I needed something to go on top of a salad, having had way too much stir fry and Chinese style stuff – time for a change…

It always seemed such a pain to make. It isn’t

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Sometimes you just can’t find the recipe you want so you go and experiment. Today was one of those times. I wanted something like chinese chicken cashew nut but problem…

I had chicken, cashew nuts, endive and a tin of bamboo shoots. Oh – other stuff but not quite what was needed. So – based on a recipe from Ching and using a bit of imagination and creativity I came up with the following. It wasn’t quite right but was still tasty. Also – low carb so big win. Because I do the low-carb thing, it is important to me to bulk up on the veggies and pass on the rice, consequently what follows is for two although I had it all. I would suggest to serve with noodles or rice if there are a number of folks. I think also I would have liked some bell pepper, mushroom, onion etc in there but it wasn’t to be – nothing in the cupboard.

Feel free to change as desired and of course depending on what you have in house.

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Crackers…

Those crispy, crumbly, dry things. Eat them with cheese, marmite, cold meats, whatever.

Shop bought ones vary from catastrophic cardboard to classic crispy crunchiness (practicing one’s alliteration here).

How about making some for yourself? I’ve always fancied making them, I even tried once before with less than great results. So, I approached this recipe with a little wonderment. I mean – it’s from the Bake-Off – it must be good, right? Nothing can go wrong, surely?…

And indeed, nothing did (sorry to disappoint). The only big problem I had was finding two baking sheets. I couldn’t – so I had to do it in two lots. Well – I did find an extra smaller sheet but it seemed like the big sheet took a lot of heat out of the oven. If I do this again then I think I put in the smaller sheet for an extra 2 minutes to begin with and then throw in the larger sheet.

This recipe is nicked from The Great British Bake-off Showstoppers book and I’ve found a little plug-in for WordPress that presents recipes in a rather cool format rather than just providing lists and such like.

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Had a “nice” (read windy, cold and wet) ride into town and back again. More to get exercise than to actually go there. 8.5 km each way. Anyways…

There is a new store in town – ok – not exactly new, it’s been there for some time but it’s a kinda cool. It’s a grocery store called Marqt. So whats so great about another grocery store? This one has a load of natural/ethical sort of products that may be a little more expensive but the advantage is that you know what you eat and where it comes from. From fresh fish to ginger cordial to granola to fenugreek cheese to etc etc etc. Another interesting thing is that the store is cashless. It only uses PIN or credit cards.

Anyways – for all I like the store big time, I just “discovered” Ginger Cordial from Belvoir Fruit Farms. This stuff is good. 1:10 Cordial to water and you get a really good hot spicy ginger taste. Mix some of it with hot water, lemon and honey – great for when you get back in after a windy, cold & wet ride into town . Funny that.

In any event – I can really recommend this stuff. Just such a great taste.

Belvoir Ginger Cordial

Right – after 1 month of careful hanging and weighing it’s ready!

The result:

It’s lost 33% of it’s weight and is considered done. It’s firm and taking off the cheese cloth revealed, well, a really rather nice looking piece of dried & cured meat. It’s not exactly pretty – I think this is because I tied the string too tight (something to remember for next time) but it tastes pretty amazing.

The first cut into it revealed (much to my surprise) something that really looked the job. Smelling it confirmed this (ok – probably best to do it the other way round but I was really curious as to what it looked like “inside”. As for tasting – well – if you have never had pancetta – I can seriously recommend it. If you have never had home made – I can recommend it even more:) This really is something to try at home.

The taste?

Is something special. It’s quite powerful so you don’t need a lot, You can eat it as is (a form of jerky) or use it as a replacement for bacon bits in sauces. I just had some in an omelette. I cut a thick slice (maybe 1/4″/4mm) and cubed it. I then fried it for a little to make the fat run, poured in the egg, added a couple thin slices of brie and bang – you have a very special lunch

The original recipe is here:

http://www.eatingrules.com/2012/10/how-to-make-pancetta/

I’ve a graph of weight over time here:

http://themellors.org/cooking/?page_id=8

What do I learn from this?

• Don’t be scared of trying something new.
• Making your own meats gives good results.
• Patience is a virtue

Will I do this again?

Absolutely. I’ll probably start a few more over the weekend. I’ll again record the weight but this time I’ll try different marinades and learn how to do belly bondage the right way

And now some pictures, in chronological order: