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Pork Cheeks, Butter Beans and Chorizo
Posted By Stephen
On a recent visit to Waitrose, Kerri bought seven pork cheeks for the rather reasonable sum of just £1.67. We had been talking about cooking them for a while, and this seemed too good (and cheap) an opportunity to pass up. Something slow cooked seemed to be the way to go, and we fancied something Spanish in style so added a little chopped up chorizo and handful of butter beans. Good old fashioned hearty fare for a rainy February day.
The pork cheeks cooked down and were really soft and tender, breaking up easily with just a fork. Perhaps we should have kept the cheeks whole actually, it would have made for more interesting presentation.
We made the recipe up as we went along, but it went something like this:
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
3 or 4 celery stalks, finely chopped
2 small onions, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 bay leaves
100g chorizo, chopped
1 tsp paprika (optional)
7 pig cheeks, cut into 2 or 3 pieces each
250g dried butter beans
1 litre (or so) of chicken stock
250ml red wine
1tsp dried thyme (or preferably fresh thyme if you have it, which we didn’t)
1 tin chopped tomatoes
small bunch parsley, chopped
Heat up a little oil in a casserole or heavy saucepan and then fry the chorizo until the red oil starts to appear. Add the onion, celery, carrot and garlic and fry for a while until softened. Remove to a plate. Add a little more oil to the casserole, season the cheek pieces with salt and pepper and then brown them. When done, add the vegetables and chorizo back into the casserole with the cheeks, stir and turn down the heat.
Add the bay leaves and then the wine. Let the wine bubble away for a little while to evaporate the alcohol and then add the tomatoes, beans and thyme. You could add paprika too but we forgot. Add enough stock to just cover them, bring to the boil, cover with a lid and let simmer for about 3 hours. Remember to stir every half an hour or so to ensure that the beans cook consistently. Before serving, season with salt and pepper if needed and add a little chopped parsley. Enjoy!
Feb 21st, 2010
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That’s such a bargain! I paid something like £2 for two, which I thought was a steal at the time…
Alex´s last blog ..Frocks that rock at The Baftas
Hurray for pork cheeks. Fantastic stuff. A great addition to beans and chorizo. I love this dish.
Jonathan´s last blog ..Oriental Beef Shin & Oxtail Lettuce Wraps
I know, I only asked for four to begin with but took the rest since they were so cheap. And they were from Waitrose, I don’t think I’ve ever used the words “cheap” and “Waitrose” in the same sentence before
Thanks, Jonathan. I thought you might approve!