Salt + fat = tasty

Chicken Rillettes

2010-12-07T09:26:00.003Z

Made recently for an "International Food Day" at my office. Rillettes is superior to the more widespread paté in my opinion, but it seems odd that you can only really find it in specialist shops and market stalls.

-1 chicken, sized according to how many there are to feed;
-Water, or white wine, or a mixture of both;
-Tarragon, coarsely chopped;
-Garlic, chopped. The more the better, 3 large cloves is a good quantity;
-A chunk of butter, about one third of a block;
-A generous dose of salt and pepper.

Joint the chicken, or have your butcher do it. Put the pieces into a large pot, add water or wine, and boil gently for about 90 minutes.

When done pull the meat from the bones, it should be very tender. Discard the latter, along with the skin and any remaining cartilage, and shred the former with a fork in a bowl. Keep the cooking liquor.

Mix in the rest of the ingredients, and also skim the fat from the surface of the liquor and add that too. You may need to add a little of the liquor to achieve a spreadable consistency. Taste as you mix, and add ingredients to bring a flavour to your liking. It should taste slightly too salty - when the rillettes is cold, the salt taste will be subdued. When satisfactory, put the mixture into a terrine dish or small bread tin.

Now reduce the cooking liquor to about a cupful - enough to cover the rillettes mixture by about a quarter of an inch. Allow to cool slightly, strain out any solids, and pour over the rillettes, slowly so as not to disturb it.

Place in the fridge. In about an hour or two, the liquor will have set to gelatine. To show off a little more, you could put some tarragon leaves or thinly sliced lemon in the gelatine before it sets.

Eat, on toast or fresh white bread.

Scallops with bacon and mushroom

2010-09-20T10:41:00.002+01:00

A good savoury starter, perhaps preceding a lighter fish based main course.

For two people:
4 king scallops, sliced in half to make them thinner
3 rashers smoky bacon
150g mushrooms, button or sliced
Black pepper
Some white bread
50g butter

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan, and when it starts to simmer add the mushrooms. Cover and cook gently.
2. After 10-15 minutes, when the mushrooms are almost ready, add the bacon and scallops. Add some black pepper as well. Cook for a few minutes, no more than 5.
3. Serve on small plates, with the liquid poured over. Use the bread to soak up the sauce.

Lemon chicken with mushroom sauce

2010-03-14T19:51:00.003Z

Served this one on Mothering Sunday, and it was very well received. The mushroom sauce went well with the tangy chicken, and went well with some very smooth mashed potato. I like to make mash a little more interesting, the recipe shows what I did.

For the Chicken-
4 large chicken breasts, skinned
5 or 6 sprigs of dill weed, chopped
5 to 6 lemons, juiced thoroughly.

For the mushroom sauce
400g plain closed cup mushrooms, sliced
50g butter
200ml white wine
100ml double cream
Two or three pinches of ground nutmeg
Salt

For the mash
6 large potatoes, peeled and chopped into four
2 leeks, split down the middle and chopped
2 carrots, peeled and cut into short batons.
Butter

For the green bits
2 handfuls of sliced runner beans

The night before (or at least 2 hours beforehand):
1. Place the breasts in a bowl and immerse completely in the lemon juice, and mix in the dill. Cover and refridgerate.
2. Make the mushroom sauce by slowly cooking them in the butter. After about 5 minutes put in the white wine and bring to a simmer.
3. Keep simmering until reduced by about two-thirds, add the cream and mix in the nutmeg. Gently simmer 5 minutes more, and season with a little salt to taste.

On the day. Getting the timings right is the tricky part!
1. Heat the oven to 190C.
2. Drain off excess marinade from the chicken. Place in a roasting dish and cover (alternatively wrap each tightly in tin foil), and put in the oven for 25 minutes.
3. As soon as the chicken's in the oven, bring the potatoes and carrots to a boil, cook 20 minutes.
4. And whilst that's going, gently soften the leeks in some butter.
5. Next, reheat the mushroom sauce, and bring the beans to a boil.
6. When the potatoes are cooked, mash and mix in the leeks. Add butter and mash til the potatoes are completely smooth. A food processor does this nicely. You'll probably find the carrots and leeks don't mash, but this adds some tasty sweet lumpy bits. Season with salt.
7. Take the chicken out of the oven and drain off the excess liquid.
8. Serve on warmed plates; chicken, mash and beans. Pour the mushrooms and sauce over the mash and chicken.

There's quite a few little bits in this, so it is helpful to make up the mushroom sauce beforehand. Also the leeks could be prepared beforehand, and possibly the beans too.

Sweet cured bacon

2010-02-28T15:20:00.002Z

Why I don't make this more often and favour the salty cardboard variety of bacon from the supermarket I don't know. Anyway, started this 6 days ago and had some today. Salty, but a lovely sweetness too it too.

This mixture is per kg of pork belly, ribs removed. Leave the crackling on and don't score it.

25g salt
15g sugar
1-2 tablespoons crushed black peppercorns
1 teaspoon dried herbs, use a strong one like rosemary or oregano.

Mix all these together, and evenly spread in a non-reactive dish, large enough to fit the pork. Lay the pork on top, cover and refridgerate.

After about a week, drain off the liquid, give the meat a rinse and pat dry. Slice, grill, and enjoy with some English mustard and black pudding.

Gravadlax

2010-01-05T22:39:00.003Z

Was in the shop the other day and caught the eye of the smoked salmon shelf. Now, I like smoked salmon, but the quantities available looked meagre, a few slices (if that) in each pack. Next shelf along, fillets of salmon, big ones. Hmmm.

So, I quickly decided I was going to make some gravadlax (Scandinavian style cured salmon), bought a half-kilo of salmon fillet, a pack of fresh dill and some cheap French mustard.

Pretty easy to make. You need the following:

A good sized side of salmon, all bones removed (about 500g).
A large handful (or more) of fresh dill weed.
3 tablespoons rock salt
3 tablespoons white sugar
Some greaseproof paper
Some tin foil
A box or pan large enough to hold the salmon flat.
A brick.
Patience.

1. Place the salmon, skin side down, in the pan or box.
2. Mix together the salt and sugar, and pour over the fish and spread it around.
3. Break up about half the dill with your hands, and layer on top.
4. Turn the fillet over carefully, and push any escaping ingredients back under the fillet.
5. Cover with the greaseproof paper and then the tin foil.
6. Weigh it down. the brick might cover it, if not, spread the load with a chopping board or anything of a suitable size. Remember the idea behind this is to press the salmon.
7. Put in the fridge (or somewhere at fridge temperature if it won't fit) for about a week.
8. Take your 50p jar of Asda mustard. Taste - it's quite sour. A good thing (I think). Finely chop the rest of the dill and mix into the mustard, and put in the fridge.
9. After 5 to 7 days, it's ready. The salmon should be nicely pressed and firm. Use a thin sharp knife to cut diagonal slices - cut away from the tail end. You can wipe off some of the remaining salt and dill if it's too strong. The mustard should be quite aromatic too.
10. This goes nicely with some flatbread, and a glass of good bubbly.

Galician stew

2009-12-28T20:57:00.004Z

Made from a recipe from Floyd on Spain. I'm told Keith Floyd's older books are troublesome to find these days, hopefully some of them with be re-published very soon.

From the book:
"Virtually every garden, smallholding or farm in Galicia has a granary built of granite in which corn and potatoes can be stored for the winter. These curious little buildings, like emperors' tombs on stilts, are protected from the forces of evil by a Christian cross at one end and a pagan Celtic phallic-like symbol at the other.
Well, what has all this to do with the price of fish, I head you cry? Nothing, really, except that it is intriguing that there is a Celtic gastronomic theme, too, that threads its way from Galway to Cornwall, from Cornwall to Brittany, from Brittany to Galicia. Take the great Irish stew of boiled beef or bacon and cabbage and compare it with the Breton kig ha farz stew; take the original Cornish pasty and compare it with the Galician empanada.
And here is another one that fits into this gastronomic jigsaw puzzle; the mighty Cocido Gallego, a really robust country stew. Not what you would do for an intimate dinner party à deux, but the sort of dish that would be terrific for a bonfire night party. Perversely, I cooked it in high summer in a vineyard next to one of those granaries I have been wittering on about. Although it took hours to prepare, there was no real effort involved, just time. It was truly a feast fit for farmers, prophets, poets and politicians, rampaging Vikings or mystical Celts.

He then says it "serves lots". Mine serves less, but still a good number of people.

1-1.5kg gammon/ham joint. Fat and rind removed.
1-1.5kg oxtail, bone in
3 good sized chicken legs, skinned
4-5 large potatoes, peeled and quartered
3 6 inch chorizo sausages, skinned and thick sliced
Half a cabbage (any big one will do), shredded
1 can of chickpeas

1. Soak the ham joint several hours before cooking.
2. In a large pot, just cover the beef and ham with cold water and bring to a slow simmer.
3. After 90 minutes, add the chicken legs
4. 30 minutes later, add the potato
5. Another 30 minutes later, add the chorizo and cabbage
6. After a further 30 minutes, fish out the meats. Shred off the meat and discard bones and any gristle. Return the meat to the pot, along with the chickpeas.
7. Simmer a further 15 minutes, a taste the soup. Season as necessary, though you are unlikely to need to add salt.

Perfect for the December cold.

Pork liver pate

2009-12-22T20:43:00.005Z

Here is something that will go a long way. It's very rich and livery, and compared to supermarket fare (which has a large amount of fat), it doesn't really spread to easily. You'll need to slice it instead.

500g minced pork
400g pork liver
100g fresh breadcrumbs
Level tbsp dried rosemary
2 tbsp coarse salt
2 cloves garlic
Knob of butter
1 medium onion
Half tsp ground nutmeg
Splash of port wine
2-3 slices of bacon

1. Heat your oven to 150C.
2. Finely chop the liver, add to a large bowl and mix in the minced pork and breadcrumbs.
3. Add the rosemary, generously season with salt.
4. Finely chop the garlic and mix in.
5. Finely chop the onion. Add the butter to a frying pan, melt, and gently fry the onion til translucent.
6. Mix in the nutmeg and port wine, and knead together with your hands.
7. Taste test - Take a small amount of the mixture and gently cook in a frying pan and allow to cool before tasting. Season as necessary.
8. When satisfactory, spoon the mixture into a terrine dish or bread tin. Add 2 or 3 slices of bacon on top and cover. Then put this in a larger roasting tin, and add boiling water to 3/4 way up the terrine dish / bread tin.
9. Cook in the oven for 90 minutes.
10. When done, remove and replace with tin foil. Place a weight on top to press the pate for 12-24 hours.
11. Leave in the fridge for a couple of days for the flavours to 'mingle'.

This will go nicely on some bread or toast as a starter, with a good dry Amontillado sherry.

Savoury Lancashire Hotpot

2009-12-06T19:52:00.002Z

A lovely simple recipe; pity I didn't make enough.

For (almost) two:
500g lamb neck
2 small red onions, chopped
1 large or 2 smaller carrots, peeled and cut into batons
2-3 tsp plain flour
1-2 tsp butter
Just-boiled water
Dried bay leaves
Potatoes, peeled and sliced to the thickness of a pound coin

Equipment-
Large saucepan and wooden spoon
A Le Creuset dish, or similar
Oven, preheated to 170C

1. Cut up the lamb into 1 inch chunks; trim off the excess fat and keep.
2. Warm a large saucepan, and put in the lamb fat. Bring to a sizzle and keep it there for about 30 minutes to render the fat; stir it around occasionally to keep it from sticking.
3. Remove the solids from the pan to leave the liquid fat. Add the lamb meat and brown on all sides; then remove to a shallow Le Creuset.
4. Fry the onion in the same pan; add some butter if necessary. Fry slowly for about 15 minutes until sticky and sweet but not burnt; then add the flour and cook off for a couple of minutes.
5. Add hot water whilst stirring, bit by bit, until you get a good consistency like that of double cream.
6. Pour the entire mixture into the Le Creuset, and add the carrot batons.
7. Season generously with salt and pepper, and carefully mix it all together.
8. Place a few bay leaves on top.
9. Layer the potato slices on top, making sure they overlap; season the top with a little salt and some butter.
10. Cover, and bake in the oven at 170C for an hour.
11. Remove the cover after the hour is up, turn up the heat to 220C to crisp the potatoes for another 20 minutes.
12. Serve up in hot breakfast bowls, with a glass of good port.

Chicken (or turkey!) and bacon patties

2009-09-14T16:30:00.001+01:00

500g minced chicken/turkey
100g bacon, chopped into tiny bits
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

4 fresh large lettuce leaves

Very easy. A couple of hours before eating, mix together the mince, bacon and cheese with you hands in a bowl. Then divide into 2, 3 or 4. Roll each between your palms til it holds together properly, and gently flatten it evenly all over, to about 2cm thickness. Put back in the bowl, cover and refridgerate. To cook, grill or fry til lightly browned on each side, wrap in a lettuce leaf and enjoy with some mayo.

This is something that can be different each time. You could try using smokey bacon, perhaps add a handful of chopped tarragon, or few pinches of chilli powder, maybe even some ground cumin seeds ...

Thick and filling Steak and Ale pie (with mash)

2009-06-20T19:43:00.005+01:00

OK so there's a million other recipes also claiming to be the best, but here's another which is definitely the most superior ;o)

You will need:
1kg braising/chuck steak or brisket, cubed into bitesize pieces
1 large onion, finely chopped
500ml bottle of good ale (I used St Peter's Organic Bitter)
100-200ml hot water
1-2 tbsp Plain flour
1 tbsp Cornflour
2 beef stock cubes
Puff pastry (buy this as it's not worth bothering to make - unless you really want to, but you'll probably regret it)

Part One. Prepare the night before or in the morning.

1. In a wide saucepan, fry the onion til translucent, and the beef til sealed brown on the outside.
2. Add the plain flour - keep stirring so it doesn't stick - also add a little of the hot water to help but not too much.
3. Once the flour is cooked out, slowly add the beer, keeping it stirred. Slowly so it has a chance to come back to a boil, and also so it doesn't froth over.
4. Chuck in stock cubes and Bovril, and simmer til it's all dissolved nicely.
5. Add just enough more of the hot water so that the meat is only just covered.
6. If it's looking thin (it needs to be of a syrupy consistency), mix about a tablespoon of cornflour in a little cold water, and add to the pan. (If it's too thin the pastry will go soggy.)
7. Cover, and pop in the oven for 2 hours at 170C.

Part two. Pastry and serving it up.
1. Preheat your oven to 220C.
1. Put the beef and liquid into a smaller pot, so that it almost reaches the rim.
2. Line the rim with some of the pastry (makes a better seal), and then cover the pot with a sheet of pastry; trim the around the edges with a knife.
3. Cut a small hole in the middle to let the steam escape.
4. Put in the oven; after 15 mins, turn the heat down to 170C.
5. While cooking, make up some mash potato. I like to make it with lots of butter til creamy, no milk, a good dose of grated nutmeg and black pepper, with a little salt to bring out the flavours.
6. Serve, preferably with another bottle of ale. (What? You only bought one?)

Coppa - Italian style dried pork shoulder - update

2009-04-25T11:50:00.002+01:00

Took it down about a month ago. Not bad at all, very good raw, even better on a good pizza. The only thing is to cut the edges off as the painters and plasterers have been in. Unless you like paint and plaster dust.

Dauphinoise potatoes (very rich version)

2009-04-19T11:39:00.005+01:00

Previously, I've made this with more laborious methods, mixing some garlic and plenty of salt with crème fraiche. It was good, but really can't come close to this extremely rich, tasty, and artery-clogging version. Apparantly Elizabeth David said that you should, on no account, ever attempt a low fat version. It'd be about as tasty as those low fat cheeses and patés you find in crap supermarkets.

You will need (for about 4 or 5 people):
About 500g of waxy potatoes, such as Maris Piper, peeled and thinly sliced (about pound coin thickness)
1 large or 2 small cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
30g butter
300ml double cream
Salt and pepper

1. Heat the oven to 170C and put a 7 inch pie dish in for a couple of minutes to warm it.
2. Mix the crushed garlic with the butter, and generously smear the dish. Don't rub your eyes at this point.
3. Layer the potato slices in the dish closely, sprinkling a pinch of salt and pepper on each layer as you go.
4. Pour on 300ml of double cream, and press down on it lightly. It'll make a lovely squishy sound as the air trapped within finds its way out.
5. Bake in the oven for an hour. After that turn up the heat to 200C for another 15 minutes.
5. Remove and allow to stand for 15 more minutes before serving.

This was found to work well with a thick slice of roasted pork belly, some crackling, spinach on the side and a good earthey claret. It's important that the potatoes are waxy otherwise you'll end up with something close to creamy lumpy mashed potatoes. If you wanted creamy mashed potatoes, there's an easier way to make it than this. On the other hand, mash will rarely end up as a dauphinoise; I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who does achieve this.

Fried mackerel with cream and mustard sauce

2009-04-09T09:58:00.002+01:00

I’ve been having a fishy week. I watched some Japanese chefs preparing sashimi from live fish on youtube yesterday. Gruesome, I suppose, but then they are just fish. Must be really crap being a fish, swimming around and then getting killed and eaten (or the other way round in this case). Anyway, the chef popped the filleted fish back in the tank where it happily (or not) carried on swimming about.

So I bought some mackerel, and filleted them (pretending they were asleep), and put them in a goldfish bowl of water, where they duly sank lifelessly to the bottom. Oh well.

Anyway. Mackerel’s my favourite, and as well as being delicious baked or grilled whole with little or no seasoning, it has a richness that stands up to heavy seasoning. This little appetiser illustrates this – it should serve 3-4.

For the sauce:
150ml double cream
1 dessert spoon strong English mustard
Half tsp salt
1 clove garlic, crushed

For the fish:
3 mackerel, filleted, skin on
Salt
Pepper
Oil to fry

First make the sauce. Easy - mix together all the ingredients. You might like to whip the cream a little first to thicken it.

Now for the fish. Generously season the flesh side with salt and pepper. Heat a little oil in a frying pan, and place the fillets in skin side down. Fry hard. They ought to cook through without turning, and when they're done, turn them briefly to brown the flesh a little.

When the fish is almost done, warm the sauce very gently to about body temperature.

Serve simply – fish on the plate with the sauce decoratively poured over it. You might even like to posh it up with some parsley to garnish.

Pork rillettes

2009-02-09T09:42:00.003Z

Improved version from the previous one on this blog. The last one was perhaps a little too buttery; this one has a meatier texture. More meat flavoured rillettes than butter flavoured, arguably a good thing.

You will need:

600-700g pork belly or shoulder, rind removed
200g butter
1 level tsp ground allspice
1 level tsp ground mace
2 crushed cloves of garlic
1 small onion, finely chopped
Handful of chopped sage and/or thyme
100ml dry sherry/white wine
Salt and ground black pepper to taste.

This will take about 90mins to make, mostly in cooking time.

1. Dice the pork into 1 inch cubes.
2. Melt half the butter in a saucepan, add the pork, garlic, onion, herbs, allspice and mace, cover and simmer slowly for an hour. Remember, you're not trying to fry it, so go easy with the heat. Occasionally stir it around to keep anything from burning to the bottom of the pan, but make sure it is covered to keep the heat in.
3. Put all the chunks of pork in a food processor and blend til smooth, and return it to the pan.
4. Mix the pasted meat into the liquid in the pan, add the wine, and season aggressively with salt and pepper.
5. Transfer the contents to a serving bowl, or ramekins for individual servings. Garnish the top with whatever you like - onion slices, pieces of orange, whole herbs.
6. Melt the rest of the butter in a pan and skim off the froth. Carefully pour the clear liquid over the paste to seal the contents, and refridgerate.

This recipes contain approximate quantities as it's all a matter of personal taste. I quite like those old cookbooks which give you a few ingredients that the author has thought of, and then basically said "cooke it". Experiment with the butter content - too much isn't a bad thing, just not as meaty. And it won't spread straight from the fridge. Less will be flakier and meatier. As it is served cold/cool, you will need to season it aggressively (I like that phrase, "to season aggressively") Also, adding the wine - cold - nearer the end helps to cool the paste quicker, enabling you to adjust the seasoning sooner. And some of the alcohol stays in too.

Tomato soup

2008-12-18T11:13:00.003Z

What?? No salt and fat? again??

Well, this was quite nice too, rich, thick and flavoursome.

500g tomatoes (the richer the better)
1 tsp powdered garlic
one finely chopped small onion, or 2-3 shallots
salt and pepper
olive oil
200g potatoes,
1 medium carrot
handful of chopped coriander or basil
700g jar of tomato passata
sugar

1. Preheat your oven to 190C

2. Put the tomatoes in a bowl and pour over boiling water to cover them. Drain after a minute and peel off the skins.

3. Chop in two and remove the green core bits, and seeds if you don't like 'em.

4. Arrange them tightly on a baking tray or large casserole pot, sprinkle with the powdered garlic, a couple of pinches of salt and a generous amount of black pepper. Then place the finely chopped onion across the them and finally drizzle lightly with olive oil. Place in the oven to bake uncovered for 40mins.

5. Meanwhile, peel and boil your potatoes and carrot in 400ml water. When done, (after 20-25mins), strain and set the potatoes and carrot to one side, and reduce the liquor by a third.

6. Place the tomatoes and juices, the potatoes and carrots, the cooking liquor, adding the coriander/basil, into a food processor, and blend til as smooth or coarse as you like.

7. Pour out into a large saucepan, and add the sugar and passata. Very gently heat it up. Add sugar/salt/pepper etc to taste. Small warning: it's more filling than it looks.

Root vegetable soup

2008-12-10T12:45:00.002Z

By the end of this you're going to wonder what this has to do with salt and fat. It was just very tasty and easy to make that I had to make an exception.

You'll need-
1 butternut squash
3-4 potatoes
3-4 sweet potatoes
6-8 small carrots or 3-4 large ones
4 small onions
4 cloves of garlic
Bunch of fresh coriander
Olive oil
S+P to taste
Vegetable stock

Preheat your oven to 200C. Chop the squash, sweet and normal potatoes and the carrots into 1-2 inch sized chunks. Lay each one in each corner of a big roasting tin.
Then peel and chop the onions into 8 pieces and distribute across the top, along with coarsely chopped garlic.
Chop half the coriander and sprinkle over the veg.
Drizzle olive oil over the lot, loosely cover with foil and bake for 90mins, giving them the occasional toss.

It's done when all the veg is squishy, or very tender at least. Blend thoroughly in batches with water (usually half a mugful per batch is ok). When it's all blended, put it all into a large pot, chop and add the remaining coriander, and add water until you reach a desirable consistency. Add vegetable stock, salt and pepper to taste. Yum.

Home salted / cured sprats

2008-10-20T14:50:00.003+01:00

Being a sprat is one of the worst kinds of fish to be. You're there to be eaten by anything that's larger than you, unfortunately that is most things. Anyway, they're sort of like small herring or sardines, but bigger than whitebait. They're related to anchovies, and only a little bit bigger, so what if I salted them?

Here's what you need:
A double handful of sprats, should cost about a pound (yes really)
About the same weight in coarse rock salt
A tupperware box
A 250-300g size jar.

You only want the fillets, so prepare to get stinky fingers cleaning them up. Twist of the head and discard, it should pull out some of the guts. Take a small pointed knife and slit down the belly to the tail. Using your thumbs, carefully press the two halves apart. Then, carefully remove the backbone - pinch it out using your two thumbs, and then lift it out gentle and the tail should come with it. Rinse the fillet under the tap, and scrape off any remaining entrail.

That should keep you occupied for a little while. When done, pat them dry and layer them with the salt in the tupperware box, and put in the fridge. Leave them about 4 hours, or overnight.

Remove them from the box, discarding the liquid. Now layer them with generous amounts of salt in the jar, pressing each layer firmly as you go. Top the jar off with plenty of salt, and put in the fridge for at least 4 weeks.

No idea how long they keep, but they should last a few months so long as they've got plenty of salt on them.

Autumn is here, time for Pancetta

2008-09-30T00:09:00.003+01:00

I remembered why this blog has been empty for a while .. hanging bits of meat up during the summer months isn't a good thing. Your careful craftwork finds itself getting eaten by bacteria before your meat can dry sufficiently and by bugs looking for a feast. So, back into the swing of things (ie hanging up bits of pork around the flat). Pancetta is one of my favourites, a cured and partially dried chunk of belly pork.

On Friday I purchased a piece of this stuff from the trusty Scotch Meats butcher in West Dulwich, and got to work. It weighed 1.4kg at the start but came down to 900g after removing the ribs and trimming it square and to a even thickness. (The rest went in a stew).

First stage:
900g belly pork
35g salt
15g sugar
1 level tsp hickory smoke powder (optional)

Rub the salt, sugar and smoke powder firmly into the pork, put it into tupperware and leave in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Second stage:
Ground black pepper
Ground nutmeg
Salt

Rinse the salt, sugar and smoke powder from the first stage and pat dry. Sprinkle a little salt, nutmeg and a generous amount of black pepper on the meat side. Carefully roll the meat and tie tightly with good string. Lightly sprinkle any exposed bits of meat with salt, and hang it in a cool place for 2-4 weeks.

Stage 3
Eat. Slice and fry in place of bacon or dice and use in sauces. You'll find it a little saltier and a damn side tastier than anything from the supermarket.

Coppa - Italian style dried pork shoulder

2008-09-29T19:02:00.002+01:00

A friend of mine raised an eyebrow as to why I haven't posted since July. Since I could not find a good reason other than laziness I've decided to get on with it.

Coppa has some similarities to Parma ham, only it's made with a boned roll of shoulder. It's fattier, and the recipe I've borrowed comes from Len Poli's ever useful website - http://lpoli.50webs.com/index_files/coppa.pdf

My ingredients
1.5kg rolled shoulder of pork
70g salt
40g sugar
2 tbsp ground black pepper
half teaspoon saltpetre
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg.

Method similar to his website - rub half the mixture on Day 1 (which I've done just now). About a week later to drain off the resulting liquid and rub on the other half of the cure mixture and leave for another week. The meat should remain covered (tupperware is good) for the two week curing period.

He then seals it inside an ox bung; I'll either purchase one or improvise by wrapping it in muslin; watch this space. Then it needs to be hung somewhere airy and cool in order to dry slowly. .. .. ..

Italian tomato sauce

2008-07-07T16:40:00.003+01:00

Yet another version of it. This one works for me, and goes well simply with pasta or polenta; it's also lovely used in a lasagne or cannelloni.

1 tbsp olive oil
2 sliced rashers of bacon, trimmed of excess fat
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic
1 400g can of plum tomatoes, blended in the processor
2 tsp dried oregano
3 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
100ml red or white wine

Heat the oil in a saucepan, and add the bacon, onion and garlic, and when browned put in the rest of the ingredients. Simmer slowly to reduce for about an hour, maybe less - you want to get a thick and rich sauce.

Duck breast confit with new potatoes, green beans, spring onions and mushrooms

2008-07-06T15:57:00.002+01:00

A little luxury lunch that combines the confit style from south western France and stir fry elements from Chinese cuisine. The duck needs to have been pre-cooked in the confit style; or else you can buy it in tins from specialist food shops.

No sauce is required - the steamed potatoes help to take the edge of the richness of the fried meat and veg, and the greasiness can be balanced by a big red wine.

For two:

4 to 6 new potatoes, unpeeled, washed and cut into four
2 duck breasts with skin, prepared in the confit style
Handful of chopped spring onions
Handful of sliced button mushrooms
Handful of sliced green beans
3 sliced garlic cloves

1. Get the spuds going by preferably steaming them, but boiling will be fine. They should take about 20 minutes.
2. Prepare the duck breasts by wiping off any excess fat. About 10 minutes before the potatoes are done, put the duck breasts skin side down into a very hot frying pan. Adjust the heat down to a steady sizzle. Try not to move the meat.
3. After 5 minutes, add the rest of the ingredients, and toss in the pan like a stir fry.
4. When the duck skin has gone dark brown and looks crispy, it's done. Place a duck breast (skin side up) on each plate, put half the potatoes next to them, and sprinkle over the stir-fried veg.
5. Serve with a big red wine - it's going to be greasy!

Liver and bacon, with cheesey mash and braised cabbage

2008-06-13T17:12:00.002+01:00

Isn't liver just the tastiest thing?

You need-
200g sliced pig's liver
200g diced bacon, preferably smokey
1 medium onion, chopped finely
100ml wine or water, or mixture
1 tablespoon plain flour
5 peeled and chopped potatoes
1 tablespoon butter
150g creamy smelly cheese (eg Camembert), chopped and left at room temp
pinch salt
1 cabbage, chopped
1 lime
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon muscovado sugar
butter

1. Preheat your pven to 160C
2. Place the chopped cabbage in a pot, sprinkle with sugar, salt, ground black pepper, and the sliced lime, then dot with butter. Cover and put in the oven.
3. When the cabbage has cooked for 30mins, dredge the liver pieces in flour, and flash fry at a high heat for a couple of minutes; remove and reserve.
4. Fry the onion and bacon in a casserole pot for 10 minutes or so, til the onions are nicely browned; then add the liver and wine. Bring to a simmer, cover and put in the oven. This needs to cook in the oven for 40mins to an hour.
5. 20 minutes before time, boil the potatoes til cooked through, 15-20mins. Mash, add the butter and stir in the cheese and salt. You'll need to do this over a low heat so that the cheese mixes in properly.
6. Hopefully, you've timed everything right, and serve all together, making sure that everyone gets a little of the rich sauce.

Merguez bangers

2008-06-05T12:02:00.002+01:00

A variation on the North African style sausages.

Here's the ingredients:

900g lamb shoulder
600g pork belly
large glass of red wine
2 minced cloves of garlic
24g fine ground salt
2 heaped tsp paprika
1 tsp smoked paprika
2 heaped tsp ground cayenne pepper
1 heaped tsp brown sugar
sufficient sausage casing, soaked and rinsed.

Dice and mince together the lamb and pork, and then gradually work in the rest of the ingredients until it's evenly mixed. Stuff into the casings and leave for 24 hours for the flavours to develop. My hog casings are quite thick and got only 8 (chunky) bangers, and would suit roasting best.

Salami!

2008-06-05T10:41:00.004+01:00

You're probably dying to know how they went. The chorizo was lovely sliced and fried, a kind of spicy smoky bacony flavour; and the pepper sausage tasting dry a bit like the French style saucisson sec.

Potato Quest

2008-06-02T16:33:00.001+01:00

New blog, all about potatoes (not yet, but within the next decade): http://potato-quest.blogspot.com/

Pork belly confit

2008-05-22T10:37:00.001+01:00

Yes that’s right, fattiest cut of pork cooked and preserved in, well, more fat. And then fried.

800g pork belly, cut into 1inch by 3inch chunks
30g salt
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp dried thyme.
plenty of duck fat/lard/mixture of both

Thoroughly mix up the pork with the salt, pepper and herbs, and leave to cure for an hour or two. No more, as it will get too salty. Then rinse the pork, pat dry, and put into a pot, and cover with sufficient liquefied fat. Preheat the oven to 120C. Slowly the pot to a gentle simmer on the hob and then put in the oven for 3 hours. Your kitchen will smell lovely.

When done, you can seal the pot shut and leave to cool, before putting in the fridge; it’ll keep for months. If you want to use the pot for something else, place the pieces of pork in another receptacle, and pour over the fat – the meat should be completely submerged.

The best ways to eat this pork is by frying it. Soften the fat at room temperature overnight and take out however much you need. You can then shallow fry it, deep fry it, coat it in batter and deep fry it, make a breadcrumb coating and fry it. You probably needn’t worry about the frying bit as it’s so incredibly fatty already that what difference would it make by grilling it?

Peppered salami

2008-04-30T21:19:00.002+01:00

Can't stay away from my sausages! This one's got oregano, whole black peppercorns and red wine-

800g minced pork belly,
30g salt
15g sugar
pinch saltpetre
pinch starter culture
100ml red wine
1 level tbsp ground black pepper
3 level tbsp whole black peppercorns
1 tsp dried oregano.

Stuffed in the usual manner, there's two - 300g and 350g. Should be quite spicy!

Meat after a week

2008-04-30T21:15:00.002+01:00

Quick update on the drying meat.

Bresaola - smoked pimenton has reduced from 675g to 400g, herby one from 750g to 500g; both lost about a third of their weight and starting to develop the white mould.

Chorizo - 475g to 350g, and 350g to 250g, again about a third, and starting to firm up nicely. These should be good for cooking in about a week or two, but I will leave them til they're completely solid.

Chorizo

2008-04-23T22:35:00.003+01:00

Dried sausage is a different matter to joints of meat; the process is a lot more elaborate. You need the usual ingredients but also a starter culture to lower the pH of the meat and prevent bacterial growth. Minced meat is much more susceptible to rot.

Here I used-
1 kg belly pork
40g salt
15g sugar
level tsp each of smoked pimenton, and cayenne pepper
pinch each of saltpetre and starter culture.

The method - chop the meat up finely and mix with all the other ingredients, and leave it a sealed box for 24 hours in a warm place. The starter culture should lower the pH of the meat to a safe level; mine came out to about pH 5, but it shouldn't be any higher than that. pH strips are cheap and easy to find (try ebay).

Mince the meat mixture in the processor or grinder, and stuff into inch-and-a-half beef casings, tie, and hang in a cool place. You can also rub vinegar on the casings to prevent mould. It should lose about half its weight, and should be almost rock solid when its ready. Any give when squeezed between finger and thumb, and it needs more time - this is especially important if you're not going to cook it (I discovered a month ago that Campylobacter still survives in a slightly squishy sausage). This should be about 3 weeks, give or take depending on how draughty/humid/warm it is.

These two weighed 350g and 475g. What happened to the rest of the kilo? Well, it got left in the sausage stuffer, so i've made a small meatloaf out of it.

Bresaola No 3, continued

2008-04-23T22:30:00.002+01:00

The two joints of beef are now hanging up; the curing process of salting and pressing lasting 12 days. They've both been tied to press them a little further, rubbed with vinegar and hung up in the hallway.

On hanging, the joint cured with smoked pimenton weighed 675g, and the other (with oregano and thyme) weighed 750g.

Bresaola No. 3

2008-04-16T11:47:00.002+01:00

It's Bresaola time again. No. 1, made about a year ago was far too salty; no. 2 ( last year again) in order to remedy the saltiness and add a different texture, was cured in red wine, salt and some spices and turned out pretty good.

No. 3 is back to the dry cure, but with more precision over (some) of the ingredients.

For 800g of topside: 30g salt, 15g sugar, pinch of saltpetre, teaspoon each of black pepper, sweet pimenton and oregano. Mix together and spread evenly over the joint, put in a plastic box and leave in the fridge. Turn the joint twice a day (or more) to make sure the joint remains coated in the liquid that is produced.

This was all done five days ago, and it's going to keep curing for another five at least.

Len Poli's Sausage Making

2008-04-10T17:14:00.002+01:00

Here's a site I discovered recently, giving information on making an extremely large range of sausage and other cured meats: http://lpoli.50webs.com/AlphabeticalList.htm

He calls them formulations rather than recipes, and I suppose that is more accurate seeing as you're occasionally balancing a fine line between tasty food and food that will make you ill for a week (as I found out a couple of weeks ago).

In particular I have taken note of his emphasis on accurate ingredient quantities; most importantly that the amount of salt used in a dry cure is about 3%, and about 0.05% of saltpetre (commercially available Cure #1 and #2 are 10% nitrate/nitrite and 90% salt). Too little salt and the meat may well go off, and too much will make it too salty to the taste.

I've had more success with brine cures, though it is more difficult to measure out the right amount of salt. Is salt concentration or salt quantity more important? For example if I cure a joint of meat in 4 pints of brine and a similar joint in 8 pints, with the same salt concentration, will they turn out the same? The 8 pint cure will have twice the salt, but will the extra water compensate? And also is there an optimum quantity of brine per quantity (and shape) of meat? ie too little brine will contain too little salt to cure properly, but will a relatively large amount of brine have too much water to cure properly? I suspect there is no correct answer - after all, these food preservation methods have been in use for thousands of years when they probably didn't consider these things quite so much...

Salt Beef

2008-04-06T18:47:00.004+01:00

It's been a while since I put anything here.. this time it's something quite kosher (Jamie Oliver not intended).

This comes in 2 stages, curing and then cooking.

Curing:
Brisket of beef, about a kilo;
Lots of salt
A little saltpetre (optional)
Sugar.

Put the beef in a non-metal container (tupperware is fine) that is deep enough without it sticking out the top. Make a brine mixture that is sufficient to cover the beef - per pint of cold water add 2 tablespoons salt, 1 tablespoon sugar and half teaspoon saltpetre.

Leave this in the fridge for 8 to 10 days, stirring it occasionally.

After that time, take the beef out of the brine, give it a quick rinse under cold water, pat dry, and leave uncovered in the fridge for 24 hours (to allow the cure to even out inside the meat).

Now it's time to cook it. Put the beef in a pot, cover with water and slowly bring to a simmer; add whatever stock ingredients you like to the water - mine had a few bay leaves, half an onion, a couple of garlic cloves, peppercorns, sage, a few cloves, a stick of celery and parsley. Cover and gently simmer this for 2 hours; in the oven at about 120C should do it.

When done, leave to cool covered and in the liquid so that it doesn't dry out.

Now you can make some tasty sandwiches !

Smoked haddock chowder

2008-02-19T14:48:00.004Z

Some more good old-fashioned stodge:

You need:
A few cans/bottles of some hearty ale
1 large fillet of smoked haddock, skinned, chopped into 1 inch chunks and boned;
200g / 7oz belly bacon chopped into chunks
3 or 4 salted anchovies
1 large onion, chopped
2 sticks of celery, chopped into two large pieces each
a carrot, washed and cut in two
3 potatoes, chopped into 1 inch chunks (waxy ones will hold their shape; floury will disintegrate - depends on what you prefer)
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp black pepper

First, open a can of your chosen ale and fill a pint glass with it, and prepare the remaining ingredients.

The froth should have settled now, so take a few sips or gulps.

Now you need a large pot. Put in some oil and fry up the bacon and anchovies for a few minutes, and then put in the chopped onion, and let that cook for a few minutes more.

Have another sip.

Then pour in about a litre / 2 pints of boiling water, put in everything except the fish (and beer but there's no harm in putting some in as well), cover and simmer for an hour.

Meanwhile you can sit back and drink the rest of your ale, you may even have enough time to have another - just make sure your glass is never empty.

After the hour's up, taste the broth and check the flavour - however don't add any salt at this stage (as the fish is already quite salty, + you've put bacon and anchovies in). Too rich? Add some boiling water. Too weak? Reduce it down some more.

When to your satisfaction, take out the celery and carrot and throw them away (or you can be more imaginative and put them put them out for the birds etc). Check the only things left on your chopping board is the fish. If not, then start again, or try salvaging it somehow. Assuming you have proceeded successfully, put in the fish, and simmer for another ten minutes.

Ladle into bowls and serve with buttered bread and another can of ale.

Pancetta

2008-01-28T19:42:00.000Z

Italian-style bacon. You need a square or rectangular piece of pork belly, ribs and sinew removed. Then take a plastic food container and sprinkle a generous layer of salt and a little sugar (about half as much). You can also add a tiny amount of saltpetre, but be careful with how much of that stuff you use- it is a powerful bactericide (sp?) and gives the finished product that pink hue as with bacon and ham, however too much isn't good for you .. there's plenty of info about it around, so make your own decision!

Anyway, lay the meat, rind side down, onto the salt/sugar, and then sprinkle a further layer of salt and sugar on top (+saltpetre). Here's the other quandary. Most directions say it should be left for anything up to 2 weeks; however I find this makes for pancetta that is too salty to eat. I normally leave it for 2 or 3 days - this will mean it doesn't keep for so long, but then if it's any good it'll get eaten quickly anyhow! In either case it should be kept somewhere cool, preferably under 10 centigrade, and you'll need to drain off the liquid and replace some of the salt.

When the time is up, brush off the salt and pat it dry. Generously season the meat side with - whatever you fancy really; I used lots of black pepper, some nutmeg and some scotch bonnet chilli flakes. Then roll it up tightly - it must be tight so that there are no air pockets inside it - and secure with twine. Leave somewhere cool and humid for a couple of weeks to dry and mature. I'm leaving mine at the top of my fridge, uncovered. 70% relative humidity is about right; too dry and your pancetta will turn into a rock; too damp and it'll never dry (and probably grow mould).

Confit de saucisse with pork rind

2008-01-28T19:33:00.000Z

Preserved bangers, basically. Now why would you want to do that? Because it (hopefully) tastes good. You need plenty of lard; I had a big slab of pork rind complete with nipples. Chopped into bite size pieces, seasoned with salt, pepper and nutmeg, and slow cooked for 4 hours rendered out a good deal of lard, and left some nice pieces of chewy rind. Then take a few good sausages, prick them, and place them in to the pot and cover with the pieces of rind before returning to the oven for another 90 minutes. When done, put the bangers into sterilised jars, pack the rind around them and pour in sufficient fat to cover them completely. I was unlucky enough to not have enough room for all six .. so I just had to eat them, and make the remaining rind into crackling..

Pork rillettes

2008-01-28T19:26:00.000Z

Or pork paste, pork-flavoured butter spread. This one was done as follows:

Take 300g chopped pork shoulder, mix into it two tablespoons of coarse salt, and leave for about 2 hours. Then wipe off the salt and simmer for 2 hours in plenty of butter, with a couple of cloves of garlic and shallots thrown in. A cast iron Le Creuset pot will do. Then blend into a paste in a blender, or save washing up and mash it up in the pot. Spoon it into sterilised jars and store in the fridge for up to a couple of months.

Chilli con Carne

2008-01-28T19:22:00.000Z

Haven't made one of these for ages. Basically 1kg minced beef, 2 cans of tomatoes, a tin of chipotles in adobo sauce (see the pic, you have to go to Mexico to get them), some onion, garlic, cubed potato, all stewed together for a couple of hours. No beans.

Gratin dauphinoise

2008-01-22T12:11:00.000Z

Last weekend's nutty overnight trip to Paris of no sleep started with a very fine meal at Les Temps Perdu on the Rue de Seine. The Gratin Dauphinoise was about the only ethical part of what I ate (foie gras ... veal ...), and images of potato salad began to haunt me when it arrived on the table. Naturally it wasn't anything like the aforementioned mayonnaise-drenched nightmare, and went well with the baby cow.

My attempt turned out more savoury and less creamy, and a small bread tin made a good substitute for a gratin dish.

3-4 maris pipers, peeled and thinly sliced.
200g creme fraiche
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground black pepper
4 cloves garlic, crushed
Large chunk of butter.

First, mix together a third of the creme fraiche with the butter, salt, pepper and garlic into a paste. Using a pastry brush or similar, paint the inside of the tin with the paste.

Layer the potato slices on top of each other within the tin, with a layer of paste between each layer, and when all the potato is used up, spread the rest of the cream on top. Bake it in the oven at 190C for about half an hour (or until the cream is well browned), and then turn the heat down to 150C for another 45 minutes.

Serve with something meaty; peppered steak, seared rare, is a good suggestion.

Perfect corned beef hash

2008-01-17T17:13:00.000Z

You will need (to serve three):

Main ingredients-
3 big Maris piper spuds;
1 or 2 shallots finely chopped;
3 or 4 cloves of garlic finely chopped;
1 340g tin of corned beef, chopped up (but not the tin itself)
3 eggs;
Tomato ketchup / Branston pickle / Brown sauce etc

Use some or all of (to season):
Plenty of black pepper;
Horseradish sauce;
Curry powder;
Chilli flakes;
Worcester sauce

First, peel the potatoes and chop into slices or small cubes; then boil til tender and reserve. Then fry the shallots and garlic in a little oil for a few minutes, add the potatoes, corned beef and whatever seasoning takes your fancy, and cook for about 10 minutes or until the beef has turned into mush.

Serve onto small plates and top with a poached or fried egg; splurge ketchup over the lot.

Confit style ham

2008-01-17T17:03:00.000Z

Now a fan of the confit method of cooking something, I gave it a go with ham. Get a 2kg chunky slice of pork leg from a good butcher, liberally salt it and leave it for 48 hours. Then rinse off the salt, and leave it in cold water for 12 hours to soak out any excess salt. Take a pot large enough for the whole meat, and pour 2 litres of olive oil in it, and bring it up to about 90C on the hob - slowly! Then carefully immerse the ham and top up the olive oil if necessary - it should be completely submerged. Put the lid on and slow cook at 130C for 3 hours.

When the time is up, carefully remove the ham (now very tender, it will fall apart easily), and leave on a rack to drip dry; covering with foil will help retain moisture. Keep the oil to one side, and when it has cooled, return it to its container and save the jelly at the bottom of the pot to make stock with. The ham you know what to do with; bear in mind it has a flaky tuna-like texture.

yum

Ingredients-
2 kg pork leg
2 litres olive oil
Coarse ground salt

The ham.

2007-11-20T17:43:00.000Z

Took it down today, and discovered the lard had gone a bit mouldy and rancid - which called for a different tack. I cut it up into chunky slices, cutting away the edges to remove the mould; and put a piece under the grill for sampling. It was salty, dry and chewy, so next time poaching will hopefully yield a better result. I also tried some raw, and it definitely had that lovely air-dried ham taste. Not a bad result in the end.

Hanging my meat (again)

2007-10-12T10:29:00.000+01:00

The ham's now hanging in my room from the ceiling, rubbed in a nice coating of black pepper, brown sugar, cayenne pepper, paprika and lard, and wrapped in a few layers of brown paper bags to keep the dust off.

Going back, after 10 days of salting, the salt was brushed and rinsed off and the ham left to soak for a couple of hours. Then it was left uncovered in the fridge for another 10 days to dry slightly, before applying the lard/pepper/sugar mixture. Basically, you can coat it in whatever spices you like; the lard adds flavour, helps to keep the spices stuck to the meat surface and helps to slow down the drying - important for covering the bits with no skin covering.

Should be ready in about 6 weeks for the next step.

Chicken galantine

2007-10-06T17:55:00.000+01:00

As featured on 5th October.

General method for making this -

The bird- 1 large (2kg) chicken.
Remove the skin from a large chicken intact; cutting off the winglets and the ends of the legs helps (there isn't any useful skin or meat there anyway). Lay the skin out flat on a double layer of cheesecloth. Then cut off the breasts, beat until flat and place on the skin side by side. Cut off the rest of the flesh as lay to fill any gaps on the skin. Ensure you leave about half an inch of skin uncovered around the edges.

The stuffing- about 500g is needed. This one was made up of mostly belly and shoulder pork (you need a fatty cut), with a couple of tablespoons of soft lard, 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper, 2 teaspoons white pepper, 2 tablespoons salt, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, 3 tablespoons port wine. Grind all this together to get a coarse forcemeat. Spread a layer on top of the chicken. On top of that a thin layer of sliced almonds, and sliced pork tongue; and then the remaining forcemeat on top of that.

Fold it lengthways, and use the ends of the skin as an overlap. Roll the cloth over it to form a large round sausage shape and tie each end tightly and securely, and tie around the middle to hold the cloth in place - not too tightly as this will leave an unsightly mark around the galantine.

Place in a simmering pot also containing a pig's trotter, the chicken carcass as well as some vegetables. A probe thermometer is useful here as you don't want to overcook it; 45 minutes may well be sufficient though as I don't have one I did it for 90 minutes to be on the safe side.

When the time's up, allow to cool in the liquid for an hour. Remove and wrap tightly in tin foil to keep in the moisture, and then tie a sushi roller tightly round it as well. Leave on a plate to cool, and put in the fridge when cool enough (overnight is good).

Meanwhile reduce the stock down so that you have about a pint or so left; when cooled it should be firm and rubbery like jelly. If it breaks easily, reduce it further, if it's as solid as a squash ball, add water to it. You then want to clarify it. Bring it to a simmer and add about 100 grammes of shredded cabbage with 2 eggs whites; leave unstirred for 5 minutes and then strain out the liquid and discard the solids. You should have a relatively clear aspic. I ended up not having enough, so powdered gelatine mixed with more stock had to be used.

After it's cooled, remove the roller, foil and cloth. Garnish with vegetables/fruit/herbs etc to your own liking, using the aspic created from the cooking liquid as 'glue'.

Slice and eat with dijon mustard or tomato relish.

A Virginia style ham

2007-09-28T23:47:00.000+01:00

Not completely true to the method stated here - http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/foods/458-223/458-223.html
- however as the leg joint I got is both de-boned and weighs 5lbs it will require less time for a start. Also, the fact that it has been de-boned means the joint will have to be unrolled to salt the now exposed interior part of the meat. Apart from this the method should be fairly similar; though I think I will have to leave it unrolled while it rests for a month or two because the joint may turn out to be too inflexible after all the drying and curing.
The picture shows it after one week, with a fresh layer of curing mixture (which is also slightly different as it contains more sugar).

The air dried lamb looks good!

2007-09-28T23:40:00.000+01:00

Well, I'd almost forgotten about it; see, I just moved house so it got left hanging up in the stairwell of my old place. No matter; it meant an extra few weeks hanging up. I've just this evening transferred it to my new place and takes pride of place hanging from my bedroom ceiling. You may also have noted I've cut a small chunk out of it to see what it looks like; a nice deep dull red colour; I haven't noted the flavour but it doesn't taste too salty. It has a slight pong of most distinctly the smoked paprika; and has lost 40% of it's weight from when it was fresh back in July.

Cheese!

2007-09-28T23:21:00.000+01:00

That cheese I made ages ago.. here's what they looked like after a few months:

To be honest all this cheesemaking is more hassle than it's worth; especially when limited to supermarket milk - which gives decent enough results - though I'd definitely have a go with some farm milk now that I have an idea of how it's made.

All-Purpose Sauce

2007-08-30T10:45:00.000+01:00

There a legend behind the invention of Worcestershire Sauce, whether true or not, but Messrs Lea and Perrins were asked by a certain Lady Sandys to re-create a curry powder she had discovered whilst in India. The powder thus created was evidently too strong, so they made a liquid out of it, which did not turn out very good either, and so a barrel of it was abandoned in their cellar. Apparantly, so the legend goes, they re-discovered the barrel 2 years later during a clear out, tasted it, and found it had mellowed and become palatable. And so it appeared on shop shelves in 1838.

I am attempting to create a similar sauce, though obviously with the benefit of the real thing to compare it to. The actual recipe is closely guarded, but the bottle reveals the ingredients. My adaptation contains the following:

300ml malt barley vinegar
75g molasses cane sugar
25g granulated sugar
½ tsp salt
3 salted anchovies
1 generous tsp tamarind concentrate
¼ tsp allspice powder
1 finely chopped birdeye chilli.

These are all brought to a simmer in a pan, and just before bottling, I also added 1 chopped garlic clove and 1 chopped shallot clove.

The resulting mixture has a good sweet-sour balance; the vinegar however still giving it a sharper taste than the Lea and Perrins. I will leave it for some time before opening it and seeing how much the taste has altered. What I might also consider doing is to reduce it to make it a thicker sauce, something very loosely resembling an old balsamic vinegar which also thickens with age and slow evaporation.

Confit de poulet

2007-08-28T11:10:00.000+01:00

A trip to the butcher’s in Robertsbridge meant I had come home with about 6 kilos of meat (more than even I could eat in a few days). Some of it is in the freezer, alas, but with the kilo of chicken breasts I chose to confit them. After the results of the pork and duck confits, I aim to make them a little less salty at least.

I took the kilo of chicken breasts, and rubbed them with a combination of:
2 tablespoons salt
2 crushed cloves
¼ tsp allspice
1 tsp black pepper
¼ tsp cinnamon
3 crushed bay leaves
4 sprigs of thyme.

Then they were left in a non-reactive container in the fridge for 7 hours before being briefly rinsed down and patted dry. I then used the duck/pork fat mix I had left from the last confit and put it in a pan with the meat and heated it until simmering; then it was a transferred to a large bread tin and baked at 120ºC for 3 hours.

This morning, when it had cooled, I wrapped the tin up with cling film (to exclude air) and tin foil (to exclude light), and put it in the fridge. I’m now at work, and will probably sample it some time this week and let you know of the result.

Sardine and mackerel recheado

2007-08-25T13:12:00.000+01:00

Or stuffed fish.

Make some goan masala paste by blending together:

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp black peppercorns

1/2 tsp caraway seeds

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

50g hot chillies

1/2 tsp salt

3 peeled garlic cloves

1 tsp brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp tamarind water

1 inch of fresh root ginger, chopped

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

Fillet the sardines and mackerels, and spread paste on one side of each fillet, place the other half of the fish on top and gently tie together with string. Barbecue or grill two minutes each side.

Apple chutney.

2007-08-25T13:07:00.000+01:00

I had a bag of home grown bramley apples given to me at work, so me and Dave set to work on preserving them.

Chopped and put in a big saucepan with lots of sugar and vinegar and brought to just simmering. Some allspice, pepper, salt, dates, raisins and a few other things were added, and the whole thing just left to cook and reduce slightly for about 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

Since it's best served in small amounts we chose to use several small jars rather than a couple of big ones, we made 7 jars worth which should last a while; though in practice they probably won't!

Butterflied chicken and orange

2007-08-22T17:07:00.000+01:00

Here's something I made last night; the recipe here deals purely with the bird itself, I'll leave whatever veg you want to you. Bear in mind the chicken takes a lot less time to cook.

You need:
1 chicken
1 orange
Butter
1 tsp salt
2 tsp brown sugar
Veg.

Firstly, butterfly the chicken. Remove the string, turn it breast side down, and, using some sturdy scissors, cut down both side of the backbone and remove. Flatten it out, and remove the breast bone carefully using your fingers, trying not to take too much meat with it. Using the scissors again, trim off any loose bits of skin or bone.

(You can now use the backbone and breastbone to make stock - trim the skin off the backbone, cut it in half and put in a saucepan with the breastbone and boil in water to make stock; you can add trimmings from the veg as well).

Cut the orange into quarters and squeeze the juices over the chicken to flavour the meat, and leave for about an hour or so to marinate.

Turn the chicken over, skin side up, and flatten it out on a roasting tin. Smear the skin with the butter, sprinkle the salt and sugar over, and generously add slices of orange peel on top. Put in the top of a hot oven (about 190 degrees centigrade), and bake for 45 minutes to an hour. The skin should be crispy and the juices should run clear.

I would think this would be good on the barbecue too.

“English Katchup”, from "The Compleat Housewife", (posthumous 16th edition) by Eliza Smith, 1758.

2007-08-21T12:57:00.001+01:00

“To make English Katchup
Take a wide mouth’d bottle, put therein a pint of the best white wine vinegar, putting in ten or twelve cloves of eschalot peeled and just bruised; then take a quarter of a pint of the best langoon white wine, boil it a little, and put to it twelve or fourteen [salted] anchovies washed and shred, and dissolve them in the wine, and when cold, put them in the bottle; then take a quarter of a pint more of white wine, and put it in mace, ginger sliced, a few cloves, a spoonful of whole pepper just bruised, and let them boil all a little; when near cold, slice in almost a whole nutmeg, and some lemon peel, and likewise put in two or three spoonfuls of horse radish; then stop in close, and a week shake it once or twice a day; then use it; it is good to put into fish sauce, or any savory dish of meat; you may add it to clear liquor that comes from mushrooms.”

Salmon Curing method from "Salt and Fishery, Discourse Thereof" by John Collins, 1682.

2007-08-21T12:55:00.000+01:00

“The salmon cured at Berwick. As described by Benjamin Watson, merchant.
They are commonly caught from Ladiday [March 25] or Michael-mas [September 29] either in the river Tweed or within three miles or less off t sea against Berwick.
Those caught in the upper part of the river. Brought by horseback to lower part. And those on the lower part thereof on boats to Berwick, fresh.
Then they are laid in a pav’d yard, where for curing there are ready 2 splitters and 4 washers.
The splitters immediately split them beginning at the tail and continuing to the head, close by the back fin, leaving the Chine of salmon on the under side [the belly intact], taking the guts clear out and the gils out of the head, without defacing the least fin and also take out a small bone from the underside, whereby they get to the blood to wash it away.
Afterward the fish is put into a great tub, and washed outside and inside and scraped with a mussuel shell or a thin iron like it; and from thence put into another tub of clean water, where they are washed and scraped again, and from thence taken out, and laid upon wooden forms, there to lie and dry for four hours.
Thence they are carried into the cellars, where they are opened, or layed into a great vat of pipe with the skinside downward and covered all over with French salt and the like upon another lay and so up to the top and are there to remain six weeks. In which time tis found by experience, they will be suffeciently salted.
Then a dried calves’ skin is to be laid on at the top of the Cask, with Stones upon it to keep them down; upon the removal thereof, after 40 days or thereabouts, there will appear a scum at the top about two inches deep, to be scum’d off or taken away.
Then the fish is to be taken out and washed in the pickle, which being done, they are to be carefully laid into barrels, and betwixt every lay, so much salt sprinkled of the remaining melted salt in the vats, as will keep them from sticking together. And after the barrel is one quarter full, is to be stamped or leaped upon by a youth of about 15 years old or thereabouts, being coverede with a calves skin, the like at half full, and also when quite full.
Then a little salt is to be laid on the top and so to be headed up; and then the Cask is to be hoped by the cooper and blown til it be tight.
Then a bunghole to be made in the middle of the barrel, about which is to be put a ruff or roll of clay, to serve as a Tonnel whereby frequently to fill the barrel with the pickle that is left in the vat, which will cause the oyle to swim; which ought to be frequently scummed off, and serves for greasing of wool. And this after 10 or 12 days to be bounded up as sufficiently cured, and fit for exportation.”

Duck confit was eaten - the verdict.

2007-08-20T09:54:00.000+01:00

The confit was in the fridge for four weeks before finally being eaten. And it was tasty but far from perfect. I had Dave round as well to sample.
Having left it out of the fridge overnight to soften the fat, I took it out of the tin and wiped off the excess, before frying them skin side down in a pan, before transferring to the oven.
Two problems already - the skin stuck to the pan (better pan next time?) and the oven wasn't hot enough (middle instead of top shelf) to make it crispy. So, soggy skin.
The meat had a lovely texture but was just on my threshold of being too salty - a few hours instead of 24 would be better. The duck should also be able to give enough fat without having to use extra lard - a duck from a decent butcher and longer slow roasting of the carcass, plus poaching for longer to get some of the fat from under the skin itself.
So, all in all, not bad. A tasty lunch, but room for improvement.

Salt cod carpaccio

2007-08-18T11:08:00.000+01:00

This is something I've seen and read about without seeing any specific recipes, just from a few guides. In any case I used some fillets of pollack from my stash; cod will give you bigger salmon-size slices. Heremy recipe:

3 pollock fillets, soaked for 3 days to remove all the salt.
Juice of 4 lemons
Olive oil
3 peeled + chopped cloves of garlic
Some basil.

Marinate the fish in the lemon juice for about 10 minutes, and drain off. Don't pat it dry as you want to leave a sour tang behind.

Then submerge the fish in the oil, garlic and herbs for about 24 hours.

Remove from the oil and slice diagonally into thin slices. Very good on its own or you could have it with some horseradish, black pepper etc.

Jerky photos

2007-08-15T19:10:00.000+01:00

Step one, slice the beef up:

Step two: season, and leave for a couple of hours:

Step three: suspend from your oven grille:

After a few hours drying, you have jerky:

Jerky

2007-08-14T19:52:00.000+01:00

Howdy.

SLT Film Club is showing The Good, The Bad and The Ugly so I'm making some beef jerky. Here's how:

A large piece of cow. I used about 750g of silverside.
Whatever herbs and spices you like, I used some salt, black/white/cayenne pepper, ground coriander, ground garlic, hot paprika and a good dose of sugar.

Slice the beef into thin pieces, about an inch wide and as long as you like. Mix together all the spices in a bowl, and dip each slice of beef so that there is a light coating on each side. Put them all on a plate, cover and refridgerate for a couple of hours.

Now you have to dry it. Easiest way is to live in a hot and dry country and hang it out in the sun, but failing that, use an oven. Skewer each end of each slice with a toothpick and suspend from your oven rack, and turn it on to it's lowest setting, leaving the door open to allow the meat to dry. The temperature should be about 60-70 centigrade so that the beef isn't cooked but just dried out - this will several hours. It's ready when it's tough and like an old stiff piece of leather. If it just breaks in two then you've dried it too much.

Saturday's trip to Billingsgate.

2007-08-13T12:20:00.000+01:00

After a night out at a good Japanese restaurant (which I'd recommend as possibly the best one in London - Asakusa on Eversholt street, NW1), I had this alcohol-induced idea to go to Billingsgate the following morning.

Up at 4.30am, me and Dave caught the N68 up to Waterloo to make the first tube down to Canary Wharf. I hadn't been that way for ages, and at a quarter to six in the morning on a Saturday it was the ghost town I kind of expected. It's also still the building site it's always been; and underneath the shadow of all those skyscrapers on the other side of West India Quay lies a pale green grubby utilitarian 70's building labelled Billingsgate Fish Market.
We spent more time walking around the perimeter fence than getting there from the station - it was clearly designed for motor vehicles carrying more fish than we were planning to purchase. We found the entrance eventually, next to a McDonalds Drive-thru, home of the McFilet-o'Fish (sp?).
Inside the building it seemed smaller that the outside, probably because half the building is storage; nevertheless very busy with a mixture of ordinary members of the public, a few interested tourists and business customers stocking restaurants. Even more so was the mixture of live and recently killed sea creatures piled up in ice-filled polystyrene boxes.
We had a walk around to see what we fancied, however my original idea of one or two small things was never going to happen. You buy fish by the box. The smallest we could find was a 3 kilo box of Atlantic mackerel, and I added a kilo of marinated anchovies and another kilo of smoked salmon to my purchases. Dave got some scallops, crayfish tails and calamari and a couple of other things I don't remember.
All loaded up, we then proceeded back to the tube station to stink out the next train we got on.
My suspicions that the mackerel might not be the best proved to be true; mackerel has a reputation for going off in a short time. Out of 11 I had to bin four; that still left seven that were in good condition. Gutted and cleaned out, I froze all but one which was made into a lovely devilled mackerel recipe with a porage oat coating; and some crayfish with garlic mayonnaise.
A fun morning out, which I will do again very soon.. and I am tempted by the whole salmon for a tenner to put on the barbecue.
It's going to be a fishy week.....

Lamb Ham / Ham Lamb ?

2007-08-07T16:16:00.000+01:00

Having found some recipes for mutton ham, I am thinking of making this into a cooked lamb ham with a sweet glaze.
Anyway that leg is now hanging in the stairwell, propped away from the wall with a couple of chopsticks. The 7 days in the salt has removed about 20% of the weight.
The plan now is to hang it for a few weeks or more to firm it up and get the enzymes in the meat to do their work, even though it probably doesn't need tenderising that much.
After that, I'll soak it in a few changes of water for about 24-48 hours to remove some of the salt. Then boil or bake it til it's done before skinning it, scoring it and covering it with cloves, mustard and finally a coating of demerera sugar before putting it in the oven to glaze.

Bresaola is now done - and divine

2007-08-02T15:07:00.000+01:00

Well, it only took 9 days, owing to 70F ambient temperature and low humidity. I was concerned not to allow it to get too dry, so my squeeze test told me to take it down and eat.

And it's quite the best bresaola I've tasted; the wine gives it a lovely rich aroma and taste, the onion gives it a slight sweetness and the pepper coating give it a tiny bit of spice. The rest of the ingredients are in there somewhere too. As the picture shows it's a slightly fatty cut, which seems to give it a prosciutto-like texture. Importantly, it's not too dry, and not too salty either. Yum.

Beetroot gravlax

2007-08-02T14:59:00.000+01:00

My good friend Dave made this the other weekend, however I was not on the invitation to try it out. To remedy this I decided to make my own, and my it's delicious and there's more than I could possibly eat in one sitting !

I used an equal-ish mix of coarse salt and white sugar, and some basil, sprinkled on the base of a plastic box. The piece of salmon laid skin side down on that, and then another layer of the salt/sugar/basil (not dill, as I still don't like it that much even after several attempts of trying to). Top that with several slices of beetroot. Dave says raw beetroot should be used, however the cooked variety seems to do the trick.

Place of cling film over the top, and an even distribution of weight on top of that to help squeeze out the liquid. Put in the fridge, and 36 hours later it's ready to slice.

Tomato ketchup modifications ..

2007-07-31T13:29:00.000+01:00

The previous post I shall henceforth call "Original". (Not Original Recipe because it sounds too much like KFC).

Two variations -
Chilli ketchup is as Original, but with several bird eye chillies.
Wine and extra garlic, a third less tomatoes and in its place half a bottle of red plonk, and 3 times more garlic.

Tomato ketchup

2007-07-30T15:51:00.001+01:00

We all like the Heinz stuff .. but thinking about it, it is a little sweet and vinegary and not all that tomatoey. I've made a second jar of it which works much better than the first. I used 2lb of cheapo fresh tomatoes the first time round, it's pretty nice. The one I've done this morning uses two tins of plum tomatoes instead, and has a much richer flavour along with some of the other ingredients i've put in.

For one 12oz / 350g jar:

2 tins plum tomatoes including the juice

½ cup of vinegar (I used rice though any will do)

2 tbsp white sugar

1-2 tsp salt

dusting of: white pepper and all-spice

1 tsp of hot paprika

1 slice of preserved lemon.

Throw it all into a pan, chop up the tomatoes a bit, and boil it down gently for about 30mins. Then put it into a juicer and blend it til smooth as it will go and put it through a sieve back in the saucepan to remove any seeds etc. Reduce it til you've got a strength of flavour and consistency you like. Bear in mind it'll be runnier than the Heinz stuff. Pour the hot sauce into a sterilised jar and seal.

Obviously, you can experiment with various kinds of ingredients.. and I don't need to suggest what you might want to eat it with.

Lamb looked a little boring

2007-07-30T15:47:00.000+01:00

..so I've added some mint, allspice and smoked paprika. Looks much nicer now doesn't it.

Air dried lamb

2007-07-30T12:08:00.000+01:00

Got the week off work, so what better than to make lots of things? I've done a few experiments with lamb just to see if it works. So now I'm going to do it properly(-ish).
I toyed with the idea of a fine Italian prosciutto but I'll leave that to the experts. Cured lamb is not common; seems strange doesn't it. Apparantly it's to do with the fat - when I did a rolled shoulder joint (which is quite fatty) it did have quite a strong aroma. That would explain why it's popular in Norway, where they have fermented trout.
Anyway, the picture describes it all. A 4lb leg, regular skin incisions to allow salt to get through, and completely dredged in coarse salt and a bit of thyme, making sure you get salt into the exposed end where the ball joint is.

This'll stay in the box for probably no more than 10 days, depending on its firmness and if the salt isn't drawing out any more liquid. I have two air dried ham recipes, one states 1 day per pound, the other 2½ days per lb; anything from 4 days to 10 days. Throw in the complication that's it's lamb and not pork adds to the guesswork......

What to do with leftover tomatoes...

2007-07-24T23:51:00.000+01:00

I had a few spare from the ketchup I made the other day. So I've chopped em in half, sprinkled a pinch of salt over the exposed bit and left them behind a sunny window. Not a lot of sun this week means I'm using a 150 watt halogen security lamp instead. Photo shows them after about 15 hours.

Strawberry jam

2007-07-24T23:48:00.000+01:00

Why are strawberries being imported from the US at this time of year? Must be the weather. In any case I had to rescue some from the reduced shelf at Scummyfield; boiled down the strawberries with an equal portion of sugar and a little lemon juice.

Some salt pork

2007-07-24T23:46:00.001+01:00

This one's a bit like the fish.. just a piece of belly pork covered and stuck in a tub. Difference here is that the liquid should be emptied out and any salt replaced.

I used 1 1/2 lbs of belly and enough salt to cover it.

When it's done after a week or two I'll hang it somewhere like the bresaola and it should keep for years!

Bresaola is now hanging up in my stairwell

2007-07-24T23:30:00.000+01:00

Patted dry it has a lovely purpley colour from the wine. I've taken off the string vest thingy and coated it in black pepper, wrapped it in muslin and hung it up. Should be done in a couple of weeks.

Old website

2007-07-23T15:19:00.000+01:00

http://freespace.virgin.net/mark.davies1978/

It's an old website I started off with .. but to be honest I couldn't be arsed with html and downloading photos etcetc and this blog thing seems to work well. And easier..

It's got cheese - the first attempt wasn't bad, after a couple of month it was a kind of creamy buttery taste.

Mouldy cheese SO didn't work!

Salt beef I'd recommend. Changes - use brisket as an alternative, and pot roast covered for two hours with some veg.

Modified Bresaola is elsewhere on this blog.

Air dried lamb is something I'm going to try again come early October. I'll get a whole leg o' lamb and hang it up in my dad's shed or something.

Gravadlax. Works well with trout.

Bacon bacon bacon! Streaky is the way to go. Back bacon is just, well, not fatty (and therefore tasty) enough! Alternatively to the lamb's leg I might well buy a large portion of pig's belly and hang that up instead. Hell, why not do both?

Mushroom ketchup. Made in March is still going, but very sweet and vinegary. I made tomato version yesterday which is luvverly indeed.

Smokey ham. Make sure it's good pork and not cheap shite from Somerfield.

Preserved lemons, also still going in the fridge!

Making Saltfish

2007-07-23T15:16:00.000+01:00

You could freeze you fillets. I chose to defrost them and then use a method to store them for months, and at room temperature.

How? Well I guess you know already, but here's how I did it:

3lb pollock fillets

1lb coarse sea salt.

Get a large glass/plastic box or jar. Put a generous layer of salt at the bottom, a single layer of fish on top, followed by another layer of salt and another layer of fish. Keep doing this until all the fish is used up, and then cover the top with the remaining salt. Press down on it the get the salt in good contact. Leave somewhere cool, and press down on it every now and then. After a day (or less) the fish will be sitting in it's own liquid. It's pretty much fully salted after 3 days and like this it should keep for several months.

You can either leave it as is or take the fillets out and hang them up to dry - if you do this then they should become firm enough that if you press with your fingers it doesnt leave an impression.

To use, take out whatever you need and soak in cold water for 24 hours, changing the water every now and then. Remember it's shrunk while in the salt and will get back to roughly its original size after soaking. Tastes good with black pepper and aioli.

Duck Confit

2007-07-23T15:10:00.000+01:00

Here's something I've read and heard a lot about .. but never done (or tried I don't think!)

Basically it involves poaching some bits of animal in it's own (or another's) fat.

You need:

The duck+fat:

One duck

1lb of fat (duck or goose fat or lard or a mixture)

The cure:

1 tbsp coarse salt

a few bay leaves

8 cloves of garlic

1 tsp ground allspice

Plenty of ground black pepper

4 cloves

The method:

First cut the duck legs and breast off, keep them on the bone if possible. Grind up the ingredients for the cure together and rub over the legs and breasts, cover and put in the fridge overnight.Meanwhile, slow-roast the rest of the duck to render off the fat to use for the fat for later use as described below.

Next day, pre-Heat your oven to Gas 2 / 225F / 110C. Wash off the cure mix from the duck and pat dry, and put in a crock pot or tin, and pour over the melted duck fat so that it is completely submerged (Add melted lard etc if it's not enough). Put in the oven uncovered for about 3 hours, ensuring the meat is always submerged and the fat is only just bubbling.

After that time, leave to cool, and put in the fridge where it'll last for a month or so. When you want to use it, bring to room temp and take how much you want out, wipe off the excess fat and roast in the oven until the skin is crispy.

I'll let you know how it all tastes :)

Bresaola in a Red Wine Brine

2007-07-23T14:56:00.000+01:00

Blog entry #1.

I've experimented with this speciality a few times now, and am trying it a little differently this time. Dry-cure salt and sugar has been used previously, and the result is generally too salty (too long curing?) and too dry (too long hanging).

Red plonk may be the answer. Here is what I am curing my kilo of topside:

2lb topside beef joint, trimmed of fat and sinew etc
1 bottle red plonk
12 oz coarse sea salt
2 slices of preserved lemon
1 onion, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, cut in two
1 carrot, skinned and sliced into about 4 pieces

The salt, onion and wine are going to give the most obvious flavours, to be honest the carrot is probably not worth bothering with.

Tie up the beef, put it into a non-reactive container (i used plastic) and pour the bottle of wine over it. Next pour the salt directly over the beef; most of it will sink into the wine and the rest will sit atop the beef that's above the wine. Distribute the rest of the ingredients in the wine around the beef and put some of the onion curls on the salt on the beef.

Cover and leave for a day, somewhere cool. After that give the contents a stir and turn the meat so the top is at the bottom and some more un dissolved salt gets dissolved.

It's been going 4 days so far. The differences is that the beef is in winey brine and left on the kitchen worktop instead of the fridge.