Category Archives: Pork

Meat cuts

Posted on February 16, 2010 | 2 Comments

There are loads of different cuts on animals and it can often get confusing. I’m often asked “where is that cut from ?” and  …. “I had this cut in France but never see it in England ?”.

Well I thought it would be helpful to try to answer these questions and explain different cuts and where they come from.

Firstly I have searched for the clearest drawings that I could find.  I don’t think there is a copyright issue with them  but if there is make the most of them quickly before they are minced.

So here is a side of beef …..

Just click on the picture or click here for the full page version.

…. and here is a side of pork ….

Just click on the picture or click here for the full page version.

…. and finally a lamb carcase

Just click on the picture or click here for the full page version.

So now hopefully you will know the difference between a shank and a tenderloin.

Charlie the Butcher.

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Posted in Beef, Lamb Cuts, Pork

Traditional homemade faggot recipe

Posted on February 8, 2010 | 9 Comments

I love the old school meat products that once upon a time would grace every butchers’ shop up and down the country. Ranging from homemade corned beef to saveloy, one of many of my favourites is the classic faggot which is also called, for some reason, “ducks” in the Midlands, Yorkshire and Lancashire. It’s rarely seen now which is such a shame has they are lovely, easy, cheap and quick to cook. You might spot the famous “Mr Brian’s Faggots” that are sometimes in the frozen section of supermarkets and I’m not altogether sure what goes into them. But faggots have now started to spring up on gastro pub menus, like the Stagg Inn in Herefordshire.  This is a good sign to see.

The published history of the faggot dates back to 1851 when it first appeared in the Oxford English Dictionary.

I am often asked at work “what is a faggot?”.  Well, traditionally,  it is a mixture of pigs liver, fatty pork mince, fresh sage, fresh thyme, garlic, salt and pepper. I like to keep it simple and let the true flavour of the liver and mince shine. Pigs’ hearts have also been sometimes added along with breadcrumbs. It is then wrapped in caul fat which is a webb like meshing membrane from the pig’s abdomen. I compare them to almost a offal like meatball or a rustic French pâté. As faggots are hard to find I’ve put together my own simple  homemade faggot recipe thats easy and fun to make at home. They also freeze well so fill that freezer up with them.

Ingredients

  • 500g minced fresh pork liver
  • 1kg fatty course minced pork
  • 1 bunch of fresh sage and thyme
  • 3 cloves of fresh garlic
  • salt and pepper
  • 300g caul fat soaked in water

Step 1
Collect the herbs.

Step 2
Mix all the ingredients until it becomes sticky, this is a sign that the proteins are coming out and will help bind the mixture together.

Step 3
Drain the caul fat and place some of the mixture on the caul fat, the weight is up to you. I like 200g but you may want more or less.

Step 4
Step back and enjoy the masterpieces.

Step 5
Either wrap them up for the freezer or cook them. I like them slow cooked in the oven at 150C for about one hour and served with mash, mustard and the faggot juices over them. If I have any greens like cabbage or sprout top they also work well. It is tradition in the Black Country to serve them with peas and onion gravy.

Enjoy with a nice glass of English Ale.

Charlie the Butcher.

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Posted in Duck, Meat History, Offal, Pork

Horse sausage

Posted on December 14, 2009 | 7 Comments

It’s that time of year again; yes it’s the busiest time of the butchery calendar but also my yearly jolly up trip to France. It’s turned into a yearly trip with my mates and the Volvo estates boot is getting lower each year we go. Full of cheese, pates, wine and other delights including white chocolate lion bars. But it was one item that jumped out at me this year. I’m a huge sausage lover and it was making them at home that inspired me to enter the butchery trade. I’ve made lots of different type and tasted hundreds of types from the basic pork to kangaroo. But sitting on the shelf in the supermarket city Europe meat counter was mini saucissons de cheval fumes fecules (horse sausage). Now I’m always interested in tasting new meats and products, so this was an offer to good to turn my nose up. Two euros for about ten cocktail horse sausages seemed very cheap and I dread to think of the quality of the meat but I’m sure horses live a decent life as it was killed and born in France. After we got back to London a little tired and a lighter wallet I couldn’t wait to taste them. But I wasn’t sure on how best to cook them as they looked like a boiling sausage. So I decided to take them to work and ask the guys in the la Marche de counter in the market, but as luck had it my friend Adam Perry Laing who is the king of the bbq popped in, and he can talk and read French. He filled me in with all the information, 51% horse meat, 20% pork fat and the rest with stupid E numbers and horrid coloring agents, but he said they were smoked as well, and told me best to par boil them then slowly fry them. So with the bad news that they were filled with E numbers and other wired stuff I still wanted to try them. So I cooked them to the instruction and let them cool slightly and tasted them. Well they were horrid, tasted like a cheap frankfurter. More like a meat paste with smoking flavorings packed into the fake casings. I was very sausaged off! But the search for a decent horse sausage is not up, and if you can help me find a good horse banger please tell me.

Charlie the Butcher.

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Posted in Charcuterie, Horse, Pork, Sausages

Breakfast

Posted on November 16, 2009 | 1 Comment

A good breakfast is the key to a good day in my book and on my days off I like to go that extra mile. This simple, quick and lovely breakfast is a favorite of mine. It has 3 key ingredients lambs kidney, dry cured back bacon and black pudding all on thick hand sliced white toast.

Ingredients

  • 2 Lambs Kidneys cut in half and core removed
  • 4 Rashers of dry cured free range or organic bacon
  • 2 Slices of the best black pudding you can get, try the classic Bury Black Pudding
  • Butter
  • Decent white bread
  • Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce

Serves 2.

Step 1

Get all the food ready.

IMGP0090Step 2

Warm two frying pans up, one for the kidneys and one for the black pudding and bacon.

Step 3

Add the kidneys and fry with the help of the perrins for a minute.

Step 4

Add the black pudding and bacon to the other pan.

Step 5

Cook for 4 minutes until the bacon is coloured and crispy and the black pudding is shinning.

Step 6

Start the toast.

Step 7

Put all goodies on the buttered toast with a twist of pepper and enjoy.

IMGP0094

Charlie the Butcher.

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Posted in Breakfast, Lamb Cuts, Offal, Pork

Perfect pork scratchings

Posted on November 8, 2009 | 3 Comments

We all love pork scratchings and it’s one of my favourite treats to be enjoyed with a meantime helles beer. The crackling is the rind (skin) of a pig when roasted but also known to be deep fried aswell. Pork Scratchings are hard and have a layer of fat under the rind, the hair has been removed from the rind but sometimes does stay on. This is often associated with the pork scratching. Making them at home is very easy. Salt is the key ingredient as it’s a natural preservative and draws the water out of the rind giving you the crunch. I use sea salt and love malden sea salt, a wicked salt from the essex shores. I also add pepper for a little kick and olive oil for flavour and to add a little grease to it.

Ingredients

  • Sea salt
  • Pepper
  • Olive oil
  • Pork rind from the loin, ask your butcher to score the rind

Step 1

Head the oven to 200 degrees, take the rind out of the fridge.

IMG_0054Step 2

Rub with the salt, pepper and olive oil.

IMG_0055Step 3

Now arrange the oven out. Put an empty baking tray under the oven rack, and place the rind on the rack but above the baking tray to catch the fat. Heat for about 20 mins and empty the tray every so 5 minutes or so.

Step 4

Take out the oven and leave to cool.

IMG_0059Step 5

Enjoy.

IMG_0061Step 6

Scratchings keep in an air tight box for a week, thats if it’s not too late.

IMG_0062

 

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Posted in Pork

Roasted Suckling Pig

Posted on October 25, 2009 | Leave a comment

 

Suckling Pig Loin

Suckling Pig Loin

A suckling pig is a piglet fed on its mothers milk and slaughter between two and six weeks old. This gives its pale meat colour and tender meat. Here is a simple recipe of mine. I got this delicious cut from the wicked italian butchers called A C Butchery in Sydney. Well worth a look if your ever near.  

ingredients

1kg suckling pig loin

3 lemons

extra vigin olive oil

sea salt, maldon or cornish

Pepper

Rosemary

 

Method

Pour boiling water over the rind. Pat dry and score the skin in a lovely striped direction with a very sharp knife. Preheat the oven to 200c. Cut the lemons, add to a little olive oil and rub into the meat of the loin, not the rind. Make a dry mix of the pepper,salt and rosemary in a bowl mix well and rub into the scored rind. Line a roasting tray with tin foil and place the loin onto the tray, chuck into the oven and keep an eye on the loin for the crackling, turn down the heat to 180c after about 10ish mins and roast for 30mins per 450-500g (1lb) + 30mins make sure the internal temp is 75-80c. Eat with your choice of roasted veg and remember your the chef so you get the most crackling!

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Posted in Pork