Posts Tagged ‘Bacon’
Friday, January 20th, 2012
Like pretty much anyone with taste buds and a working nose, I love bacon, and having a stab at curing my own is something I’ve wanted to do for a while, in fact ever since I read this article by Tim Hayward a few years ago.
Despite what you think, it’s actually really easy. In fact I’d say anyone blessed with a pair of arms could do it. It requires no culinary skill what so ever, just a very few ingredients and a bit of time. In fact less than a week. Just think, a week after reading this you could be tucking into a sarnie made with your own bacon. Excited? You should be.
I substituted the maple syrup in Tim’s cure for black treacle, as I wanted to try something a bit different, and I used a smaller joint, but the rest of the method is pretty much as described in the link above. The only other thing you’ll need is a tupperware box big enough to accommodate the joint.
Ingredients
1kg loin of pork, skin removed and boned
400ml black treacle
300g unrefined sea salt
Method
Day 1: Go to a decent butcher and ask him / her for a boned loin of pork with a finished weight of around a kilo. Also ask them to remove the skin, but leave the fat on. Take the joint home, pop it into your tupperware box, and then cover in 200ml of the black treacle. Give the joint a good rub all over, making sure it’s nicely coated, and then pop on the lid and stick it in the fridge.
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Tags: Article, Bacon, Black Treacle, Butcher, Cure, Guardian, Home, Loin, Pork, Sel Gr, Tim Hayward, Unrefined Sea Salt
Posted in Breakfast, Reading, Recipes | 7 Comments »
Tuesday, January 10th, 2012
It would have been Elvis’ birthday on Monday (8th Jan), so in honour of The King I knocked up this version of his his favourite grubs, the peanut butter, bacon and banana sandwich.
I first heard about his ’snack’ of choice some years ago whilst watching a documentary about his eating habits. He was a man with a legendary appetite, even persuading his cook to smuggle bag loads of hot dogs into the hospital where he was being treated for the kind of things that a bunch of dogs would really not have helped.
Based around the Fools Gold Loaf created by the Colorado Mine Company that Elvis famously traveled cross the country to get his hands on, there seem to be lots of different versions of this sandwich out there, but the one I recall from the doc is this one based around the four Bs. Baguette, Bacon, (peanut) Butter and Banana.
The King was known to wolf down piles of these in one sitting, but for those of us with a more moderate constitution, this recipe serves two. Oh, and I candied the bacon in maple syrup, as I figure he would have liked that.
Ingredients
1/2 a baguette
2 tbs smooth peanut butter
4 rashers of bacon
1 ripe banana, sliced
1 tbs maple syrup
Butter for frying
Method
First up, get your frying pan on the heat and drop in a large nob of butter. Once it’s sizzling, get your bacon in there. Elvis reputedly liked his bacon crisp, so give it plenty of time in the pan.
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Tags: Bacon, Baguette, Banana, Birthday, Colorado Mine Company, Elvis, Food, Fools Gold Loaf, Peanut Butter, Presley, Sandwich, Snack, The King
Posted in Recipes, Snack | 1 Comment »
Monday, November 7th, 2011
So…….back in time a few weeks we hit the last stop on our trip, New York. It’s been a couple of years since I was last there, and to paraphrase DOOM, it still is a hell of a finer town. Knowing we only had a few days of our adventure left, we rolled up our sleeves and ate our way right to the core. I’m probably going to do some longer posts on a couple of other discoveries, and I didn’t make it to The Dutch which I REALLY wanted to check out, but here are a few highlights.
Where to start…hmmmm. The first time I went to NY, probably back in ‘97, my mate Matt took me to The Oyster Bar at Grand Central Station. I vividly remember sitting in the back room saloon surrounded by brash New Yoikers shouting at each other and guzzling plates of oysters whilst I sat slurping a New England Clam Chowder in a happy jet-lagged daze. The wife and I decided to pay it a visit this time, and I’m happy to say nothing’s really changed. It’s certainly a tourist attraction, but it is still rammed with every shape and size of New Yorker having lunch, doing deals and chewing the fat (oysters). We sucked down a couple of zinc-ey Long Island Bluepoints, a bowl of that creamy, soothing chowder and a very tasty crab-cake sarnie all, washed down with a couple of glasses of super chilled Sauvignon Blanc. As far as classic New York lunches go, it’s hard to beat, and good to see an institution like this still chugging away.
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Tags: America, Bacon, Baked Beans, Blade Runner, Bluepoint, Christina Tosi, Clam Chowder, Coffee, Crab Cake, Crack, Cumin Lamb, David Chang, Egg Williamsburgh, Five Leaves, Grand Central, Greenpoint, Hand Pulled, Hipster, Home Made, Milk Bar, Momofuku, Moustache, New England, New York, Noodles, Oyster Bar, Pie, Pork, Ricotta Pancakes, Road Trip, Sage, Sandwich, Scrambled Eggs, Shanghai Cafe, Soup Dumplings, Stumptown, The Big Apple, Xi'an Famous Foods
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Saturday, September 10th, 2011
ICEBERG DEAD AHEAD!!
The poor old Iceberg lettuce is a pretty unfashionable leaf these days, but the Americans still have a lot of love for it, particularly when it’s served in big old wedges and drenched in blue cheese dressing. This twist on the American Classic uses a local Californian goat cheese called Humbolt Fog, which is lovely and creamy, and has a blue-ish tang to it. Paired with some applewood smoked bacon candied in maple syrup, and a few thinly sliced red onions, it’s pretty much the perfect starter. It’s pretty easy to throw together too. Lets begin.
Ingredients (serves 4)
1 large iceberg lettuce
200g Humbolt Fog, or your favourite mild blue cheese
300g Buttermilk, or sour cream
Juice of 1/4 – 1/2 of lemon, to taste
1 teaspoon Tabasco
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Tags: Applewood, Bacon, Blue Cheese, Butter Milk, Goat Cheese, Humbolt Fog, Iceberg Lettuce, Lemon juice, maple syrup, Smoked, Sour Cream, Tabasco
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Recipes, Travel | No Comments »
Friday, April 22nd, 2011
There are few things in life that lift my spirits in a morning like a bacon sarnie does. Hungover, or not, that combination of salty, smoky bacon, bread, butter and whatever condiment takes your fancy is hard to beat. Fruit salad, muesli, granola, porridge, whilst all lovely in their own way, are always going to take second place.
The fine example above is the Old Spot bacon sandwich at St John Bread & Wine, which really is a thing of beauty. Thick cut bacon, yielding, lightly griddled white bread with a toothsome crust, butter and a generous helping of home made tomato ketchup on the side. As they say on their site, it truly is the Bacon Sandwich of your nocturnal fantasies.
But I’m not a butty elitist. In many ways I’m just as happy scarfing down some greasy spoon bacon slapped between a couple of slices of Sunblest. However you get your fix, it’s a breakfast that always feels like a bit of a treat, as opposed to just a way to start the day.
Truly one of life’s simple pleasures.
Tags: Bacon, Bread & Wine, Breakfast, Griddled, Ketchup, Salty, Sandwich, Sarnie, Simple Pleasures, Smoked, St John
Posted in Breakfast, Opinion, Reviews | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010
I first heard about The Meatwagon a few months ago on the BBC 4’s Food Programme, and subsequently on a number of blogs. It seems to have become the stuff of legend pretty quickly, and for those into their food, you can understand why. The story goes that the owner of the wagon, Yianni, quit his job and headed for the US to research the perfect burger. He toured the length and breadth of the country (I may be embellishing here) picking up recipes, tips and tricks until he thought he’d cracked it. He then returned to London, formula in hand, bought a food truck and then hit the road spreading the good burger word. Insane and inspiring in equal measure.
Until last week, his burgers had evaded my jaws, but when I heard that he was pitching up at The Ship pub near me, I knew I had a date with meaty destiny, particularly as Yianni had picked up ‘Best Sandwich’ at the British Street Food Awards the previous weekend. As we approached the wagon, for some reason we felt a sense of trepidation, the kind you get when approaching an illegal rave. Would there be a huge queue? Would there be any meat left? What were we going to do if we couldn’t get our fix?
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Tags: Bacon, Beef, Burgers, Byron, Cheese, Chilli, Cloche, GHot Plate, Mesatwagon, Perfect, Sourdough, Steak, Steam
Posted in Opinion, Reviews | 6 Comments »
Wednesday, September 15th, 2010
The Great British Fry Up is a thing of beauty when done right, and probably one of the most disappointing food experiences when it’s cocked up. These days the classic fry up at a ‘greasy spoon’ has increasingly been replaced by the ‘posh’, expensive version served in gastro pubs and the like, and many of the old school cafés have gone with it. Earlier in the year, an old favourite caff of mine, Rossi’s in Spitalfields, closed its doors after 50 plus years of serving happy punters. A sad day.
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Tags: Bacon, Bubble & Squeak, Cafe, Egg, Fry Up, London, Pimlico, Regency, Sausage, Victotia
Posted in Breakfast, Reading, Reviews | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, April 27th, 2010
There are few meals as satisfying as a roast chicken. Even if you’re having a REALLY shit day, a roastie can turn tings around. What’s more, there are always leftovers, which means there’s always another meal or two to be eeked out of the carcass.
We roasted a particularly big bird last weekend, so I decided to do the leftover chicken justice by making a few pies. It’s a pretty easy recipe, especially if you buy ready rolled puff pastry from the supermarket. The below will make 4 small pies or one biggun. Here’s how it’s done.
Ingredients
250g roast chicken – mixture of white and brown meat
1 large leek, finely chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 large clove garlic, chopped
2 rashers smoked bacon, chopped
70g chestnut mushrooms
300ml chicken stock
1ooml single cream
100ml white wine
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Tags: Bacon, Carrot, Chicken, Leek, Mushrooms, Pastry, Pie, Puff, Roast, Salad, Single Cream, stock, White Wine
Posted in Dinner, Recipes | No Comments »
