The old tailgating classic is getting a facelift today, and I know some of you may be thinking, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Believe me, we don’t think there’s anything wrong with grilling up some brats or Italian sausages along with a cold pint, or cooking them in beer and piling them high with caramelized onions. In fact, it’s so right we wanted to be able to serve it not just for our summer BBQ events, but also as part of something like a multi-course dinner party.

While this version isn’t technically a sausage, I wanted to make use of some of the ingredients commonly used in sausage making such as fennel (seeds) and other ingredients classically paired with pork, such as apples, and present them in an interesting way.

Here’s what I came up with:
Berkshire Pork Jowls with Fennel Purée, Braised Endive and Apple Ale Sauce

Here’s the money shot, now let’s see how we made it there:

Start with the Berkshire Pork Jowls. Berkshire pork is a heritage breed of pig, kind of like pork’s answer to Kobe beef. It is prized for it’s flavour and marbling. While the premium cuts of Berkshire can be pricy, there is great value to be found in cuts such as the jowls, which with a little love can be elevated into a terrific dish:

Beautiful marbling on this pork. Supplied by Cioffi’s Meat Market and Deli in North Burnaby.

Trim any excess fat, and use butchers twine to tie them into rolls.

Next, peel and slice a couple apples, diced a couple cloves of garlic and cut a large fennel bulb in half (bottom removed). Don’t chop up the fennel as we’ll need to remove it from the braising pot later.

Preheat the oven to 325 F.

Heat up a large, heavy bottomed pot, add in a layer of vegetable oil. Season with pork and sear 3 mins per side until golden brown. Remove from pot and set aside:

Next, add in the fennel, apples and garlic and saute until softened. Add the pork back in.

Now it’s time to add the beer, which is a nice segway to show you a new Vancouver-area brewery, Stanley Park Brewing. The brewing operations are powered entirely by wind, and it’s a great, smooth tasting Amber Ale. Try it!

Alright, pour in a couple bottles of suds, and bring the mixture to a boil, season with salt and pepper.

Add in a bouquet garni, and cover with a parchment paper lid. Transfer to the oven for 2 hours.

While the jowls are in the oven, let’s prep the braised endive. Belgian endive is a bitter green that mellows out quite a bit when braised, but still provides an interesting note to the dish. I love to serve it with pork and chicken, especially.

Cut off the bottoms, and saute 2-3 minutes per side in a hot pan with some oil.

Add in some chicken stock and a bit of dark soy sauce.

Transfer to the oven to braise for 35 minutes.

After 2 hours, this is what your pot looks like:

Remove the pork, herbs, and fennel from the pot, and purée the apples into the ale sauce. Season with salt and pepper and reduce the sauce over medium heat for 15 minutes.

Next, blend the fennel with some of the sauce until smooth:

Alright! Time to head to the plate. Batting leadoff is our fennel purée, use the back of the spoon to spread it across the plate:

Slice the pork into medallions and arrange in the center of the purée:

Next, fan some of the braised endive around the pork, and spoon some of the reduced apple ale sauce on top:

Lastly, while the pork was braising I julienned some apples, carrots and fennel and tossed them in a touch of lemon juice, salt, pepper and some of the fennel fronds to make a quick “slaw” to provide some acidity to the dish:

And that’s it! Money shot time:

While it may not become the staple at tailgate BBQs this summer, for anyone feeling a little ambitious on a rainy night, I encourage you to try this dish or any of the elements in it. As always, let us know what you think!