A Southern Style Roast
Charlie McKenna is no neophyte when it comes to tantalising the palates with succulent cuts of pork. In fact, the ‘southerner’, who owns and operates Lillie’s Q — a restaurant in Chicago he named after his grandmother Lillie and his father, Quito — has been experimenting with various ways of satisfying discerning foodies for a number of years, and indeed has awards to prove his expertise in Southern-style cooking. McKenna was in Montego Bay last week as guest chef at the second in the series of Copperwood Pork’s ‘Making The Cut’ to not only exchange “his pork notes” with local chefs, but to look at theirs too.
The kitchen, without a doubt, continues to be where all cultures meet, and your Thursday Life team got an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at McKenna’s Southern-Style Roast preparation and presentation. Don’t even get us started on the mouthfuls of delicious pork. We’ll let the photos do the talking. Yes, Tina Hamilton and Haleem Card!
1 Remove the thawed pig head from the packaged box (already cut in halves down the middle and thoroughly cleaned).
2 The pig head is set in a roasting pan cut side down.
3 After the pig head is set in the roasting pan, sprigs of parsley are added to the pig head to add flavour.
4 Pieces of aluminium foil are used to tightly wrap around the pig ear.
5 Sprinkle salt and black pepper over the pig head and tuck crushed garlic and thyme around head.
6 Pour four bottles of CK Mondavi Chardonnay and one bottle of Jack Daniel’s Whiskey.
7 Pour stock (made of pork bones) over pig head in roasting pan. Pour enough stock to cover the head halfway; the cheeks should remain above water so it can steam.
8 Add chopped onions.
9 Use aluminium foil paper to cover roasting pans.
10 Place the roasting pan on the stove to boil, then transfer roasting pan to the oven.
11 Slow roast pig head in the oven (315 degrees) until it is partially cooked — about 2 hours.
12 After 2 hours, remove the aluminium foil from roasting pan, leaving pig ears covered.
13 Continue roasting until most of stock has evaporated (pig skin should be deep, mahogany colour) and meat is almost falling from bones when poked with a fork, (about 3 hours or longer).
14 Let the pig head rest, loosely covered with foil, for at least 15 minutes before serving. While waiting, use thyme to glaze the pig head with vegetable oil.
15 Rest the pig head on a bed of lettuce on a warm platter.
16 To serve, cut off the ear and set it aside. Using a sharp knife, lift off the crisp skin in one piece. Cut the skin, including the ear, into small pieces using a knife.
17 Serve hot and enjoy!
