Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A dish that could be accused of being a mere salad, but I see it as a good lunch. It can also be an accompanying salad to roast leg or shoulder of pork. Ask a butcher for pigs' cheeks; you need the skin and fat on, not just the meat.
4 pigs' cheeks
300-400g duck or goose fat
12 shallots, peeled and left whole
12 gloves of garlic, peeled and left whole
4 x 2cm-thick slices of good bread
A bunch of dandelion leaves, washed and dried
3tbsp extra-fine capers, rinsed
3tbsp chopped parsley
For the vinaigrette
2tbsp white wine or cider vinegar
1tbsp Dijon mustard
2tbsp olive oil
3tbsp rapeseed oil
Put your cheeks on a non-reactive baking tray, scatter with handfuls of sea salt and leave overnight in the fridge.
Preheat the oven to 175C/gas mark 4. Rinse off the cheeks thoroughly and dry with some kitchen paper. Lay them in a deepish oven dish with the shallots and garlic and cover with duck or goose fat. Cover with foil or a lid and cook them in the oven for approximately 3 hours. Keep an eye on them; they need to be tender but not falling apart.
When they are done, remove from the oven and allow to cool in the fat. At this point you could keep the cheeks covered in the fat and allow to cool 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.
Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Put the pigs' cheeks in a roasting tray on the slices of bread and roast for about 1-1½hours, until crisp. Remove the bread if it's getting too hard as it needs to be used for the croutons.
Meanwhile, whisk all of the listed ingredients together for the vinaigrette and season to taste.
To serve, cut the cheeks into rough 2cm chunks and toss them with the dandelion, parsley, capers, croutons and vinaigrette and season to taste.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments