Smoking at last!

This week my eco cold smoker 'starter kit' arrived from Amazon. I wasn't sure quite what to expect, how big would it be, how easy would it be to assemble, what would food taste like once I'd subjected it to be smoked and many other thoughts went through my mind.

So today was the day when I was going to start to get some answers. How big - not very, hmm interesting when compared with many 'build your own plans'; how easy to assemble - I did it twice to make sure that I didn't miss something out the first time around!

I set my newly constructed eco smoker in the corner of the wood shed. With food to hand, more on that in a bit, I carefully filled the maze of the smoke generator with whisky oak dust, lit the tea light and waited for it to catch before placing it in the bottom of the smoker.

Food wise I decided to start with some supermarket mature cheddar, a soft cheese that I found in the price reduced bin and some rubbish mass produced 'pork' (really!) sausages. The cheddar went on the bottom shelf as it would come out last, then the sausages on the middle shelf and the soft cheese on the top shelf. I also put in a couple of apples to see what they would taste like. Both cheeses were placed on muslin cloth to allow easy handling and to catch any drips / moisture.

My plan was:-

• Cheddar - at least 8 hours
• Sausages - 3 hour for half of them and 6 hours for the other half
• Soft Cheese - 3 hours
• Apples - 6 hours

The unit worked steadily all day and at roughly allotted times I duly removed particular items, placed them in food containers and put them in the fridge. 

This evening we've tried out the food, asking different people of taste and pass comment

• Sausages - mixed views as in some liked the shorter smoked ones and others the longer ones. All agreed that the sausages themselves were rubbish and that the smoking actually added some flavour.
• Apples - I think that these will be an acquired taste...
• Cheddar - wow! This will not last long, in fact I may have to hide it otherwise it will all be gone very soon.

So beginners luck with some really good equipment. Next time I think that we'll try a variety of cheeses as well as some bacon.

Sloe Gin

"So Richard, what do Sloes look like? Small and blue was the not so helpful response." Hopefully there will be some blackthorn bushes on our walk was a fleeting thought as we set off with the dog to tramp around the fields on the outskirts so Corby Glen. Quite soon we saw a what looked like some Sloes, so taking the approach that this might be the only one in the area we started to pick as much as we could of this particular bush. Once we'd picked as much as we could from this bush we started walking again, well we got five yards before another bush full of fruit, and another bush. You get the idea...

So now we're back home the Sloes will be washed and put in the freezer overnight before being dropped into a bottle along with some cheap gin and sugar. I think we'll go for Tim Haywood's recipe of 500g of Sloes, 300g of sugar and a bottle of gin.

Biltong

It's been a while since my last post. Time has been gobbled up with various family commitments (including watching my daughter run the Great North Run) and attending a course at the School of Artisan Food on Curing and Smoking.

On the course we made Duck Procuitto (still drying), pressed Ox Tongue, Ham Hock Terrine and Biltong. The Biltong was quite easy to prepare, just takes a while to dry... Now our daughter is back at university I've commandeered her bedroom as the drying room as it's probably the coolest in the house.

After 10 days I put the drying Biltong in the oven to finish it off. As we used sirloin steak in nice chunky strips I've (not by my planning!) ended up with some Biltong that is nicely dry on the outside but retains a tad of moisture on the inside otherwise it'd be like chewing the soles of my shoes.

I suppose Biltong is a bit like Marmite, I love it but I've discovered a number of people who don't. Ah well, more for those I've discovered who appreciate it.

Chilli Apple Jelly

Apples, apples everywhere! As fast as we pick them up there are more that are ready to drop. Although we like the occasional apple (and blackberry) pie/crumble we're not big desert fans. 

I can't remember which television programme it was, but on Friday night someone mentioned Chilli Apple Jelly. Hmm, that sounds interesting, a way to try something out using the many apples that we have plus we do like chilli as a spice.
A quick search of the internet revealed a recipe on the BBC website that seemed to fit the bill, not too complicated and all of the necessary ingredients to hand. Yesterday afternoon was spent chopping the apples, removing any brown bits and then stewing them to a pulp in a large pan. We then ladled the pulp into a straining bag and left it hanging up for the evening, with a suitable receptacle there to catch the juice. We managed to 'acquire' 1.4l of apple juice.
This morning we started the next piece. Not too difficult to follow, just add the preserving sugar and chilli flakes, boil it and remove the scum that forms on the top. As it was boiling the whole mixture was very cloudy and far from appealing. As we removed the scum the chilli flakes were, it appeared, a 'casualty' as there was no separating them from the scum. By the time the mixture had reached the setting point there was clearly less fluid in there than when we started, down from 1.2l to under 1.0l (we only used 1.2l as we didn't have enough preserving sugar). It was though very clear and and a lovely chilli red colour.
The jelly was ladled into a couple of preserving jars and the tiny bit that remained was put into a bowl and on the table at lunchtime...it didn't last long!! The conclusion that we can draw from this is that we'll have to make some more very soon as although the BBC website says it will keep for up to two years, fat chance of that happening!!

Plum & Apple Chutney - maybe a little early

So, we got back from our holiday in Alnwick yesterday to find lots of ripe plums and cooking apples. I know it's August, but the combination of the cold winter, lots of rain and then plenty of sunshine has super-charged the ripening of our fruit. I've added a picture of the plums, not that you don't know what a plum is, more I am really pleased about this year's harvest.

Also in the garden we have damsons that a little tart at the moment and some ready to eat blackberries.

With all of this fruit, we couldn't let it go to waste so we decided to make some chutney. This morning I spent some time searching the Internet for some interesting recipes and happened upon a couple, one from Pam Corbin via Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and the other on the bbcgoodfood website. I've ended up blending the two together due to the availability of the other ingredients in our larder.

The recipe that I've gone for in the end is

1kg plums, quartered and stoned
1.5kg apples, peeled, cored and diced
500g onions
100g stoned prunes, roughly chopped
100g raisins
500g dark muscovado sugar
450ml cider vinegar or white-wine vinegar
Salt
For the spice bag
3 star anise
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp smoked cracked black pepper
1 cinnamon stick

Once everything had been prepared, I put all of the ingredients into the largest pan that we have (note to self - stop being so frugal and buy a preserving pan!), brought to the boil and now it's on simmer.

It's been on simmer for the past hour and a quarter. This blog is taking a little bit longer to write as I need to keep nipping off to stir the pan to prevent it from sticking on the bottom. It's reducing quite nicely at the moment.

Whilst it's cooking I'd like to mention Harrison & Dunn our local hardware shop in south Lincolnshire. So traditional that I think that this is the closest that they've got to an Internet presence (I can't find any others), but they have everything you could ever need! What size of preserving jar do you need? Do you need any muslin, replacement jar seals, wax discs? You name, they've got it! Sorry, got to go and give it another stir...

I'll add to this post once I've started to fill the preserving jars with the chutney.

Now all done. Ladled into sterilised jars and put away for a couple of months or so...

Curing bacon

My interest in curing, smoking, preserving  and pickling foods began a few years ago. Various events along the way such as eating cured brisket in North Carolina at the Country Boy BBQ, regularly popping up to our local farm shop to buy various items and a couple of attempts at Gravadlax fed (awful pun I know) this interest. So where could I start without burning holes in the bottom of large pans or setting fire to the house by building a cold smoker that becomes a hot smoker? The answer seemed to be to try and cure some bacon.

First attempt:

After reading up about the quantities of salt, sugar and saltpetre (seemingly known as Prague Powder) that needed to be carefully blended I opted for the easy way out by buying ready mixed cure from Amazon Bacon Cure . I bought a cheap piece of belly pork and rubbed the required amount of cure into it before placing it in a sealed container and then putting it in the fridge. There it stayed for five days (couldn't wait any longer!). During this time the curing process was clearly in action as fluid was collecting in the bottom of the container. 

After the five days the 'bacon' was removed from the container, washed to remove any residues of the cure and patted dry. It was then sliced before being dry fried - no oils used at all. The slices were flipped regularly to prevent burning, 'flipped regularly' is a euphemism for manically turning the slices over every 15 seconds or so as I didn't want to see my first bacon get burned to a cinder!!

So how did it taste? Just like I remember bacon as a child, slightly salty and wonderful to eat. I know that it seems de rigeur to have a photo on a page such as this but suffice to say that the remaining slices of bacon didn't last long enough to pose.

Second attempt:

The whole process was repeated, but this time it was only left for four days to cure so that I could taste the difference of the effect of different cure lengths. The result was a sweeter less salty version. I think that the kids preferred this but personally I prefer it slightly saltier.

The next attempt will use a six day curing period, let's see how this affects the taste.

Hot smoked salmon - Part 1

We're on holiday in Alnwick at the moment and last Saturday we went to the market in the town. There was a fishmonger selling Hot Smoked Salmon. Had to try some, it was delicious. I asked the fishmonger for the recipe and this is what I can remember 

1. Place salmon fillets in brine (I assume 80%) for 10 minutes

2. Cure overnight in brown sugar

3. Dry

4. Cold smoke overnight

5. Hot smoke (don't know for how long)

6. Finish off by cooking in the oven (again don't know for how long)

If I get to trying to cook some Hot Smoked Salmon then I'll post my findings here. If in the meantime anyone knows more details or has a proven process then I would welcome your experience.