Matthew Accarrino has received high accolades for his contemporary, rustic Italian fare at SPQR San Francisco. The 2012 James Beard Award nominee for Best Chef: Pacific was also among the culinary big guns who participated in the James Beard Celebrity Chef Tour at Cielo this summer, where I had the opportunity to chat with Accarrino about SPQR, his new cookbook (written with SPQR owner and wine director Shelley Lindgren). So I was especially excited to cook from it, though the task proved more formidable than expected.
Normally when I choose a recipe for this column, I pick a dish representative of the author’s style of cooking or preferred cuisine. In addition to seeking a palate pleaser, I try to select something that doesn’t require too much advance planning, doesn’t take too long to make, and doesn’t require secondary recipes or too many unusual ingredients. Most of Accarrino’s recipes, however, fall into this camp, including the beer-braised pork cheeks with escarole. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but most working adults couldn’t tackle this two-day project during busy weekdays.
The pork cheeks I special ordered from Hanlen’s Fine Meats in Kirkwood get dredged in Wondra flour, a quick-mixing flour that dissolves more quickly than all-purpose flour. In the Resources section of the cookbook, Accarrino explains that he uses Wondra because it “dissolves quickly and has anti-caking agents;” thus, less is needed for breading. I don’t keep Wondra on hand, but I found it at Straub’s.
After the cheeks are seared, they marinate overnight in beer with assorted vegetables. The next day, the beer is strained into a pot, brought to a simmer, then added to a Dutch oven, along with the cheeks, vegetables and brown stock. The dish braises in the oven for two-and-a-half to three hours.
A word about that brown stock: Accarrino offers a recipe for it in the Resources section of the cookbook. Distinct from other meat-based stock recipes, his includes tomato paste. The entire stock-making process takes nearly six hours. While I imagine that his stock must be deeply flavorful, I didn’t have six hours to add to this cooking project, so I substituted with beef stock.
Escarole is another ingredient I had to special order, this time from Straub’s. Compared with escarole, mustard greens are more readily available in November – just a tad more bitter but about the same texture. I’m of a mind that such a substitution wouldn’t harm the finished dish and could be easier for the home cook to source.
Was this dish worth the time? Well, my kitchen smelled fantastic while the cheeks gently braised in the oven. And the escarole and the baby vegetables glazed in bacon fat were a nice, flavorful accompaniment to the meat. The braising liquid alone was worth all the fuss. You’ll have some left over; use it with other dark meats or as a soup base. I’ll be trying more SPQR recipes – like baked ricotta with cherry tomatoes, saba and pignoli granola or fried quince pies with truffle honey and aged balsamic – but only on lazy weekends.
Beer-braised pork cheeks with escarole
6 Servings
1 lb. (10 to 12) 10-oz. pork cheeks
Kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste
¼ cup Wondra flour
Extra virgin olive oil
½ yellow onion, sliced
1 carrot, sliced into disks
2 celery stalks
3 garlic cloves, smashed
1 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. smoked paprika
2 12-oz. bottles amber beer
4 cups brown stock (Recipe follows. I substituted with beef stock.)
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
Pinch dried red pepper flakes
12 oz. (1 head) escarole, cored, leaves sliced
3 slices bacon, diced into lardons
6 oz. baby vegetables (any combination of carrots, cippollini onions, turnips or celery) trimmed, peeled if necessary, and cut into the same size (about 1½ cups)
Sea salt
• Trim the cheeks of any visible silver skin. Pat dry, season with salt and pepper, and dredge in Wondra, shaking off any excess. Heat a film of olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Sear the cheeks until evenly caramelized on all sides. (You may need to do this in two batches.) In a large storage container or bowl, season the onion, carrot, celery and garlic with the paprika and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Nestle the seared cheeks into the vegetables and cover them with the beer. Cover the container and refrigerate overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Strain the beer into a pot and transfer the cheeks and the vegetables to a Dutch oven. Bring the beer to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes, skimming the surface to remove impurities and coagulated proteins.
• Strain the beer broth into the Dutch oven and pour in the stock. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, until barely simmering, then cover and transfer to the oven. Braise for 2½ to 3 hours or until the cheeks yield when pressed but aren’t falling apart. Let cool for 2 hours in the braising liquid. Skim away any fat from the top of the cooled braising liquid and put the cheeks in a roasting pan. Strain the liquid and discard the vegetables. Transfer the liquid to a pot and reduce by one-third to one-half to intensify the flavor. Strain and pour back over the pork cheeks.
• Heat a film of olive oil in a pot over low heat. Sweat the garlic and red pepper flakes until the garlic barely begins to brown. Stir in the escarole, increase the heat to medium, and cook until the escarole wilts and becomes tender, about 4 minutes. Season with salt.
• In a saute pan over medium heat, render the bacon lardons for about 2 minutes. Add a splash of olive oil, increase the heat to medium, and mix in the baby vegetables. Saute until the vegetables are al dente and glazed in bacon fat and oil, then season with salt and pepper.
• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Place the pan with the pork cheeks on the stovetop and warm over medium heat, transfer to the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, basting the pork cheeks every 8 to 10 minutes to lightly glaze them.
• In the center of each of six serving bowls, place a spoonful of escarole. Places two cheeks over the escarole and spoon some of the braising liquid over the cheeks. Top with the baby vegetables. Garnish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and black pepper.
Brown stock
Makes about 4 quarts
10 lbs. bones (squab, lamb, duck, venison or chicken), cut into 2- to 3-inch pieces
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Vegetable oil
1/3 cup tomato paste
1½ yellow onions, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 or 3 celery stalks, chopped
3 or 4 leek tops
6 thyme sprigs
6 parsley stems
2 bay leaves
10 black peppercorns
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, season the bones with salt and pepper and lightly coat with oil. Spread the bones on baking sheet and roast, rotating the bones once or twice, until evenly browned, 35 to 45 minutes.
• Transfer bones to a large stockpot and cover with 3 inches of water (about 8 quarts). Bring to a brisk simmer, lower to a gentle simmer, and cook, skimming the surface occasionally, for 1 hour.
• Mix the tomato paste with ½ cup water and stir into the stock. Simmer 2 hours. Add the vegetables and aromatics and cook another 2 hours.
• After 5 hours of total cooking, strain the stock through a fine sieve and transfer to a clean pot to reduce by one-third. Strain again and cool.
• Before using, scrape off any fat that has congealed on the surface. The stock keeps, refrigerated, for 1 week. For longer storage, freeze it.
Reprinted with permission 10 Speed Press
This article appears in Guide to the Holidays 2013.