Alright so. Should say that I've never had head cheese before, nor have I made it before this attempt. First, I'll explain the process...
Make a braising liquid. I ended up using stock, rosemary, thyme, peppercorns, cloves, star anise, fennel seed, and sautéed mirepoix (and maybe some other stuff, but I can't remember). Boil it for around 2 hours, until flavorful.
Roast some pistachios in the mean time. Set aside.
Strain your braising liquid. Bring oven to 300. Set your pig head into a braising pot big enough to allow for at least half of the head to be covered by the braising liquid. Pour braising liquid over head. Cover or tent with foil. Place in oven. If the head isn't entirely covered, baste every once in a while. Braise for 3 and 1/2 to 4 hours (possibly longer; until the jaw can easily be removed from the head and meat is easily removed, but not completely disintegrating).
Remove the head and place on a carving board. Let cool a little and begin taking off all the meat and fat you can with your fingers, separating the meat and the fat into two different bowls. Keep a bowl of ice water next to your work space to cool your fingers. You can use the tongue or other parts if you want, but I discarded them. If using the tongue, be sure to peel it before chopping into tiny chunks.
Once the braising liquid has cooled, skim the fat and debris. Run through a cheesecloth if you want.
In a mixing bowl, take the separated meat and fat and combine to make about a 90% meat to 10% fat mixture. Pour enough braising liquid into bowl to cover the mixture. Add pistachios and about 2 cups parsley. Mix, but not too thoroughly. You don't want the fat to completely dissolve. Make sure the parsley and pistachios are mixed evenly throughout. Add a tablespoon of white whine vinegar at a time to taste. The vinegar taste will not be as strong once the terrine has set. Add salt. Do not over salt. Pepper. Mix gently.
Line a deep bread pan or terrine mold with plastic wrap. Pour the mixture into the mold. Wrap the entire thing with plastic wrap and put in the fridge over night. When it has firmed up, to remove from the pan, unwrap, and then flip over the pan on a flat plate or cutting board. Tap or pull the underlying plastic rap and it should look something like this.
I think I used too much liquid in my mixture and it came out a little too delicate and gelatin-y. Here is an example of a cross section that was done right.
It can vary from more delicate to more meat based.
Serve with bread, dijon mustard, and pickled vegetables. I also used some roasted onions.
Mine was almost spreadable. Super porky and pretty meh for the effort that went into it. I was able to save the rest of the basting liquid for a hearty and flavorful broth, but overall I don't know if I will go through the effort for such a small yield of something that isn't absolutely mind blowing. I can see where this has its place at butcher shops and it was fun to try, but for an at home kitchen, where you have to go out of your way to make it, I'd much rather utilize the head in a way that will give me a ton more food or base ingredients that will last me a lot longer.
Still have one more head. What to do?
