Thrifty nose to tail eating – well those of us who are from the farming community have been at it for years, but now everyone is doing it. More of us will be eating offal and the bony cuts of meat in pearl barley stuffed casseroles in 2012. Look out for lamb belly, hearts, tails, tongues and gizzards. Last year Waitrose announced that it was to expand its range to offer lamb heart, lamb and veal sweetbreads and veal tail, and pigs’ ears and ox cheeks are already appearing in restaurants everywhere. Now I have moved one of my local restaurants is called Brawn (there are lots of local restaurants - it's London - even the cinema is a recommended place to eat) and currently has braised lamb belly with bitter leaves, trotters and beans, and home-made pork scratching on the menu.
Eastern European food – shops are already appearing all over East Anglia and we have one in Bury. I’ve tried the flavoured beers and bought a very nice piece of smoked bacon. Look out for Polish, Hungarian and Russian dishes. We will be making more preserves and pickles just like they do and we already have sourdough bread.
Barbecue-ing – Jamie Oliver has had a mixed response to Barbecoa – the menu has burgers, ribs and a very heavy barbecue sauce that isn’t as nice as my own home-made one. If you don’t know how to make barbecue sauce you need to learn it fast. Freshly made burgers in good bread stuffed with loads of salad and home-made pickles are IN whatever time of the year it is.
Sharing tapas style portions – goodbye three course meal, we are ordering five things and sharing them. This way, restaurants can make their portions a bit smaller, we don’t get so full and can still have a starter, main course and dessert – but between us. We used to just order two starters but now it’s official – it’s ok to share.
Casual dining – white cloths are going, counters are coming. We still want good service but without the formal dining. We don’t mind sitting at a large table with someone we don’t know and a great salt-beef sandwich from a van is fine.
Salted caramel, and churros with hot chocolate sauce – if you haven’t tasted either of these yet you should find or make some now. The recipe for the caramel sauce (and printed labels so you can give it to all your friends) is here. Yes, she's a mom not a mum but I love the pictures - if you like Nigella she's got a food-porn version.
A Suffolk woman with a passion for travel, all things chocolate and an old ice cream van called Jimmy has been scooping up awards and commendations all over the foodie world this year. A founder member of Eat St - a collective of street food vendors that sell from a variety of vans all over the country at festivals, markets and parties - she is a chocolatier who sells the best quality ingredients from Choc Star. Looking forward to seeing more like this but have only see my local fish and chip van so far...
Never mind the eye of the beef looking at me ...how about the aubergine with a message from God?
See the eye of the home cured salt beef ? It didn't quite get all the cure it should. My father, who has cured many a joint of beef himself says it shows that it has not been oversalted. It was delicious and provided many tasty sandwiches after the party. Can't help thinking that it was looking at me...
Look at this for a cheese scone, it's colossal. It came from the new bakery and deli in St Johns Street, Bury St Edmunds. The bread looked very good and the cheeses represent East Anglia very well. The deli is called Gastrono-me. The only website link that I could find is via twitter on http://www.vanilla-bakery.co.uk/ - but here they are on facebook.
They may not look like prize winners (Kirsty) but they taste GOOD!
Written by Claire
Our Dish of the Day from the US of A - Rachael Ray
Written by ClaireAccording to Forbes magazine, Rachael is the top earning celebrity chef in a top ten chart that features Gordon Ramsey at number three. She is worth $18 million and leapt from small-time cable stardom to Oprah-esque success. She began winning audiences with catchphrases like "Yum-o" on her first Food Network show, 30 Minute Meals, in 2001. Today she has four Food Network programs, including Tasty Travels and $40 a Day. Her nationally syndicated, Oprah-backed talk show, Rachael Ray, is averaging 2.6 million viewers this season, and her Every Day With Rachael Ray magazine has 1.5 million readers. She endorses Dunkin' Donuts too! You've probably never heard of her - but here is one of her recipes - in American.
Granma Evelyn's Christmas Hermits
Ingredients
1 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
1 cup raisins
1 cup dates, chopped
1/2 cup jarred maraschino cherries, chopped
1/3 walnuts, chopped
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons boiling water
2 1/4-2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
Preparation
Pre-heat the oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, cream the shortening, adding the sugar gradually. Add the eggs, fruit and nuts. In a small bowl, dissolve the baking soda in the boiling water; then add this mixture to the shortening mixture. In a medium size bowl, sift together the flour, allspice, cinnamon and salt. Add the flour mixture to the main bowl and stir.
Drop the batter in rounded teaspoons, about 1 inch apart, on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown. Remove the cookies from the cookie sheet and place on a wire rack to cool. Serve and enjoy! Makes 30 - 40 cookies.
It takes about 10 days to cure a decent bit of salt beef. Curing salts and spices can be sourced from sausagemaking.org who have an online shop. Add a few juniper berries, cloves and bay leaves for even more flavour. The silverside came for F.L Edge, a great butchers shop in East Harling. Ok, it is in Norfolk, but only just. This piece will be ready for my daughters 21st birthday party on Dec 17th.
La Hogue Farm was on my route on Thursday so I called in to take a look. I didn't have time to try the cafe which looked really inviting and had an interesting menu. Has anybody been? I came away with an excellent pork pie and a lemon and ginger loaf, both of which were very good value. this is much more than just a cafe and deli - take a look for yourself - a great stop off the A11 close to both Newmarket and Mildenhall.
More...
Emily worked as a waitress at The Chalice when it was open in Bury and was so enthused by the cooking that she now makes home made food every day. Here is her favourite autumn recipe.
Autumn Butternut Squash and Pancetta Risotto
1 Butternut Squash
1 Onion
Knob of butter
300g of Pancetta
200ml of White Wine
Stock cube or fresh stock
300g of Risotto rice
150g of spinach
Pine nuts and Parmesan to serve
How to do it
Cut Butternut Squash in half and remove seeds and pulp. Roast on tray until soft with crushed garlic and drizzle with oil. This should take around 30 to 40 mins depending on the size. Dice one large onion, add to heavy bottom pan and sauté with a large knob of butter. In a frying pan, fry pancetta until crisp and brown, add the onion and risotto rice and fry rice for 2 minutes, add white wine and stir until it is absorbed.
Make a litre of stock, keep this simmering in a small saucepan, and add a ladle full at a time to the risotto. Stir until it is absorbed then add a further ladle full. Keep adding more stock, a ladle at a time, until the rice is soft, it may take a little more or a little less depending on the brand of risotto rice. Once the rice is soft add spinach leaves and spoon the butternut squash out of its skin in to the risotto. Stir until spinach is wilted and the squash is mixed in.
Serve with pine nuts sprinkled on top and shavings of delicious parmesan.
Oh dear, suffolkfoodie has gone to London, Veggieplot has been publishing books and InspectorX has been on the road, visiting hotels. Nobody left to explore Suffolk! InspectorX did manage a family outing to the Bury St Edmunds Christmas market today. The lack of artisan foodie producers was dissappointing. They were probably at the far better Craft Markets at Blackthorpe Barns. We did eat a good Suffolk Ham and Cheese Crepe ( £5!) a funnel cake ( £3.50) two cups of mulled wine, weak and warm for (£7) The best thing we ate were the two Tin Miners Pasties (£2.75) from Edis of Ely in St Johns Street on the way home, and they have been on here lots of times before.
