Belly Speaks

I don't want to spend £4 quid on a sausage roll, or some 'artisan' bread. So I'm making this stuff myself. Eating yummy food is important, so I'm sharing inexpensive recipes for gourmet taste buds. Real food for big lives, on a budget.

[barkingspiders]

Now that’s how you crack an egg.

From Chef Donald (1941).

[cloudyskiesandcatharsis]

[bellyspeaks]

Fictitious Dishes, Famous Meals From Literature by Dinah Frie

THIS IS GOOD

[fatasseveryday]

Briggs Kitchen Lobster Poutine by donttouchmychicken on Flickr.

[bellyspeaks]

ERM, YUM!

[foody-goody-blog1]

French Toast

[bellyspeaks]

I can taste it 

[rachaelraymag]

#DailyBite Prosciutto-Wrapped Shrimp with Watermelon-Tomato Salad is an easy way to mix sweet with savory. Get the recipe and more casual summer #30MinuteMeals here: http://bit.ly/14B8Rf3

[bellyspeaks]

YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bellyspeaks]

Feast in the Fields

When I think of the weekend I mainly envision hot crispy bacon sandwiched between freshly baked tiger bread, lavish beef roast dinners with huge Yorkshire puds and red wine gravy, and silky poached eggs with lashings of hollandaise sauce and stacks of salty smoked salmon.

Yes, my weekends are all about FOOD. The joy I get from filling my face is unprecedented, that's why I am currently jiggling with excitement for Feast In The Fields this weekend. It's an artisan food festival to get your eyes rolling back with delight quicker than you can say duck burger.

Based in the back yard of London Fields Brewery just off the hipster foodie haven London Fields in East London, Feast in the Fields will be serving up its concoction of the most exciting food ventures alongside music and beer aaaaalll weekend.

I'm mostly excited about Jimmy Garcia's duck burgers, sticky taco rice from Tacochu and heavenly soft Gnocchi from Cooking Cooks.

My mouth is positively flooding with excitement, BRING ON THE FEAST!

[bellyspeaks]

Seriously Porky Sausage Rolls With A Kick

As you can tell from the above torrent of sausage roll pictures I am a little in awe of the ancient porky snack. I like my sausage rolls fresh from the oven, rustic, big, juicy and PACKED FULL of sausage. Even the 'Tesco Finest' version does not pack anywhere near enough punch for me, oh no.

After eating far too many below par and over priced sausage rolls containing far too much gristle and fresh air I decided to take the situation into my own hands. Surely it can't be that hard? It's just sausage in pastry right?? Well yes, kind of. It's relatively easy and TOTALLY worth putting the time in if you are a real pork enthusiast - especially if you want all your friends to enthuse wildly about your culinary skills and love you forever.

This recipe is really easy, mainly because I cheated with the ready made pastry but they taste just as great and you don't have to worry about epic pastry fails which could potentially lead to terrible wastage of good pork. The Tobasco and Worcester sauce give these a serious kick and the result is mind blowing, just ask Jade Coles

If you are my friend I will happily make these for you, in fact I would like to throw a sausage roll party. If you are not my friend I suggest you follow the below recipe and join the war against sub-par sausage rolls.

Prep Time... 5 minutes 

Cooking Time... 50 minutes

You'll Need... 

400g sausage meat 

500g puff pastry (I used a Jus-Rol block, what a cheat!)

1 large onion finely chopped

about 8 chestnut mushrooms roughly chopped

1 tbsp Tobasco sauce 

1 tbsp dried thyme

1 1/2 tbsp Worcester sauce 

3 garlic cloves chopped

1tsp salt

cracked black pepper

2 tbsp olive oil 

1 egg beaten

A little bit of flour for rolling

This Is How We Do It...

1. Pre-heat the oven to 220 degrees and then fry the onions in a large frying pan for a few minutes until they are soft.

2. Bung the mushrooms and chopped garlic into the pan too, fry over a medium heat for about 5 minutes and season with the Worcester sauce, Tobasco, thyme, salt and black pepper.

3. Place the sausage meat in a large bowl, add the mushroom and onion mixture. Give a good stir until all combined.

4. Now it's on to the boring pastry rolling bit, grab a big chunk from the block. Dust your surface and rolling pin with flour and roll a large flat piece. I rolled mine to the size of about 30cm by 15cm.

5. Cut the edges so you've got a clean oblong of pastry

6. Now get your sausage mix and form a BIG SAUSAGE shape down the middle of the pastry (this is harder to explain than I had imagined for such a simple task :-/ ) 

7. Fold over each side of the pastry and seal it with beaten egg. Don't worry too much about them being perfect looking, as long as the sausage is sealed it's all good.

8. For a nice shine on the pastry dab more egg on top of your roll. Repeat until you've used up all the pastry and sausage mix, this recipe makes about three HUGE sausage rolls.

9. Bake in the oven for 50 minutes, they should look like this...

(yes i took a bite out of that one on the right!) 

[breakfastbreakfast]

[bellyspeaks]

are you kidding?? oh mickey

[camillecaptures]

Sushi all day, every day! 

[bellyspeaks]

I CRAVE SUSHI ALL THE TIME 

[dinnerwasdelicious]

Western North Carolina Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Slaw

BBQ Season is officially upon us. Our plan is to exclusively eat grilled and smoked meat and meat products from now until July 4th. While Hamburgers and Hot Dogs are completely sufficient, nothing— and I do mean nothing— is more delicious than Pulled Pork.

Pork shoulder is dirt cheap and, when handled correctly, the most delicious thing you will ever eat, ever. It’s full of collagen, which is a special type of protein that binds muscle fibers together. Collagen, on its own, is a lot like rubber; it’s chewy and bouncy and not a whole lot of fun. But if you heat it up, it melts into pools of meaty wonder. When this is done properly, it transforms the toughest, gnarliest cuts of meat into tender, juicy, finger lickingly sticky piles of delicious.

Even though we can’t really call our recipe BBQ— since it’s not smoked— and we would never say that we’re authorities on Western North Carolina BBQ: we do have a handful of North Carolinians who think this shit is pretty legit. The smokey sweetness from the molasses and paprika fill out some of what’s missing from skipping a long hardwood smoke and the tangy, spicy sauce reminds us of our favorite pit stop on road trips to Tarheel Territory: Red Bridges BBQ.

Western North Carolina Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Slaw Serves 4-6

Pork

4-6lbs Bone-In Pork Shoulder

Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil

Deep Pie Plate or Roasting Dish

1 tbsp strong Coffee-

2 tbsp Chili Powder

1 tsp Dry Mustard

1 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder

1/2 tbsp Salt

1 tsp Black Pepper

1 tbsp Onion Powder

1 tbsp Paprika

1/3 cup Brown Sugar

2-3 tbsp Molasses

Rinse and thoroughly dry the Pork. Place it on a piece (or two) of Aluminum Foil in your Pie Plate.

In a small bowl, combine all of the remaining ingredients to form a thick paste. Slather it on your Pork, being sure to

Cook on the grill away from direct heat, or, you know, in an oven, at 350°F for about 1 1/2 hours. You’ll know it’s done when the bone slides out cleanly with absolutely no effort, and the pork starts yielding under its own gravity (and a meat thermometer reads at least 145°F).

Let the Pork cool slightly and start shredding with your fork or fingers. If you want better distributed collagen, let it cool completely before pulling and gently reheat in a pan or under your broiler. Never the microwave. Why does this work? IDFK. It just does.

Serve drizzled with Sauce and slathered in Slaw on a bun. Pretzel Rolls are obviously the best choice, but cheap-o white bread or sandwich buns are gonna do some pretty good stuff, too.

Sauce

1/2 cup Cider Vinegar

1 tbsp Chili Powder

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1/4 tsp Salt

1 tbsp Molasses

1 tbsp Tomato Paste

1 tsp Honey

2 tsp plain Yellow Mustard, preferably Plochman’s

Dump it in a jar with a tight fitting lid (like a mason jar or squeeze bottle) and shake until combined. It should be runny and super vinegar-y. Let sit for a few hours (like while your pork is hanging out) and use sparingly.

Slaw

8 oz bag Cole Slaw Mix

1/4 cup Mayonnaise

1/4 cup Buttermilk

1/8 tsp Cider Vinegar

2 tsp Sugar

1/4 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Celery Seeds

1/2 tsp Dry Mustard

This isn’t rocket surgery, kids. We’re gonna let you figure this one out on your own.

Dress your Slaw no less than 15— but no more than 60— minutes before serving.

[guccisnakesxo]

[bellyspeaks]

Recipe // Thyme and olive flat bread

First of all, it was rather tricky to get this flat bread looking pretty for the photo - but I tried. Although it isn't especially a looker, I can assure you that this naan style flat bread is SO unbelievably delicious (as long as you knead it for long enough.)

This recipe has been a revelation to me - not only do I never have to buy overpriced stale shop bought naan bread ever again, but I can make it from stuff I've always got in the cupboard. I eat it with hummus on a regular basis, or chicken skewers and a hot and spicy dhaal. As you can probably tell, I am in love with this bread.

Double the recipe if you're feeding more people. 

Prep Time... 15 mins (tastes best when the dough has been left overnight) 

Cooking Time... 5 mins 

You'll Need...

250g plain flour 

150ml water 

3.5g yeast (I use Allinson Easy Bake Yeast sachets)

1 and a 1/2 tbspn Olive Oil 

1 tbsp chopped black olives 

1 and a 1/2 tbspn thyme leaves 

This Is How We Do It...

1. Mix the flour, yeast, water, olive oil, olives and thyme (basically everything) in a large bowl until a dough begins to form

2. Get in there with your hands, bind everything together and it will soon become a spongy dough

3. On a clean surface sprinkle a bit of flour, begin kneading the dough. Do this for about 10 minutes. (I know it seems ages but it is SO important for the dough to be gorgeous and soft. I always listen to my fave records whilst doing this, and after two songs are up you know you're pretty much done. Pour yourself a glass of wine, it makes the kneading way more enjoyable.) 

4. Once you've kneaded it enough place it in a lightly oiled bowl and cover, pop it in the fridge for an hour or so - or better still over night. 

5. When you want to eat it, tear of a small hand full of mixture for each flat bread. Roll it out with a rolling pin, you want it about 1/2cm thick and about the size of a small pitta bread (sprinkle a bit of flour on your surface if it sticks)

6. Get a frying pan and put it on a medium heat, dry fry your flat bread for about two minutes each side. You're done! Eat whilst warm for yummiest results. 

7. You'll get a feel for it. Experiment, put your fave herbs and spices in the mixture. The possibilities are endless, and you'll probably end up with an epic bread addiction like me. Voila!

[bellyspeaks]

PORK // Perfect Crackling Leg Joint

Pork is the best. Buttery, rich, juicy and comforting. It's my absolute favourite meat to have roasted. Mainly because I think crackling is the best thing one can put in ones mouth.

So on Easter Monday I decided to cook a Pork leg joint, it was my first attempt (my flatmate normally vomits at the smell of it so I've been banned from pig, but just this once I was allowed.) 

I rang my mum for her advice on getting the best crackling, she's a wonderful cook. It turns out that her advice was spot on, and the taste of that pork you can see above caused my entire body go into some kind of elevated state. 

So I thought I'd share My Mama's tips on getting the perfect roast pork, so you too can get a pork induced high.

1) Make sure the joint is DRY, like totally dry. So about 8 hours before you cook it take it out of its packaging and dry it with kitchen roll as much as you possibly can

2) Put LOADS of salt on the skin. LOTS and LOTS

3) Add rosemary or thyme, and insert some garlic cloves into the skin

4) When you're ready to cook it you need to BLAST IT for 15 minutes on a seriously high temperature, 245 degrees will do it. Then after 15 minutes turn it down to 210 degrees (it needs to be cooked for 35 minutes per 450g. PLUS the extra 15 minutes for blasting.) 

So there ya go, follow these steps to PORK HEAVEN! 

[nikonstudio]

Common Roast Pork

[bellyspeaks]

This Easter Monday I plan on cooking the juiciest PORK joint in life, am going to test my skills for making the BEST crackling known to man. Brace yourself for lots of pictures of PORK coming soon. Can't wait for my piggy feast. 

[sophietajan-deactivated20150906]

[bonappetit]

Introducing the frittata, where your scraps turn into supper.

(Shot by Brian W. Ferry, Bon Appétit, February 2013)

[bellyspeaks]

RECIPE // Spicy Carrot and Chilli Soup

This is THE most comforting soup I've tasted since my Mums 'chicken and leek showdown.' It's spicy, mega nourishing and only takes a jiffy. 

TAKES... 30 minutes

SERVES... 4

YOU'LL NEED... 

6 large carrots chopped into large chunks 

2 garlic cloves crushed 

1 onion sliced

1 tbsp olive oil 

1 tbsp ground coriander

1 bird eye chilli chopped

1 tbsp garam masala 

1 tbsp mascarpone

1 chicken or vegetable stock cube 

basil leaves to garnish

  THIS IS HOW WE DO IT...

1. Heat up the olive oil in a large saucepan, once hot chuck in the chopped raw carrots and fry for about 3 minutes on a medium/high heat. 

2. Lower the heat and add the onion, chilli and garlic then stir, fry for a further 5 minutes or until soft. 

3. Add the coriander and garam masala, then season well with salt and pepper. Stir the mixture until all combined. 

4. Make 600ml stock and pour onto the carrot mixture.

5. Cook on a low/medium heat for 15 minutes or until carrots are soft enough to blend.

6. Take off the heat and use a food blender to get rid of all the lumps. 

7. Serve with a basil leaf and dollop of mascarpone, yum!