A New Start to Greasy Pen with Pork Cheeks & Prunes.
Going from serious posts to breezy recaps of fun food to cook and share.
A month in Paris would inspire anyone and if it doesn’t you’re just a grumpy old fart. Architecture, museums, wine, music, cheese, pricey meals, and warm croissants — so much to discover but not enough money or time. Paris can get pricey, or maybe it’s because I live in a cheap-ish capital called Berlin. The difference is remarkable once I got back home with my cute and adorable family by train (because we’re romantics like that) a meal in restaurants out here can easily be half the price. The same goes for grocery shopping, there is plenty to boast about Berlin and I’m frugal so this goes a long way for me.
Nonetheless, I’m bringing lovely memories back home and mouth-watering recipes that I would love to share with you! The recipe of ‘Pork Cheeks and Prunes’ is one I want to share that came from a habit turned to tradition of getting a magazine called ‘Bretons en Cuisine’ before heading up to Brittany in France by the sea where the seafood is everywhere! This magazine provides recipes that would fit into a 10-day roleplay of living there and behaving like a local. Oysters cost 6€ for a dozen, Spider Crab 10€ per kilo, and an abundance of fish of all sorts where you don’t even know where to start.
Brittany is famous for their Cidre, Galette (Buckwheat crêpe), Pork, Seafood, Naval Academy, their two regional languages (Breton and Gallo), their Celtic cultural identity, and much more, but as I said I’m here to share this recipe (which I slightly altered) that mixes Cidre and Pork masterfully. The 10 days we spent up there had me so inspired I couldn’t stop cooking. I was cidre obsessed and made another dish with chicken, mushrooms, and cream. Another with pork ribs, apricots, apples, and beer but the pork cheek recipe came out on top by far.
Pork Cheeks with Prunes and Cidre
This dish serves 4 — I highly recommend not to divide for 2 people because you will want seconds.
Prep time: 30 min (15 min if you’re quick)
Cooking time: 2h 30min
Ingredients:
800g Pork Cheeks
20g Butter
15ml Oil (EVOO or sunflower)
2 tablespoons Flour
2 Onions
3 Garlic cloves
400-500g Cremini or brown mushrooms
350g Prunes
1 bottle of (French) Cidre (75 ml)
Thyme or Parsley optional
Preparation:
Peel and thinly slice onions and garlic. Clean and cut the mushrooms into quarters. (Save for step 4.)
Heat up the butter and oil in a dutch oven, or a pot with a lid. Add salt and pepper to both sides of the pork cheeks and give a nice sear on all sides.
Sprinkle the pork cheeks with flour, and give the pot a little shake to mix well and continue cooking on medium heat for 3-4 minutes.
Put in the mushrooms, onions, and garlic and cook for another 5 minutes.
Add the cidre and bring to a simmer and let cook on low heat for 2 hours. (Add a stem or two of thyme if you’re feeling fancy)
Add the prunes (pits removed) to the pot for the last 20 minutes.
Give a taste to judge whether to add salt or pepper.
Serve with rice or potatoes. (Add chopped parsley for pizazz.)
Thanks to ‘Bretons en Cusine’ this is an easy recipe to whip up, it takes time and is worth it. There is not much in terms of preparation besides cleaning and quartering the mushrooms.
Please let me know if you gave this one a try and I would love to hear if you would do this one again. Send me a picture because I would love to see that sauce! It is a foolproof dinner flex among friends, family, or Martians. (We’re almost there.)