Brawn Recipe

So, my previous post shared 'why Brawn', so this post is the 'how!'

Recipe
1 Pigs Head (including Ears)
2 Pigs Trotters
3 Large Carrots
1 Large White Onion
Bunch of Fresh Thyme
3 Cloves
4 Bay Leaves
Handful of Black Peppercorns
2 Sticks of Celery
1 kg Table salt

On my return from the Farm Shop in Stokenham, I set to work. First I burnt all the hair and eye lashes off of the Pigs Head, using a cooks blowtorch. Next I cleaned the ears and nose, finally followed by the teeth - using an old toothbrush and soap. Much of the bacteria lives around the mouth, nose and ears, so it's important to clean these thoroughly.

Next I placed him in a large bucket with 3 litres of cold water and around 1kg of salt, just ordinary table salt is fine here. Here he sat in cool place for 24 hours, in my case my utility room. After about 18 hours, I put in the 2 pigs trotters and the ears, to sit in the brine for the final 6 hours.

The following day I brought him back to the kitchen and rinsed him thoroughly to remove the salt.

Next I placed him in a large stockpot and covered with cold water. In with the water I placed 3 large carrot, 1 white onion, a good bunch of thyme, 3 cloves, a handful of black peppercorns, 4 bay leaves and 2 sticks of celery. This was all brought to the boil, covered and simmered for 4.5 hours. I then allowed this to cool overnight, again back in my utility.

Finally, on the Sunday I strained off about a litre of the cooking stock into a jug, removed the head and discarded all the other ingredients and remaining stock. I then set about picking all of the meat from the head and slicing the tongue into similar sized pieces. Using a 2lb loaf tin, first I lined it with cling-film as smoothly as possible. In the base, I decorated with Bay Leaves so that when you turn the terrine out, it looks attractive for serving.

Next I layered the pulled pork and cooking stock until the tin was filled. Covering the top of the Brawn, I added a weight - in this case I used a 1 kg bag of rice, because that was handy. Place the tin and weight in the fridge for around 12 hours to allow the jelly to set. I cut it into thick slices and served with New Potatoes, Red Onion Chutney and a green salad.

Yes, I had achieved it... The sense of satisfaction was great - I really felt that I had defeated quite a large task and was proud!

Now, the most important thing to remember here is Brawn is not everyone's idea of a good meal, there are a lot of people out there who would not consider trying it, put off by its ingredients. No-one I know would consider eating it.

Brawn freezes really well, so I sliced my Brawn, wrapped in Cling-film, labelled and put in the freezer.

Brawn is an old fashioned dish, created in a time where the whole animal needed to be made use of, this nose-to-tail concept that I mentioned in my earlier blog post.

If you would like to have a go at this, but the whole Pigs Head thing is not for you, the same principle could apply to a whole chicken instead, follow the above recipe, but halve everything and use a whole chicken, simmer for around 2.5-3 hours instead of the full 4.5 hours as with the Pigs Head Brawn, depending on the size of the chicken you are using. Cover with 1.5 - 2 litres of water and add 4-500g salt;

Recipe for Chicken Terrine

1 Large, whole Chicken

2 Medium Carrots

1 Medium White Onion

Bunch of Fresh Thyme

2 Cloves

2 Bay Leaves

Around 8-10 Black Peppercorns

1 Sticks of Celery

500g Table Salt

Using another cut of the pig would also be fine, shoulder would work well for example.

My Finished Dish - Served here with Homemade Red Onion Chutney

So, this challenge has now been defeated. I may make some attempts at some other terrines now that I've done this one. Have fun with this, let me know if you have a go - or would like any further advice!