Head Cheese - Tongue

Meats	Metric	US
pork or veal tongues	350 g	0.77 lb.
skinless pork jowls	400 g	0.88 lb.
pork skins	50 g	0.11 lb.
pork liver	100 g	0.22 lb.
blood	100 g	0.22 lb.

Ingredients per 1000g (1 kg) of meat

salt	18 g	3 tsp.
pepper	4.0 g	2 tsp.
marjoram	4.0 g	2 tsp.
garlic	3.5 g	1 clove
cloves, ground	2.0 g	1 tsp.

Instructions

1. Blanch tongues with hot water and remove the skin.
2. Cut tongues into 1-1¾” (25-40 mm) cubes. Mix thoroughly with 0.87 g (⅓ tsp.) Cure #1, cover with a cloth and place in a refrigerator for 72 hours. You may skip this curing step but the tongues in your head cheese would be of a poor gray color instead of vivid pink.
3. Except liver, poach other meats in water until soft:
   • tongues at 185º F (85º C).
   • skins at 203º F, (95º C).
   • jowls at 185º F (85º C).
4. Cut boiled skinless dewlap into 5 mm (¼”) cubes. Dice or cut boiled pork or veal tongues into 4 cm (1¾”) cubes (They were previously cut for curing, if this step was employed). Grind boiled skins through 2-3 mm plate. Grind raw pork liver through 2-3 mm plate.
5. Add salt and spices to cut and ground meats and mix thoroughly with blood.
6. Stuff into middles or bladders loosely and sew the ends with twine. You may use large diameter waterproof casings.
7. Poach at 82°C (180°F) for 90-120 min (depending on size) until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 68-70°C (154-158°F). Remove air with a needle from pieces that swim up to the surface.
8. Spread head cheeses on a flat surface at 2-6°C (35-43°F) and let the steam out. Then flatten them with weight and cool them to below 6°C (43°F).
9. After cooling clean head cheeses of any fat and aspic that accumulated on the surface, even them out and cut off excess twine.
10. Store in refrigerator.