We collectively made the sausagemeat and then got stuck into making the sausages. It's really easy to do at home, you don't even need a sausage machine. Just a strong piping bag, some pig intestine for the sausage casing and definitely two people. Then squeeze the bag, pushing the meat into a super sausage! Twist the tube and then chop up and bingo, your very own bangers. Ours were pretty good, I think, for a first try. Unfortunately, when we cooked them, they split and the filling came out of the ends. To help to this, sausages should be refrigerated for at least 12 hours to firm up. Or it could have been the sausage casing. Oh well, still tasted good! They should have, seeing as they were shallow fried in oil and then basted with the sausage fat and oil. Oh lordy, lordy. Apparently, if we has grilled or oven cooked them, butchers everywhere would be angry. Don't want to anger a butcher!
Lunch: Hot dogs (proper sausage, not the frankfurter rubbish) with caramelised, balsamic onions (so good!)
I added the salad as I felt there was a need for some greenery! The sausages tasted great though. Now, those of you who know me well, know that I love a good scone. And what I love more than a good scone is making good scones. Today's list of things included scone making. Using a new recipe, rather different from my tried-and-tested recipe. I went into the activity open-minded, excited, as I'm always on the look out for better scones. (Oh god, I'm sad...my life might actually resolve around scones. Someone please help me?!) We made 12 'crumbly, light scones' and we could take them home to try because otherwise we'd be too full for the massive roast pork supper! So, I purchased some clotted cream and jam I tried the new scone. After all, the proof is in the pudding as they say. After rescuing the scones from the cat's mouth, there was one I could salvage. And my verdict...fluffy and crumbly, but I think I prefer my recipe. It's just lighter and a nicer texture. But that's just my opinion. I didn't take a picture of the scones, so you'll have to use your imagination.
Most of the afternoon was filled with preparing supper. Roast lion of pork with home-made apple sauce, gravy, crackling, cabbage, beetroot, roasted parsnips and potatoes. We did something special with the beetroot- in a foil bag with garlic, thyme, olive oil, my good friends salt and pep and a splash of orange juice. To add to the special low-fat, weight watchers menu we're making, we roasted the potatoes and parsnips in duck fat. Halfway though the pork cooking time, we used a trivet (raising the meat above the surface of the pan/roasting tin) of vegetables to protect the meat, stop it from drying out and to flavour the gravy. At supper, we all felt that we'll probably be craving salads and less-rich food by the end of the course! The chefs always give us tips on how to save time and prepare ahead and a roast can be easy. You don't even have to break into a sweat. Roast: done.
It was so tasty, especially the crackling! The gravy was a little fatty and oily because we forgot to take the roasting juice fats off before making. Whoops! But was still good. Then it was pudding- polenta, lemon and ground almond cake with vanilla mascarpone (with double cream in the mascarpone to 'lighten and loosen' it apparently! Did you know that mascarpone has an extremely high fat content of 90%?! Ooo-err!
It was very good, and the polenta added a nice, unexpected crunchy texture. Not sure if I'd make it again, but perhaps. It's something different. Tomorrow is fish Friday. We finish earlier at 4pm, so have a three, count them, three course meal for lunch, starting at 12.30. I'm excited to learn how to fillet a fish properly, as I don't really know how. But then again, that's one of the reasons I'm doing this diploma!
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