They seem like a trend  now, Masterchef contestants are cooking them,  Jason Atherton in Saturday Kitchen did too,  so it was time for me to make my way to the butcher’s and place the order.  I’m a big fan of ox cheeks, even managed to convince Florek to them, but my last night’s effort with pork cheeks was not a triumph, I must say.  They didn’t look the part  when I was preparing them, I’ve removed quite a lot of fat and sinew and them proceeded to braise them they way I would do ox cheeks, but for less than 2 hours, as the size was considerably smaller. While they were braising, I’ve made a side of roasted, grated beetroot and some dauphinoise and then when I tasted them shortly before serving- I quickly panfried 2 eggs for Florek, I knew he would not be enjoying pork cheeks. There were 2 or 3 pieces of beautifully tender meat that I ate and rather liked, but mostly I ended up with lots of fatty pork, the texture of which did not appeal to me at all. The sauce was lovely and rich and I saved it, but the pork went to the bin, sorry to say.

I’m glad I tried, for the science, but will not be running back to Toby’s for some more.

Having heard Rick Stein talking about their amazing smoky flavour, then Thomasina Miers about the diversity and authentic taste, I placed the order on Amazon and made tacos this evening, which were served with ancho chili salsa.  I used Jamie Oliver’s recipe from 15 Minute Meals. The crowd is divided. Half of the crowd, Florek, is not quite sure if he likes it. He can take a lot more heat than me, but as for the taste he wasn’t exactly drinking this salsa. The other half, myself, did like the flavour, but could hardly take the heat in that bowl and will be reading some more about what to do with the remaining 2 anchos.  We had a little of the salsa on the chicken last night, but the majority of it went to Andy’s, a big Mexican food fan and a chili enthusiast.

For the salsa, I first rehydrated the chili with enough boiling water to cover it in the blender. 2 spring onions in, 4 cherry tomatoes, 1/2 a bunch of fresh coriander with stalks, 1 fresh red chili,juice of 1 and 1/2 limes, a splash of balsamic vinegar and 1 tbsp of soy sauce.  All this blitzed into a salsa and served alongside chicken tacos with cheese and avocados. Further research to be continued. 🙂

There is this very annoyingly pleasant series on BBC2 called “Rick Stein’s Long Weekends” which I binge on and get ideas from. It’s annoyingly pleasant, as the dude travels to places like Reykiavik, Bordeaux, Lisbon or Vienna, walks around, eats and drinks and gets paid for it ( bastard!!!).  I watched him eating fishcakes made entirely differently to those I’ve been making for years, had some cod in the freezer and tried them today. I’m glad I did, that had to be done for the science, but it will now the the return to the old method, lightly cooked fish, spuds squeezed through the ricer. Those I made today consisted of raw cod, quickly pulsed  in the food processor, a shallot, spring onions, fresh red chili, lots of coriander, lemon peel and seasoning. I also coated them in sesame seeds, the idea seeded really appealing, but turned out to be quite disappointing.

The texture was nothing like I expected, spuds do add softness. Couldn’t taste the lemon and chili. Those lovely sesame seeds were lost, panko is the way to go, no doubt.

From today’s  episode in Vienna I crave one thing- apple strudel.  I might well make it tomorrow!