Braised Pork Cheeks With Gnocchi Recipes

CIDER-BRAISED PORK CHEEKS

Steps:

• Season both sides of pork cheeks with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with flour and press it into the meat to coat thoroughly.
• Heat clarified butter in a pan over medium-high heat. Sear meat on both sides until richly browned, adjusting heat lower if necessary. When cheeks are browned, reduce heat to medium. Transfer cheeks to a plate to rest.
• Remove all but 2 tablespoons fat from the skillet. Add onions, carrots, and celery to skillet. Cook and stir until softened and sweet, seasoning with a pinch of salt. Add vinegar and stir to deglaze the pan. Pour in the cider and chicken stock. Bring to a simmer. Add sage and rosemary. Reduce heat to low and transfer cheeks back to pan. Cover. Cook until fork tender but not falling apart, 2 to 3 hours depending on the size of the pork cheeks. Transfer to a plate.
• Bring liquid to a boil over high heat, skimming off fat as it rises to the surface. Reduce volume of liquid by about 60 to 70%. Sauce will start to thicken up. Taste for salt and season as needed. Transfer cheeks back to liquid. Continue to cook over medium-low heat until cheeks are heated through and tender and sauce is thick enough to coat cheeks.

MILK BRAISED PORK SHOULDER WITH SEMOLINA GNOCCHI

Steps:

• Place pork in large bowl. Mix 1 tablespoon coarse salt and cinnamon in small bowl. Sprinkle salt mixture over pork, tossing to coat evenly. Cover and chill overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Melt butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook 2 minutes, whisking often (do not allow roux to brown). Remove from heat; cover and let stand until ready to use.
• Using on/off turns, blend onion, carrot, and celery in processor until finely chopped. Cook pancetta in large ovenproof pot over medium-high heat until beginning to brown and fat is rendered, about 6 minutes. Add vegetables to pot and sauté until beginning to brown, about 6 minutes. Add pork and sauté until brown, about 7 minutes. Add wine and bring to boil, stirring up browned bits. Add milk and bring to simmer. Add tomato puree, then whisk in roux. Simmer 5 minutes, whisking occasionally.
• Cover pot. Place in oven and braise pork until very tender, about 2 hours. Uncover; let pork cool briefly. Chill pork, uncovered, until cold, then cover and chill overnight.
• Rewarm pork over low heat, stirring often. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Place 1 gnocchi square in center of each plate. Top with pork and sauce.
• An Italian bacon cured in salt; available in the refrigerated deli case of many supermarkets and at Italian markets.

BRAISED PORK CHEEKS WITH BABY BOK CHOY AND CARROTS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Season the trotters with salt and pepper, place in a roasting pan and roast until the edges are slightly crispy, about 1 hour.
• Add the roasted trotters, wine, mushrooms, onion, turnip, garlic, lemongrass, kaffir leaves, ginger, star anise and 2 gallons of cold water to a stock pot. Bring to a decent simmer and cook on medium-low heat, skimming occasionally, until reduced by a third, about 2 hours. Strain the stock through a fine mesh strainer, discard the solids and stir in the sweet soy. You will want to drink this straight. Do not do this. Fight the urge. You just made pretty awesome pork stock.
• Preheat the oven again to 350 degrees F. Heat a cast-iron pan over medium-high heat.
• Season the pork cheeks with salt and pepper and sear until they begin to get color and crust, about 4 minutes per side.
• Place the cheeks in a single layer in a large oven-safe pan or a casserole dish. Cover the cheeks about 3/4 of the way with the pork stock and cover with foil. Cook in the oven until the meat just pulls apart with a fork, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Cooking time will differ depending on the size of the cheeks, so check them at the 1 1/2-hour mark. Reserve about a cup of the braising liquid. You just braised pork cheeks! Excellent work. We are close to the eating part.
• Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add a splash of canola oil and the carrots and saute until they begin to crisp on the outside, about 5 minutes. Add the bok choy and cook just until it wilts, about 4 minutes. Add the cheeks and a splash of the braising liquid, then gently heat through until the cheeks are hot to the touch. Add the cabbage.
• Serve the pork cheeks and vegetables over jasmine rice and garnish with cilantro and scallions. Eat the great food you just made. Share it with a friend, or don't. Well done.

SHERRY-BRAISED PORK CHEEKS

Steps:

• Heat 1 - 2 tbsp olive oil in a large pan then add the onion. Cook gently for 10 - 15 minutes until softened and lighty coloured. Remove and set aside.
• Toss the cheeks in the seasoned flour. Add a little more oil to the pan and turn up the heat. Brown the pork cheeks all over in batches. Turn the heat down to medium.
• Return all the pork and the reserved onions to the pan. Add the garlic, cumin and paprika and cook for a minute, then pour in the sherry. Use your spoon to scrape the bottom of the pan and mix in all the flavours.
• Pour in the beef stock then bring the pan to a simmer. Simmer gently for 2 hours or until the cheeks are tender.
• Scatter with parsley leaves and flaked almonds. Serve with rice or buttery mashed potato.

BRAISED PORK CHEEKS WITH GNOCCHI

Steps:

• Preheat an All-Clad 12" fry pan to medium high. When the pan is hot, add 2 tablespoons of olivie oil, then the pork cheeks. Brown the meat well, turning to cook all sides. Remove to the All-Clad Slow Cooker insert. In the same fry pan add vegetables and sauté for about 5 minutes or until browned. Add thyme, peppercorns, and the red wine. Bring to a boil scraping up any browned its on the bottom of the pan. Transfer contents to the insert and combine with pork cheeks. Set the slow cooker to high setting and cook for five hours, or until meat shreds easily and is completely tender. After five hours, remove pork cheeks to a plate. Pour liquid remaining through a fine-mesh strainer positioned over a large bowl. Pour remaining liquid into a 6 or 8 quart All-Clad stock pot. Shred pork cheeks with a fork and add to stock pot. Bring mixture to a bubbling simmer and add gnocchi. Cook over medium until liquid is reduced and syrupy and gnocchi are tender. Just before serving, pick leaves off oregano and add to gnocchi. Toss.