OLD SPOT SAUSAGES WITH CARAMELISED ONION GRAVY

So proud that everything on this plate we grew, raised and produced from our family small holding and home garden.  Glorious 95% Herby Gloucestershire Old Spot sausages, loved and out door naturally reared, preservative free and seasoned with fresh thyme, sage, chives and marjoram from the garden with a hint of salt and fresh ground white pepper.  Served with rich buttery mashed potatoes and caramelised onion and sausage gravy.

Prep time 10 minutes / Cooking-oven time 40 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 4)

8 local big bangers

(outdoor reared)

1 kg potatoes

1 large onion sliced

1 tbsp olive or coconut oil

4 tbsp butter

pinch of thyme

2 tsp corn flour

sea salt

fresh white pepper

Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees, lightly grease the bottom of a roasting tin and place the sausages in, place in the oven, these will take between 35-40 minutes to cook, turn half way through.  Meanwhile bring a large pan of water to a gently boil, peel the potatoes and halve, place in the boiling water and cook until fork tender approx 25-30 minutes, drain and return to the pan with 3tbsp of butter, mash and season with salt and pepper, leave on a very low heat to keep warm while you serve.  

To make the onion (poor mans gravy), pan fry the onions in a tbsp of butter and dash of oil for until caramelised, approx the same amount of time it takes to boil the potatoes, add 500ml of water and the thyme, bring up to a simmer, take the cornflour and mix with a tbsp of water, add to the simmering onions and stir until smooth, when you remove the sausages from the oven, add 50ml of water or wine to the roasting tin, scrape around and pour the cooking juices into the gravy, serve the mashed potatoes first and top with your gorgeous sausages and fabulous onion gravy.

Hug Your Pig !

HUG YOUR PIG

Our most fabulous gorgeous Gloucestershire old spot pig Pinky having one of her many daily cuddles, she is our loving and nurturing future breeding sow.  Pinky looks out and manages the younger piglets making sure that the runt of the litter gets her equal share of food, Pinky does this by scooping feed out of the bucket with her snout on to the floor so that the littlest piglet can eat in peace, she also lets the piglet climb in her bowl and eat with her, heart warming to watch.

For our good life journey so far look up October 2015 post Self sufficiently the start to our good life, we have been striving to raise our own animals and grown as much of our food as we can and finally after 10 yrs, we have purchased a 2 acre field that we are turning into our family small holding to do just that, raising loved pampered and happy animals along with our own family pet pigs, sheep and chickens which gives us great enjoyment on a daily basis.

SPOTTED DICK PUDDING

Old fashioned traditional spotted dick steamed suet pudding, the first mouthful immediately takes me back to my childhood and those cold winter Sunday family afternoons where after the Sunday roast there was a glorious pudding to boot.

Prep Time 5 minutes / Cooking Time 1 hour

Ingredients

(serves 6-8)

250g self rising flour

125g suet grated

90g sugar

250g raisins

pinch of salt

100ml water

Optional Ingredients

zest and juice of 1 lemon or orange
1/4 tsp mixed spice

Place all the ingredients in a large bowl except the water and mix to combine, add almost all of the water and bring the mix together, you want a slightly sticky ball, add the rest of the water if you feel the mixture is not wet enough.

Grease a mason cash pudding basin and line the bottom with a disk of greaseproof paper, cut out another circle of grease proof paper the size of the top of the basin.  Fill the basin with your pudding mix, place the top disk of greaseproof paper, then a sheet of greaseproof paper over the top of the basin, fold this down the sides of the basin, with some string tie around the rim of the basin securing the greaseproof lid, it is helpful to tie the string from one side to the other creating a lifting handle for ease of use getting in and out of the steamer.

Bring a deep lidded pan 1/3 filled with water to a simmer, place a trivet in the bottom of the pan and then lower in you pudding basin, pop the lid on and gently simmer/steam for one hour, or until your testing skewer comes out clean.  Best served warm with lots of creamy custard.

CRISPY CRACKLING PIGS TAIL

Nose to tail eating, there is not once ounce of our pigs that does not get eaten.  This is a fabulous treat, a crispy salty crackling tail, one of the perks that you get when you raise your own pigs.

Braising Time 45 minutes / Roasting Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

(serves one)

1 pigs tail

1 stick celery chopped

1 small onion quartered

1 small leek rough chopped

1 carrot rough chopped

1 bay leaf

5 black peppercorns

1 pinch sea salt

2 tbsp coconut oil

1 tsp sea salt

Half fill a deep saucepan with water and add the celery, onion, leek, carrot, bay leaf, peppercorns, salt and pigs tail, bring to a gentle simmer for 45 minutes, remove the tail from the pan and leave to one side to steam dry itself, reserve the stock for another use like a base for soup.

Pre heat your oven to 200 degrees, toss the tail in the oil and season generously with sea salt, roast in the oven for approx 30 minutes until crispy, enjoy.