Head Case

Ok so for Mother's Day I bought my mom some new cookbooks, but they have since made their way to my house. I found a couple recipes for hog's head cheese in one and I decided to try it out. I'm not really a huge fan of the stuff, but I figured if I made it, I would like it and low and behold, I did. Kinda feel like Sam I  Am. Anyway, this recipe doesn't use a hog's head, thank goodness, but it does use pig's feet. I will go ahead and tell you that I didn't pick off any of the meat from them. Sorry. Not my cup of tea. They did make great treats for the dogs though. Now, enough of this....Lets get started!

First, mix 3 packs of unflavored gelatin with 2 cups of boiling water and let sit.

Cut a 6lb pork shoulder into cubes and place in a big ol' pot

Lay the pig's feet on top

Cover with water (This is when I figured out that I need a bigger freaking pot! LOL)

Chop 3 cups of green onions

Cut 2 onions in to pieces

Mince some garlic

Add half the green onions, all of the onion and garlic to the water

3 Bay leaves

Salt, pepper, cayenne and Tony's

Add to water

Bring to a boil and let simmer for 2 hours

Chop up a cup of carrots

Cup of red bell pepper

After 2 hours, remove feet and meat.

Strain and reserve the liquid

Chop up the meat into small pieces, or do like I did and jsut break it up with the tongs.

Bring the remaining liquid to a boil and add the rest of the green onions, carrots and red bell pepper.

Add the gelatin (which looked like I was dumping a jellyfish into the pot) and adjust the seasonings. Let boil for 10 mins.

Ladel into loaf pans and place in fridge to set overnight

Unmold. I think it looks pretty!

Slice into pieces or place on a plate to serve with crackers.

However you decide to serve it, I can tell you that it is GOOD stuff!! Already know what I want to do with it next time to make it better, but for a first go round, I didn't think it was bad at all. Mitch took some back to Louisiana and it didn't last too long. Guess that's good! Mom, Dad, Nanny, Grampa and even JW liked it! Hope yall try it out!