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.
Sue likes Liver anyway, I'm not that keen and Buster the dog has always turned his nose up at anything that is offal like. So we went fishing on the Internet for a recipe which was a bit different than simple Liver and Onions. With a bit of modification on our part this is what we came up with and even as somebody who's not keen I can confirm it was good!
Ingredients:-
900g/1lb Pig’s liver, cut into cubes
2 tbsp plain white flour (Gluten Free in our case)
1 tsp flaked Chilli
1 tsp dried Thyme
1 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp ground Sumac
1 red onion, thinly sliced
½ cup of chopped parsley
Oil for frying
Method:-
(1) In a bowl combine the flour, flaked Chilli, thyme, salt and some freshly ground black pepper.
(2) Add the cubes of liver and toss well, making sure it is evenly coated. If you have one put the flour etc. in a zip plastic bag, then add the meat and shake well.
(3) In a frying pan, heat the oil and sauté the garlic for about 30 seconds. Add the liver and cook on a high heat turning constantly to ensure it is evenly cooked.
(4) Cook until the liver is crispy on the outside but not overcooked. The inside should remain soft and pinky. Add half the chopped parsley and remove from the pan.
(5) Serve on a bed of sliced red onion tossed with the remaining parsley and ground Sumac.
Notes:-
We found an 'Intercontinental' Shop where the Sumac was 79p for 100g. The original recipe was intended for Calves's Liver, but the Pig's Liver was less than £1 for 900g. Lamb's Liver at £200 per Kg is out of the question!