Displaying items by tag: smoked foods

Benson Blakes in Bury St Edmunds has just taken over a country pub; not  to make it into a burger bar but for a very exciting project. The pub is owned by the local farmer who will be supplying the pub with rare breed pork (Oxford Sandy & Black) with beef, lamb, free range turkey, wild venison and local game. There will be a small holding established early next year for herbs, salads and vegetables. The farmer will also be growing wheat, barley & hops for a microbrewery that will be established in the farm. They are also setting up a smokery and doing a full range of charcuterie meats and chutneys... Real Suffolk food !!

Finally got round to trying to smoke some fish because here it's all we eat, nearly every day. And because I'm not in the cold miserable UK at the moment it had to be a Barracuda fillet. I didn't catch it myself but I did brine it and smoke it over a Logwood fire (you know, like the one in the Bob Marley song) and it was a bit like the most delicious smoked haddock.

I eat a lot of bacon in my job as an Hotel Inspector. But all those breakfasts eaten in my line of duty have not put me off  a good rasher of bacon when I get home 

Dry Cured Back Bacon finished in Black Treacle and Beer.

Hill Top Smokehouse had a tasty looking stall at the Bury St Edmunds Christmas Fair at the weekend. There is an online shop, so order yourself some award winning goodies for Christmas.  Or if you are passing by either of the family run butchers shop's R J Smiths of Needham Market or Byfords Traditional Fresh Foods of Rayleigh, Essex pop in and buy some.

Asda have whole, fresh trout on offer for £1.50 each, and what a bargain they are. I have been hot smoking mine, and the fishmonger told me that the customer before me also bought 10 to smoke. My Weber-style barbeque works well, however Hugh Fearnley -Whittingstall uses an old bread bin.

The sun is out so that must mean it's barbecue time! Denise and Adrian from The Chilli Company sent suffolkfoodie some jars of their chilli sauces and chutney to sample, so first up is the Extra Hot smoky chipotle sauce - half of the  280g jar easily covered nine fat pork ribs as a marinade. I barbecued them and then the family moved in and wolfed them down before I had a chance to take a snap, so the picture is of the ribs marinading.

Well, the sauce was lip-tingling hot.  The cooked ribs had a good kick of chilli, but were by no means overpowering.  The sweet and smoky flavours were not lost through the heat of the chilli. However with a little more on the side for dipping the full force was apparent. A delicous sauce, not for the faint hearted, but for those that like it hot - deliciious as a marinade or as a sauce.

As usual the WI Country Market showing us how to make the best sausage rolls, almond slices and oat biscuits, but piece de resistance this year is Tim Mathews (remember last years Masterchef?) on his own stall - The Artisan Smokehouse www.artisansmokehouse.co.uk. Selling smoked olive oil, smoked sirloin steak, garlic and so many other other yummy delicacies  that we wanted to taste the lot.