This Baked Pork Jowl recipe comes from one of our favorite books – The Best Cook in the World. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend checking it out. It’s part cookbook, part memoir about growing up in the South and such a fun read as the author interviews his mother to record family recipes that have never been written down, each of which becomes intertwined in family stories/lore that links the food with family history and memories. So simple and tasty, and endlessly adaptable to your favorite flavors.

Click here for a PDF version of this recipe.

Baked Pork Jowl
1 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp black pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 pound fresh pork jowl (skinless)
Up to 1 Tbsp cooking oil

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine salt, pepper, and cayenne in a small bowl. Rub the jowl with some of the cooking oil, then rub all over with salt/spices.

3. In a baking dish, bake the jowl, covered, for 1-1.5 hours until it’s cooked to the point where it’s golden brown and almost comes apart at the touch.

4. Transfer the jowl to the cutting board and slice it to serve.