Pig's cheeks

[DutchOma]

This is one of Waitrose's 'forgotten cuts'. I cooked two cheeks each, with prunes and an apple, just covered with water and cooked for 2 1/2 hours in a low oven. Delicious.

they are fantastic. i've done them in a pig cheek and chorizo stew with white beans...they are really fantastic slow braised in any way really...and SO CHEAP!

Sounds divine. got the recipe?

Really? This is one of dh's hilarious stock responses:

Me: What do you want for dinner?
Dh: Pig's cheeks and beer

Apparently his dad used to say it so it's a sort of family comedy tradition.

Me thinks I'll be purchasing some of these Waitrose pig cheeks...

I had pig's cheek in a restaurant once and have to agree, they were extremely tasty and a lot more tender than I expected.

Pigs cheeks and beer sounds my ideal meal!

I am absolutely going to do this. Nice bottle of real ale to go with

His gas will be put in a peep, but it sounds like it's also going to be really tasty!

I'm getting a slow cooker for Christmas. Could I do them in that?

Dependso n the recipe I guess. Personally I'd say they need some crisping, though i've never had them so I'm guessing. So perhaps not in a slow cooker.

But I've just looked at the forgotten cuts section of the Waitrose site and there's some gorgeous stuff on there which would be fab in a slow cooker.

Yes slow cooker is ideal. I didn't have a recipe at all, for two people I had 4 cheeks (about £0.83), I chucked a handful of pitted prunes in and a bit of left over stewed apple from the freezer. A real apple would probably be nicer, but this was nice enough. It could have done with some salt, but was tasty enough without it.
I then covered with plain water and set it in a slow oven for 2 1/2 hours. Had it with mashed potato, broccoli and carrots.
I think it would nicely stewed for that length of time in some cider too.

thankyouverymuch

For a laugh I enclose Mrs Beeton's recipe for pig's cheek from a 1913 cookery book that my dh's grandma had.

Ingredients: A pig's cheek, brown breadcrumbs.
Method: If the cheek has been cured and dried soak it for five or six hours; if freshly pickled, simply wash it in 2 or 3 waters. Cover with warm water, bring to the boil and simmer gently for two to three hours. Strip off the skin, cover rather thickly with lightly browned breadcrumbs, and bake in the oven for half an hour. Serve either hot or cold.
Time - to cook 3 hours. Average cost 8d per lb Seasonable in winter.
This must have been a slightly different cut from what I had, because one bit of cheek that I had would not have gone very far.

She also gives recipes for stewed pig's pettitoes (involving the feet of suckling pigs) and for pig's head, boiled or collared, involving a pig's head which needs to be scalded and thoroughly cleansed, removing the hair, eyes, snout and brains

How our grandmothers lived.

Aye, they had bigger pigs in those days. It's like Wagon Wheels you see, everything is smaller now.

I tell you what else Waitrose is selling - faggots. Wrapped in bacon. I never liked the sound of them when I was little, but we bought some and they are Yum, plus I like the idea of all that offal being used for something better than dogfood.

I'm in Wales though. We get a lot of faggots. With mushy peas! Om nom nom.

I cooked oxtail t'other day though. Hadn't done that before.

But oxtail is terribly expensive and definitely overrated, it's all bone and no meat.

Oh I do like oxtail. Got to cook it for a looooong time though and then those lovely little nuggets of meat just pull away.

Not expensive here I don't think.

Also love lamb shanks and shin of beef. Also looooong cooking.

Lamb shanks are expensive here too, for what you get on them, but I do love shin of beef. We used to get that and make dinners for the children. they were born before the age of BLW, so I made purees for them. Shin of beef was wonderful for that.