Today I shall be Mainly...

[Stanley]

"I agree about the cheap cuts being glorified, nothing would persuade me to have neck of lamb or belly pork however it was dressed up."
Really? Some of the cheapest cuts are the tastiest if they are cooked right. I think that you all should read Dorothy Hartley.
Butcher's today, I think I'll get some belly pork as a protest!
Looking forward to some new shirts and trousers. Standards must be maintained. Another cull indicated I think!

[Sue]

I remember my grandmas cooking. Neck of lamb and belly pork swimming in fat, and being made to eat it. Anyway they are both too fatty for me, I do eat cheap cuts with a long slow cook but not those two

Dentist this morning, just a check up then craft. I shall just be sitting nattering whilst I do my knitting, then its Friday lunch with friends. Pub lunch this time Tripps, one course probably, something with chips most of which I will leave as portion sizes are far too big in pubs in general.

I am still suffering from post pilates and yoga aches after this weeks classes. I should be ok after next weeks as I will have done each class twice and my bodyis beginning to remember

My french neighbour Laetitia spoke to Roland on the phone last night. His operation went well and she is going to go and visit him on Saturday. Recovery will take some time I am sure, although he is one of these people who heal quickly. He will still need physio and I am sure it will be sometime before he is fully mobile again.

[Stanley]

My breast of lamb won't be swimming in fat Sue....
Good news about Roland. You'll be easier in your mind now.
That syndrome is why I send the kids a collective email every morning to let them know I am alive and well. They have enough to deal with without worrying about me.



Later. The first stage of preparing the breast of lamb. I've boned it, rolled it and put it back in the fridge. I shall slow simmer the bones and when the meat has dropped off the bone I'll fish the bones out, make the stock into a gravy and use that the make the stuffing. Then I can go on to the next stage. Stuffing the breast, rolling it and tying it up and then it will be ready for roasting. I love this sort of cooking!

[PanBiker]

Having another go at putting our tent up. Been busy since last week and this is the first day it's really been fit as of late. Need to check it out prior to our trip on Sunday.

[plaques]

Having another go at putting our tent up

Years ago we visited one of those foreign warm places that required an aeroplane to get there. Sitting by the swimming pool was all but compulsory as was the resulting sunburn that went with it. Bored with all this sitting around doing nothing I thought I'd entertain the crowd with my party piece of assembling deck chairs. Over the years I'd become quite an expert in making a complete fool of myself with the usual, upside down, inside out and leg through the framework routine. After 10 minutes of pure exhibitionist incompetence a group of german ladies got up from their chairs and headed my way. Obviously they were going to show this incompetent englishman how it was done. When they got about two yards away I threw the recalcitrant wood and canvas down to a cry of 'Voila' and there it was fully assembled. Big smiles broke out all round when they realized it was just me showing off.

[Stanley]

Two hours later... The meat has been stripped off the bones and the stock used for making the stuffing (Chestnut and fruit).



I put sea salt and pepper on the meat and spread the stuffing on it. Then I rolled it up and tied it with string. The excess stuffing which squeezed out has been put in the bottom of the bowl that holds my tea.
Then I rolled the joint up in foil and it is in the oven now firming up. It's ready for roasting tomorrow or the day after.

[Tripps]

Pub lunch this time Tripps, one course probably,

Sounds good. I'm glad you enjoyed your visit to Breda's.and on reflection may be the price was OK for three courses at a decent place, where they obviously care about what they serve. Not sure I can see myself paying a pony for a dinner though. We had my son's wedding reception at Whalley Abbey, so I always take notice when the place is mentioned.

Stanley's fighting back with breast of lamb, and I've got some belly pork out - it's marinading now - to make my version of an adobo. Watch this space. . .

[Sue]

You won’t change my mind Stanley, i would spend so long sorting the meat from the fat the meal would be cold.I really don’t like fatty meat, nothing to do with diet or health just plain don’t like it. Bob and my son in law do bbq spareribs, cooked for hours. Delicious but again very fatty. I know the fat gives the flavour and it can be rendered down but fat on my plate, no thanks, especially lamb. It has a smell I don’t like too yet roast lamb is my favourite joint of meat.

[Sue]

Trippy...kindred spirits...can't pay that much for a meal (considering I can only eat a main course). I never have "before's" or "afters". Can hardly do justice to a main course any more. (And I HATE wasting money!)

You didn’t have to eat three courses. Everything was priced separately. I usually only have a starter and main or main and cheese and biscuits at a restaurant but the restaurant was being reviewed for the purpose of the award by my sister so we had the works!

[Stanley]

I'm not trying to change your mind Sue. Just demonstrating how a meat ignored by most can be lovely if cooked right.
Enjoying the shirts which are good and a bargain. Really good cotton twill woven almost like Winceyette. I shall wash alone on a hot wash to test the colours...
Trousers are in the post and could land today.
Later, I decided to test the shirt I have only worn for one day. It's in a hot wash as I write, this will answer the question about colour fastness and shrinkage! I don't like unknowns....

[Sue]

Did you get the shirts from where I suggested Stanley or somewhere else. As for the meat, I often see slow roasted belly pork on a rotisserie at the market in France, it looks and smells delicious and I would eat that but it really is a bit too fatty .

Today, this morning, we are going to our daughters in Shuttleworth. The Tour of Britain cycle race is going right past her house so we are having a bit of a pizza larty lunch and settling in chairs on her parking area to watch. There will be a few of us, but ordinary pizzas not home made or cooked like France! The race is due about 1.30 to2 I think. They are also cycling through Rochdale and over Owd Betts. Now there is a nice climb. Other than that I shall be changing the bedding, doing the ironing and maybe a bit of sewing

[Stanley]

The site you suggested Sue and I reckon it will survive. They are really heavy and very good value.....
Spit roasting is the best way to cook fatty joints, if not, a trivet in the bottom of the roasting pan. If the meat sits in the dripping it fries. Actually, there will be no problem with the breast of lamb, it is quite lean but when I cook it I'll prick some holes in the bottom and cook on a trivet.
Just taken the washing out, no colour bleeding and from the looks of it no shrinkage but I'll judge the latter when it is dry and I try it on.

[Marilyn]

I would suggest a trivet, with water in the bottom below the trivet, and foil to cover. Remove foil for the last 15 mins. The steaming from the water makes it tender and moist ( you can add a stock cube to the water too).

[Sue]

Just read this, rather topical I thought
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/s ... throw-away

[Wendyf]

Back in the 70's we had a favourite pork and beans recipe using belly pork.....it was always cheap, wonderful and warming. Taken from one of the self sufficiency books that I also devoured with enthusiasm!

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[Tripps]

That's reminded me - something similar to that that was in my repertoire at one time. I used tinned beans though. The book is still available on Abebooks, but a bit expensive for we of the 'Kuripot' tendency.

Where's this ' lamb belly' come from? It's breast of lamb. I think we're being softened up again by the restaurant trade to pay a lot of money for something they used to discard.

I once saw our local butcher boning out a side of bacon, and throwing away the ribs. He was surprised to hear they cost more than the bacon in Liverpool (which was nearly true)

I wish Montalbano was on - then I wouldn't have to inflict this rubbish on you.

[chinatyke]

I once saw our local butcher boning out a side of bacon, and throwing away the ribs. He was surprised to hear they cost more than the bacon in Liverpool (which was nearly true)

Bones are one of the more expensive cuts of meat here, especially ribs. Not something I'd buy or cook but widely used and delicious. Often cooked as BBQ style. My mother in law does the best ones!

[Stanley]

Sue, I think the writer of the Guardian article was getting slightly confused between lamb breast and pork belly. The cut actually includes what would be belly in a pig and skirt in a beast. He/She was right though about the waste. Offal is badly unused, oxtail is unsaleable in some regions of the South. Bones should always be boiled for stock, the marrow is one of the most nutritious parts of an animal and you get the meat as well. (The nearer the bone, the sweeter the meat)
I rolled mine in foil (Because of the stuffing, I didn't want it to collapse) and roasted it for 2 hours on a dry trivet . I pricked the bottom but no fat came out, it's very lean. It has sat in the fridge and is now firm as a rock. I shall slice it, foil and all and use as collops of meat and stuffing perfectly melded into each other..



The new shirt... My gamble paid off. I now know that the reason for the dry clean only label is not because of colour bleeding, that's OK, it's because of shrinkage. The shirt shrank by something like >10%. This was expected and is no problem because in its unwashed state it was very generous and is now a better fit. I shall give the other one the same treatment and sail forward with two well fitting heavy cotton shirts I can wash with confidence. A result I think! Thanks Sue for pointing me in the right direction.

[Marilyn]

Aren't we looking jolly and colourful?

[Sue]

Back in the 70's we had a favourite pork and beans recipe using belly pork.....it was always cheap, wonderful and warming. Taken from one of the self sufficiency books that I also devoured with enthusiasm!

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We had one too. I loved the flavour but spent ages cutting off the fat. Ours was in a soy sauce. But needs must. We had cornflakes for breakfast, scrambled egg on Saturday, a cheap spread on bread for sandwiches at lunchtime and just bought food for 6 meals a week and on the 7 th went to my Mums. We ate bacon and fish and chips once a month as a treat. Our weekly repertoire included spaghetti bolognese or chili con carne with the cheapest mince you could buy, macaroni cheese and every other week it was macaroni cheese with tuna, Fray Bentos steak pies in a tin, pork and beans with rice, mashed potato with grated cheese baked under the grill with peas, occasionally shepherds pie, egg and chips with occasional additions and toad in the hole with cheap sausages. Mum cooked us a roast every Sunday. Later when I worked near Eccles market I got to know the butcher really well, he used to give me a regular discount. Then I could afford stewing steak for a long slow cook.

I agree about lamb belly, i think he meant breast of lamb, i just thought it was a topical article that I read just as you were showing your recipe. Actually in my original comment it was neck of lamb I referred to. My grandma used it when she made hotpot. It was horrid, or at least as a 5-7 year old, I though so.

The cycle race was exciting passing Claire’s house. We had a perfect view and even appeared on an aerial view on Tv. It was a glorious afternoon and our impromptu pizza lunch became 4 hours of socialising as neighbours dropped by for a chat. What a difference a day makes, yesterday was a perfect summers day today, murky, wet and autumnal

The shirt looks good. Yes its usually shrinkage in washing, or in the case of lined clothes often one fabric shrinks more than the other and or the lining frays as the seams are too small and can’t cope with the agitation from a washer. The fabric was obviously not pre washed before being made up as is so often the case. I prewash all the natural fibre fabrics before I cut them out and make them up. Theory says 5-10% is normal. I didn’t use to but after hours of designing , fitting exactly and making up , its very sad when something shrinks on its first wash. I have learnt the hard way.

Just a passing thought, slow cooked oxtail, yumm lovely rich gravy and meat falling off the bone. Our butcher no longer sells this as he says no one wants it any more. Liver, lovely fried lightly with onions sausage and or bacon is the richest flavour ever, as is stuffed heart although the latter dropped out of fashion with me after dissecting hearts with students over and over again. It can be fatty too.

[Wendyf]

Soy sauce and black treacle for flavouring! Yum.

[Stanley]

The cry of the bad retailer over the ages.... "There's no call for it." But you were asking!
Ox tail is food of the gods.



The first three slices, these are off the worst end, the next ones will be more meaty.

[Big Kev]

Lighting the stove for the first time since spring...

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[Sue]

The cry of the bad retailer over the ages.... "There's no call for it." But you were asking!
Ox tail is food of the gods.



The first three slices, these are off the worst end, the next ones will be more meaty.

No I don’t think he is a bad retailer, just someone who wants to stay in business by selling what the majority want. I have gone to this same butcher for over 40 years, he will always get what I want if he can.

[Sue]

Lighting the stove for the first time since spring...

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Seriously thinking about it