Coldsmoking Digital Cookery School

For years I have had the pleasure of making my own salami and Chorizo and very tasty they are too. I just love that process of making stuff - Can't really explain it other than to say I get a buzz from it. It's exciting to be able to recreate these wonderful air dried charcuterie and a delight to sample them when they are eventually ready to try. On a recent trip to Turkey I was enjoying a breakfast of warmed black olives, fried eggs, bread and an air dried sausage called Sucuk (pronounced Soojook). Which is a bit of a staple over there. It got me thinking. Could I recreate this back home. Having done a little research I came up with an ingredient list. Now having a list of ingredients is one thing, getting the ratios right is another. The ingredients I researched are - minced Beef, minced lamb, Ground Cumin, Paprika, Cayenne pepper, Black pepper, Garlic, Salt and Sumak. There is some curing salt in this too which contains Nitrite. As this was an air dried sausage I use...

This is a deliciously tasty little recipe for anyone who has a glut of ripe tomatoes and windfall apples and like me loves a bit of heat and hates waste. This is a one pot job that couldn't be easier. Goes really well with smoked food too. Prep Time. 90mins. You will need 1kg Tomatoes 1kg Apples 900g Sugar 350ml Red wine vinegar 100g Chilies (medium hot) 1 Onion (large) 2 tbs Vegetable oil 1 tsp Salt 1 tsp Pepper Makes 2.1Kg of chutney - 6 x 350g jars.  What you need to do. Core the apples and along with the tomatoes, chilies and onion roughly chop them. In a large pan, sweat the onion in the oil until translucent. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until combined.  Slowly bring the mixture up to aa gentle simmer stirring briefly every 20 mins. Simmer gently reducing the mixture until you can briefly see a clean base when a wooden spoon is drawn through the mixture. When heating the mixture make sure not to overheat it. You don't want...

If you like this post please visit Facebook and like our page - Thanks. Prague powder 1 and 2 look identical but have different uses. Both are used for curing meat but due to their make-up they do subtly different things. These salt based curing blends contain sodium nitrite and potassium nitrate and therefore need to be used with great care as a dry cure or in a brine solution.  Also known as instacure #1 or pink salt         Prague 1 contains salt and sodium nitrite in the ratios 15:1 that works out at 93.75% salt and 6.25% Sodium Nitrite. Prague #1 is used to cure meats that will be cooked before they are eaten. Things like sausage, bacon, gammon and hams are some of the more popular foods that Prague powder #1 can be used to cure. The Sodium Nitrite contained in the mix acts to kill serious bacteria like botulism which is a very dangerous pathogen and is anaerobic which means it can thrive without the need for oxygen. this makes Prague powder...

Our sausage making classes have got off the an amazing start this year with both classes selling out really quickly. Our format for running these classes have made them more of a practical workshop where ideas for new recipes get bounced around between our guests. We'd love to see you and have dates available throughout the year.   We keep the class size to eight people so as to make the experience a more personal affair. This also works on a practical level so the hands-on experience of actually making sausages is something you can really get your teeth into (so to speak).   We use fresh ingredients from our traditional butchers in Newport Pagnell and we have a variety of fresh herbs, spices and seasonings you can use when constructing your unique sausage.We always use the best quality pork shoulder as this has just the right balance between lean and fat to make the perfect sausage.   We start the class with a little theory where we look at wha...

Yesterday we made some delicious sausages. We made Pork and Leek, Garlic and herb and we also made a string of Turkish beef sausages called Sucuk (pronounced Soojook). This is the ingredients for the Sucuk. Cumin, Paprika, Garlic, Lemon Juice, Salt, Cayenne Pepper, Ground Black Pepper and Prague 1 My Able Apprentice sausage maker in action. Love Half Term The finished Sucuk hanging in the conditioning cabinet We also made some butcher's bangers afterwards Our total sausage haul for the day.