Offally Good Value

The daily news bulletins describing the horrendous state of the UK and world economy are understandably alarming and soul destroying. Belts are being tightened and the pennies counted but something positive has come of the monotonous monetary doom and gloom.

More and more people (myself included) are turning to cheaper cuts of meat and the resurgence of offal related recipes. Nose to Tail fortnight (in association with Sustain) kicks off in May to celebrate this and top chefs will be encouraged to use meat more thoughtfully and less wastefully and diners persuaded to experiment and branch out into dishes with less favoured - but no less flavoured (see what I did there) - meats.

I know that a lot of budding amateur chefs have been cooking all sorts of animal bits for some time, however this is somewhat new to me. My reaction was always the same as most people's is now. Mention a cheek, tail or tongue and their look turns to disgust, repulsed that anyone could put such a thing in their mouth. (The temptation to wade in with Tulisa related jibes is almost over powering - but I shall resist). A familiar retort is, 'if I didn't know what it was, I probably wouldn't mind'. When a friend recently sampled my Ox Cheeks in Plum Porter (scroll down and you'll find the recipe) they remarked that it tasted better than most expensive cuts they had tried. This may of course be the Porter - not the Ox.

Don't get me wrong, I do sometimes baulk when prepping. Making the afforementioned, the removal of facial hair (the animal's not mine) was a little disturbing but it was all worth it in the end. The key also was that my mate (he used to be known as the Beer Investigator but now goes by the name of Panna Cotta Price - but that's a whole new blog!) supplied me with enough cow face to feed my whole street - for just 2 quid.

I'm not sure I could eat the whole animal. As I write, Serious Eats have just posted a recipe that to be honest, sounds and looks horrific - Fried Pig's Ear Salad. A recent gift also endorsed this. Fergus Henderson's 'Nose To Tail Eating' (watch him shave and cook a pig's head) contains some fantastic recipes however Cold Lamb's Brains on Toast and Rolled Pigs Spleen really don't set my taste buds gushing.

I can honestly say that the ox cheeks have been a welcome revelation to me and have been used in a chilli and a curry since. For this my thanks to Panna Cotta Price. I shall keep going and attempt the whole animal. If you don't think about what it is you have put in your mouth you probably won't regret it. Tulisa?

Ox Cheeks and a Porter

I know I have been guilty of going on (and on and on...) on Twitter about Titanic's Plum Porter. For this, I make no apologies. This award winning addition to the Stoke-on-Trent brewery's fleet is exceptional. So imagine the jigs of delight (or maybe don't) when I heard that Morrison's were to stock a bottled version branded as Hedgerow Porter. At only £1.50 for a 500ml bottle it all seemed to good to be true!

Admittedly there was a little cynicism as it is rare for the pint over the bar to ever taste anything like that from the bottle. Such negativity was ill founded.

Dependent on how chilled you like your bottled ales it's only a matter of time till the natural plum flavour hits - basically, the colder the quicker.

The depth and strength of the beer I believed would lend itself perfectly to ox cheeks and a lengthy spell in the slow cooker. Simple and hearty and the Porter proves a perfect ingredient.

Put 4 roughly chopped ox cheeks (trimmed of fat and of course - moustache and beard) in the slow cooker. Add whatever veg you fancy and can fit but I used 2 chopped carrots and a stick of celery - also chopped, a diced onion and half a dozen cloves of garlic - peeled and pressed. Pour over the bottle of Plum, add a tablespoon of cocoa powder and a hefty pinch of celery salt and pepper. Stir, making sure the cheeks are covered in the liquid. If not - add more Porter!

Put the cooker on low and leave. I left mine for about 10 hours, stirringly occasionally and adding a little more seasoning and a pinch more cocoa towards the end.

Reserve about half of the remaining liquid and bring it to the boil, add a couple of slugs of a decent red wine and a good pinch of brown sugar. Reduce by half. I served (enough for 2 people in this instance) with sweet jacket potatoes, a dollop of soured cream and the reserved jus.

Maybe it is too good to be true. The Hedgerow is a limited edition so I suggest you get it while you can.

*Adapted from a recipe by Chow*

What are you waiting for Stoke-on-Trent?

For a considerable amount of time now my good friend Neil has continually recommended several food establishments that are a 'must' visit. On my recent trip to London, I was able to witness first hand exactly what it was that stimulated his taste buds so significantly – several of them in one day!

The night prior to our food fest, a visit to The Coach and Horses where simple yet exquisite food and a couple of excellent real ales (this night the bar held pristinely well kept Timothy Taylors and Hooky) served as an excellent pre-cursor to the delights that were in store the following day. My starter of hash brown with chorizo and a soft boiled egg a particular highlight yet there wasn’t one dish on the menu that I dismissed as unattractive either to the eye or the palate.

Our day of grazing began at Moolis. On all my London sorties bar none, a pilgrimage to the Indian street food bar is a standing item on the agenda. Recently taken over and due for imminent expansion my keema mini mooli didn’t disappoint as is always the case. Discussions ensued and are still continuing on the similarities between proper Staffordshire oatcakes and rotis. But more on that at a later date. The first recommended stop on the Foodathon was Pitt Cue Co. The small but beautifully formed restaurant and bar near Carnaby Street tends to have queues throughout most of the day and it isn’t difficult to see why. The menu is simple yet astounding.

Pulled pork, burnt end mash, house sausage, chipotle slaw, a slice of sourdough bread, all accompanied by the house pickled cucumber and onion. Normally not a dessert fan, I agreed to ‘sample’ the Sticky Toffee Pudding with a bourbon and caramel sauce. Those three words, ‘Sticky Toffee Pudding’ normally induce horrific flashbacks to school dinners and clumpy, stodgy slabs of gloop that need a glass of paint stripper to suitably wash down.

How wrong such presumptions were in this case. The pudding was rich but unbelievably light and the sauce was a revelation.




‘Sampling’ led to an empty plate. However, for me this wasn’t the extraordinary experience of my visit to Pitt Cue Co. As we meandered through the ever-bustling streets of the capital, it had been casually dropped into conversation that I HAD to try a Pickleback. Intrigued, my initial enthusiasm was somewhat dampened by the description of it’s constituent parts. A shot of bourbon immediately followed by a shot of the house pickling vinegar. No – really. It is a phenomenon. The mixture of the shots turns two extremes of taste into what can only be described as a liquid Big Mac.

You have to try it. A bottle of Kernel Pale Ale served as a very favourable chaser.


Our tour continued with a brief stop at a pop up food stall in Soho and a sweet pastry - a char sui filled delight – I’m quickly running out of superlatives. Let’s just say an immense little snack.


Onwards then to MEATLiquor. What started as some guys selling burgers from a van has turned into a restaurant where once again, queues at the door are a regular feature.


The building used to house a refined Italian restaurant but now has a vibrancy and energy that is enhanced by a continual buzz of happy and fulfilled diners and the constant scurrying of attentive waitresses. Satirical sketches and highly amusing quotes and instructions adorn the walls. We had a Dead Hippie burger – MEATLiquor’s take on a Big Mac - and a chicken burger - deep fried chicken pieces in a very thin batter with Frank’s red-hot chilli sauce.

With all due respect to other burgers I’ve had the pleasure of consuming, these pair were probably the best I’ve had the good fortune to sample and were washed down with lageritas and cideritas. The clues are in the names so I’ll let you work it out. Some drinks are served in jam jars ensuring the cocktail making procedure is quicker, quirkier and original.


Our day of significant food consumption concluded at Tsuru and a spicy scotch egg with shichimi salt, a portion of chicken kara-age -Tsuru’s delightful take on chicken nuggets- all washed down with a bottle of Asahi.


A common theme to this truly outstanding day was the simplicity of the food at every stop of our London grazing. All of the dishes sampled were no nonsense yet unique and small touches of originality either in presentation or preparation, make them exceptional.

Stoke-on-Trent take note...