Pig - using everything but the Oink!

Well, the title is misleading, but I like it, and one day, maybe I will........

We recently killed a pig and I decided to have my first crack at bacon, make some brawn and try some things that we don't normally eat. We had some of the liver, which we don't normally eat and I don't think we will bother again! It's a lot stronger than beef liver.

Today I had my first try of the brawn.....I will be doing that again! It's made from the head and the feet of the pig. I did half a head and two trotters - next time I would add more meatie stuff like the hocks or shoulder chops, but even as it is it's really good and it just set so perfectly. The addition of the trotters is to add the extra geletin that's needed to make it set and hold together. When I cooked the brawn I included both ears, but took them out before making the brawn. I wanted to try something with them, as I'd seen a recipe in a recipe book - Crispy Pigs Ears. The recipe didn't quite work, but it was very good.

The ears are sliced and then crumbed and fried and finished off in the oven. My crumbs didn't stick but the idea is good and I will be trying again to perfect it - just need to wait until we kill another pig. I served the ears with some wilted greens - shallots, asparagus, snowpeas and warrigal greens. Everything was home grown - well, the warrigal greens were picked out of the paddock. They are a native green vegetable and is used just like spinach. It grows on creek and river flats naturally, and is really nice. It's similar to spinach in that it should be cooked, although I have used it in pesto and salads without any dramas. I think you need to eat about 4 cups in one sitting to be a problem, so that's not likely!

If anyone wants the recipe for Brawn or Crispy Pigs Ears, you will have to ask for it. I will post a photo of my brawn as it looked really good!

The bacon was also really good! I didn't smoke it as I don't have a smoke house, it was just cured in the fridge for a couple of weeks and then I sliced it. So simple and I don't know why I haven't done it before. My brother just visited and brought me some home smoked ham and bacon, so I will enjoy comparing my bacon with his!

Mushrooming

Spring is sprung and we have had some lovely rain! This also means mushroom time! I went out yesterday afternoon and collected about 1kg and then this morning another 1/2 kg for breakfast! Will go again this afternoon, and maybe for a couple of days, but as it warms up, they will finish up. Some people are a little concerned about eating wild mushrooms and rightly so. However we have been eating wild mushrooms for many years - I never even liked mushrooms until my husband brought home a hatful one time after we were first married. I'm in Central Queensland and I know I can eat these mushrooms, but if you live anywhere else, PLEASE check with someone who knows before you eat any wild mushrooms. The main thing to look for is pink to brown gills - if they are white under neath, don't even think about it. There are two types of mushrooms that I know of that are brown under - one you can eat and one you can't. If they are brown to goldie coloured on the top, and usually a little pointy, DO NOT eat these ones. The edible ones tend to be almost flat and white on top. Sometimes they can have a little colouring on top, but not too much.

If your mushrooms look like these, they should be pretty right. Last year we had heaps and I made mushroom soup, mushroom sauce, froze some and just generally we ate mushrooms for a week! I will dry some this time, as I think that might be better than freezing. They go very soft and mushie when frozen, but are great for soups and stews. I'll put some of my mushroom recipes on the Recipe Page.
Goodluck! And remember, don't touch them unless they are pinkie brown underneath and not gold on top!

Paddock to Plate

Tomorrow we are taking some ducks to Biloela to be processed (is that the right word?). Because our ducks were such prolific breeders, we've got more ducklings than we could eat, so we will get them professionally killed so that we can sell some. This will be our first paddock to plate experience, so it's a bit exciting. We've already asked around and have orders, but hopefully we will get to keep some! Although....I'm not sure whether we will get full value as I keep the feet for stock and the livers for pate when we do them ourselves. Maybe we'll have to keep the next lot just for us!

We are still in the process of getting the free range pig business off the ground, as there is so much red tape to go through. It bugs me that we have to get all sorts of approvals to have pigs and yet we don't intend managing them and their grazing any different than if they were cattle. Unfortunately the powers that be treat free range pigs the same as intensive shedded pigs. Doesn't make a lot of sense, but why should that surprise me!

The other hold up for us is getting the work done that needs to be done - fences and yards for the pigs. I'm busy with my day job and can't help much. We're thinking of getting backpackers or wwoofers to help out so that may make life easier. Who wouldn't want to come here and be part of our farm enterprise? It should be a novelty for most people I think, to have fresh cows milk, eggs, our own meat from ducks, pigs, cattle and soon we will have goat meat! We have 4 young ones - 2 males and 2 females. We will eat the males and then breed with the females - just to have some meat for ourselves, not to sell.

Blog problems!!!!

I have been trying to comment on the previous comment and for some stupid reason, I can't even comment on my own blog site.....sometimes I hate technology!!! Anyway, I had some witty, intelligent comment about fruit and veggies, which doesn't sound witty and intelligent when you try and put it in a comment about 10 times! So....this post is just to say....that if a teenage boy who has very rarely eaten veggies and another teenager that always has, says that green pawpaw is nice as a veggie, than it must be! Don't knock it until you try it!

Pawpaw - vegetable or fruit? Or both?

I've just discovered pawpaw as a veggie! I've made an Asian style pawpaw salad before, which is really nice, however cooking it as a vegetable is delicious. I've only used really green pawpaws for both. As a cooked vegetable it's very similar to parsnip in taste. I've tried it roasted as well as fried. It's really nice fried in butter with garlic and onion. If you have a tree, give it a try, you will be pleasantly surprised.

Preserved Fish

I had a profitable trip to Rockhampton today. I have this fantastic brother-in-law who loves fishing - I love fish, so it's great when we do some horsetrading (well I should say protein trading). Anyway, I am currently boiling up some trevally, which he assures me is very like tuna. I will then preserve the fish in oil - tomorrow morning. It's an Italian method of preserving fish - the fish (usually tuna) is boiled in very salty water, then drained and left to cool overnight. The fish is flaked and place in jars with some herbs, garlic, chilli and oil and put into a water bath for a period of time to seal the jars. I've done tuna before and it was so nice that I've been hoping for an opportunity to have another go. I've even bought myself some new fowlers vacola jars to do it properly! I can preserve it in brine also, so I may do a jar of that to see what it's like. I'll try and remember to post some photos of the finished product.

Pastured Chicken

I had an absolutely delicious roast chicken dinner the other night. It was raised by a friend, who has just started a pastured chicken business. His chickens are moved around his paddocks and grazed on fresh grass all the time. He's using a trailer for their housing - he locks them in each night. Then during the day they are let out - he uses portable netting so that they don't roam too far. It tasted so good and  I really hope that he can make a successful business out of it. He's just starting out and is selling them all locally - Central Queenland.

If anyone wants to know how to get hold of some, just leave a comment and I will put you in touch with him.