writings

Sometimes just the action of ink to paper will stimulate the thought process.
This is usually how new ideas come to be.

Sausage Party

Amanda had her go at making the chicken, sage & pistachio sausage which turned out great.

Piggy on a spit

Some photos of the process. Also notice the herb wand used to baste.

May long weekend bash

Our annual Piggy Roast goes off with a bang!

Treasure Trove

Here are a couple of photos from the depths of the black dossier ( which hold some top secret salami recipes from the Pick Salami Factory in Szeged ). These recipes escaped when the Communists took over after the war. They haven't seen the light of day until recently.
The old book dates back to 1909....it's called the " Delicious Sausage Book" the other sheets are " Meat Manufacturing Specifications.
I have had some deciphered and I am in the process of updating them to current contemporary standards....should be fun.

Lamby Mondays

Monday was a great day for bringing out the power and hand saws.
We did another class with 2 x 60 pounders.

We came up with a menu item during all this which we will put on this weekend. All very exciting! I guess you'll have to come and dine with us to try it out.

Gnudi Bar

Gnudi is essentially a ricotta ravioli but without the pasta. It can be served with almost anything. So it is up to you to come up with sauce or garnish.
There have been a lot of recipe requests for Gnudi, and rightly so.
Since the recipe will be published for magazines, I have decided to include it on the blog.
So here we are:

1 1/2 x 450g containers ricotta
2 large eggs
1/2 lb. Piave or Reggiano grated
up-to 1cup all purpose flour
1 heavy pinch nutmeg
1 heavy pinch white pepper
1 light pinch kosher salt
cornmeal

In a stainless bowl mix all ingredients well.
With a 1 oz portion-er scoop on to a sheet tray dusted with cornmeal.
Dust the top of the balls with cornmeal.
Place one ball in your hands and roll into a lozenge shape....see photo.
Have a pot of simmering water ready. Gently place the ricotta lozenges into water. They will sink and surface when close to ready.
Have an ice bath at the ready. Use a slotted spoon to remove from the water and place in ice water. Remove when cool and refrigerate.
Sautee in butter gently. You just want to cook until warm in the center

Brulee Manifesto...... coming soon

Potato Gnocchi

Joel is using the gnocchi board that I bought in Verona this summer.....Why didn't I buy another one? I makes beautiful grooves.
I don't have any photos of the rabbit confit dish that we made for this. Next time.

Terrine Supreme !

After a slow and low bake, cool and press. This is the result.
You can see the rabbit and duck breast garnish.

Rabbit Double Duty

Brought in some rabbit and pork butt the other day. I did a demo with Johnny and we created a lovely rabbit loin, duck breast and pork terrine.
The other half of the rabbit will be confit to use along side of potato gnocci and local asparagus as a special.

Stage Productions

Here are some photos of our Goodies

Stage Take Away

Finally, we are gearing up with some of our in house goodies.
Preserved lemons, chutney, sausages and duck confit are ready to go!

Pig & Tattoos

I was trying to get the pig's tattoo but can't find the photo.

The Head

This bad boy will be shaved and torched to remove any unwanted stubble.
Porchetta de Testa is the plan for this head. An Italian style head cheese which is cured with salt, citrus rind and herbs for a week. Then we will vacuum seal, then slowly poached for 4 hours. Once it matures for a few days we will slice it paper thin, plate it and add arugula and radish, grate Piave cheese and drizzle with olive oil.

The Sunday Ritual

This beauty from Slopping Hills Farm came in at 200 lbs.
We break it into primal cuts then come up with a game plan for usage.
The head is my favorite part....so many options where to begin.