Mayfield Farm

For the first time ever we are repeating a chat but the trip to the Open Day at Mayfield Farm was well worth a second visit. If you would like to visit Mayfield Farm for yourself, the Spring Open day is scheduled for Saturday 13 October 2012. You can email Ian and Sandra for more information.

The can download a copy of the program here.

Easy Peasy Chicken

6 - 8 chicken pieces
2 medium brown onions, peeled and thinlly sliced
1 red capsicum, thinly sliced
1 chorizo sausage, sliced (optional)
1/4 C olive oil
1 head garlic, haleved horizontally

Preheat oven to 200C.

In a large baking dish arrange onion, capsicum and chorizo. Drizzle with half the olive oil.

Place chicken pieces and garlic on top of the other ingredients. Drizzle over the remainder of the oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Bake for 25 - 30 minutes until the chicken is lovely and golden.

Serve with couscous, pasta, rice or lightly steamed cabbage. The juice creates a lovely sauce and the skin on the chicken goes crispy.

Recipe from the Bellingen Public School recipe book.

Image from fullmeals

Pork Cuts

Image from Australian Pork

Crispy Pork Belly with Caramel Vinegar

1.5 kg boned pork belly with skin
2 T sea salt
1 T olive oil, plus extra to drizzle
1/2 C firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 C red wine vinegar
1 cinnamon quill
1 C chicken stock
4 strips pared rind and juice 1 orange
1 long red chilli, seeds removed and very finely sliced

Score the pork skin in a criss-cross pattern with a sharp knife - or ask your butcher to do it for you. Rub salt into skin. Set aside for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 220 C and drizzle a large roasting pan with oil. Wipe salt off the pork with appaer towel and dry well. Place pork in the pan, skin side down, drixxle with a little oil and season. Roast for 30 minutes, then reduce oven to 190 C and roast for another hour. Loosley cover with foil and roast for a further 30 minutes until pork is tender. Remove foil and carefully turn the meat, then return to oven for a further 20 minutes or until skin is crispy. Remove, cover loosley with foil and leave to rest for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the sugar, vinegar and spices in a small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, then increase heat to medium-high and bring to the boil. Simmer over medium-low heat for 7 - 8 minutes until syrupy, then stir in stock and simmer for 5 minutes until slightly reduced. Add orange juice and rind then simmer for 15 minutes until thick and syrupy. Season to taste.

Slice the pork. Drizzle with some of the carmel vinegar and garnish with chilli.

Recipe from delicious. magazine - June 2008, page 88

Image from You Are What You Eat

Lamb Cuts

Image from: Meat and Livestock Australia

Partnering Lamb

Whether you are roasting, grilling, barbequing or casseroling you lamb consider using some of these perefect flavor matches with it:

Garlic, Rosemary, Mint, Thyme, Oregano, Bay Leaves, Parsley, Basil, Coriander, Marjoram, Dill, Sage, Tarragon

Allspice, Paprika, Cloves, Ginger, Lemon Pepper, Curry Powder, Moroccan Spices, Chilli

Lemon

It certainly isn't a comprehensive list - let us know what your favorite combinations for rubs, marinade and sprinkles are.

And the perfect mint sauce is not a bought one:
Mix about 1/2 C vinegar with about 1 1/2 t sugar until dissolved and 3 T  chopped mint.  Allow to sit for at least an hour to let the flavors develop - the longer the sitting, the more flavor.

You can adjust any of these amounts by a very large margin to taste.

Image: from Wizard Recipes - Garlic Roast Leg of Lamb

Moroccan Tagine

2 t vegetable oil
4 forequarter lamb chops
2 C chopped onion
2 large cloves garlic, crushed
1 C carrots, sliced crosswise ½ cm thick
1 large green capsicum, cut into ½ cm strips
1 t ground cumin
½ t each: ground allspice, ground ginger, and turmeric
¼ t each: cinnamon, salt and cayenne pepper
1 C water
1 medium eggplant, peeled and cut into ¼ inch cubes
400 g can chopped tomatoes
400 g can chick peas, rinsed and drained

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Brown lamb chops. Remove and set aside. Add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes. Add carrots, capsicum, spices and ½ C water. Cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes.

Add all remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat, 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir several times during cooking. Serve over couscous or rice.

Bellingen Butchery

You see it on tv all the time - chefs telling us to go to see our local butcher for special cuts of meat, to have our pork scored, or for real information about the food that we are buying. And you know what, you can - especially at Bellingen Butchery.

If you want to find something that suits your budget, have an inquiry about the best cooking method or just want to try something new then Bellingen Butchery is the place to go.

Just ask for Kevin.