Pigs Cheeks and Pavlova
Sunday in the kitchen
Finally I feel I have some time to cook! This week I have been out and about — to dance class, to Brighton to see the wonderfully charming and funny Wendy Houston and her one-woman-show, 50 Acts; and to Chichester to look for dinner plates and to the cinema — so I haven’t invested as much time as I’d like in cooking this week.
Sunday though, is a day in the week when there is no expectations, so I don’t feel bad spending most of the day in the kitchen.
I am still trying to perfect this Pavlova recipe and so, once again I whisk my egg whites and sugar — for longer this time(!) — until its thick and glossy and shape it into a round and pop it in the oven. First at Gas mark 2 then after about 40 minutes I turn it down to Gas mark 1 for another 40 minutes. I leave it in the oven while it cools. The result is delicious — golden crispy outer-shell which melts on the tongue like a sweet cloud and underneath soft, dense marshmallow. So still not the chewy texture I had hoped for but it still tastes fantastic. Perhaps I should convince myself that I prefer these marshmallow-like Pavlovas and be done with it!
While the Pavlova cooks I get on with mixing some bread dough. I measure out 300ml of hot water from the tap and dissolve a teaspoon of Alinson dried yeast to it and leave it while I weigh out the flour. I want a fairly dark loaf this week, so mix 250g of strong white bread flour with 250g of stone milled whole meal flour, and add salt and the yeasty water before mixing the dough in my stand mixer with the dough hook attachment until it comes together in a neat ball. I cover the bowl with clingfilm and wait for it to rise.
The weather is glorious and while the bread rises we go for a walk along the sea front. I can’t believe is October!
When we get back the bread is ready to shape and bake. Bread baking on days like these is easy.
I bake my loaf in a buttered loaf tin at the hottest my oven will heat for 15 minutes and then at Gas mark 6 for 40 minutes. Its good dense loaf, perfect to accompany our weekday lunch soups.
Braised Pigs Cheeks With Guinness & Roots
After much talk from celebrity chefs and seeing them on various restaurant menus, I finally have found pigs cheeks in Waitrose! Cant believe quite how good value they were — just 87p for four. I bought eight — well, at that price!
Nigel Slater has a recipe online which comes up with a quick Google search. He uses root vegetables, red wine and simmers it in the oven for 2 hours. This sounds like the sort of thing I want to make, but I adapt it somewhat to suit myself using beer and some vegetables in the cupboard. The following recipe created a delicious warming stew. The pigs cheeks had a soft meaty texture with a deep savory flavour; the root vegetables added a balancing sweetness to the dish. The orange, although a surprising addition adds a light citrus note.
I utilise my pressure cooker for this recipe. I often use it for meat curry dishes, especially the ones which require 2 hours or more cooking time and think that my pig cheeks will benefit from this shortcut. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, just simmer it on the hob, or in the oven for 1.5 — 2 hours or until the meat is tender, checking the liquid isn’t evaporating too fast and adding more water if necessary.
2 tbsp oil (or bacon fat from the frying pan from breakfast — yes, this is what I do!)
2 parsnips peeled and chopped into chunks
1 sweet potato peeled and chopped into chunks
2 small fennel heads trimmed and roughly choppen
3 cloves of garlic finely choppen, crushed or grated
Put the oil in a large saucepan or your pressure cooker and heat gently. Season the pigs cheeks, add them to the pan and brown all over. Don’t be too quick with this as you want a nice dark gravy and the browning creates not only the colour, but also the flavour.
Remove from the pan leaving the oil and add the vegetables. If there is chance that the caramelised piggy bits on the bottom of the pan might burn, add a tablespoon of water to deglaze the pan. Cook the veg in the oil until it starts to colour a little then add the garlic, thyme, bay leaf and orange peel and cook for a few minutes more, stirring to combine the flavours.
Add the meat back to the pan along with the flour and mix well. Once incorporated, add the whole bottle of Guinness and pop the lid on the pressure cooker. Bring up to pressure and cook for 20 minutes — just enough time to get some potatoes on for mash!
Let the pressure come down naturally and open when ready to serve. You should have a nice dark gravy and very tender meat and veg. Check the seasoning, if the flavour is a little too bitter, add a small blob of redcurrant or quince jelly for a touch of sweetness.
We found room for Pavlova!
Last time I made peach and passion fruit Pavlova with a marscapone/cream filling. On this occasion we have strawberries and raspberries. I found a jar of Nutella in the cupboard (Italian brand, so a donation from my parents I think!) and add a tablespoon to 300ml of whipped cream, blending it with a quarter of the cream and swirl it though. Its a delicious nutty cocoa hit.
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