HEADed in the right direction!

[Txdragon]

So.. Grocery shopping this morning, I stumbled across only 2 of these next to the turkeys at Walmart, of all places. They both came home with us at .79/lb. The cashier honestly thought he was on a prank tv show as he busted out laughing when he saw them on the belt then asked where the hidden cameras were. I told him, straight faced, these are legit.. His moment of hysterics passed as he realized I was telling the truth, then displayed INCREDIBLE self discipline and kinda held back a few dry heaves while ringing them up and bagging them with the other items..
This little piggie is going into the oven all night for some tacos tomorrow. To be continued..

[OldUsedParts]

The closer to the Bone the sweeter the Meat, they say, and I thinking you've got it going on, Chef Sir

[bsooner75]

Interesting. Is it a pork version of traditional barbacoa?

I love barbacoa but I think most of what we get is from beef cheek


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[Txdragon]

Interesting. Is it a pork version of traditional barbacoa?

I love barbacoa but I think most of what we get is from beef cheek
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Yessir! Old school style is whole head. That got shortened to pretty much just cheek. Every other chef that I've worked with has confirmed to me that the cheek from about every animal we consume for food, is arguably the best cut of that animal. The other one went to the freezer. I will do that one traditionally, with a hole in the ground.

The closer to the Bone the sweeter the Meat, they say, and I thinking you've got it going on, Chef Sir

Thank ya, sir! I'm excited about this one.

[bsooner75]

Cool, can’t wait to see how it comes out


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[Txdragon]

Almost 3 hours into the cook so far and man, this smells fantastic! I won't be opening the oven though til about 8am tomorrow. I seasoned it up with some garlic, slap ya mama, and season all. Put about 2" of water in the bottom of the pan and added a little chicken stock base, garlic, and a good helping of old bay. I wanna peek and baste but I shouldn't..

[Txdragon]

Ok.. couldn't resist. Injected the broth in a few anatomically strategic locations. Cut a small piece off for flavor. Man, oh man.. This is definitely gonna be good!!

[Txdragon]

Ok.. couldn't resist. Injected the broth in a few anatomically strategic locations. Cut a small piece off for flavor. Man, oh man.. This is definitely gonna be good!!

One thing on this.. I've never eaten an eye and they're supposed to be the bees knees. I told the wife I'll try one if she does. I think she's down!

[Norway Joe]

Exciting cook. Looking forward to the rest.

We often get served beer braised pork cheeks for lunch at the job. Tastes great.

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[Txdragon]

Exciting cook. Looking forward to the rest.

We often get served beer braised pork cheeks for lunch at the job. Tastes great.

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Thanks, Joe! In the southern parts of the U.S., pork cheek is referred to as jowl. (Rhymes with howl!) It is sold in stores smoked. Smoked jowl is excellent for beans! I buy them fresh occasionally and make bacon from them. This is an Italian preparation mostly. Guanciale (gwan-cha-lee) is the name on that. I don't do that very often as you'd know there is a fairly low yield and jowl costs only marginally lower than belly. Belly averages 7 dollars a kilo and jowl around 6.

[Txdragon]

Woke this morning to the most amazing smell in my house and could not go back to sleep because I knew what it was! I swear that one day, I am going to invent the "Smellarm" (Alarm clock that emits pleasant fragrance, something that emulates the smells of good food cooking when it's time to wake. Lol!
Not only does it smell great, it looks.. Ok.. I'm gonna be 100% honest, looks a little intimidating, BUT still soooo tasty!

[woodenvisions]

I bet it does smell awesome !!!

I'm patiently waiting for Rambos comments, lmao

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[Txdragon]

So, the funky bits. We got the eyes and brain here. One of the reasons I LOVE the wife; she was totally on board for trying this out together! The brain: she was repulsed. Lol! Liked nothing about it. I was cool with the texture, though linked the flavor very closely to liver. Not for me.. The eye: Absolutely wonderful and not at all what I expected. Like a soft glob of connective tissue, similar to the soft ball of cartilage at the joint of a chicken leg quarter between the leg and thigh, and just super flavorful.

[Norway Joe]

Interesting, but I stick to the cheeks.

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[Txdragon]

Tacos!! Fresh made flour tortillas, onion and cilantro. Soooo good!