The Pigs at Edgefield

Last weekend we took the boys to the North Norfolk Railway. It was meant to be a lovely, unusually warm day for early October so we thought a trip to the steam railway would be a good idea.

It all started going wrong when we got to Holt Station. We waited and waited and no train. More and more people arrived and still no train. It was cold, windy with a hint of drizzle. Son no1 who had insisted on wearing shorts was freezing and boy didn't we know about it ! In the end it turned out that the steam engine had broken down and the next train would be a diesel but not there for 35 minutes. So we all trouped back to the car clutching hot chocolates to try and warm up.

Eventually the train came - a diesel, not a steam as we'd hoped - and we had a nice trip through the North Norfolk countryside from Holt to Sheringham. Once back at Holt station we'd decided to go into Holt to Byfords for some lunch and a mooch around the lovely shops in Holt.

30 mins later there was no hope in hell of us finding any parking in the town centre. We had two very hungry, grumpy boys so we headed back to Norwich. On the way we came across this pub  (The Pigs) which I'd heard great things about in the past so in we went.

It was heading up 2pm and I was a little worried that we might be too late for food but were reassured that food was served until 2.30pm. The pub was bright and airy and we were directed to "the snug" which delighted the children.

The food is divided between the Pigs menu (for adults) and the Piglets menu (for kids). The piggy theme continues even to the signs on the toilet doors (sows & boars) which greatly confused son no1 !

We chose a starter from the Iffits menu which is marketed as the Norfolk version of tapas served on wooden boards. We had the haslet fritter, potted pork, potted crab and the sausage roll to share between 4 of us (£10). The Husband wolfed down all the potted crab and declared it delicious and son no1 did the same with the haslet fritter - so much for sharing ! Son no2 and I shared the potted pork which was a lovely texture but I felt was a teeny bit bland in comparison to the rest of the starters and the sausage roll had to be seen to be believed. A huge portion of locally produced pork rich and meaty wrapped in perfect pastry served with tomato ketchup. YUM. 

The kids both chose sausage and chips (£4.50) if you can call the lovely thick cut almost wedge like chips they got chips. It was nice to see a choice of vegetables too either carrots or cabbage rather than the endless baked beans or peas. The Husband went for the beer battered haddock again with monster chips and mushy peas (£12.50). The speed with which it vanished said how much he enjoyed it.

I went for the "signature dish" of the Three Pigs. It was a slow cooked piece of belly pork served with smoky bacon beans, apple chutney, black pudding and crackling (£10.95). This was a thing of beauty, almost a shame to eat it but the smell coming off it proved too tempting. The belly pork was meltingly tender and a decent sized portion too. The beans were mixed beans and had a beautiful smoky taste. I normally don't like black pudding but I was prepared to give it another go. Still not my favourite thing but it was quite tasty when combined with the rest of the dish. The crackling was two small strips of crispy lovely pigginess - call me a pig but I'd have liked a little more ! This whole thing topped off with a rich gravy was total heaven.

Totally stuffed by this point we had to forgo pudding but the menu did look tasty. The whole meal for 4 of us with drinks came to £50, so quite expensive for a Saturday lunch but given the quality of the food we were served and the portions, more than worth it. Service wasn't bad either with a lovely waitress who made a great fuss of the kids - always a plus point in my book !

30 days / 30 things Day 3

Right, today's is my favourite cookbook - or rather one of. This is more than tricky. I have so many of them, the Husband rolls his eyes every time another one finds it's way into the house.


What do I look for in a cookbook ? Well, obviously firstly that I'd actually cook some of the recipes in there, although in the case of some it's just pure food porn ;-). I'd love a copy of the Gordon Ramsay Recipes from a 3* chef  but would I ever use it ? Secondly I'm a very visual viewer so the pictures have to be great. 


Recently there was an article in the Observer Food Monthly about the top 50 cookbooks of all time see here & here ! I think I had only a handful and I'd not even heard of some of them ! 


The only one in the top 10 that I own is Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries which I love and this is my book of the day ! It's written in such a beautiful way, I read it more as a book than as a reference book and it's one I go back to again and again. I love the way sometimes he just can't be bothered to cook and ends up with chips and a beer. Even sleb chefs have off days ! It represents perfect seasonal cooking and reads like a diary, more than once I've gone to a particular month to get inspiration for dinner. The photos are tremendous too and guaranteed to get your mouth watering.

This is my favourite recipe from the book


NIGEL SLATER'S PORK AND LEMON POLPETTINE
serves 4


50g fresh white breadcrumbs
400g minced pork
1 lemon
handful parsley roughly chopped
6 sprigs of thyme leaves stripped
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
6 anchovy fillets chopped


2 tbsp olive oil
small knob butter
200ml chicken stock


Put the pork and breadcrumbs in a bowl, add the lemon zest and squeeze the lemon
Add the herbs and lemon juice, then add the anchovies and parmesan
Shape into 18 or so flattened balls (approx 1 tbsp of mixture each) & lightly flour
Heat the oil and butter in a heavy based pan and cook the polpettine in small batches
Don't turn too frequently or they will fall apart and you won't get the lovely sticky crust
Tip the fat from the pan and then add the chicken stock and allow to reduce


You can serve with paparadelle pasta, rice or couscous and a crispy salad.

Slow roast pork belly

As this is most un-August like day I've ever seen, thoughts are turning more to autumn and winter food now rather than the summer fare we have been having. Currently it's 10C, blowing a gale and for God's sake we even had HAIL earlier - I mean what on earth is all that about !

Anyway enough about the weather. I have an ongoing subscription to BBC Good Food magazine and on the whole I find it a mine of useful recipes and tips. Sometimes it gets a bit repetitive but I have been subscribing now for nearly 5 years so what can I expect !! So October's edition fell onto the mat earlier this week and once I'd got over my shock at getting a magazine for October I found some real gems in there I want to try out on the family.

A couple of weeks ago I'd got a bargainous piece of rolled free-range belly pork from the meat counter at Waitrose and bunged it in the freezer. The cover recipe from this latest edition suited that to a T. It's a recipe by Matt Tebbutt and the main course of a suggested 3 course menu. I will most likely be trying the other courses too !

It went really well. I had a slightly smaller piece of pork than suggested at 0.95 kgs so only used 1/2 the herb rub and cooked it for about 2.5 hours. What I got was a lovely piece of juicy pork perfumed with garlic, lemon, thyme and fennel (not my fave thing in the world but ok here). The crackling crackled in all the right places - I claimed the last piece as cooks privilege ! I did a traditional roast with tatties, parsnips and veg plus the obligatory apple sauce - yum.

THREE HOUR PORK BELLY (by Matt Tebbutt via Good Food mag)
serves 6

2 tbsp fennel seeds
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 small bunch thyme, leaves picked
3 garlic cloves
3 tbsp olive oil
1.5-2kg piece belly pork boneless and skin scored
2 lemons juiced

Toast the fennel seeds and peppercorns in a dry frying pan for a few minutes
Pound to a paste with the thyme and garlic and a pinch of flaked sea salt
Mix with 2 tbsp olive oil and rub all over the flesh of the pork - leave for at least a couple of hours or overnight
I then rolled up my piece of pork and tied it with string but it's not compulsory !
Rub the skin with olive oil and plenty of salt to make sure the crackling is good (as an aside here I've found my secret to good crackling is to make sure the skin is as dry as possible before cooking)
Put into a 200C oven for 30 mins before turning down to 160C and roasting for 2 hours. Turn back up to 220C to give the crackling a final blast for up to 30 mins at the end.
Allow to rest for 20 mins before slicing and serving.

Two more pics of the finished thing. Even my two boys wolfed it down !

The lush crackling

End on (please excuse the pink board !)

Thai meatballs

So, day 2 of my low-carb diet. I've just got over the headache from hell (caffeine and sugar withdrawal) and the nausea and thinking this may just work - again !

Last night was something quick and easy after work - baked salmon topped with pesto. Yum.

Tonight I did an old low-carb favourite which all the family will eat, although son no1 did state that they were "a little bit spicy but it was an ok spicy". Son no2 ate a few mouthfuls and then just ploughed into the peanut sauce - strange child he is.

THAI MEATBALLS WITH PEANUT SAUCE

serves 4

1 small onion
1-2 cloves of garlic
1 red chilli
1 tsp each of lazy ginger and lazy lemongrass
juice of 1/2 lime
stalks from a bunch of coriander
500g pork mince
seasoning

for the sauce

1 rounded tbsp peanut butter (I used crunchy as I prefer the texture)
1 heaped tsp dessicated coconut
2 tsp tamari soy sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
juice of 1/2 lime

To make the meatballs. Put the onion, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, chilli, coriander and lime juice in a processor and whizz to a paste. Mix with the mince and season. Set aside for a few hours if possible.

Mix all the ingredients for the sauce with about a tbsp of boiling water to thin it down. Set aside to rest, it will thicken on standing so may need more water later. I have also tried mixing with some creamed coconut which is nice too.

Heat some groundnut oil in a large pan and add walnut size balls of the meatball mix to the pan and cook until brown and golden.

I served this with green beans and steamed broccoli but would be good (for those not low carbing) with rice and a large salad.

Char siu pork and pork ramen

I've been meaning to post this for a while, I mentioned it a few posts back. I got the original recipe from the Gastronomy Domine website which is a fantastic recipe site. I did a few tweaks of my own - spot a theme here ?! - and the result was amazing.

I'm sure most of us have eaten char siu pork at some point, it's that red coloured pork that finds its way into most special fried rice dishes from Chinese restaurants. I absolutely love it and have been known to pick out the bits from the Husband's dishes too ! I've never tried to make it before and I will admit, it's a bit of a faff but so worth it. This one won't come out red as that's just food colouring, but will be a lovely burnished brown from the hoisin and soy.

CHAR SIU PORK

Large piece of skinless belly pork

5 tbsp light soy sauce
3 tbsp dark soy sauce
5 tbsp runny honey
1 tsp five spice powder
1/2 glass chinese cooking wine
3 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp easy ginger
4 large cloves of garlic crushed

Mix all the marinade ingredients together. Pour over the pork and turn over a few times. Put in the fridge at least overnight - I did mine for 24hs.

Take it out of marinade and put on a roasting rack and roast in a medium hot oven for about an hour and a half, covering with foil if necessary.

Now, you can glaze it under the grill but to be honest I didn't really feel the need.

I made a ramen with this but it'd be equally as nice with rice and stir fry veg.

PORK RAMEN NOODLES

2 sticks of ramen noodles
2 pak choi
Sliced baby corn
Mange tout
1ltr chicken stock - either home made or with three stock cubes simmered for a few minutes with star anise, garlic, ginger, carrot and leek
char siu pork

Boil the noodles in water until tender. Drain, refresh under running water and set aside
Simmer the veg in the stock until just tender
Put the noodles in deep bowls and ladle over the stock and veg
Top with sliced pork and some spring onions

Messy but very yummy !

Braised chinese pork

Having just invested in a slow cooker - which my Mum calls "middle aged" cooking - I needed some good recipes. With a baby and an overactive 4 year old I figured that chucking something in the cooker in the morning and with minimum clearing up after dinner couldn't be a bad thing.

I found this recipe which is lush and even the 4 year old ate it which is nothing short of a miracle. I must remember next time to 1/2 the amount of liquid !

CHINESE BRAISED PORK
serves 2-4

1kg of pork shoulder trimmed of fat and cubed
1 red onion thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic crushed
"thumb" of ginger either grated or finely chopped
3 tbsp sherry or rice wine
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
1tsp chinese 5 spice powder
150ml water (double this if not using a slow cooker)
Seasoning

Brown the pork in batches in a little olive oil and put into the crock pot
Then briefly cook the onion, garlic and ginger and then add this to the pot
Deglaze the pan with the sherry and then add this and all the other ingredients to the slow cooker
Cook on medium for 6-8 hours

I served this with boiled rice and stir fry greens

It can also be cooked in the oven at gas 2 for 2 or 3 hours