A CHEEKY CHOICE FOR DINNER

Cheeks are on the menu today. Pork cheeks, a cut of meat that I learned to love only a few years ago. That was on a visit to Sierra de Aracena (Andalusia, southwestern Spain), where I was meeting, up close and personal, ibérico breed pigs and the people who produce superb ham from them. (From this region come the famous Jabugo hams.)

At dinner the night before my visit to the pig habitat, I had a chance to sample fresh ibérico pork, the raw material for ham. Cuts with names like “secret,” “feather” and “prize” were grilled over smoldering oak coals and served medium-rare. Marbled like prime beef, the meat was tender and juicy. But what I enjoyed most were the tender carrilladas, pork cheeks braised in a wine sauce.

Braised pork cheeks in a wine sauce with prunes.

Since then, I buy pork cheeks—both ibérico and regular pork—when I find them at a local supermarket and stash them in the freezer, ready for when I want an easy, slow-cooked meal.

Pork cheeks are collops of muscle meat that need slow cooking to become tender. Spanish cooks suggest using the pressure cooker, but I like to braise them in a wine sauce. After about 90 minutes, they are fork-tender. The savory sauce practically begs for mashed potatoes or chunks of bread. By the way, I’ve learned that kids really like pork cheeks, at least if you don’t get too graphic about where the meat comes from.

Serve mashed potatoes with the pork cheeks to soak up the delicious gravy. Chard is a good side.

Pork Cheeks with Wine Sauce and Prunes
Carrilladas de Cerdo en Salsa

The size of pork cheeks varies considerably (4 to 6 ounces each). Allow two per person, depending on size. Very large ones can be cut in half.  I cooked four (1 pound 2 ounces), to serve two persons. The meat shrinks considerably during braising. Beef or veal cheeks can be prepared in the same manner, but, being larger, they will require longer cooking.

Cut away thin layer of fat.

Unless the butcher has already done it, you will need to remove the membrane of fat that covers one side of the piece of meat. Use the tip of a knife to lift and cut it free.

Serves 2.

4 pork cheeks
Salt and pepper
Flour
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 carrot, diced (1 cup)
1 onion, chopped (1 cup)
1/3 cup chopped green pepper
2 cloves garlic, chopped
½ cup peeled and chopped tomato
5 prunes
½ cup white wine
1 cup water or meat stock
¼ teaspoon powdered ginger
Pinch of ground cloves
1 bay leaf
1 slice lemon
6 small onions (optional)
1 teaspoon Sherry vinegar
Chopped parsley to serve

Sprinkle the pieces of meat with salt and pepper. Dust them lightly with flour. Heat the oil in a pan and brown the pieces of meat on both sides. Remove them from the pan. Add the diced carrot, onion, green pepper and garlic to the pan and sauté until onion begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the chopped tomato and sauté until liquid is cooked off.

Wine, prunes and chopped carrots cook with the meat.

Return the meat to the pan. Add one of the prunes, quartered, the wine, water, ginger, cloves, bay leaf and lemon. Add small onions, if using. Add about ½ teaspoon salt (unless you have used meat stock, in which case salt is probably not needed).

Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cover the pan. Cook the pork cheeks 45 minutes. Turn them and remove the small, whole onions if you have used them. Cook the meat 40 to 45 minutes longer, or until it is fork-tender.

Remove and discard the lemon and bay leaf. Remove the cheeks to a plate and keep them warm with a few bits of diced carrots for garnish. Place the remaining vegetables and liquid in a blender with the vinegar. Blend to make a smooth sauce.

Return the meat, sauce, cooked onions and remaining prunes to the pan. Simmer 10 minutes. Serve sprinkled with a few diced carrots and chopped parsley.

Meat is so tender you probably don't need a knife.

Another recipe for pork cheeks is here.

CHICKEN MARBELLA IS NOT FROM MARBELLA

Marbella (the word means “beautiful sea”) is a town not far from where I live on the Costa del Sol, southern Spain. It’s a lovely town with gorgeous beaches on a beautiful sea, the Mediterranean. Marbella is a first-class resort, with fine hotels, beachfront apartments, hillside villas, yacht harbors, a charming Old Town with typical tapa bars and trendy boutiques. (See ravishing photos on the marbella.turismo Facebook page.)

La mar bella--the Mediterranean.

The traditional cooking of Marbella reflects its geography—fishing port, olive groves, irrigated farmland and citrus orchards, upland game reserve. It also has cocina de vanguadia, avant-garde cuisine, such as that presented by two-Michelin-star chef Dani García at his eponymous restaurant at the Puente Romano Beach Resort. Chef Dani makes a cherry gazpacho with cream cheese, anchovies and pistachios that is a tongue-in-cheek take on traditional food and, at the same time, supremely delicious.

But nowhere in Marbella is there anything quite like Chicken Marbella, a recipe that appears in a classic American cookbook, The Silver Palate Cookbook by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins ((Workman Publishing; 1979). Because the recipe is so un-Spanish, in spite of its name, I’ve always skipped over it.

But, recently, I read an article in The Tablet (an online daily magazine of Jewish news and culture) proclaiming Chicken Marbella as one of “our favorite recipes for the Passover seder.” (The Passover holiday ends today.) I decided it was time to take another look at that recipe.

The brilliant bit about the recipe is its ease of preparation. It calls for four chickens, meant to feed a crowd. You put the quartered chickens in a marinade, overnight or longer, then put them in roasting pans, add prunes, olives and wine and bake until tender and golden.

Marinated chicken bakes with prunes, olives and capers.

The marinade calls for vinegar and oregano. That, indeed, is a typical Spanish adobo, commonly used with fish, pork, or poultry. Then, you add prunes, olives and capers. Spanish cooking occasionally combines meat and poultry with fruit (I have a Moorish-inflected recipe for lamb with prunes) and also with olives (chicken or duck). But, both? Well, I’ll give it a try.

Then, you place the chicken pieces in baking pans, spread brown sugar over them and add white wine. Sugar!

An earlier article in The Tablet included an interview with Julee Rosso, one of the authors of The Silver Palate Cookbook, who said their recipe was inspired by food they encountered while travelling in Spain and Morocco. The “prunes were very much Marrakech tagines; the green olives were Marbella, Spain.” That sounds about right. But, the sugar is pure American! Maybe that’s why it’s such a popular dish. But, not in my kitchen! No sugar, no way. 

Here is my interpretation of the classic Chicken Marbella. I made it with one chicken, to serve four. I’ve eliminated the sugar totally. If you like the sweetness, I suggest using sweet wine such as muscatel, PX or sweet Sherry. I used Sherry vinegar instead of red wine vinegar in the marinade and dry Sherry instead of white wine as called for in the original recipe. I loved the sweet jammy baked prunes with the briny olives and capers.

Chicken with Mediterranean flavors.

Chicken Marbella

You can use all legs and thighs instead of a whole quartered chicken.

Serves 4.

1 chicken, about 2 ½ pounds, quartered
3 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon oregano
3 tablespoons Sherry vinegar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon brine from capers or olives
8 (or more) pitted prunes
1 tablespoon capers
¼ cup pitted brine-cured olives
2 bay leaves
¼ teaspoon coriander seeds
1/3 cup dry fino Sherry
Chopped parsley or cilantro to garnish

Place the chicken quarters in a non-reactive container (glass or ceramic). In a blender or mini food processor, combine the salt, pepper, oregano, vinegar, oil and brine. Spread half of it over the chicken. Turn the chicken pieces and spread remaining marinade on the chicken. Cover and marinate, refrigerated, at least 12 hours or up to 2 days.

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Place the chicken pieces in a roasting pan. Scrape all the marinade over them. Tuck the prunes around the chicken. Add the capers, olives, bay leaves and coriander seeds. Pour the Sherry around the chicken.

Bake the chicken, uncovered, basting with pan juices every 15 minutes, until chicken is tender and lightly browned on top, about 60 minutes.

Transfer the chicken, prunes and olives to a serving platter. Discard the bay leaves and pour the pan juices over the chicken. Scatter chopped parsley or cilantro on top.

Chicken Marbella.