CONFIT PIG’S CHEEK AND DANDELION
A dish that could be accused of being a salad, but I see it more as lunch. Ask your butcher for pigs’ cheeks; you need the skin and fat on, not just the nuggets of flesh. This should not be too difficult, given a day or two’s warning.
Servings
4
Servings
4
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Salt your cheeks and leave overnight. Next day, brush them off thoroughly with a clean kitchen cloth, then lay them in a deepish oven dish and cover with duck or goose fat. Cover with foil and pop them into a gentle to medium oven for approximately 3 hours. Keep an eye on them; you want a giving cheek when stabbed with a sharp knife. When happy with the stabbing, remove them from the oven and allow to cool in the fat. At this point you could keep the cheeks covered in the fat in the fridge for a rainy day or proceed by removing them from the fat. Scrape off any excess with your fingers and keep the fat for future use.
  2. Don’t forget your shallots and garlic. Put them in an ovenproof dish, cover with duck or goose fat and roast until soft, sweet and giving.
  3. Place the slices of bread in an ovenproof dish, on top of which you should rest your cheeks. Slip it into a medium oven and allow the cheeks to loosen up, the fat to crisp up and the bread to absorb all the goodness—about 1½ hours.
  4. When the cheeks are crispy, you are ready. Place the dandelion leaves in a bowl with the shallots, garlic, capers and parsley. Then lay your bread and cheeks on a board and chop into spirited chunks with a heavy knife. Add them to your leaves of dandelion. Dress. Toss with conviction, open the red wine and away you go . . .