Head Cheese or Souse

[marymac]

I found a source for Hog heads for 5.00 a piece. I have a general idea of making head cheese, but was wondering if someone had a really good recipe for it?

 

[NanaKat]

My MIL has made head cheese for years. Here is her recipe for head cheese using a hog's head. Her favorite part is the ears...so sometimes they don't make it into the head cheese.

Head cheese
Works for either a hog head or a calf head.
Quarter the head or have your butcher do it. Remove the brain and the tongue from the head. Soak the quarters in cold water to extract the blood. Wash them
The tongue takes longer to cook so slcie it into 1/2 inch strips. The brain cooks more quickly so set it in the fridge until the last hour. Then dice it and add it to the pot.

To cook: cover the head quarters and the tongue strips with cold water. Boil covered for two hours or until the meat falls from the bone.

For additional flavoring, you could add to the pot and discard after cooking: My MIL just cooks the head in water with no additional stuff.
1 carrot
1 onion
1 bay leaf
4 cloves
1 Tbs salt

Once the meat has been separated from the bones dice the meat or shred it with your fingers. The skin and ears should be sliced thinly making sure any roots are removed.

Return to the stock pot with enough stock to barely cover it and cook an additional 30 minutes with the diced brains (If you don't want to add the brains, you still need to cook the meat with the spices.). Add Salt, Pepper and sage to taste.
Pour into your mold (glass loaf pans) and cover with a cloth. Place a weight on top. Chill. Serve cut into slices.

 

[marymac]

This sounds good, thanks for the recipe.