This is the first time I'd cooked pigs cheeks, and I struggle to remember whether I have actually tried them before, but I tell you what, if you thought pulled pork was good then you NEED to try pigs cheeks (they also take less time to cook so you're not up all night tending your smoker!). I sourced them from our local farm shop, Greenfield Pork in Anna Valley, who specialise in pork products. There were three of us eating and the eight pigs cheeks was more than enough. I rubbed them with The Salt Lick Dry Rub, from the famous Salt Lick restaurant in Driftwood, Texas, that some American relatives kindly imported for me when they came over (thanks Mark!!). The let them smoke with cherry for about 2 hours. Then I put them in a tray with some beer and Guerilla Liquor by One Man BBQ Army, put foil over the top and cooked (without smoke) for another few hours (I actually forget how long they were in there! they were never going to dry out though, with the beer and being in the tray).
To serve them I used what is quickly becoming a favourite flatbread recipe purely for its simplicity and ability to prepare it, cook it and serve it in, well, a few minutes really; it's a Jamie Oliver recipe that can be found here. Once prepared I simply grilled the flatbreads over the direct heat till they were ready to wrap the pulled pigs cheeks in.
There was a side that I made with butternut squash and quinoa, grilling the butternut squash over the coals until, they were cooked (but I forgot to get a picture of this! So, instead look at the flatbread wrap with the pigs cheeks in it, and a small amount of herb butter.
Verdict? Well, the taste of the pigs cheeks is pretty intense, such a flavoursome meat. I will also admit that I used way too much rub. Salt Lick isn't particularly hot at all, but with the smaller surface area of a cheek, compared to say an entire Boston Butt, meant that it was just a little too intense, especially with the barbecue sauce and beer mixed with the juices and the rub too, but lesson well and truly learned on that one.
