They say that making a pork pie is a three-day process. This one’s taken two days. I made the pastry in the morning and formed the pie in the evening, then cooked the pie the following day.
This is the first time that I’ve used this method. I saw it on Instagram, posted by London butcher HG Walter.
It’s a work in progress, but as a first attempt, I’m very pleased with it. I’d go so far as to say that it’s the easiest method I’ve used to make a pie.
I first came across German bread spice in the Paderborn Rye bread recipe given in the excellent book “The Rye Baker” by Stanley Ginsberg. It is a wildly aromatic blend of spices (and much more interesting than using just caraway). When I smelled it after a spin in the spice gr, I knew it would work in a snack stick. I decided to add some Butterkäse cheese from Germany via Aldi and reduced the fat to compensate.
It’s Stilton cheese week from 10 October to 18 October 2026.
Back in 2010 I wrote:
“Blue Stilton, the ‘King of Cheese’, has a history that is so well-documented it is unneccesary to repeat it here, save to say that it now has the status of a ‘protected designation of origin’, which means that only cheese made in Leicestershire, Derbyshire or Nottinghamshire, to strictly enforced standards, can be called Stilton…”
“…There are only seven licensed Stilton producers in the world. Four in Leicestershire, 2 in Nottinghamshire and 1 in Derbyshire. Other than the Derbyshire dairy, they are all within about 20 miles of Melton Mowbray, of pork pie fame.”
Sadly, there are only four left now.
Continue reading Stilton Cheese WeekCongratulations to The Aberdale Bar and Grill, which won an editor’s choice award at the 2026 Curry Life Awards held at the InterContinental Hotel, Park Lane, London, on 4th October.
The pub is situated at 111 Shackerdale Rd, Wigston, Leicester, United Kingdom LE2 6HT.
Leicester has restaurants from more South Asian countries than any other city in England and is the current Curry Capital of England.
I wrote about Polony back in 2013 and said that I wasn’t happy with my recipe and that it needed more work. It got forgotten about and life got in the way.
I’ve now had a chance to revisit it. The recipe below is an amalgamation of ones in old books, mainly those by Frank Gerrard, such as The Book of the Meat Trade. I’ve looked at 11 recipes in all; there are startling similarities between some of them – I guess that plagiarism was alive and well back then!
I know that “self-praise is no praise”, but I’m pleased with the result. The texture’s fine; it was too soft before. The spicing is fine as is, but I’m going to reduce the cinnamon slightly next time. I’ve put the amended amount below.
It’s amazing the things that get discussed in my old local. If they televised it, people would say it’s too daft to be believable!
Anyway, the subject of Blackberry vinegar has come up a couple of times.
The consensus on the basic recipe is:
Continue reading Blackberry Vinegar
This is not the confit duck of French tradition, where the legs sit in duck fat as a preserving method.
This is a lighter version that still gives a tender duck with crispy skin, but with less salt and a little less fat. In the four major UK supermarkets, the fat costs more per kilo than the legs!
Continue reading Duck Confit – a lighter version
This chicken and rice mix is a great base for burritos. It’s also good in stuffed vegetables, as a soup base, or even on its own. The method may seem a little unusual, but it’s to keep it low-fat. On the UK Government’s ‘traffic light’ labelling system, it’s green in all categories. It also has good protein levels, based on calculations, of 13.5 g per 100 g.
Get the recipes…I like to think this recipe for ribs was the natural outcome of making porchetta. To make porchetta, a pork middle is deboned and seasoned with salt and pepper, fresh herbs, and fennel seeds. The belly is wrapped around the loin with the skin still attached and the whole roll is slowly roasted. But what of the ribs? They got the same seasoning and were taken home by the butcher. Now we have the convenience of just buying the ribs and starting from there.
