Pork Cheeks in Brittany Cidre

A rich delicious pork and apple casserole that could just as easily be made for a supper party as for an indulgent T.Vdinner (depending on whether you dollop your mash on to the plate or use a nice circular mould for it.)

This dish is inspired by our recent trip to Brittany, where apples are truly the life sustenance of the area.
For me apples and pig meat have always been a marriage made in heaven and so when I was in our local Waitrose, sussing out the reduced meat on the meat counter (something I confess to getting an excited hunter-gather thrill about LOL) and saw that the that pig cheeks were reduced, I had to get me a bag of those.

At just over £3.00 for the bag (about 12 pieces) it was a joyful result. They didn't even make the freezer for storage but were excitedly opened and prepared within an hour of being home.

CHEF'S ALBUM CHOICE: Whilst in Brittany I was cajoled by my five year old into purchasing the album of a travelling folk group that was playing at one of the bistros we visited, this album choice is a little alternative but never the less it works and I am sure that with enough scouting around on iTunes, you to will be able to find something as uniquely folky as this.


SETTING & PROPS: This is a really lovely dish to serve outside on one of those late summer early evenings, when the last vestiges of golden summer sun are hanging on and their is a slight chill riding on top of the warm air. Be sure to have your fleece jacket hanging over the back of the chair for when the sun goes down.


FOR THIS YOU WILL NEED: (To feed 4)

12 Pig Cheeks (cheaper cut that some butchers and supermarkets are now stocking - your butcher will get them for you if you put in an order)

Onions (2 large brown onions and a handful of small shallots)

2 Cooking Apples

1 Bottle of good cider

1 chicken stock cube gel.

Handful of fresh sage

Three cloves of garlic

Handful of fresh Thyme

Generous spoonful of wholegrain mustard.

METHOD

1. Sautee off the pigs cheeks in butter and a dash of olive oil. Place them into the slow cooker. 
2. Slice the large brown onions finely, peel the shallots and cook down in a frying pan until soft and starting to go golden. Add the sage and thyme and give a good stir around.  Place them over the pig cheeks in the slow cooker. 
3. Peel and core the cooking apples, slice into 8 - sling them in to the slow cooker too. 
4. Pour in the individual bottle of cider / cidre until the ingredients are covered. 
5. Add your genrous spoonful of mustard. 
6. Add the gel stock cube and stir. 
7. Put the lid on the slow cooker. Set to high and ignore for about 3 to 4 hours, turning it down for another 1to 2 hours until the stock has reduced and the meat is tender. 

SERVE WITH

Mustard and cheddar cheese mash. (Simple as adding grated mature cheddar and a dollop of mustard as you mix it) I always use a ricer for my mash as I think it gives a much smoother result. 

Thinly sliced and buttered spring / winter greens. 

TO DRINK

Very chilled light cider (Served either in tea cups or champagne flutes a la the Breton style.)

or

A nice bordeaux rose wine, that is full and deep. 

COOKING NOTES

If you are finding that your gravy is still too runny after the cooking time, the thicken it with a spoonful of arrowroot paste (arrowroot powder mixed with a little cold water)