Slow cooker recipe corner: "Pulled” pig cheeks with sherry, saffron and olives

There are certain dishes that are never going to be particularly photogenic.  And, as readers of this blog know, I have a way of making even the photogenic ones look like piles of pallid mush.  So rather than attempt to photograph pulled pork, here is a photograph of a pig ornament.  And my cat. 

So a few weeks ago, a lovely man called Chris emailed me and asked me if I’d like some meat and some alcohol.  I attempted to be cool but my reaction was probably more along the lines of SQUEEEEEEEEEEE.  Chris, bless him, didn’t seem fazed by the over enthusiasm and duly sent along some pig cheeks and a bottle of Fino sherry.  Chris, you see, works for a company called Grey’s Fine Foods.

I’ll fully admit, not a site that was on my radar at all which is extremely sad because I have been missing out on some real treats.  They specialise in all things Spanish – and the charcuterie selection, in particular, is a thing of beauty and absolute joy forever.  Plus it is a Yorkshire based company and I love to bang the drum for all things Yorkshire.  So do, please, go along and have a little look.  Several of my family members may well be getting Spanish foodie treats for Christmas.

We’ve cooked with pig cheeks before but these were a class apart – thick, a nice marbling of fat (obviously very jowly pigs) and full of deep, almost gamey flavour.  After an overnight sojourn in the slow cooker they fell apart as the prod of a fork.  Perfect for a slightly Spanish twist on pulled pork.

I served the below in a boccadillo – which is basically a Spanish sandwich, traditionally served in a sub-type roll.  I made a delicious loaf of rustic Spanish bread from this Hairy Bikers recipe and then smeared it with tomato and aioli and stacked up the warm pork and thin, crispy slices of chorizo.  It was all kinds of messy wonderful.  But this recipe would also be great with mashed potato, or patatas bravas, or a Spanish-ey mac and cheese or (and this has only just occurred to me) a veggie paella-type rice thing. 

One pack of cheeks, at £16.50 made six extremely generous portions.  But obviously this recipe could be scaled up or down to suit.

Ingredients

10-12 (about 1.5 kg) pig cheeks

Flour, for dusting

Tbsp. olive oil

200ml Fino sherry

Hefty pinch of saffron

Tsp. smoked paprika

½ tsp. cayenne pepper

Tbsp. tomato puree

2 onions, roughly quartered

2 carrots, roughly quartered

2 sticks of celery, roughly quartered

4-5 fat garlic cloves (no need to peel)

Several sprigs of fresh thyme

100ml chicken stock

Handful of black olives, chopped

Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Serves 6, 10 pro points per portion

Measure out your sherry and add the saffron to infuse.

In the bottom of your slow cooker (or in a casserole dish if making in the oven), make a trivet of the roughly chopped vegetables and the fresh thyme.

Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan.  Dust the cheeks with flour and a good whack of salt and pepper.  Then cook in the oil for a couple of minutes on each side until they have started to colour.  You may need to do this in batches, depending on the size of your pan.  As they are browned off, transfer them to the slow cooker (or casserole dish).

Turn the heat down and pour the saffron-coloured sherry into the pan to deglaze, using a wooden spoon to make sure you get up all the tasty, crusty bits.  Add the paprika, cayenne, and tomato puree and bubble together for about five minutes to reduce.  Now pour in the chicken stock, and again reduce slightly before transferring to the slow cooker.  Cook, on a low heat, for at least 8 hours – overnight is fine (probably about 120-150 if doing in the oven).

When the cheeks are cooked and cooled, remove from the dish with a slotted spoon and shred.  They should be tender as anything at this stage.  Strain the remaining juices through a sieve over the shredded pork, making sure to squish all the vegetables to get every drop of flavour.

Stir through the balsamic vinegar and the chopped olives, and adjust the seasoning as desired.

Recipe corner: king prawns with sweet potato mash and chilli viniagrette

I know this might sound a little bit weird, but trust me, it's rather delicious.  Prawns and sweet potato together has the potential to be overwhelmingly...well, sweet, but drenched in the delicious sauce it suddenly all works together in an exciting balance of flavours.  I copied this recipe down from the internet many, many years ago and didn't note where it came from - so apologies to whomsoever I have stolen this from.  And thanks for a fabulous dish.

A note on portion size: it's quite small, but personally I wouldn't be tempted to up the sweet potato to compensate as it may end up ruining that balance we talked about.  Have a starter instead.  Or a pudding.  Or both.

Ingredients

1 large (around 250g) sweet potato
150g raw prawns
20g butter
Handful of finely chopped coriander
2 spring onions, chopped
Squeeze of lemon juice

For the vinaigrette:

1 red chilli
1 shallot
2 cloves of garlic
20ml olive oil
2 tsp Dijon mustard
Handful of chives
2 tbsp sherry vinegar
1 tbsp caster sugar

Serves 2, 10 pro points per portion

Roast the sweet potato whole in its skin for a good hour or so until soft (it should be easily piercable with a sharp knife).

Meanwhile, make the vinaigrette.  The best way to do this is to use a mini food processor - add all the ingredients and blitz together.  If not, you will have to chop everything very finely before combining with the wet ingredients.  Don't add all the sugar at once - go for about half and then taste.  You want the sauce to be quite sour but not overwhelmingly so.  Trust your taste buds.

When the potato is cooked, scoop the flesh from the skin and combine with half of the butter, the coriander, the spring onions and plenty of seasoning.  By mixing vigorously, you should achieve a smooth puree.

Cook the prawns: melt the rest of the butter into a frying pan and add the seasoned prawns, turning them in the fat as the grey flesh turns pink.  They will need little more than a minute on each side.  Remove from the heat and squeeze over lemon juice to taste.

Serve the prawns on top of the sweet potato and pour over the delicious sauce.  Scoff.

Classic recipe corner - chicken Caesar salad

I love chicken Caesar salad. It’s become a bit of a cliché, hasn’t it, a stalwart of a certain type of restaurant menu. I don’t care. I think it’s scrummy.

I did some research when I came to write this (by which I mean I looked at Wikipedia. God bless the Internet) and was surprised to discover that this dish supposedly dates back to the 1920s. Also, that the original does not contain actual anchovies (which I always assumed were a given) – but that a faint anchovy flavour was bestowed by a splash of Worcestershire sauce.

As with most recipes, there are potentially endless variations of the Caesar salad – and here is mine. Plonking a chicken breast on top makes it a more substantial meal, but of course, if you are less carniverous or less greedy than me then leaving it off will reduce the total pro points in the recipe to 6.

I don’t know where I originally found this particular method of making the dressing, but it works very well. The combination of the soft boiled egg and the yoghurt give a good silken texture while the other components pack the requisite Caesar punch. The addition of the chilli flakes, by the way, is a new one on me and comes following a recent post on one of my very favourite food blogs, Jenny Eatwell’s. Jenny suggests that the hint of heat adds a je ne sais quoi to the dressing and I really liked how it worked – especially since it picked up on the slight chilli note in the Cajunated chicken.

Ingredients

For the dressing:
1 medium egg
2 tbsp 0% fat Greek yoghurt
3-4 fat garlic cloves
1 anchovy fillet, rinsed and patted dry
Tsp Dijon mustard
Pinch of chilli flakes
Squeeze of lemon juice
15g Parmesan cheese, grated

For the croutons:
2 slices of bread from a medium white loaf, crusts removed
1 tbsp olive oil

2 heads of Little Gem lettuce
2 medium chicken breasts
Cajun seasoning (optional)

Serves 2, 10 pro points per serving

First of all, prepare the ingredients for your dressing. Wrap the garlic cloves, skin and all, up in a little foil package and roast in a hot oven for around 45 minutes, at which point the sweet flesh will slip easily from the papery skins.

Put the egg in a medium saucepan, cover with cold water and bring up to simmering point. Simmer for 2 minutes.

Place your peeled egg, the roasted garlic and all the other constituent parts, along with a good scrunch of black pepper, in a mini processor and whizz until smooth. Reserve until ready to serve (dressing the lettuce to early will make it soggy).

To make the croutons, cut your bread into squares, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, and bake in a hot (180 – 200) oven for 15 minutes until crisp and golden.

If using, rub Cajun seasoning to taste into your chicken breasts, and then bake in a hot oven for about 20 minutes until cooked through and juicy. Allow the chicken to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Assemble: tear your lettuce up, anoint with dressing and top with your crunchy croutons and your warm chicken.

Recipe corner - Smoked Salmon and Spring Onion Risotto

Ingredients

120g risotto rice
100g smoked salmon
Small bunch of spring onions
Tbsp olive oil
30g low fat cream cheese
Black pepper
Dill
Capers (opt - for garnish)
500ml vegetable, fish or chicken stock

Serves 2, 7 points per person, 10 pro points per person

In a large pan (I find risotto works best if you are working with a large surface area) heat the oil and then add the spring onions and cook until soft.

Tip in the rice and stir making sure it is coated in the oil.

Now, add the stock about a ladelful at a time. After each lot of stock is added, stir vigorously. Bash the grains about a bit - you want them to release their starch. I personally don't find that you need to be stirring absolutely constantly but do keep an eye on it. As the rice absorbs the stock, add more.

Once you are about three quarters of the way through the stock, add the smoked salmon, reserving a few strips for garnish. At this point check the seasoning; you probably won't need any salt but plenty of black pepper is a must.

Cook until the rice is soft and creamy but with a slight "bite" to it - you don't want to make mush! You may find you need a bit more stock for this.

Remove from the heat, cover the pan and leave to sit for about a minute. Finally, stir through the cream cheese and the dill and maybe add a bit more black pepper for luck.