stir on the heat until the desired consistency is reached. Take off the heat and serve as is, or stir in some cheese (last night stirred in a good portion of ricotta which enhanced the creamy texture).

Ratatouille
Well probably not the traditional recipe but was tasty. Browned off some onions, shallots & garlic in a pan then added cubed eggplant, sliced carrots & diced capsicum with a good bunch of sage, thyme & bay leaves. Seasoned and then added a can and half of good quality tomato.

Either leave it to simmer on a stove or chuck it in the oven for about 45 min (although I think you could probably leave it longer).