Pig cheek stew in cherry beer

Winter is approaching, and the weather is getting colder. What dishes come to mind when you think about winter or autumn? I feel like I’ve already transitioned from autumn to the winter vibe, not to mention that Halloween has passed me by! Guilty! Anyway, I must credit my partner again for suggesting pig cheek stew.

As a home cook, making stew can sometimes be a bit worrisome. You need to stir it from time to time, and, most importantly, it sometimes doesn’t turn out as tender as you’d like. Have you ever faced this situation before? Well, in this recipe, I assure you that you won’t need to set a timer to check on your stew every 10 minutes. Once the pot is filled with all the ingredients, you can relax and multitask—whether that means working on other tasks, reading the news, taking a bath, or even playing chess with your kids or partner. I like to call this recipe “Effortless Family Meal.”

Now you are questioning ‘but how?’ – Oven magic!

Here are some tips for this recipe:

• Ask the butcher to clean the pig cheek for you (trust me, it’s a messy job).
• Don’t be afraid of using mustard; if you don’t have gingerbread, regular bread or ginger powder will do just fine.

Pick cheek stew in sherry beer

Difficulty:IntermediateTotal time:2 hours Servings:4 servings Best Season:Winter

Ingredients

• 1 kg pork cheek (cut into bite size)
• 75 cl authentic cherry beer
• 2 Onions
• 3 clove of garlic
• 4 Bay leaves
• 4 thymes
• 3 cloves
• 2 slices Gingerbread
• 3 tablespoons mustard
• 1 tablespoon cherry jam (or canned cherry mashed)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C.
2. Pig cheek: Cut them into bite size. Heat a large, pan over medium heat and add butter.
3. Season the pig cheeks with salt and pepper. Then, sear them in the hot pot until they are browned on all sides.
4. Stew Pot: In the stew pot, add butter, the chopped onions and garlic. Sauté them until they become translucent. Remove the pig cheeks from the pan and put in the stew pot.
5. Cherry beer: Pour the fat out of the pan and place it back on a medium heat. Pour the cherry beer over the bottom. Let the beer heat up and pour it in the stew pot. Add the cloves. Reduce the heat to low.
6. Herbs: Gather thymes and bay leaves and tie them into a tight herb bouquet using a piece of kitchen twine.
7. Seasoning with goods: Add a little cherry jam to the stew pot. Spread a generous layer of mustard on the gingerbread slices. Place them (mustard side down) on top of the stew (make sure that the breads are flooded under the beer. and put the lid on the pot.
8. Oven and relax: Cook the pork cheeks in the oven at 170°C for one or one and a half hour.
9. Optional: If you want your stew to be slightly thicker, dissolve corn flour in water and add it to the stew pot during the last 15 minutes of cooking.
10. To serve: Remove the cooked bouquet of herbs from the stew and serve the pork cheeks with stew sauce, accompanied by mashed potatoes. (or fries, lettuce and fresh mayonnaise as preffered).