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Crispy Crackling

So how do I ensure that my pork crackling is crispy?

The key for me is two factors, dryness and hotness.

The pork skin needs to be really really dry. I use kitchen towel to ensure that the pork is as dry as possible. I know some people will rub salt in, but that is basically the same thing, the salt will asorb any moisture on the skin. Personally I find that just using kitchen towel is just as effective.

The next stage is place the pork into a really really hot oven. I have my oven on full and when it has pre-heated, I place the pork in the middle and cook for 15 minutes before turing down the heat to 160℃ or 180℃ depending on the cut of the pork.

As a result, nearly everytime I get a wonderfully crispy crackling.

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Fruity Waffle

Fruity Waffle

So what do you do when you run out of maple syrup? Well what I did was add some fruit to my waffle.

The raspberries were beautiful, wonderfully sweet. The strawberries (been well out of season) were okay, but nothing like proper summer strawberries. As for the blueberries, well they were rather tasteless, so much so I didn’t have those.

As for the waffle, homemade using an electric waffle iron. Made using a batter of flour, egg, milk, a spoonful of sugar and a few drops of vanilla extract. I use it for both breakfast waffles, sweet ones and with the addition of herbs to the batter it makes great savoury waffles.

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Coffee and Croissant

Wanting a break whilst shopping recently we went to Patisserie Valerie for coffee and cakes.

The coffee was very nice, and for a change from many coffee places not in a huge vat of a mug, but more of a cup. I had an americano and it was very nice.

Time for coffee

If you are use to the Venti sized coffee servings that you get at Starbucks or Costa you would be disappointed. But for me the quality of the coffee was good and that to be honest is what really counts, not the quantity of coffee. My wife had a filter coffee and she enjoyed that.

There was a wide choice of cakes and I was tempted by many different varities. In the end I went with the almond croissant.

Croissant

It did taste of almonds, the almond paste was not overdone, though I would have liked more almonds on top and slightly less icing sugar. As for the other cakes, the toasted teacake was according to my son “not very nice” and having had a bite I had to agree. Something not quite right about it. However my daughter was overwhelmed by her huge plain croissant, so much so we had to get some more butter for it, which came quickly and with a smile. The waitress even offered to bring a bag if we couldn’t finish it; it was that large. My wife enjoyed her cinnamon danish pastry and I didn’t get a look in for a bite, even though I offered her a bit of my almond croissant.

With free wifi it’s a nice place to sit and work over a coffee, though as we found a nice place to take a break. The service was efficient and quick, and certainly so much better than the Café Rouge next door.

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Spicy Italian Chicken

A simple, quick way to cook a tasty chicken dish. I took some chicken legs and thighs in a bowl with some olive oil and a good sprinkle of Schwartz’s Spicy Italian.

Perfect Shake Spicy Italian Special Blend with red and green peppers, chillies, garlic and herbs, adds a rich spicy flavour to Italian-style dishes.

These spices are quick and easy and though yes doing it all fresh is so much better, that implies you have the time and money to do this. I don’t most of the time.

I also added some red wine and a splash of balsamic vinegar.

I then mixed the chicken in the wine, vinegar, oil and spice mix and roasted in the oven on a bed of onions and courgettes.

I served it with some small crispy roast potatoes and some steamed green vegetables.

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Chinese BBQ Chicken

This was a simple recipe that was very tasty as a result. It was based on the pork belly recipe that I made recently, but this time used chicken.

I took a splash of sunflower oil, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup (though you could use honey), chinese five spice and tomato ketchup. I coated some boneless and skinless chicken thighs with the marinade and left for about 30 minutes. You could leave it for longer, but I was hungry and trying to be quick!

I then roasted the chicken in a hot oven for about 15-20 minutes.

Once out of the oven, let rest for five minutes before slicing into thick slices.

I served it with a stir fry of vegetables and cashew nuts alongside some plain boiled rice.

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Fish and Chips

When travelling out and about I try as much as possible to avoid eating at motorway service stations. Either they are overpriced and overcooked, or they merely consist of fast food chains. One alternative is to eat at a supermarket restaurant where the food is usually a little better and generally much cheaper.

So it was that I found myself at a Morrisons supermarket last week looking for a bite to eat for lunch. As I hadn’t had it for a while I went with the fish and chips.

To be honest it was quite good and value for money at less than five pounds.

The batter was crispy, though for me a little too greasy, and the fish was only just overcooked. Generally I find in these places they well overcook the fish. The chips were crunchy with a fluffy inside. The peas were as expected frozen peas heated through and slighty overcooked as they were obviously cooked and kept warm over the lunch service period.

Well not bad, and to be honest what I expected from a supermarket café. Certainly it was better than what I would find at the motorway services.

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Chicken with lentils and peas

My original plan was to cook chicken with lentils in my usual manner, and as explained in this blog post.

However this time decided (as I was cooking) to cook something slightly different. Firstly the chicken wasn’t entirely suitable for grilling in my original recipe, as I was using skinless and boneless thigh pieces. So I went with cooking them in the pan that I would normally use for the lentils.

The chicken was added first and browned. I then added some pancetta, chopped red onion and some chopped courgette. This was then cooked for a few minutes. I then added some chicken stock. I let this cook for about ten minutes.

It was at this stage that I decided to change my recipe. I added some frozen peas and some chopped sun dried tomatoes, and let the dish cook for another five minutes.

I then added the tinned green lentils and half a pot of creme frache. This was then brought back to the simmer to ensure that the lentils are heated through and the creme frache mixed through.

I then served the dish.

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Pork Belly

You don’t always have to use expensive cuts of meat to make a wonderful meal, sometimes the cheapest cuts cooked really slowly can have fantastic flavour and texture.

Turn on your oven to its highest temperature.

Place the pork belly in a roasting oven, season, and roast on the high temperature for about ten minutes, then turn the oven down to about 160℃ and cook for at least another hour depending on size and thickness. Cooking for longer results in a more tender piece of pork. However what I have been doing recently is cutting the belly into squares and coating in a spicy marinade before finshing off in the oven for another 15-20 minutes.

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Roast Leg of Lamb

Sometimes you don’t want a whole leg of lamb otherwise you will be eating lamb for the whole week…

Many supermarkets are now offering a partly boned leg of lamb, sometimes called a carvery leg of lamb. It is often cheaper and smaller than a traditional leg.

It takes less time to cook than a whole leg (obviously) and when I have cooked them found most to be tender and delicious and certainly better than a boned shoulder of lamb.

What I do find though is that as it is partly boned, though a little easier to carve, the meat does shrink a lot more whilst cooking and some of the meat can be a little tougher as a result.

I usually use rosemary and garlic, classic flavours, to enhance the roast. In the photograph you can see I roasted the joint on a bed of carrots and rosemary. The carrots raise the meat from the bed of the roasting pan and work like a rack. The carrots then make a great base for gravy.

I am interested in using other herbs and spices for the future. Morrocan spices are an obvious choice, but wonder if anyone out there has some winning and tasty ideas.