Mexican spiced pork cheek, fennel, pink grapefruit and mint salad, lime créma, caramelised shallot.

Ingredients
• 4 pork cheeks
• 1 carton pineapple juice
• 1 bunch oregano
• 6 garlic cloves
• 2 shallots
• 50g cumin
• 50g fennel seeds
• 300ml white wine vinegar
• 150g achiote paste
• 50g guajillo chilli powder
• 80g smoked paprika
• 100g butter
• 1 tin tomatillo
• 1 bunch coriander
• 2 fennel
• 1 bunch mint
• 2 dessert spoons of fennel fronds
• 80ml white wine vinegar
• 100ml rapeseed oil
• 10g sea salt flakes
• 1 pink grapefruit, segments and zest
• 50ml light agave nectar
• 2 banana shallots
• knob butter
• salt

Plus, Lime Créma Ingridients

• Juice and zest of 2 limes
• 1 small tub of creme fraiche
• 2 garlic, crushed
• pinch salt 

Directions
I reckon pork cheeks are unbelievably underrated. They do take a lot of cooking but are definitely worth it!

Although this recipe takes time, it's actually really easy. Once they are in the oven, you can forget about them for a couple of hours and make yourself a margarita. If you have a pressure cooker at home, you can get them meltingly soft in one hour, but for most of us, it’s a longer process.

First off, we want to get our pork cheeks seared off; not only will this keep them nice and juicy, but it will add far more flavour, too. Season your pork cheeks with salt, then put a touch of sunflower oil in the pot and sear them on each side, getting a really nice brown colour all over. Then whack in all your spices, pineapple juice, tomatillos and herbs, put the lid on, and put into the oven at 150 degrees. I would give them a check after 2.5 hours, they want to be falling apart, if they still feel firm, then give them another 30 mins. 

While your cheeks are in the oven, you can make your sides. My recipe here is based on the part of a 3-course meal, but if you were just doing it for a normal one-course supper, it would go really nicely with a jacket potato or some baby roasties.

For the fennel salad, your best bet is to get your dressing ready in the bowl. This means once your fennel is sliced, you can dress it immediately so it doesn’t go brown and dry out. 

50ml white wine vinegar, 50ml rapeseed oil, one dessert spoon agarve nectar, pinch of salt. First, using a fine grater or a microplane is even better—make sure you only get the top layer; we don't want the white bit, as it's super bitter. Then, you want to peel and segment your grapefruit; once you have all the segments out, squeeze the juice into the bowl. 

Ideally, you want a mandolin so you can get your fennel paper thin. If you don't have one, then you need to sharpen your knife. Cut the fennel lengthways in half, and then slice as thin as you can get it and add to the bowl with the dressing and segments. Then add your finely chopped mint and fennel tops (you can use dill if you can't get fennel fronds; they are similar in flavour). This can then be covered and left out or popped in the fridge if you want to do it in advance. 

For the lime crema, in a small blender, put the juice of three limes, three garlic cloves, and a pinch of salt. Blitz this until totally smooth, then transfer to a bowl and whisk in your creme fraiche. Do not put the creme fraiche in a blender—something weird happens, and it'll turn really watery.

Cut your long banana shallot in half lengthways, and peel the skin off. Cut the very ends off, but don't cut too much off the base, as we want it to stay as one whole half. 

Season these, and put them face down in a hot pan with a little oil. Fry them for about five minutes on high heat so they are deeply caramelised; they will almost look burnt, but not quite. Then add butter, a lot of it, turn the heat right down and put a lid on- this can now slowly cook away to become soft (about 20 mins, it'll be perfect).

Once your pork is soft to the touch, remove it from the liquid. Then, you want to strain the liquid into a clean pan and reduce it until it's thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Then turn the heat off, add 50g butter, and whisk it in. It should become super glossy and taste like heaven on a spoon. 

Gently put your cheeks back into the sauce, be careful with them so they don't fall apart, and baste them with the sauce. 

To plate- pile up your salad; I like to leave a few segments out so you can pop one on the top for the colour contrast. Then, using a squeezy bottle, a piping bag or a teaspoon, if you're not worried about the refinement, put the lime crema on the salad. Dress it with some extra fennel fronds. 

Lay the caramelised shallot in the centre of the plate. Now add your pork and a few spoonfuls of the cooking liquor. 

• There are two more of Rosie’s Recipes to try in our Extra section!