Friday 6 March 2015

This and that

Yesterday I went to make some faggots believing I had everything I needed. I had decided to change the liver for black pudding but when I opened up the pudding, it didn't look very nice at all. White fat is one thing, but lumps of gristle, no thank you. It went in the food bin I am afraid, to be collected by the council for their hot compost bins. I hate throwing food away, but as neither of us liked the look of it, despite loving black pudding, it had to go.

Now I needed a replacement so walked to the nearest butcher to pick up some liver, which he had, but frozen! That went into a bowl of cold water to thaw for a few hours whilst I got the rest of the things minced and ground. Then I realised I was 1/2lb of bacon short and quite frankly, couldn't be bothered to go back to the butchers.

Eventually, 1lb of minced pork shoulder, 1/2 lb minced bacon, 1/2 lb minced liver, 1 minced onion and 1/2 a packet of dry sage and onion stuffing mix got brought together. They were left for a few minutes for the stuffing to drink up all the excess fluid from the onion and liver then formed into 12 balls:
I forgot to photograph them once done but we had 3 between us with a few strips of the liver for tea:
They were still nice and tasty but thought it would have been better with the whole 1lb of bacon. Way too much for us to finish it all (another waste!). It just goes to show that once you adapt to smaller main meals, it is very hard to finish what was once a normal meal.

Anyhow, at least they got made, some eaten and the rest were frozen in 3's for 3 meals later on. The full recipe for  different faggots can be found on my recipe tab above.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!



9 comments:

  1. Faggots ain't faggots unless they are wrapped in caul...
    well, at least that is what the recipe books say...
    so how many butchers sell caul?
    There was one in Swaffham that used to...
    then the owner retired and now it is an estate agents!!

    I now substitute one BIG savoy cabbage leaf for the caul...
    which also seems to be unavailable here in France...
    no demand apparently!!? Well, I want some...

    Those look wonderfully tasty, and I like the idea of using the stuffing to firm up the ball.
    In fact, 'tis but lunchtime and I feel quite hungry... can I last??
    My wife makes meatballs out of the stuffing mixture we get from the butchers here...
    two different types, one for veg and one for rolled meat...
    very lazy, but it works very well...
    twelve of those out of the freezer....
    add a jar of home-made pasta sauce.... or "rat"o'manythings...
    and some pasta...
    meal done in moments...
    perfect for when we've come in from the potager at 9pm or later!

    "...once you adapt to smaller main meals..."....
    now, that is something I NEED to try and do!

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    Replies
    1. I have a butcher who is a friend and he told me they can't sell them to the public anymore which is a shame. No good wrapping in cabbage leaves as my DB doesn't eat them. Mind you it might work wrapped in a lightly steamed sheet of leek if peeled properly.

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    2. I have done them in the very thin Black Forest ham that Lidl do...
      two lengths [nb: there are fifteen to a pack!!]...
      but a good faggot mix will hold anyway, so I always cut the last one in two, lengthways....
      just to make a "wrapper"...
      but, if you do try that... make sure that the gravy is almost to the top of the faggots...
      that ham is like bootlace if dried out by the cooking!

      And as for a sheet of leek... what size pot leeks are you growing?
      If you can wrap a faggot in one...
      you should be entering them for the Harrogate Autumn Show!!

      The size of ours, here, I'd need two leeks per faggot...
      and it would end up looking like one of those balls of rubber bands!!

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    3. True, but like you say, they hold up okay on their own.

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  2. No, you can buy pork mince I just prefer to mince my own. Everything else works just as well in a food processor which I use most of the time.

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  3. I quite like a faggot or two, they are very under rated, but very tasty, I wonder if its the name that puts folk off? What a shame about the Black pudding, maybe a quick email to the company would get your money back.

    We had our lunch out yesterday, a pensioners special, Liver and onions, mash or chips and peas £4:50 it was a huge portion and delicious, I cant remember the last time I cooked that at home.

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    Replies
    1. We occasionally eat liver and onions when out, usually delicious!

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  4. never had a faggot in my life. Sounds like they would be good though.

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    Replies
    1. Nowadays they are really just a grand meatball with some liver. Guess the name over there doesn't help as I gather it means something completely different!

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