Dingley Dell Pork Sausages Braised in Aspall's Cyder

For the second week of cooking local produce I have chosen Andrew's pork sausages which are made onsite by Andrew's butchers, entirely of Dingley Dell Pork. Andrew's have bought Dingley Dell pork for many years and love that these Suffolk farmers are passionate about the same things we are: taste, provenance and welfare. I asked my brother Ben what makes Andrew's sausages so good and he said that not only does it take great pork but also an expert eye. Ben and the boys that currently make the sausages have been trained by Jock: an amazing butcher, now retired, who was my Dad's first employee when he set up shop nearly 20 years ago. He has taught them the art of mixing a perfect balance of fat and lean meat that makes the sausages full of flavour, perfect for taste, texture and easy cooking.

For this recipe I have used the Gluten Free sausage that's very similar to the Original Pork, however, there are also a range of herby sausages that would be perfect for this recipe such as the Toulouse, Pork and Leek, and Lincolnshire. I braised the sausages in the famous Suffolk Aspall's Cyder, with Suffolk red onions sliced, garlic, bay leaf, and thyme.

Method:
Heat the oven to 180C. Brown the sausages in a cassoulet dish with a drop of oil.

Set the sausages aside and soften the onion, browning without burning.

Put the sausages back in, along with the whole bottle of cyder, herbs and garlic. Wait for the cyder to simmer, place the lid on the cassoulet dish, and place in the oven for 30 minutes.

After this time remove the lid and let cook for a further 10 minutes in the oven. Remove from the oven and place on the hob. Remove the sausages and turn the heat up to let the sauce bubble away. At this point I made up some Chicken Bisto Best Gravy (I know it is cheating but it is gluten free and a great substitute for flour) and added to the liquid to thicken it. You may also want to add a teaspoon of sugar to cut through the sharpness of the cyder. Replace the sausages and serve on the table from the cassoulet dish, with mash potatoes and runner beans (both from Suffolk!) I also found a delicious Rosé wine in Waitrose that has been produced in Suffolk. I wasn't sure what it would be like but it had delicious apple tones to it that went perfectly with the dish!

I hope you enjoy this Suffolk meal as much as we did...
L x

New Season's Lamb

It would have been great to visit the new season's lamb with Dad and others from the Q Guild this afternoon... But I think these pictures he took really do speak a 1000 words. It's such a good feeling to know that the lambs we sell are able to roam in these beautiful surroundings at Bridge Farm Chelsworth, only a ten minute drive from the shop.

"If We Say It's Beef It's Beef"

The horse meat scandal has seen butcher's chalkboards across the UK sing out loud with every horse meat pun imaginable. Aside from boosting trade, we of course want to reassure our customers of the full traceability of all our meat to high welfare farms, just as our suppliers have wanted to reassure us. We are very lucky to have trust-worthy suppliers who care about the provenance and welfare of our meat, just as we are lucky to have customers with similar cares that trust us.
Yet as I think about the whole affair, the scandal raises bigger questions and issues. While for those in the trade the main scandal has been the unlicensed sale of untraceable, uncertified-edible meat it seems that for the general public it is the utter shock that they have been eating a horse, an animal they imagined they could not and would never eat. While I have no desire to eat horse meat myself, this troubles me. Does a cow or pig have less rights to not be eaten than a horse? I have spent my whole life involved in the traditional meat trade through my family, and with knowledge of the industry I feel able to make an informed decision to eat meat.
I count myself lucky... When meat is processed into different shapes and packaged in bright plastic wrappers with a picture of a ready-made meal on the front, how are people able to make that decision? When the connection between food and animal is removed, any interest in the production of that food is inevitably lost. The solution? Acknowledgement of the fact we are using animals for meat is crucial... If this makes a few more vegetarians in the world then at least the meat eaters that are left are informed meat eaters. From there we can then seek knowledge of where our meat comes from. Hopefully this will enable consumers to buy meat depending on its welfare, provenance and quality and put an end to the illegitimate and harmful trading the UK has experienced.