Looking for Halloween party ideas? When we hosted a Halloween dinner party for our friends, one of the things I served was this HEAD cheese. Seriously? you ask. Well, yes I did.
I found the mold at Michaels so it can’t be that bizarre can it? OK, maybe it is… and it was a little hard to make that first cut into it. No one wanted to do it so I had to take matters into my own hands and I chopped off a cheek.
I would have chopped off the nose but wait… there was no nose…
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| resting in a bed of lettuce… |
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| chin up… |
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| serious set of choppers going on here… |
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RIP Mr. Head Cheese
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I will stand by the recipe though – I’ve made it several times and if you like head cheese, this is pretty darn good!
bwahahahahaha!!
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Head Cheese
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3 pounds pork shoulder, trimmed and cubed
- 2 cups chopped onion
- 1 cup chopped green bell pepper
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons dried parsley
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
- 3 cups water
- 4-5 envelopes unflavored gelatin
- 1 cup boiling water
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a 4 quart pot over medium-high heat. Add the cubed pork, and brown on all sides.
- Reduce heat to medium, and add the onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic.
- Season with parsley, basil, salt, pepper, and Cajun seasoning. Pour in 3 cups water and bring to a boil. Cover, and simmer over medium heat for 2 hours, stirring vigorously every 15 minutes. When the pork is ready, it should be completely shredded and reduced to a stringy consistency.
- Dissolve the gelatin in 1 cup of boiling water, then stir into the pork mixture very well. Pour into a mold or casserole dish, and chill until set, about 8 hours. To unmold, dip the bottom of the mold in hot tap water for about 1 minute, then invert onto a serving tray. If it doesn't seem to be setting - reheat and add more gelatin.
- Serve with your favourite crackers.
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This is more awesome than I can possible tell you! SO fun! And SO creepy!
Jo
scary!!!
Too funny! I always wondered why they called it head cheese when there was no cheese in it. Great presentation :o)
That is absolutely amazing! And very cool!
OH my gosh, that looks super cool, but head cheese I’ve never been able to stomach. I’ve never tried it, but the name itself is what stops me. Yeah, I’m weird. But that mold is really cool!
Wow this looks amazing…..my Grandma (Baba) use to make this headcheese. It is such a Ukrainian favourite food…haven’t had this in years.
Thanks for sharing…..
This is super cool! I’ve never heard of headcheese…except for hogs head cheese but we won’t go there!!
Barb all I can say is ewwwww……lol
Halloween is still fairly low key in the UK although we seem to be catching up with our North American cousins !
Oh you are just too funny. I can imagine what your guests thought when seeing this on the goody table ready for eating. Thanks for including the recipe, I might shop for a different mold tho (hee hee!!)
The recipe sounds good, and the mold is awesome. I like that photo where the teeth are highlighted with the ligt reflection. Cool!
Wow so creative! loved this a bit scary though!
Wow that’s awesome! Very creative! Thanks for sharing! http://moresisterstuff.blogspot.com/
Whoa…living in the area where Jeffrey Dahmer grew up…this is creepy! Jus’ sayin… :)
I don’t know if I could do it…but I hate to NOT try things. Haha.
Well I can’t say I’ve ever made head cheese, but I did eat it as a kid because someone in the family made it or actually I think my Dad bought it to gross my Mother out. The cajun spice surely makes it much better.
What a great looking head cheese! I wanted to ask a favor. I just launched my site http://rossmccreeryphotography.com and wanted to ask your opinion. I still have some work to do but want to know what I should and shouldn’t improve.