
Braised
Stuffed Pig’s Head with Sauce Gribiche
By Chef Thomas Keller,
The French Laundry, Yountville, CA
( See
Bringing Home the Bacon
)
Rendering
the Pig's Head:
Cut off the ears and reserve. Split the skin and meat
down the center of the head,
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(1)
beginning at the top and working
around the snout and to the back of the head to split
the skull down the middle. |
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(2)
Then, beginning on one side of the head, run the knife
along the contour of the head, following the bone
structure, to remove the skin and the attached meat.
|
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(3)
Be careful to remove the piece of meat on the temple,
behind the eye, first and then the cheeks; you want
these pieces of meat to stay attached to the skin.
Follow the line from the jawbone to the snout. Repeat
on the other side. Remove the tongue and set it aside.
Lay out the piece of pig, skin side down. At the back
of the top of the head is a flap of meat that is very
fatty. Trim off the fat until you reach the meat.
Run a knife along the skin and remove the skin from
the meat and remaining fat (much as you would skin
a fish fillet) |
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(4)
You can roll up the skin and tie it in a bundle; it
adds a great deal of gelatin if added to stocks. Trim
away and discard the excess bits of skin, the gums,
and the ear canal. Trim off the top of the fat until
only the very white fat remains. Score the fat in
a crosshatch pattern. Trim the excess fat from the
inside. Butterfly the meat of the cheek and crosshatch
the interior. |
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(5)
Pound the piece flat and season with salt and pepper.
Dice some of the pig's ear and set aside. |
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(6)
Braise the tongue as you would veal tongue (see cookbook
page 112). Arrange batons of cooked tongue, sweetbreads,
and diced pig's ear over the meat. Roll the head in
plastic wrap to shape it (as you would the torchon,
then remove the piece, roll it, and tie it in cheesecloth. |
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(7)
Place the pig's head in a pot, cover with stock (chicken
or white veal), and add aromatics (carrots, onions,
leeks, bay leaves, thyme sprigs, and parsley stems).
Cover the pot in foil and place in a 300°F. oven
for 6 hours. |
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(8)
Drain the cooked meat, rewrap it in cheesecloth, and
hang it for 1 day in the cooler. |
Slice the
pig's head into medallions. Brush with Dijon mustard,
dredge in fresh bread crumbs, and saute the pieces in
oil. Serve on a bed of the gribiche sauce, garnished with
chopped egg white and a halved egg yolk of a hard-boiled
pheasant egg and fresh tarragon.
Sauce
Gribiche Ingredients:
(Makes about 1/2 cup)
1 heaping tspn. Shallots (finely minced)
1 1/2 tspn. Capers (finely minced)
1 1/2 tspn. Cornichon (finely minced) '
1/2 tspn. Dijon Mustard
1 tbls. Banyuls Vinegar or Sherry, White Wine
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 heaping tbls. Egg White (hard-boiled, finely chopped)
1 tbls. Egg Yolk (hard-boiled, finely chopped)
1/4 tspn. Tarragon (finely minced)
1 tspn. Italian Parsley (finely minced)
1/2 tspn. Chives (finely minced)
Procedure:
1. Place all the ingredients in a mixing
bowl and stir together. The sauce can be refrigerated
in a covered container for a few days.
2.
This
wonderful sauce will serve four. The ingredients in the
sauce have a high degree of acid, so the proportion of
oil is higher than usual.
Links
to more Thomas Keller Recipes:
Braised
Stuffed Pig’s Head with Sauce Gribiche
Bittersweet
Valrhona Chocolate Fondant with Sable Cookie
Broccolini
Salad with Burrata Cheese - (new)
Buttermilk
Biscuits - (new)
Buttermilk
Fried Chicken - (new)
Creamy
Maine Lobster Broth, Russet Potato and Lobster Coral Gnocchi
Foie
Gras Infused Custard with White Wine Poached Anjou Pears
Iceberg
Lettuce Slices with Blue Cheese Dressing, Oven-Roasted
Tomatoes, Bacon, and Brioche Croutons - (new)
Leek
Bread Pudding - (new)
Milk
Poached Wild Turbot with "Foie Gras" and Sweet
Onion "Cracklings" and Foie Gras Emulsion
Nantes
Carrot Stew - (new)
Pig’s
Feet with French Green Lentils
Pork
and Beans
Sautéed
Gulf White Shrimp* with Jasmine Rice, Raisins and Spicy
Shrimp Broth
Scallion
Potato Cakes - (new)
“Surf
and Turf" Pan Roasted “Filet Mignon" of
Veal with a Maine Lobster “Pancake", Clam Shell
Mushrooms and Sauce “Homardine"
Sweet
Butter Braised Maine Lobster with Baby Arrow-leaf Spinach
and a Saffron-Vanilla Sauce
Other
Related Links:
Thomas
Keller: Ad Hoc at Home
Bringing
Home the Bacon
The
Great Chefs Series
Chef
Thomas Keller
Thomas
Keller Joins The Culinary Institute of America Board of
Trustees

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