Category Archives: Recipes – All About – Tried and Tested

Cooking for Family and Friends

PANCETTA

By this time of the year Pancetta stocks are almost depleted in the BYF pantry and the wheater being kind, new stock will be made soon

Get some nice thick pork belly (skin off and fat on!) hopefully raised free range and chemical free, or you may be lucky enough to shoot a nice young and fat wild pig

Trim the edges so as to have an almost uniform, in thickness, belly. Now cut the belly in managable sizes of about 300 mm X 200 mm

Mix the following ingredients per Kg of meat

2 Cloves Garlic – finely chopped

1 small sprig of Rosemary – finely chopped

3 g grated Nutmeg

3 g ground Black Pepper

1 g fresh Chilli (optional) – finely chopped

Mix the spices well and thoroughly rub it into the belly, covering all the cracks and crevices

Get a container large enough to lay out the pieces of meat in a single layer. Spread a thin layer of sea salt covering the bottom of the container, then lay the pieces of meat onto the salt and cover them completely with more salt in such a way that no meat is exposed. Place the container with meat in the fridge at about 3 – 5 C for 2 days. After 2 days, remove the salt, turn the meat over, drain off any fluid and cover with the same salt and return it to the fridge. If the belly is thin (about 25 – 30 mm) remove from the fridge and discard the salt after day 3. If the belly is thicker than 30 mm, leave for another day and remover from the fridge and discard the salt after day 4

Now rinse the bellies very well with cold running water and then wash with good red or white wine

Your Pancetta are ready to commence the curing process now by hanging them in such a way that they do not touch each other. Conditions must be about 15 C for the first week and then about 7 – 10 C until ready to use. Make sure the area is well ventilated, but NO DRAFT on the meat. The Pancetta should be rotated in such a way that uniform drying is achieved

After about 30 days, depending on the thickness, ventilation and temperatures of the Pancetta, they should be ready to taste and eat when you think they are ready and of the correct consistency – no harm in eating them too soon. Always remember to slice your Pancetta VERY thin. An old hand can tell when the Pancetta is ready by just feeling them

Once the consistency and moisture content is acceptable, vacuum pack and store in the pantry

The Pancetta can be enjoyed as is or in any cooking or fried, like bacon

Another version of pancetta can be made with the skin on and the pancetta rolled and tied

ENJOY and do not forget the home red wine to compliment the good Pancetta

CAPOCOLLO (COPPA)

If your Capocollo looks, smells and tastes like this, you know you have done something right!

COPPA

Capocollo (Coppa) is made from the whole neck muscle of a young pig to the fourth rib. Cut a round section of about 200 – 250 mm in diameter and 400 – 500 mm long. Trim and clean the section properly so it does not have any loose pieces of meat and fat.

For every Kg of meat, mix the following ingredients:

35 g Salt

6 g Black Pepper (Ground)

50 g Garlic (Finely crushed)

50 Rosemary (Finely chopped)

20 g Sage (Finely chopped)

10 g Nutmeg (Fine)

5 Bay Leaves (Finely chopped)

6 Cloves (Finely chopped)

Mix all the spices well together and make sure it is all very fine, then rub well into all surfaces of the meat

Put in the fridge at 3 C for 4 – 6 days, depending on the size of the meat. Turn and rub daily

Scrape loose spices from the meat and cover with sausage skin – Natural is best, but synthetic works as well

Tie the meat down with natural twine, then put into Butchers Netting, tightly fit, to keep it all together

Hang at room temperature (17 C is ideal) for 4 days, then hang in the pantry / cellar at maximum 10 C until ready. Make sure the room is well ventilated, but NO DRAFT. This may take up to 24 months, but normally rready in 100 days, depending on temperature, ventilation and meat size. Feel the consistency for readiness every so often and also rotate the meat position in the pantry, as well as top to bottom turnover (hang on the other side)

This is a dry cured SALUMI and needs to be sliced very thinly

Enjoy as antipasto with home-made bread and home-made red wine !!

Frittata di Uova di quaglia, Cardi e Asparagi

Quail Egg Frittata with Cardoon and Asparagus

Clean and dice a handful of the cardoon and boil in salted water for about 5 minutes. Dice a handful of Pancetta and fry in a pan large enough for all the ingredients. Ad the Cardoon to the pan and fry with the Pancetta for about 5 minutes. Ad pepper to taste (salt is already in the Pancetta)

Crack about 30 Quail Eggs and ad a handful of grated Parmigiano Reggiano, two tablespoons of water and ground Black Pepper. Beat the eggs slightly with a fork and ad to the Pancetta and Cardoon. Fry slowly until almost set. Now place the pan in the oven with the grill turned to high.

Cut the tips of the Asparagus and fry in another pan with butter and Black Pepper for about 2 -3 minutes.

When the Frittata has set in the oven, decorate with the fried Asparagus and return to the oven until brown. Remove and drizzle with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Black Pepper and fresh Basil leaves

Eat with toasted Wholemeal Organic Bread and wash it down with a good wine – Today I tried my Honey Wine, which I make to be dry and it was all GOOD!!

LA PORCHETTA

La Porchetta is a popular pork roast in Italy and one I enjoy doing every so often

RECIPE

Use a whole pork belly, the easiest way to make a good Porchetta. Use one with either skin off or on, whatever your preference is.

Mix a handful each of chopped Rosemary and Parsley

Half a handful of chopped fresh wild Fennel fonts and seeds

6 – 8 chopped Cloves of Garlic

Salt and Pepper to taste

Chilli if you like

Mix all the above ingredients and layer it evenly on top of the flat pork belly. Roll it tightly and bind well with string and then slip it into tight fitting netting

Cover with baking paper and then with aluminium foil. Make sure the foil is well closed, including the ends. Poke holes through the wrapping which will allow he fat to escape when roasting.

Lay the wrapped Porchetta on a wire rack which sits over a oven pan. Put water in the pan, but it should not touch the Porchetta. Place this into a pre heated oven at 250 C and bake for 3 hours without touching the Porchetta, but make sure there is always water in the tray

After three hours, remove the Porchetta from the oven and carefully unwrap it and cut and remove the strings and netting

Now place it back in the preheated oven at 250C with the oven’s airflow turned on. Watch it carefully forming a crust / crackling which should take 10 – 15 minutes. Turn it over and do the same on the other side.

You can either use a belly with the skin removed which obviously will not have the skin crackling, or you can use it with the skin on, which will give you wonderful crackling

ENJOY !!!

Do not forget a few glasses of home made RED WINE to wash it all down!!

DAILY BREAD

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The recipe that my family likes most is a combination of organic Wholemeal Wheat Flour and ordinary White Sifted Wheat Flour. Even though I mill both these products, I only sell the Organic Wholemeal Wheat Flour as the white sifted is too slow and laborious to make for selling and there are many good nutritious and healthy recipes for 100 % Wholemeal Wheat Flour 

350 g Wholemeal Wheat Flour

350 g White Sifted Wheat Flour

Mix well

or

What I use for every day bread

100 g Coarse Semolina

300 g Wholmeal Wheat Flour

300 g White Sifted Flour

Mix well

Take 450 g Luke Warm water and dissolve 25 g SUREBAKE Yeast and 20 g honey or molasses or sugar in it – mix well with a fork. Let it proof in a warm place for about 10 minutes

Mix about 25% of the flour mix into the water and yeast mixture and mix well with a fork. Let it proof in a warm place until double in size – about 90 minute depending on temperature

Now mix all the flour into the water and yeast mixture and start kneading – either by hand or machine, whichever you prefer. While kneading add 10 g salt and 50 ml olive oil. Knead VERY WELL until very elastic – add more flour or water to get the consistency just right (silky soft and shiny), even though in most cases it should not be required. If mixing by machine, knead for about 7 – 8 minutes. If kneading by hand it will take longer depending on your ability

Oil two standard size bread pans and put the kneaded dough into the pans, score the dough with a sharp knife and sprinkle with flour or brush with water or brush with egg

Let it proof until 3 times the size – about 2 -3 hours depending on the temperature

Bake in oven at 225 C for 20 minutes, turn the pans and bake at 190 C for 20 minutes, turn the pans and bake at 190 C (bottom element only this time) for another 10 minutes (adjust the times that suit your specific oven)

ENJOY !!!!