Pork cheeks marinated in red wine, browned, dusted with flour, then slowly simmered with lardons and aromatic vegetables.
Outside, it’s gray and cold, and a Dutch oven has been simmering since early afternoon. The scent of red wine, thyme and bay leaf fills the whole house.
Under the lid, the pork cheeks fall apart at the touch of a spoon in a glossy sauce, spiced up with a few peppercorns. With steamed potatoes to soak up all the sauce, this is the dish you look forward to all day, and it’s even better the next day.
What Are Braised Pork Cheeks?
The pork cheek is a small, hard-working muscle in the pig’s head, rich in collagen. When braised, meaning cooked slowly in liquid, covered, over low heat, it turns meltingly tender while keeping its shape. This recipe is a variation on daube: the cheeks marinate in red wine, are browned and dusted with flour, then simmer with the marinade, lardons and aromatic vegetables. The method also works with beef cheeks, and other cuisines have their own long braises, such as Filipino beef pares.
Dusting with flour is the least familiar step in the recipe. It means sprinkling flour over meat that has already been browned, just before the liquid goes in. The flour then dissolves into the sauce and gives it body.
From Farmhouse Cut to Bistro Dish
For a long time, pork cheek remained a farmhouse cut with no prestige. It went into pâtés and terrines, where its natural gelatin helps bind the forcemeat. Slow braising gives it a new life: after a few hours in a covered Dutch oven, the collagen melts and the meat becomes tender.
Today, braised pork cheeks are served in bistros and at family meals alike. Depending on the region, red wine sometimes gives way to dark beer in Flanders or to cider in Normandy. This version stays true to the red wine daube, a dish that benefits from being made the day before.
The Main Ingredients for Braised Pork Cheeks
Four whole pork cheeks marinate in a bottle of full-bodied red wine. The wine brings acidity, tannins and color. The onion, carrot, garlic, bouquet garni and two whole cloves in the marinade flavor the meat and mellow the wine.
The aromatic base is built around cured pork belly, or lean slab bacon, cut into lardons, along with an onion, a carrot, celery and garlic. Everything softens gently without browning, then goes into the sauce. A spoonful of flour is used to dust the cheeks, and a liter of chicken or meat stock rounds out the liquid.
Whole peppercorns lift the sauce without overpowering it. Adjust the salt according to the stock and the lardons. As a side, steamed potatoes work best, and the leftovers make a good parmentier.
Key Techniques for Meltingly Tender Cheeks
The lardons and vegetables soften without taking on any color, and the flour should turn light golden at most, or it will make the sauce acrid. The braise should stay at a bare simmer for 2½ to 3 hours.
Ideally, stop after 2½ hours, let it cool, then cook it for another 30 minutes the next day. In the oven, the covered Dutch oven needs 3 to 4 hours at 120 °C, 150 °C at most.
Start the braise the day before if you can: on the day itself, all that’s left is to gently reheat it and cook the potatoes. As a first course, a red kuri squash soup nicely rounds out this fall meal.
Ingredients
Marinade
- 4 pork cheeks
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 bouquet garni (thyme, bay leaf, flat-leaf parsley)
- 2 whole cloves
- 1 bottle red wine full-bodied
Aromatics
- 150 g cured pork belly, or lean slab bacon
- 1 onion
- 1 carrot
- 1 stalk celery
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 drizzle of oil
Browning and Flouring
- 1 tablespoon flour
Simmering
- 1 L chicken stock or meat stock, homemade or made with 1 bouillon cube
- 1 tablespoon peppercorns, about, to taste
- salt fine
Instructions
Marinade
- Place the pork cheeks in a deep container, such as a large bowl or a terrine dish.4 pork cheeks
- Add the finely chopped onion, sliced carrot, garlic cloves, bouquet garni and whole cloves.1 onion,, 1 carrot,, 2 cloves garlic,, 1 bouquet garni, 2 whole cloves
- Pour all the red wine over the cheeks.1 bottle red wine
- Let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, and up to 12 hours.
- Turn the cheeks over after 1 hour, then from time to time if they marinate longer.
Aromatics
- Cut the cured pork belly into lardons.150 g cured pork belly,
- Peel and slice the onion.1 onion
- Peel and thinly slice the carrot.1 carrot
- Thinly slice the celery stalk.1 stalk celery
- Peel the garlic cloves.4 cloves garlic
- Cook the lardons in a sauté pan with the drizzle of oil, just long enough to render their fat, without letting them brown.1 drizzle of oil
- Add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic, and cook them the same way, just until softened, without browning.
- Remove the aromatics from the pan and set them aside: the pan is then used to brown the cheeks.
Browning and Flouring
- Drain the pork cheeks, reserving the marinade and its aromatics.
- Carefully pat the cheeks dry with paper towels.
- Sear the cheeks in the same pan until browned on both sides.
- Pour off the excess fat from the pan, leaving the cheeks in it.
- Flour the cheeks: dust them with a light coating of flour directly in the pan, sifting it if possible.1 tablespoon flour
- Stir with a spatula for a few minutes to coat the cheeks well on all sides, without letting the flour brown (at most, let it turn golden), or it will make the sauce acrid.
Simmering
- Place the cheeks in a Dutch oven.
- Pour the marinade over them, along with all its aromatics.
- Add the reserved sautéed lardons and aromatics.
- Stir.
- Add the stock, or pour in water until the meat is just covered.1 L chicken stock
- Add the peppercorns.1 tablespoon peppercorns,
- Season with salt, depending on the stock used.salt
- Stir again.
- Gently bring to a simmer over low heat.
- Cover and simmer for 2½ to 3 hours over the lowest possible heat.
- Check from time to time that it stays at a bare simmer.
- Ideally, stop cooking after 2½ hours and let cool, as with all slow-simmered dishes.
- The next day, put the Dutch oven back over low heat and cook for another 30 minutes.
