Mary Portas Does Not Horse Around

I have always loved Mary Portas for her devotion to the British high street's independent shops and no-nonsense attitude when it comes to giving business advice, so it was great to see her recent article in the Telegraph reviewing The Ginger Pig butchers shop in London. Not only does Mary give the shop the recognition it deserves, she makes some brilliant observations regarding the traditional quality butcher in general. 

Unsurprisingly, the high street guru sees the horse meat scandal as a great opportunity for Britain's butchers... Yet she also states how important it is for butchers to "play your trump card" and really step up to show consumers what they have to offer. What is wonderful is that Mary notices that the supermarkets aren't always cheaper than traditional butchers although glitzy offers may make it seem so, and that any extra expense one might pay is more than worth it for the experience offered... 

"I am not saying that traditional butchers are always cheaper, but it is certainly true that we must get out of the mindset that prepackaged, mass produced meat is much less expensive [...] What you would certainly miss out on is a fabulous butcher who went out of his way [...] An experience like this is priceless." Mary Portas 

We strive to offer a service that supermarkets simply cannot match and in a time when supermarket is domination is threatening our high streets, I hope not only butchers but all independent retailers will take Mary's advice to really take such opportunities to show the British public the wonderful alternative services they have to offer. Read the full article here. 

Gok Wan's Chinese Belly Pork

Eager to follow the success of Gok Wan's easy recipe for Peking duck, I thought I'd try his recipe for belly pork. Bored of slow-cooking recipes that leave me with flavourless pork, this recipe only took 2.5 hours and made some of the most tender pork I have ever eaten. The main cooking is done by simmering the pork in a large pan for nearly two hours with garlic cloves, ginger, spring onions, a teaspoon of chinese five spice, shaoxing wine and enough water to cover the meat. The thought of boiling meat can be a turn off but the smells that fill the kitchen are divine and it makes the meat surprisingly tender.

 After this initial cooking, you then place the meat in a baking tray and brush with a glaze of soy sauce and honey, and place in an oven (preheated to 215C) for 20-30 minutes until golden and caramelised. Serve with chinese greens and rice to balance out the sticky rich flavour of the meat. NB. Gok uses star anise but for me chinese five spice works just as well and is often more readily available. You could use this cooking method for cooking belly pork in all styles of cuisine, for example we sell some delicious Cottage Delight barbecue sauces that would work well in place of the soy sauce and honey glaze. For the full original recipe click here.

Breakfast at Andrew's

Saturday morning at Andrew's butchers always sees customers coming in specially for their weekend fry-up essentials: local free-range Gate Farm eggs, Suffolk bacon that is cut on site, and our own made, award-winning Original Pork Sausages using the finest free-range pork from Dingley Dell Farm in Suffolk. We also sell two types of black pudding for those who want it. Here's a picture of the simple but indulgent breakfast I cooked my brother before his day of work at the butchers: scrambled egg and fried bacon on toast.

"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.

Valentines: Gordon's Fillet Steak with Mushroom Gratin

For some reason fillet steak is always a popular choice on Valentine's day. I don't know whether it's a case of impressive expense or red-blooded primal mythology, but if you both appreciate good meat this deliciously indulgent, easy-to-make recipe from Gordon Ramsay is the perfect choice. I have made this before on other special occasions and while it is expensive, in my opinion the satisfaction of this recipe is fully worth it. Not only will it be a lot cheaper than dining out where you may look to pay anything from £30 for a fillet steak dish, whoever is special enough to be cooked for will be extremely impressed with your culinary skills! All of it can be prepared a couple of hours ahead of cooking, ready for you to quickly cook in the oven when wanted. This is a quick video of the passionate man himself making the dish, from which you should be able to work out approximate amounts and times.

Cooking for one: Nigella's Naan Pizza

I absolutely love pizza and enjoy making it from scratch when I don't have anything better to do, but when in a rush and strapped for cash, Nigella's Naan Pizza is a great way to have pizza quickly and inexpensively using ingredients you can have stored in the cupboard for a rainy day. The naan bread also gives the pizza an unusual but lovely fragrant flavour. Use whichever toppings you please but here is my creation using Italian buffalo mozzarella, my third and final mozzarella recipe this week.
Preheat the oven too 220°C. Simply take one naan bread, and spread a thin cover of perhaps one or two tablespoons of any plain pasta tomato sauce. Then add thin slices of a third of 1 buffalo mozzarella ball and some sprigs of fresh thyme. Place on a baking tray in the oven for 5 minutes or until melted and slightly golden. When out of the oven, add a couple of slices of torn up Parma ham, slice and enjoy. A little bit of heart-warming goodness on a miserable January afternoon!

Cooking for One: Herb & Mozzarella Burger

Ditch the plastic cheese slice for a delicious cheese-filled burger made with the finest fresh ingredients from Andrews. The picture really doesn't do this burger justice. The smells that filled the kitchen were incredible and as for the taste, you're going to have to make it yourself to experience it...
Ingredients

For the burger:
100g mince beef
1/3 of a buffalo mozzarella ball
Teaspoon of dried oregano/mixed herbs
1 clove garlic peeled and crushed
1 shallot peeled and finely chopped
Olive oil, salt and pepper
To serve:
burger bun or roll sliced open
mixed lettuce leaves
mayonnaise
ground paprika (optional)
1 smoked bacon rasher


Pre-heat the grill to 220°C. Mix together the mince beef, onion, herbs and garlic in a bowl. Add enough olive oil to help bind the mixture and season with salt and pepper before mixing again. Pat the mixture in your hand, keeping it in a round shape making it as thin as possible. Judge how much mozzarella you think will fit inside the burger, the meat might not wrap around if you use too much. Place the mozzarella in the middle of your burger patty and wrap the meat around the cheese, making sure all edges are sealed and working into a good burger shape, (left).

Place a sheet of tin foil on your grill pan and cook your burger for 8 minutes, 4 minutes each side. In the meanwhile, make your paprika mayonnaise. In a small bowl or glass, mix 1-2 tbsp mayonnaise with 1 teaspoon paprika, set to one side. When it gets to 4 minutes, carefully turn over the burger, add your burger bun pieces (inner side up), and your bacon rasher. After 4 minutes remove everything from the grill and assemble. Spread plenty of mayonnaise on the bread, add burger then salad, then bacon.