Pork Cheek and Fried Apples with Sage

In his first cookbook Gather, Gill Meller shows you how to cook with products from the local area. Slow-braised pork cheek is a favourite anyway, especially when sage is involved.

You do need to brine the pork cheek two days in advance; this makes it extra juicy. It sounds very complicated, but it requires little work and once the meat is in the brine, you hardly need to think about it.

Gill Meller writes about this dish in his book: “This is a delicious dish. It is rustic and modest, but it has everything I could wish for. Pork cheek is truly delicious, so if you have never tasted it, I recommend giving it a try. I always use the whole cheek instead of just the middle piece of meat. The whole cheek is much more interesting. You need to brine it two days before you want to serve the dish.”

Method

First make the brine. Use a large plastic bowl and add the sea salt and 1 litre of water; stir well until the salt has dissolved. Submerge the pork cheek in the brine and refrigerate for 48 hours.

Remove the pork cheek from the brine, rinse and place it in a large heavy-based pan. Add the onion, carrots, celery and bay leaves. Add enough water to cover the meat and bring to the boil over high heat. Turn the heat down and simmer, uncovered, for 2½ to 3 hours until the meat and skin of the cheek are tender. Remove the pork cheek from the stock, leave to cool and refrigerate. Strain the stock into a clean bowl, cover, leave to cool and refrigerate as well.

Skim most of the fat from the chilled stock. Put the celeriac in a heavy-based pan. Pour in enough stock to cover the celeriac and place the pan over high heat. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes until the celeriac is cooked. Remove the celeriac from the pan with a slotted spoon and put the cubes in a food processor. Add a little stock, add the butter and blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Cut the cooked pork cheek into 2 thick or 4 thinner slices (save any leftovers for another dish; crispy fried pork cheek is delicious in a salad with boiled eggs). Heat the slices of pork cheek in a large frying pan over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes per side, until warm and golden brown. Set aside. Add the apples with a little salt and pepper, the sage leaves and the thyme sprigs to the pan and fry, stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes in the pork fat until they caramelise slightly around the edges.

Divide the celeriac purée between two bowls, add some fried apples and sage and finally the crispy cheek slices. Serve immediately.

Gather
Gill Meller
€ 29,95
Good Cook B.V.

Photography: Andrew Montgomery