Foodie stuff

[Cycling Naturalist]

We had White Park cattle steaks on Friday (locally sourced from the Chirk Castle estate) and they were excellent. I'm not a big steak eater, but the local butcher trimmed a couple down to about 3.5 ounces each which was just right with fried tomatoes from the green house, onions, chips, and a leafy salad with a balsamic dressing.

Tonight, it's rolled loin of Gloucester Old Spot rare breed pork, the last of the runner beans (holding well in this damp weather) and apple sauce from the bumper apple harvest. Blackberry and apple crumble and then there's a bit of stilton left, and I might open a bottle of port.

Who needs rare tuna with rosewater over puy lentils with Prosecco foam?

 

[Chris Norton]

a three and half ounce steak? You really don't eat a lot of meat. White park is fantastic though. Assume that they were fillet's and not sirloin, rump or my personal fave, Rib eye.

If I have a steak it's usually rib eye and bordering on the 16 ounce mark. But I'm a butcher and lifting backs of pork all day is gonna give you an appetite.....

There are better breeds than old spot but it mostly depends on husbandry on how good they are. If they have run to fat then the pig has been mollycoddled it's whole life and won't be good eating. I've seen pork come in with two inches of fat on the loins and barely any eye muscle. Shame.

 

[jayonabike]

I shall be tucking into this rib of beef with all the trimmings shortly

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

a three and half ounce steak? You really don't eat a lot of meat. White park is fantastic though. Assume that they were fillet's and not sirloin, rump or my personal fave, Rib eye.

If I have a steak it's usually rib eye and bordering on the 16 ounce mark. But I'm a butcher and lifting backs of pork all day is gonna give you an appetite.....

There are better breeds than old spot but it mostly depends on husbandry on how good they are. If they have run to fat then the pig has been mollycoddled it's whole life and won't be good eating. I've seen pork come in with two inches of fat on the loins and barely any eye muscle. Shame.

That's interesting. I'm an out and out carnivore, but I tend to only eat small amounts of really good stuff. IIRC Steve McCardle, my butcher in Chirk has two local suppliers of Gloucester Old Spot, and I suspect that there's a hobby element to the production and some mollycoddling. However, there's nothing like two inches of fat.

The next good thing to look out for is the partridges. I'm going for a slow pot roast this time round, so the meat just drops off the bone. The quick blast in the oven just doesn't work as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Chris Norton]

We don't have anyone in game round here, which is a damn shame as it really is as tasty as it gets. Especially when cooked nice. I do like the slow pot roast idea.

People should buy a meat thermometer and cook to that rather than times. Try roasting a chicken for 6 hours at 90 degrees c. Make sure it's at least 75 degrees and it's cooked. It's a revelation on how moist a chicken can be. If I ever do a roast turkey I would give it the full 24 hours at 90 treatment and see what it's like as I have only once enjoyed roast turkey.

Better to eat a little quality than a whole load of rubbish. And if you get quality you can experiment with some of the more interesting cuts. Shin, ox tail. pigs cheps for instance.

 

[Archie_tect]

1/3rd left for lunch tomorrow... yum.

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

We don't have anyone in game round here, which is a damn shame as it really is as tasty as it gets. Especially when cooked nice. I do like the slow pot roast idea.

People should buy a meat thermometer and cook to that rather than times. Try roasting a chicken for 6 hours at 90 degrees c. Make sure it's at least 75 degrees and it's cooked. It's a revelation on how moist a chicken can be. If I ever do a roast turkey I would give it the full 24 hours at 90 treatment and see what it's like as I have only once enjoyed roast turkey.

Better to eat a little quality than a whole load of rubbish. And if you get quality you can experiment with some of the more interesting cuts. Shin, ox tail. pigs cheps for instance.

I always use shin for stews and cook it really slowly with some bacon cubed from in the piece.

 

[Doseone]

Rib eye is my favourite too, it just has that bit of fat, and I do like it from local Welsh Black but maybe that's as much in my head as the taste.

I do like game, but not hung for too long. Pheasant is nice in a stew cooked long and slow.

This thread is making me hungry.

 

[Maverick Goose]

Oxtail cooked slowly is amazing [good recipe in the Ottolenghi Cookbook]. Also belly pork, beef brisket and lamb breast as well. It's good to hear more about these cuts again.

 

[swee'pea99]

Recently discovered slow-roasted pork....5-6 hours at 160. You don't need a carving knife - just pull it apart with a fork. Yum!

 

[Fnaar]

A personal favourite of mine is "frittelle di spam con fagioli al forno"