Pork Belly

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1 pork belly
Sea Salt
Olive oil

Score the pork belly about 1cm deep with diagonally criss crossed cuts about 1 inch apart.
Rub in lots of sea salt and olive oil and marinade for at least 1 hour in the fridge.

Put the pork on a roasting tray, elevated with a grill.
Put a cup of water in the roasting tray (the pork should not be touching the water).
The centre of the pork belly should be raised to avoid fat from pooling in the middle of the belly. I put an egg cup under the middle belly.
Cover the pork with aluminium foil and put it in a low temp oven (150 degrees) for 40 minutes.
After 40 mins remove the foil and let it cook for another 2-4 hours.
just before you take it out turn the oven up 240C if it hasn't already crackled.

yum.

Custard pastry puffs.

Fresh Filo or Puff Pastry

Custard:
1 vanilla bean
2 teaspoons corn flour
½ cup caster sugar
1 egg
200ml full cream milk
100ml pure cream

½ cup clarified butter, for brushing
Icing sugar, to dust

Sauce:
Figs or Similar fresh fruit
Marsala alcohol
1/2 cup caster sugar
Cinnamon stick

Trout with Wine Cream Sauce

Trout with Wine Cream Sauce

4 rashers bacon
60g bacon
1/4c oil
1/2c mayo
1c dry white wine
2t french mustard
3/4c sour cream
90g slivered almonds
6 shallots

Chop bacon and fry off. Cook almonds in bacon fat – drain. Cool. Chop shallots & add to bacon/almond mix.

Bring wine, mustard to the boil. Add mayo and sour cream and stir until thickened.

Serve with warmed trout.

Brewing technique

I've been home brewing lately. Heres a recipe and technique dump.

EQUIPMENT

-- URN --

If your doing your own hopping, specialty grains, or even whole grain brew then buy yourself a hot water urn, the type used for tea and coffee water. I found a 35L urn with a variable 30 - 110C thermostat on ebay for $175. Its great for getting the temperature just right for mashing and to prevent overboiling when hopping, plus you can just leave it and do something else during that time.

You will also need a "Brew In A Bag" (BIAB) bag if your going to do a whole grain brew. Otherwise a stocking is probably good enough for hopping or specialty grains.

RECIPES

Indian Pale Ale

Ingredients for (25 L):
(3 kg) light or amber plain dried malt extract
A large hand full of OAK chips in the primary fermenter
(10 g) gypsum
American-type ale yeast

Specialty grains
Steep for 30 mins at 70C
(580 g) crystal malt
(300 g) toasted malted barley

Hops
(72 g) Northern Brewer hops (boiling @ 60): 16 HBU (450 MBU)
(27 g) Cascade hops (finishing @ 1 min)

To toast malted barley preheat the oven to 180 and spread the whole malted barley on a cooking sheet. Will be done in 10 mins.

OatMeal Stout

All Grain Recipe - Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout ::: 1.055/1.014 (5.5 Gal)

Grain Bill (70% Efficiency assumed)

8 lbs. - 2 Row Pale Malt (UK if you have it, but whatever)
1 lb. - Flaked Oats
1/2 lb. - Crystal Malt (60L)
1/2 lb. - Chocolate Malt
1/4 lb. - Roasted Barley

Hop Schedule (31 IBU)

1.75 oz. - East Kent Goldings - 90 min.

Yeast

White Labs Irish Ale Yeast (WLP004) - 1800 ml starter

Mash/Sparge/Boil

Mash at 151° for 60 min.
Sparge as usual
Boil for 90 minutes (remember to compensate your water)
Cool and ferment at 65° to 68°

Weizenbier

Ingredients for 25L
(4 kg) half-and-half wheat and barley malt extract syrup (there
are many brands)
(27 g) Hallertauer hops (boiling for 1hour) 4 HBU
German wheat beer-type yeast
(13 g) Hallertauer hops (boiling 10min)

James Squire Golden Ale knock off

2.8 Kgs of Unhopped Pale LME
1.3 Kgs of Unhopped Wheat LME

Specialty grains
0.3 Kgs Crystal malt - steeped for 20mins

Hops
28gms POR @ 60mins
15gms Amarillo (8.4%) @ 10mins
20gms Amarillo (8.4%) @ 0mins

US-56 Yeast
26L batch

Coopers Stout Recipe:
- 1 can of Cooper's stout
- 1 Can of Cooper's dark ale
- 1 kg of dextrose or BE2
- 2x Cinamon stick
- 1 heaped spoon of nutmeg

Specialty grains
- 250g chocolate malt
- 250g crystal malt
- 125g black patent malt

Hops
- 0.8oz Pride of Ringwood for 60min
- 0.7oz E.K. Goldings for 10 min

Re-cultured Cooper's yeast or both the kit yeasts
Note: The cans are already hopped so the above additional hops only give around 15 IBU, but with the included hops it should bring it to a typical stout range 15-50

Coopers Vintage Clone:
- 1kg DDME
- 2kg LDME
- 1 tin Amber liquid malt extract (or 1kg of LDME if that's all you've got)
- 75g wheat malt

Specialty grains
- 250g crystal malt
- 125g dark chocolate malt
- 125g victory malt

Hops
- 25g Pride of Ringwood hops for 60 mins
- 20g E.K. Goldings hops for 15 mins

Ginger Beer:
- 3/4 kilo of ginger finely grated + the juice.
- 1/4 kg of brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (added bite)
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar (acid balance & smooth mouth feel)
- fresh lemon and/or lime sliced thinly or juice & zest only. You could try oranges too.
- 1 tin of ginger beer brew.
- 3/4 kg of Coopers Brew Enhancer 2 (1/2 dextrose 1/2DME)

1. Boil all this up and let it cool before using it
2. Cool to 25C
3. 1 sachet yeast

If you can get real! maple syrup, not the fake stuff then
• substitute maple syrup for some of the sugar

Mead
Times everything by 4 for a 25 L carboy.
- in 4L water
- 25 raisins
- 2grams of gypsum
- Ginger (optional 70g/5L)
- Rosemary (optional)
- Cloves 1/2 tsp (optional)
- Nutmeg (optional)
- Cinamon 1 tsp (optional)
- 4 lemon peels, or a whole orange
- 1 Tea bag
- 1.8 kg of Honey (Clover or Alfalfa honey is best)
- 14 grams citric acid (or acid blend, citric, malic, tartaric)
- Yeast nutrient booster (very important in mead)
- Wine Yeast

Method:
- Add 1/4 tsp/5L of irish moss @ 5 mins.
- Heat all up to just below boiling for 15 minutes
- Skim all the scum off that comes to the top
- Cool
- Shake vigorously to aerate
- Add starter
- Brew at 25C (slightly higher than beer)

CALCULATORS

Here's how to calculate how many IBU you will end up with

Heres how to work out your Original Gravity for Extract beers

Here's typical bitterness ranges of most beers

Here's the typical range of %AA of common hop types (read your labels)

Specialty grain breakdown

Track your brews with this chart

1 lbs grain = .75 lbs LME = .60 lbs DME

BREW TECHNIQUE:

-- STARTER CULTURE: --
Creating a Starter culture the night before the main brew
- 2L empty coke bottle with air lock
- 1 Litre of water
- 1/2 cup of LDME

Boil for 10 minute to remove chlorine
Cool to 20C
Add Yeast
Put in bottle
Shake a lot!

-- DECHLORINATING WATER FOR MAIN BREW --
The Night before brewing fill your urn with water so that the total volume is 30 L
Boil for 10 mins (dechlorinate) and let cool overnight

-- Specialty grains (MiniMash) --
Take flavouring grains (example)
- 250g crystal malt
- 125g dark chocolate malt
- 125g victory malt
If they are not pre cracked then crack them with a roling pin in ziplock bag
Put them in Cotton bag/Stocking
Add to pot
Heat up to 76.7C and keep at this temperature for 30 minutes. If doing full grain keep at this
temperature for 1hour
Take out Grain bag and DO NOT SQUEEZE - Discard

-- Adding Malts --
Bring pot to almost boil
Add Malt extracts

-- BOILING --
Don't boil with the lid ON. You want sulphur compounds to boil away.

-- Calculate Hops/Confirm OG --
You should already know how many hops you want to use from the above listed tools but it might be useful to confirm your og at this stage using this temperature adjusted hydrometer calculator.

-- Bittering Hops --
Add bittering Hops
example
~ 20g Pride Of Ringwood: Poor, citric aroma; Clean bittering hop
Boil for 45 min

-- Flavouring Hops --
Add flavouring hops
example
~25g of East Kent Goldings
Boil for 10 mins

-- Wort Chiller Prep --
If everything has been brewed in a huge pot then you will need to use a wort chiller.
Alternatively you can brew in a smaller volume and add that to cold water already in your carboy.
Insert the wort chiller so that it is sterile and ready for later

-- Aroma Hops --
Add Aroma Hops
example
~ 12g of East Kent goldings: Spicy/floral, earthy, rounded, mild aroma; spicy flavor
Boil for 5 mins

-- Clarifying --
Add 1/2 tsp Irish Moss (agar) @ <5 mins to end of boil -- Cool the wort -- Either; 1. Run water through the wort chiller When the wort is 26C? poor/siphon through colinder into carboy 2. Fill the carboy with some cold dechlorinated water and then pour the hot mash into the carboy aiming for a final temperature of 26C. Shake the carboy to aerate the mixture. Regardless of how it is cooled you should pour the mixture through a strainer into the Carboy to remove the bittering hops, grains and protein break. -- Add Dry Hops -- Add your dry hops just before the yeast is pitched. If possible, do this in a stocking bag -- Pitch Yeast + Growth enhancers -- If doing high specific gravity beer add Yeast growth enhancer Aerate the carboy by shacking it vigorously once shut -- Primary Fermentation -- Complete when bubbles stop ~ 2-4 days -- Secondary Fermentation / Dry Hopping -- The purpose of this is to decrease autolysis flavours of dead yeast. Siphon off primary ferment into second carboy for 1-2 weeks. I'm not entirely convinced by the need for this. I would rather just bottle a couple of days after primary fermentation has stopped. Most of the yeast has settled by this time. The only reason I can see for doing this is when you want to dry hop. Hops can also be added at this time (called dry hopping) to improve the aroma. --Bottling-- Use Dextrose as priming sugar Siphon off a saucepan of beer and add 1.125 cups of dextrose (per 28L beer) Add back to carboy and mix vigourously Bottle + Cap OTHER NOTES

1.If you can get one of those new carboys which allow you to remove the krausen head, do so. Apparently the krausen head will effect beer flavour slightly.

Nio Rou Mian

This has got to be one of my favourite soups.

Looks like this

You will need a large pot > 7L, and a fry pan.

Take 1.5 kg of chuck steak (stewing steak). Cut it into 1 square inch pieces.
Brown the outside in the fry pan and set it aside.

In the large pot add the following.

1 Stock cube chicken or vegetable stock
1 Stock cube beef stock.
1 large nodule of ginger (sliced)
2 table spoons of Chili Paste in Soya bean oil.
1 tsp sesame oil
A hand full of sliced spring onions (you can substitute with onion)
1/2 a bulb (several cloves) of sliced garlic
1 4x4cm section of dried tangerine peel (substitute with any citrus skin)
5 star anise*
1 large cinnamon stick*
2 tsp of brown sugar
1/2 cup of dark soy
1/2 cup of light soy
1 tsp of ground black pepper
1 Tbsp white rice wine vinegar
3/4 cup of Szechuan pepper, aka - Ma huājiāo, aka peppertree pricklyash*
1 Tbsp of chili oil
2 Tbsp of dried chili flakes
The seared 1.5 kg of chuck steak from above.

Fill with water to 7L mark.
Simmer for 5 or more hours.

You will know its ready when the previously tough steak falls to pieces in your mouth. The soup tastes best on Day 3 when the flavours have had time to mix.

For eating I add the following directly to the serving bowl.
Some lightly steamed Chinese broccoli
A sprig of coriander (cilantro)
Some Udon noodles (previously boiled for 3-5 min)

To sling or not to sling?

I've always been interested in ancient forms of warfare, and you cant get more ancient than the sling.
I made this sling out of lambs leather and hemp string. The string is a single piece woven through the entire sling. It throws golf balls around 150+ meters. I hope to try out some traditional ammunition (lead balls) but have nowhere to safely throw such things.
Wondering what a sling can do? check out this guys style, and I don't mean the pants.
Wiki quote: "The current Guinness World Record distance of an object thrown with a sling stands at 477.0 m, set by David Engvall in 1992 using a metal dart"

How to make Biltong (my way)

Biltong is a style of dried meat

This recipe is derived from a number of different recipes that I found on the web and some hints and tips that were passed down the generations of my wife's side of the family.

Ingredients:

Rock salt
Apple Cider Vinegar

Biltong Spice:
per kilo of meat
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup of coriander (cilantro) seeds (dry fry then blend them to a powder)
1 teaspoon of blended pepper corns
Optional (Ground dried chilli to taste)

I pre-make the biltong spice and freeze large batches of it. It's important to heat up the coriander before you blend it all together.

As far as I know you can use any meat, with the exception of pork. Apparently pork goes rancid rather than curing. You can even use fish, though I have never tried.

I like to use a cut of silverside, or top side beef. The long straight grain of the meat makes it easy to cut into strips and hang, plus its fairly inexpensive. The downside is, silverside has little fat which some people like in their biltong.

Make sure your surfaces, knives and hands are clean, this meat is going to hang raw for a long period so we want to minimise any type of contamination.

I've purchased around 3 kilos of silverside, theres another piece in the fridge.

Cut the meat into 1-2 inch think strips along the grain

Lay the meat on a bed of rock salt and cover it with more salt. I use mostly rock salt and sometimes sprinkle a fine coat of table salt.

Let the meat salt for 2-3 hours in the fridge covered with cling wrap. You can vary the saltiness by reducing or increasing this time. A large amount of moisture will come out of the meat so make sure your tray wont leak.

Scrape off all salt with knife (do not wash)
Submerge the meat in apple cider Vinegar for a minute.
Optional (mix the vinegar with some Worcestershire sauce or your favourite spicy sauce)










Take out the meat and roll it in the biltong spice







Hang the meat in your drying cupboard with 60 watt globe and 12cm case fan. There are plenty of instructions on the web about how to build one of these boxes. Mine differs slightly from most in that I have a small computer fan circulating air through the box, I find that this allows me to fit more meat into a smaller area and dry it quicker. Die hard biltong makers prefer to let the meat dry slower as it has a better taste, a luxury that I with my limited space cannot afford.

The meat is usually ready in 4-8 days depending on the size of the cut and the drying chamber.

Hints and tips:
Humidity and mould are your enemy. If your meat starts to get small white dots on it (mould) you have two options.
1. Throw the meat out and review your drying area
2. Brush the meat with cider vinegar to kill the fungus
I've only had this happen once when I tried to make biltong in the middle of winter in our laundry whilst frequently using the clothes dryer.

Don't crowd your meat whilst its drying. The only reason I get away with 3 kilos is such a small space is due to the small PC fan. More meat equals more moisture, more moisture equals fungus.

You can freeze biltong for storage. I usually make bulk 3+ kilo amounts and then freeze it in separate bags.