Search

Random Recipe

Bits of Pig Casserole

Bits of Pig Casserole  I intentionally bought the least promising bits of Pork. Two Trotters and a Shank. When I was in the Butchers the Shanks were put in boiling bags in the Ham Boiler overnight and sold on the hot counter, but the ‘Running Gear’ as Geoffrey called them invariably went in the Bone & Fat bin outside. This was emptied every couple of weeks and taken away for rendering.  So can you make anything good from these scraggly bits of meat in the slow cooker? Oh yes you can!  Ingredients for the Casserole:-  2 Pigs Trotters 1 Pork Shank 1 Large Onion, roughly sliced 1 Tin of  Kidney Beans     1 Tin of White Beans, whatever you have 1 Tin of Chopped Tomatoes ½ a Tube of Tomato Puree 1 Stock Cube / Stock Pot Salt & Pepper to season 1 Tsp of Chilli Flakes Cider, as cheap as you can get. 1 Tsp of Marmite (We use the Morrisons own brand as it is Gluten free)   Method:-  (1) Bung everything in the Slow Cooker on high. (2) Add enough Cider to cover everything. (3) After 4 hours push the meat down if it has floated to the top and give everything a good stir. (4) After another 4 hours remove the meat. (5) With a fort and reasonably sharp knife strip the meat from the bones and skin (These were a real threat for our Foxes). (6) Return the meat to the slow cooker and stir well.  We served this over Garlic Mashed Potatoes and garnished it with sautéed Spinach. This would easily have fed a family of 4 and was actually really tasty.

I intentionally bought the least promising bits of Pork. Two Trotters and a Shank. When I was in the Butchers the Shanks were put in boiling bags in the Ham Boiler overnight and sold on the hot counter, but the ‘Running Gear’ as Geoffrey called them invariably went in the Bone & Fat bin outside. This was emptied every couple of weeks and taken away for rendering.

So can you make anything good from these scraggly bits of meat in the slow cooker? Oh yes you can!

Ingredients for the Casserole:-

2 Pigs Trotters
1 Pork Shank
1 Large Onion, roughly sliced
1 Tin of  Kidney Beans    
1 Tin of White Beans, whatever you have
1 Tin of Chopped Tomatoes
½ a Tube of Tomato Puree
1 Stock Cube / Stock Pot
Salt & Pepper to season
1 Tsp of Chilli Flakes
Cider, as cheap as you can get.
1 Tsp of Marmite (We use the Morrisons own brand as it is Gluten free)

Method:-

(1) Bung everything in the Slow Cooker on high.
(2) Add enough Cider to cover everything.
(3) After 4 hours push the meat down if it has floated to the top and give everything a good stir.
(4) After another 4 hours remove the meat.
(5) With a fort and reasonably sharp knife strip the meat from the bones and skin (These were a real threat for our Foxes).
(6) Return the meat to the slow cooker and stir well.

We served this over Garlic Mashed Potatoes and garnished it with sautéed Spinach. This would easily have fed a family of 4 and was actually really tasty.

 

On Facebook

Curry Pies & Sprout Bhaji

Well as I posted on Facebook while I was cooking this Monster “Tonight we are having Chicken, Chorizo and mushroom Madras Pies. The Saag Aloo is reasonably traditional. But Sue has been wanting Spouts - So Sprout Bhaji has been invented” - Yes Monster, but an unexpectedly good tasting Monster.

Behind every recipe I’m sure there is a story. In our case often a little insanity as well. We had ½ a roasted Chicken from Friday and ½ a stick of Chorizo in the fridge. The Chorizo was beginning to get a bit dry at the cut end and chilled roast Chicken is best used sooner rather than later. So that was the foundation. But Sue has been fancying Sprouts for a while now. We try to stick to our budget of £4 per day (Including a little plate for Smooh the cat) but at £1.50 for about 6 sprouts they have been out of the question until yesterday. 60P for 500g seemed more reasonable….

I’ll not bother with the recipe for the Curry Pie as such. Basically I Chopped the Chorizo into 5mm crescents added a chopped Onion and at good shake of Chilli flakes to a 49p Madras sauce. I simmered it for 20 minutes and then added the cubed Chicken. Once heated through I lined the cast Iron glazed skillets we got from a charity shop for £1 each with Gluten free pastry and spooned the filling in. Add a top of pastry and an Egg wash and in the oven with it!  It was really tasty, but not the star of the show. Spout Bhaji – Really these were supposed to be a joke, but it’s unlikely we’ll even have a plain boiled Sprout again…..

Sprout Bhaji

Ingredients:-

200g of Sprouts, boiled and drained to soften
100g Gram flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp Chilli powder
Juice of ½ a Lemon
Garlic Salt
Onion Salt
½ tsp Turmeric
Salt

Method:-

(1) Mix all the dry ingredients with just enough water to make a thick batter.
(2) Pre heat a deep fat fryer to 180c.
(3) Coat each Sprout in batter and fry in small batches.
(4) When they pop up and the batter is golden brown drain on kitchen paper.
(5) When you are ready to plate up drop them all back in the fryer for 20 seconds and drain again.

We served this concoction with Saag Aloo and home brewed Kimchi. Because at this stage any semblance of food tradition respect had clearly been forsaken!!!!!

Social Links

Translate

English French German Italian Portuguese Russian Spanish