This is a great recipe for all those odds and ends of ham that are left after slicing. It’s also a good way of using the hock or shank of a pig’s leg.
Potted Ham
Chicken and Wild Rice Sausage Burger
Northern wild rice (Zizania palustrisis) is an interesting grain, it is one of four known wild rice types. My sister sent me this which was harvested by the Chippewa tribe in northern Minnesota.
The Types of Smoked Fish (UK)
Smoking fish, particularly cold-smoking, is a great starter project; it’s not only the sense of achievement in doing it, but it has a fairly large cost saving.
I’ll cover the procedures in another post but for now let’s look at the types of fish that are often smoked.
Continue reading The Types of Smoked Fish (UK)
Mexican Chorizo Aromatico
This chorizo can be easily modified to use chiles that are available and just ancho and arbol (for heat) would make a decent product. Using several chile types will create a greater depth of flavor and in particular, a smokiness can be added. In many areas of the US, dried Mexican chiles can be had for low prices.
Continue reading Mexican Chorizo Aromatico
Fig Jam
Until a couple of years ago, I’d never come across anyone with a fig tree. Recently, I’ve met two people growing them locally. This year’s been a good one for figs and I’ve been offered surplus from both people. Whilst I enjoy eating them raw, large quantities have a debilitating effect on my digestive system! Not nice when you’re a wheelchair user.
Continue reading Fig Jam
Cider Ham
This cure started with the gift of some cider from Mark at Rockingham Forest Cider. To do this craft product justice I felt that a brine immersion cure was called for – none of your injection cured shortcuts for this ham!
Continue reading Cider Ham
Safely Drying Meat and Sausage
With more and more people air-drying meat, there seems to be a very lax attitude sneaking in regarding the production of air-dried sausage and meats.
The, “well they’ve been doing it for centuries in Italy/Spain etc without sophisticated equipment” brigade, and the, “well they have them hanging in bars in Italy/Spain, so they must be safe” camp.
What they say may be true, but we do not have the same conditions as those people, nor do we have the accumulated knowledge of generations of forebears on our side, so we need to be cautious in what we do for reasons that I hope will become clear.
Continue reading Safely Drying Meat and Sausage
Croquetas
Original post made in 2007.
An article called ‘Leftovers are a cheaper, greener option’ at the Daily Telegraph reminded me of a snack/starter I hadn’t made for some time. Croquetas – croquettes or croquets in English, are a tasty way of using up small amounts of leftovers.
Continue reading Croquetas
Chicken & Rice Sausage Burger
Chicken bog as a dish appears to have originated in the low country of South Carolina around Myrtle Beach. It was the retirement plan for old laying hens (which goes to show that some retirement plans are better than others). It is in between a pilaf and a stew in consistency and was an economical way to feed a crowd. I re-imagined it as a sausage patty. I used rice to carry the flavor of chicken stock. The rice modifies the texture of the sausage and if the sausage is made into patties, it will form a thin crispy starch layer on the outside when fried. The amount of cooked rice added as a ratio of the overall sausage can be varied according to taste and texture desired.
Continue reading Chicken & Rice Sausage Burger