I was lucky enough to be able to acquire some pork cheeks from the local meat monger – Kettle Range. I don’t often see them and what’s more, I have never made them. To the internet!!
I found a recipe on the interwebs for braised pork cheeks that looked interesting and that can be found here. The problem I had with it is that it requires the cheeks to be dredged in flour. I am gluten-free since 2013 and this was not something I wished to do. I considered the reasons for the flour. It could be to add a crust to the cheeks during the browning, but since it was going to be braised in liquid, the crust would be destroyed. Perhaps, it was to enable better browning of the meat for additional flavor. The meat would brown on it’s own without flour, so, nope. The last would be a thickener for the braising liquid. This was the most likely candidate.
Being gluten-free, it was time to make the first alteration. There are a number of options that can be used:
1) Nothing, just reduce the sauce while the cheeks are resting.
2) Gluten-free flour alternatives (Cup for cup, measure for measure)
3) Corn starch
Well, in my opinion, gluten-free flours don’t absorb moisture the same way flour does and generally doesn’t leave that rich nutty flavor. Corn starch is only a thicken and imparts no flavor. So, I opted for nothing.
For my second alteration, well, alteration is a strong word. The recipe calls for smoked paprika. I have loads of different types of paprika: Spanish smoked, Hungarian half-sharp, Hungarian sweet, and Californian sweet – all from Penzey’s. I decided to do a mélange of sweets along with the smoked. What difference did it make? Well, there was some lovely rich smoky flavors and some sweet notes. How much did I use, you may wonder? Not sure. I have always been heavy handed with spices and teaspoon isn’t very much. Maybe a 1/2 a teaspoon each? Not sure. Probably. Maybe. You be the judge.
And finally, the translation. Thank goodness for Dr. Google. I remember when I was anti-Google. I still am for a number of things but for a search engine, I am not.
600 grams is about 1.5 lbs. of pork cheeks. In my opinion, this is just about right for 2.5 people. Since I have a young daughter, this was about right. There were no leftovers however – I eat like a pig!!
150ml is about 1/4 cup of nice dry sherry. I have had my bottle in the fridge for a while – perhaps a year or more. I felt a tad bit like Julia Child taking a taste before using it. Not something I could drink straight but it was still good. Least, it didn’t taste horrible. It added a nice flavor. I am not certain I would substitute it with anything else.
500ml of stock is 16oz or 2 cups. Beef stock isn’t something that I keep around the house for some unknown reason. Instead, I used 4 packets of HerbOx low sodium bullion. It worked with a little more salt than the recipe called for but again, I didn’t measure.
Otherwise, that’s it. I said I would do something simple and documenting my changes to a published recipe is simple enough. If you like pork and you like braising, then this note’s for you!
In brief... budding blogger, SQL DBA, home chef, studio musician (guitar/pedal steel), amateur photographer, husband, father, dog owner, scotch drinker and all around crazy person.
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