OK, ok. I give in. I'm now a card-carrying member of the AGA fan club.Yesterday I had an amazing late afternoon shopping raid on our local Somerfield which turns out to be frugal nirvana (being a noted student haunt). When we arrived at about quarter to five they were marking meat down and I picked up 350g of lambs liver for 41p and a 1.75kg pork joint for just £1.64 - both reduced by 75%.
Problem was both needed to be used by the end of yesterday. I was going to marinate the pork but reckoned, on unwrapping it, it needed to be cooked straight away. So I thought I'd risk cooking it overnight in what's called the simmering oven.
I smashed up a teaspoon each of coarse salt, black peppercorns and fennel seeds and 1/2 teaspoon ground chillies with my mortar and pestle then added 3 chopped cloves of garlic to make a coarse paste. I rubbed the joint with olive oil and smeared the paste into the meat and skin then rubbed in a bit of lemon juice (yes, messy, but fun). Then I put the joint in a roasting tin with a slosh of white wine and water, gave the meat 10 minutes in the hot oven then transferred it to the simmering oven.
I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I took it out this morning, 9 hours later - or whether we'd be woken by the fire alarm in the middle of the night - but it was utterly fantastic. No crackling but just fabulous, fragrant, spicy meat and loads of gorgeous pan juices which are settling as I write. Unbelievable!
The only downside was that we couldn't really eat it hot at that time of the morning though we did manage a few greedy slivers for breakfast but it will make great cold cuts and sandwiches for a couple of days. If you haven't got an Aga you could equally well do this in a very low oven - about 130°C/250°F/Gas 1/2, I would think, having given it a bit of a blast first to get it going.
Oh and the liver was good too. I made a Turkish recipe called Kebda which is simply sliced lambs' liver dusted in flour (2 tbsp) mixed with 1/2 a teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon each of ground cumin and sweet paprika, quickly fried and seasoned with lemon juice. It's nice with a dollop of yoghurt and some chopped coriander but we didn't have either and were certainly not going to spoil our feeling of smug satisfaction by buying overpriced herbs . . .
6 comments:
Fiona, you're just showing off now!
It wouldn't be such a frugal meal for me to make, because of the initial outlay for the Aga. I've never seen them for sale in Aldi, well not yet anyway....
You're absolutely right NSM - but at least I didn't have to buy it. And you could, as I say, easily roast the pork in a conventional oven.
You'll have to monitor the posts for excess AGA mentions and stop me becoming an AGA bore ;-)
Welcome and congratulations.
i envy you. I left behind my Aga ( cooked on for 25 years) when I ran away to sea...
One of the few things I miss but just wouldn't fit on a small sailboat, damn!
Now its a small propane stove and a BBQ but frugality is a way of life out here on the ocean.
Love your blog, makes me a little less homesick!
Pleased to hear that, Gerry. What an amazing adventure you're having!
I must say that does look very appetising - and as I have commented before, I do not like pork ( and especially not the crackling, yes I am a strange woman ;) ) but I would eat some of that for sure !
I think that's a good idea to try it in a non Aga oven. There is good precedence for the quick hot blast followed by very long slow cooking method for various meats. For folks with Economy 7 & electric ovens especially, to take advantage of the cheaper overnight tariff. And for even more frugality, make sure you fill up the oven as much as possible - slow roast trays of veggies at the same time or pop in a couple of casseroles to slow cook.
Casseroles are a great idea, greenlady. Freeze 'em and get ahead for Christmas!
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