Black pudding is one of the oldest known sausages. Possibly the oldest. There are many varieties around the world, and there is a train of thought amongst butchers that says making a black pudding is possibly the oldest butchery skill.Ìę

It’s a tasty roll of heaven that has served us well for generations. It has its detractors, but for us a breakfast has a missing ingredient if it doesn’t include black pudding. We’ve had a deeper look into all things around this bloody majestic marvel.

What is it made of?

We’ll get straight to the point. Black pudding is made with blood. Usually pigs blood. While ‘pure’ blood sausages are common across Europe, in Britain we have a long tradition of adding coarsely milled grains like oats or pearl barley to these types of sausages. They ensure that the mixture of stock, blood ground fat and meat has a nice firm consistency when cooled. The grain soaks up the lovely savoury juices and gives the sausage its ‘pudding’ texture.

Why is it called black pudding?

Blood sausage first arrived in the UK via European monks. They called it ‘blutwurst’ which means blood sausage. As mentioned, it could be the oldest sausage around. It is referenced in 800 BC and the oldest detailed recipe is from the Romans around the 4th Century. Proper old. The name variant of ‘blood sausage’ moved along to blood pudding and then finally to black pudding, with the term ‘blak podyngs’ being recorded in the 15th century.

Is Black Pudding a superfood?

No. Sorry it's not. There were claims a few years ago that it was, but that was just marketing noise from the fitness community rather than fact. It’s not all bad news though, it is a great source of protein. The fact it’s made of blood makes it naturally high in iron and zinc, both of which are brilliant. Iron helps to metabolize proteins and plays a vital role in the production of hemoglobin and red blood cells. Zinc helps maintain an active immune system, aids healing and helps the body to break down carbohydrates.Ìę It’s also packed with potassium, calcium and magnesium, so although not a superfood, it is super food.Ìę

So is Black Pudding bad for you?

Again no. Fat and salt content can be a concern, but as with most things, and especially sausage that varies. Some varieties of black pudding can contain up to 25% fat, whereas the lower end of that scale tend to be less than 3%. As we’ve said many times, sausage is a personal taste. Black pudding is no different. Some people like a different variety. There is no right or wrong. Only flavour.Ìę

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What does Black Pudding taste like?

Rich and velvety, with a flavour that is both deeply savoury but also slightly sweet. It’s not for everyone, and our American friends in particular struggle with the texture (and its main ingredient!).Ìę Ìę Ìę

How do you cook Black Pudding?

There is an art to cooking a good black pudding. Generally it is fried, but you can also bake or boil it, depending on if you’re having slices or the whole thing.

To fry, get a shallow non-stick frying pan hot, slice the black pudding thickly at least 1.5cm, then place them cut-side down in the pan with a little oil. Leave the slices to form a nice crust about 3-4 minutes, before you turn them over. This will help hold them together. Be careful when turning and let the other side crisp. When cooked, lightly pat with some kitchen roll.

If you want to boil a black pudding DO NOT slice it first. Bring a pan of water to a gentle simmer then add the whole black pudding and let it cook on a simmer for 6-8 minutes. Don’t let the water boil as it will cause the skin to split and the pudding will take on water. When cooked, remove the pudding from the water and slice to serve.

To oven bake, slice into 1.5cm thick slices, place on a baking tray and pop into a preheated oven at 190°C (gas mark 4) for 6-8 minutes, turning once half-way through.

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Where does the best Black pudding come from?

Now there’s a question! Lancashire is arguably the place most associated with it in Britain. Bury, and Bury Market, if we’re being very specific. Nearby Ramsbottom hosts theÌęWorld Black Pudding Throwing Championships which gives an indication of just how serious they take their Black Pudding in that county. Much to Lancastrian’s dismay, Black Pudding in the UK almost certainly originated in Yorkshire (from the European monks). The Black Country in the Midlands, also has a claim for being Black Pudding Country, but that’s more to do with pork production in that part of the country.

If it’s a pure question of quality, Stornoway Black Pudding takes some beating. In 2013, it was granted PGI status (Protected Geographical Indicator of Origin) by the European Union. This means that producers outside ofÌęthe area can no longer use the “Stornoway” label and it is made exclusively in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis in the Western Isles or (Outer Hebrides) of Scotland

What recipes can you use it in?

Although most famously served for breakfast, it’s not the only place for it. It goes lovely with seafood, especially scallops or lobster. It’s equally at home in a hotpot, or is lovely to flavour and beef out mash potato. As pretty basic northerners our favourite is straight from the pan, served on buttered toast, with a dollop of English Mustard.ÌęÌę

People have been salting and curing meat for centuries (if not millennia). In the main the principals haven’t changed a great deal.Ìę

How to make bacon at home is really not that hard. What you do need to have is time (which isn’t a problem at the moment), some patience, and the right kit and equipment. You’ll have to wait a good few days for your work to come to fruition on your plate. The time you spend to ‘make’ the bacon is really quick. It generally takes under ten minutes to (begin) turning a slab of pork belly into delicious streaky bacon.Ìę Ìę

People have been salting and curing meat for centuries (if not millennia). In the main the principals haven’t changed a great deal. Salt is used to draw out liquid from the meat, so it lasts longer without spoiling.Ìę

Although born as a preserving technique, our appetite for salted meat is now flavour based

While every nation has its own take on curing to some extent, and there are thousands of variations, there are still only two essential ingredients needed to preserve meat. Salt and Air. The very best dried ham in the world, regardless of where they’re from, are generally produced with just these two ingredients.Ìę

Although born as a preserving technique, our appetite for salted meat is now flavour based, with bacon the curing king. It’s no surprise that most vegetarian converts admit they miss bacon.Ìę

The easiest way to start with making bacon at home is the old fashioned way. Dry curing. This is nothing more or less than the direct application of salt to meat. If you can get hold of some proper curing salt or bacon cure, we’d advise using that. It does contain sodium nitrate, which makes the alluring pink colour, adds flavour and slightly speeds up the curing process.Ìę

There’s lots of stockists out there, especially online based. are top guys, and super helpful for beginners. are mainly trade suppliers to butcher shops, but also supply smaller packs, and obviously the ubiquitous Amazon is a source if needed.

If you have an issue with nitrates, you can use regular salt and your bacon will taste fine. Sea salt is generally the best, but the process works with any salt. We will warn you in advance though, if you just use salt, the bacon won’t be pink when cured. That’s a deal breaker to a lot of people as a grey-brown bacon just isn’t what we’re used to seeing or eating.Ìę

As a general rule you want to allow 70g salt or dry cure mix to 1kg Pork (7%). So for a 3kg belly you’d be looking at about 210g or for a 2kg pork leg 140g salt/cure mix. That 7% ratio is very subjective, and comes down to personal taste. Add more if you like a saltier taste, and slightly less for a milder flavour, but generally you’ll want a salt/cure to meat ratio of between 5-10%.

As you advance there are any other number of ingredients you can start to add to your own blend. Sweeteners such as sugar, honey and maple syrup are very on trend at the moment, as are aromatics such as bay leaves, juniper berries, coriander and citrus zest. There’s absolutely no rules of engagement here - it’s time to get creative.

Each day for the next seven days, you must flip the bacon once a day.Ìę

The only really big DON’T when it comes to dry curing is not to let the salt have any prolonged contact with metal. As such, don’t use a ‘reactive’ container to keep the pork in during the curing process. Any container that will fit the pork joint in will do. A large plastic tupperware would be great or any food-safe container. Even a wooden crate, but we didn’t tell you that if H&S police are reading this.Ìę

To make the bacon, lay the meat in a shallow food-safe container and rub it all over with the dry cure mix, at a ratio of about 70g per 1kg of pork. It’s a good idea to do one coat on all sides, shake off the excess and let the belly sit for 5 minutes. Then reapply the cure that’s fallen off. You’re best off rubbing it in by hand, so you might want to wear food-safe gloves, although we appreciate they’re scarce at the moment.

Cover the container with cling film, or wrap the pork in cling film and place the container in the fridge.Ìę

Each day for the next seven days, you must flip the bacon once a day. You can scoop up and re-apply the dry cure mix all over the meat. This is less important if you’ve wrapped the meat in cling film, but otherwise it needs to be done every day otherwise you’ll end up with unequally cured bacon.

During the curing process you’ll see an increasing take up of water in the container, and you just need to baste the meat with this liquor.

Curing will be complete within 5-8 days depending on the thickness of the meat and the storage temperature. For a regular belly joint, most people usually find 6 or 7 days is about right, but you can leave it longer for a saltier taste.

After 7 days curing, gently wash off the remaining cure mix with cold water, and then pat dry with paper towel.

You then really need to either hang it on a meat hook (probably not practical), or place it back in the fridge for 24 hours. It’s best to wrap it in heavy, breathable butcher’s paper, or a paper bag.

Congratulations, the bacon is now ready for slicing and cooking. If you’re not going to use it in the next 2 weeks or so, it’ll be good to freeze. Slicing bacon that is frozen or partially frozen is actually way easier, so it’s good to do it for that reason alone.

Let us know how you get on, and happy bacon making!

Cheaper beef cuts work much better in burgers to give maximum flavour. The key is getting the optimal beef-to-fat ratio. That’s what a butcher spends years and years perfecting.

The most important part of any burger is the meat. This sounds ridiculously obvious, but it really is true. A lot of self-appointed burger experts will try and dazzle with fancy burger blends. The more expensive a burger is, chances are it’s made with more expensive beef. $150 plus burgers are almost certainly made using fillet steak, probably from Kobe beef, or other high end, celebrated beef cattle. They’re only expensive because of the luxury and scarcity. It’s basically a burger for people who want to pay $200 for a burger. Probably in Las Vegas or Dubai. Each to their own, but for burgers they’re the wrong cuts of meat, and a total waste of money.

Cheaper beef cuts work much better in burgers to give maximum flavour. The key is getting the optimal beef-to-fat ratio for your palette and personal taste. That’s what butcher’s spend years and years perfecting. If you have a local butcher, they’ll help you create a blend to your specifications, but most are pushed for time right now, so try and be patient.

So here’s our top burger tips to look out for when grilling at home during lockdown;

Meat Cuts

As we mentioned, cheaper cuts tend to make the best burgers. Fact. Much of it comes down to personal preference, but in general, you want to be looking for harder working muscles like chuck or flank steak. Cuts like this tend to have more myoglobin in them, which is the iron-oxygen binding protein that’s responsible for giving beef its red colour and ‘beefy’ flavour. More importantly, they also have a naturally optimal meat to fat ratio for burger making. More luxurious cuts like rump or ribeye, can undoubtedly be used, but you’ll have to play around with fat ratios.

Our two favourite cuts for making burgers are


Chuck steakÌęis the main cut we use for our Premium and GastoBurgers. It’s found at the top of the shoulder in the cattle, and has lovely tissues of fat running throughout, which baste the meat when cooked, to give it a natural juiciness. It’s got a lovely steak-tasting flavour, but as it’s got more texture from the juicy fat, the steak taste doesn’t overpower things.Ìę

Popular with our trade customers (back in the days before lockdown!)Ìębrisket is from one of the most used muscles, which is why it's so revered for slow-cooking BBQ. Again it has a natural fat-to-beef ratio and has a bold taste and flavour. It’s not to everyone’s taste, and kids sometimes find it slightly overpowering, but adults usually love it, and it works really well with darker beers and red wine.

Meat Age

While dry-aged meat is undoubtedly the best it comes with a word of warning when being used in burgers. If the aged layer on the outside of the beef (it’s actually mold, but we didn’t want to say that!) hasn’t been properly removed and gets into the burger mix, it won’t taste nice. At all.Ìę

As beef dry-ages it loses moisture, but moisture in a burger isn’t a bad thing. Again it comes down to personal taste, and the butcher’s experience and opinion. Dry-aged meat will undoubtedly give a stronger beefier flavour, but drying meat to be used in burger for too long is minimal gain.

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The Grind

The texture of the burger will almost certainly come from the grind. We think the best grind is when the meat goes through a medium plate on the mincer - twice! It depends on the cut, but for chuck and brisket, that’s our preference.

A cheap burger from a big retailer or supermarket will try and hide the amount of fat used by mincing it over and over, until it becomes mush and paste (urgh). Make sure you look on the label - there should be no hiding.Ìę

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We think the best grind is when the meat goes through a medium plate on the mincer - twice!

Fat Content

While you don’t want too much (see above), in general, when it comes to burgers - Fat is a Friend. It gives juiciness, it gives flavour, and that is why the beef-to-fat ratio in the minced grind is so important. You want to be looking for around the 80/20 or 70/30 ratio. Depending on how you like to cook and serve, the standard rule is that more meat is better for medium-rare to medium, and more fat for medium-well and well-done. If you like a rare burger, you’re definitely better making them yourself with a high meat and low fat content of 90/10.Ìę Ìę

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SeasoningÌę

Seasoning is essential to getting a ‘burger’ taste rather than just mince. At a minimum you’ll need some salt and pepper, but you can include pretty much anything and everything you want depending on your creativity. There are some great ‘off-the-shelf’ dry-mixes out there now too if you’re looking for an easy place to start.

If you prefer a more freestyle approach, wet ingredients such as finely chopped onion, ketchup, mustard and Worcester sauce will also make for a juicier burger. It’s really important to make sure the seasonings are dispersed throughout the meat, not just on the surface. To do this, you’re best off rolling your sleeves up and mixing the burger mix by hand. Ideally you only want to use your fingertips mixing things in gently so as not to compress the texture or work the meat too much at this stage.

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Making and Shaping a Patty

Our top tip for shaping your own burgers at home - is get a burger press. They’re not expensive, but like most things you get what you pay for. A plastic one will do the job, but if you can, get a proper 6oz/170g handheld burger press. It’ll last an age, you’ll enjoy it during lockdown, and you’ll look like a pro when guests finally come round to your BBQs again.Ìę

A 170g/6oz moulded press is our optimal plate size, as it’s the perfect thickness to cook and serve how you like them, getting some bbq charing on the outside and juicy in the middle. Smaller burgers are thinner, and can’t really be cooked to liking, especially not medium or medium rare. And bigger burgers are just a bit - big and odd.

If you’ve not got a burger press, be pretty gentle when shaping the meat. You don’t want to overwork the meat, which is why a press is much superior for the job. Divide the meaty mixture into equal portions, forming a loose round ball, about the size of a tennis ball, then gently flatten it until it is about 2cm thick.Ìę

Burgers often puff up in the middle when cooking on a high heat bbq and you can get left with a meatball if you’re not careful. To avoid this, press a shallow dimple indentation in the middle of each raw burger using your thumb or the back of a spoon. Again, you’re better still use a burger press, as that has the indent built in. As the burger cooks on the grill it will fill in and flatten out to a level surface, rather than blowing out.

Burgers often puff up in the middle when cooking on a BBQ...to avoid this, press a shallow dimple indentation in the middle of each one

Buns

While brioche was all the rage a few years back, we think they’re just a bit too sweet. A classic white bap from a good local baker is your best bet. You want to match the bun to the size of your burger. If it's too small, it’s difficult to eat when you’ve added salad and condiments. At the same time, too big and you taste too much bread each bite. Toasting the buns on the grill is again personal preference, but easy to burn, so we give it a miss.

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Cooking

You need to preheat the grill. If you put burgers on a cold grill they will stick to the grate, and you can forget about getting those lovely grill marks we all aim for. You want the grill on the hot coals or burners for at least 10-15 before you start cooking.

You have to treat a good burger on the BBQ with a bit more love and attention, and be patient. For a juicy, medium cooked burger, you want to cook them for about 4-5 minutes each side (8-10 minutes in total), on a hot grill. It is best not to constantly flip the burger. You just want toÌę turn them once or twice otherwise you run the risk of ripping the burger surface before it has formed a tasty crust.

If adding cheese, do this once cooked, and when on cover the BBQ with the lid for about 30 seconds, (or use a heatproof bowl) to allow the cheese to melt over the burger. Take off the grill and pop the patty into the bun.Ìę

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For a juicy, medium cooked burger, you want to cook them for about 4-5 minutes each side

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So there you have it. That’s our butcher’s guide to perfect lockdown burgers. Enjoy with the family. Think of your friends. And almost certainly enjoy the beefy flavour with a nice cold drink!Ìę

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Very popular as a Christmas joint nowadays, whether you call it a Bone-in-Forerib, a Rib of Beef, or just the daddy of all beef joints, you are in for a treat.

If you want to know how to cook rib of beef, you need to appreciate that for many chefs, a bone-in rib of beef is the rolls-royce cut, and is their default choice for a roasting joint. On the bone, the ribs serve as insulation from the harsh heat of the oven and provide anchorage for the meat that prevents shrinkage. Cooked from room temperature, in a hot oven, the outside will char beautifully with a decent layer of golden fat, and the inside will cook to perfection with a little rare meat for those who like it, and the entire joint will flood with deep savoury flavour from the internal fat. No other joint has all of these qualities which point to the perfect roast. Here’s how to cook a beef rib roast.

• Preparation Time: 20 minutes
• Cooking Time: 2 hours
• Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
• Servings: 10

Prepare the rib of beef for roasting

First you need to remove all the packaging and give the meat a good dry. You can do this by letting it stand uncovered, but it is quicker to use some kitchen paper. Then you need to leave it out of the fridge to come up to room temperature. Most cookery books and guides provide meat timings from fridge cold so you need to be aware of that when cooking from room temperature. When beef goes through the aging process it is the work of enzymes that improve the texture and flavour; by leaving the joint out and uncovered you are giving those enzymes some time to relax which gives them more chance of working their meaty magic, giving you a lovely succulent joint when roasted.

Calculate cooking times

Before you start to cook a rib of beef, you need to do a little bit of prep and research first, and work out how long you need to cook it for. To do this you need to know the weight of the rib joint. You need to calculate the cooking time by allowing an initial 20 minute blast on a high heat (220℃) and the 20 minutes per 500g for medium, 15 minutes per 500g for medium-rare, and 10-15 minutes for rare, at 170℃. Our advice is to go for medium or medium rare when cooking at home as this way you’ll have some well-done meat for those who like it that way (usually the kids), on the outside and some pinker meat towards the centre of the joint, meaning that all bases are covered. If you have a fan oven the temperature will need to be reduced usually, a reduction of around 20℃ is required but every oven has its own idiosyncrasies.

Preheat the oven to 220℃/gas mark 7

Give the layer of fat on top a good seasoning with salt and pepper, and a nice tip is to rub it with English mustard powder so that it cooks to a lovely golden crust.

Pop the meat on a roasting tray, standing on its end with the ribs pointing skywards. Due to the height it will probably need to go on the bottom shelf of the oven. Give the beef a 20 minute sizzle in the high oven at 220℃/gas mark 7 then turn the oven down to 170℃/gas mark 3 and time the cooking of the joint from this point.This really gets the browning process started and the caramelisation of the surface on its way.

You should try and weight the joint yourself, but an average size two bone rib of beef is approx 2.5kg so you could use the timings below for this size

• 1 hour 15 mins at 170℃/gas mark 3 for MEDIUM RARE
• 1 hour 40 mins at 170℃/gas mark 3 for MEDIUM
• 2 hour 5 mins at 170℃/gas mark 3 for WELL-DONE

For a more accurate doneness you want to use a meat thermometer and you’re looking for an internal temperature of 50℃ for RARE 60℃ for MEDIUM 70℃ for WELL DONE

If you are not using a thermometer, check to see if the meat is cooked to your liking about 20-30 minutes before the end of the cooking time. The shape of the joint might mean it cooks a little sooner than the calculated time. A check you can do is to push a skewer through the thickest part of the joint and leave it for 10 seconds. Take the skewer out and touch it to your inner wrist; it will be just warm for rare, warm for medium-rare and hot for medium (obviously take care not to burn yourself here). If you don’t want to risk the heat on your wrist the colour of the juices from inserting the skewer are also a sign. The redder the juices, the rarer the meat. For a medium roast you can expect a flow of clear juices mixed with a little pinkish blood. You could also press the meat but for a joint of this size you will need to press from both sides. The more spring in the flesh, the rarer it is. The perfect medium joint will feel quite taut, with just a small amount of spring radiating from right in the centre. Don’t forget that the meat will continue to cook as it rests, and the juices will also become more evenly distributed, so don’t leave it cooking too long.

When it is cooked, you need to let it rest for at least 20 minutes.This step is non-negotiable, and is essential to allow the meat to relax and distribute the juices evenly, and it will also allow you time bring the rest of the meal together and free up the oven for the roastes etc.

How to carve a rib of beef

Although your meat will be tender however you choose to carve it, rib of beef is best when carved reasonably thin, like this;

• When the rib of beef is cooked and rested, stand the joint so the ribs are pointing upwards
• Position a sharp carving knife (or your biggest knife) between the top of the ribs and the meat
• Keeping the knife pushed against the ribs, gradually cut along the bones to release the meat from the ribs
• Keep going until the ribs are released and removed. You can use the ribs to add flavour to gravy or stock if you are making some.
• Hold the meat with one hand, and thinly slice the meat as thinly as you can across the grain.
• It is generally better to only carve what is needed as the beef will keep better for leftovers as a single piece.

Serve with whatever you think is best, but it will almost certainly involved gravy, Yorkshire puddings, horseradish sauce, roast potatoes and some vegetables.

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What is aÌęTomahawk SteakÌęyou ask? You probably think a Tomahawk Steak is a steak you’ve heard of but haven’t actually eaten? There is no need to second guess yourself, few people have tried aÌęTomahawk, and if you had you certainly wouldn’t have forgotten, as it is the ultimate ‘wow-factor’ steak. Named because it allegedly resembles the Tomahawk axe, Tomahawk Steak is becoming more common here in the UK, and although it isn’t very common on restaurant menus, (mainly because of price) you can usually get one at an upmarket steakhouse these days. It is popping up in more places for the home cook and you meat fans to get hold of, with even Marks and Sparks jumping on the bandwagon.

The Tomahawk Steak is an on-the bone Rib Steak, cut from the Fore-rib with the entire rib bone left. The long bone is french-trimmed, leaving an amazing presentation, and dinner table discussion point. As it is bone-in Rib Steak, it has quite a large amount of inter-muscular fat, which gives it a load of flavour when cooked, as flavours are released from both the huge bone, and inter-muscular fat during roasting to give a sweet gelatinous flavour.

The Tomahawk is cut based on the thickness of the rib bone and is usually 5cm/2 inches thick, weighing approx 1.2kg. A Tomahawk makes an ideal sharing steak for a special occasion or romantic meal, as it can easily feed two people. If you like bone-in steaks such as T-bone or Porterhouse, you’ll love the Tomahawk Steak as the primary muscle is the longissimus dorsi (back muscle), which is also the main muscle on the T-bone and Porterhouse.

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Although technically a steak, at 1.2kg the Tomahawk many people oven roast this, because it can be awkward for frying as it is so large. If choosing to oven roast, you’re best off searing it all over in a large frying pan first (you might not need any oil/fat just a pretty hot pan), before transferring to a hot oven (200ÂșC) for 15 minutes. Arguably the best method for a Tomahawk Steak is to grill on a barbecue, and using an internal meat thermometer cooking until the optimum temperature for Medium-rare is achieved (58ÂșC).

Because of it’s size it needs to be properly rested after cooking, for at least 10-15 minutes, to allow the heat from the bone to redistribute across the meat to give a lovely succulent juicy steak.

When cooked and rested, hold the bone in one hand and cut along the bone lengthways to separate the meat from the bone. Slice the meat across the grain into slices as thick as you need them and serve. It's certainly not an everyday steak, but then again it's not everyday you get to eat like The Flintstones.

Now that Halloween and bonfire night have finally been and gone it's time to get thinking about the real highlight of the winter months, Christmas - possibly our favourite time of the year here at Great British Meat

The costumes and face paint may be freshly hidden in the drawers, the pumpkins are not quite as fresh as they were and there's no doubt weeks worth of fireworks to look forward to before the sleigh bells start jingling away, but you need to be prepared.

Forget hunting for the perfect gift and making sure the decorations are placed in exactly the same locations as last year though, because as we all know the real challenge of the festive season is preparing the dinner.

Every single household across the land has their own routines when it comes to preparing the Christmas dinner - what sauces they use, how they dish out, how the potatoes are cooked, how long you should boil sprouts – but one thing that we can all agree on is that the most important element, the centrepiece of the dinner, is the meat that sits at the heart of the feast each and every year.

A brief history of turkey

These days of course turkeyÌęis almost entirely synonymous with the Christmas dinner. Like paper hats and Cliff Richard songs it's an element of the season that there is seemingly no escaping from. For as long as we can all remember, turkey is THE festive fowl.

The British public have been scoffing the birds since the 16th Century, with Henry VIII becoming the first monarch to add it to the palace's menu, whether he had a wife to enjoy it with at the time or not.

Victorian times saw the humble turkey become a fixture of the season, even overtaking the more traditional goose and the rest is history. That doesn't mean though that you have to have your yearly portion of TurkeyÌęon December 25th.

Meat, the alternatives

Regardless of whether you, your parents or significant other cook the turkey to perfection each year or end up serving out chunks of meat that are as dry and tasteless as a doorstop, there can be no doubt that a lot of us have simply had our fill of Turkey. Don't worry though, because in fact there are plenty of alternative meatsÌęto liven up the dinner, and we're absolute crackers about them
 Sorry, couldn't resist.

Here are our picks of the best alternative meats to serve up at your Christmas feast this year, each one is guaranteed to delight and bring a bit of seasonal magic back to the table:

• BeefÌę– You should never underestimate the amount of mouthwatering meals that can be made with the combination of a succulent cut of beef and the right ingredients to complement it. For those craving a change this Christmas the traditional British Beef Wellington, made with a succulent whole beef filletÌęwill provide a beautifully presented centrepiece to the table. With a thick layer of crumbling pastry giving way to the tender meat inside, cutting open the Beef Wellington is like opening another present for the whole family. As if that wasn't reason enough, you can actually do a lot of the preparations on Christmas Eve. If pastry isn't your thing, you can always serve up ourÌęBone-in-Forerib of BeefÌęwith a combination of horseradish and prosciutto to set your meal even further apart.
• GammonÌę– Another meat that is often overlooked during the festive season is Gammon, and gammon could be the ideal way to break away from the tyranny of the turkey dinner. You can choose to boil or roast your gammon, but we'd recommend gently boiling or poaching, as it will give you more natural flavour as well as serving options. The real joy of preparing a gammon for a large meal comes from choosing how to prepare it. We recommend adding spices to the gammon to give it a real kick as well as studding it with cloves and serving it with citrus fruits for extra flavour. Alternatively, following the poaching stage smother with a cranberry glaze and roast to create a tasty seasonal treat.
• LambÌę– One of the prevailing criticisms that has been thrown at turkey down the years is that it can be rather dry, often despite the chef's best efforts not to fall into that particular clichĂ©. The same can never be said of a choice cut ofÌęlamb though, as it's rightfully regarded as one of the most tender meats in our range here at Great British Meat. There's no feeling quite like gliding your sharpest knife through a steaming hot slice of lamb and we recommend serving family and friends a juicy St. Clements roast lamb. Smothered with thyme and the zest of a few oranges, basted with meat juices and soaked in wine, St Clements roast lamb is a flavourful treat that should emerge from the oven a perfect pink to really get mouths watering.
• Individual piesÌę– Okay, so this one will take a little bit more preparation than simply taking a hunk of beautiful meat, cooking it to perfection and portioning it out equally but it is certain to make a lasting festive impression on your guests. The best thing about cooking individual pies is that there's no limit on the options you have when it comes to choosing which meat to fill them with. If you're feeling extra ambitious you can make several variants (chickenÌępie for the kids,ÌębeefÌęfor the parents) or you can pick a suitably festive theme, pour in lashings of special gravy and watch everyone tuck in to their perfect parcels. We'd recommend generous helpings of cranberry sauce and stuffing to really set off each pie.

Conclusion

There you go then, a whole stocking-full of fresh ideas to give the family's taste buds a festive treat that they'll not forget for years to come. If you have any suggestions of your own for Christmas dishes that you'd like to share, then why not let us know by commenting on our social media feeds. Have a merry, meaty, Christmas!

Lamb Shoulder is the perfect joint for slow (and lazy) cooking, making it perfect for weekend cooking. It has just the right amount of fat to naturally baste the joint while cooking, which makes for a lovely rich and juicy meat when it is cooked with exceptional flavour.ÌęÌę

Learning how to cook lamb shoulder can seem daunting at first, but it’s really simple when you know how. In this article, you’ll learn an easy-cook method that cooks in a similar low-and-slow style to pulled pork for 4-5 hours on a low heat and can then then pulled apart or sliced with ease.

Lamb is such a versatile meat, and because it can handle bold flavours so exceptionally well, you can adapt this technique and develop your own recipe and style to suit your taste.

Serves 8-12

Ingredients

• 3kg shoulder of lamb, bone-in
• 2 tbsp lamb meat rub
• 2 onions, quartered
• 3-4 garlic cloves
• 1 glass wine (red or white)

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 150ÂșC/Fan(130ÂșC)/Gas 2
2. As with any joint you are cooking, take the joint from the fridge at least 45 minutes before you intend to cook it. The joint needs time to get to room temperature before going in the oven, otherwise the meat tissues will contract and you’ll end up with a dry joint, whereas we’re aiming for a nice juicy flavour with lamb shoulder.
3. Put the shoulder on a chopping board and, using a sharp knife, score the skin all over. Make sure you don’t go to deep into the flesh and meat itself, you really just want to score the skin here.
4. Using whatever meat rub you want (we like Lamb Rub, obviously) put at least 1-2 tbsp of rub all over the surface of the lamb. You’ll need to pat and rub it into the lamb, so you might get a bit messy, but it’s worth the mess, trust us. Ìę
5. Cut the onions into quarters and put them in the bottom of a large roasting tray to cover most of the base. Pour in the glass of wine, but any booze you have lying around will do the same job, so don’t buy wine just for the recipe.
6. Sit the lamb shoulder on top, and then cover the lamb and roasting tray in foil. It’s usually easiest to do this loosely as the bone in the lamb can pierce the foil, but don’t worry too much if that does happen, it really won’t affect things too much.
7. Roast in the oven for 4-5 hours. You might want to check everything is ok every hour or so, and baste the lamb with the wine and juices that form in the roasting tray.
8. Remove the foil for the last 30 minutes of cooking to make sure you get a nice brown crust on the skin
9. When the lamb is cooked, transfer it to a large plate, and cover it loosely in foil. The lamb needs to rest for a good 20-30 minutes, and it is especially important you don’t skip this step if you are ‘pulling’ the lamb. Resting the meat allows the meat to relax after cooking, and the juices are redistributed throughout the joint.
10. While the meat is resting, prepare your side dishes and/or accompaniments.
11. Either cut or pull the lamb into pieces, using a fork and knife (or two forks if you’re pulling). It’s much more about the flavour rather than the presentation, as this is casual eating. As such we find it goes brilliantly served with easy cook informal sides, such as potato salad, coleslaw and stuffed into flatbreads in a kebab style.

So there you have it, an easy cook method of how to slow cook lamb shoulder. You can adapt it and modify however you want, but the basic principle will always apply - lamb shoulder is super easy to cook.

Your presentation doesn’t have to be perfect, it’s arguably not meant to be, but the flavours are without question the star of the show here. We’d love to see how you get on with cooking lamb shoulder, and if you do post an image on social please use the hashtag so we can see it.ÌęÌę

The master of a table dissects a bone with ease and grace, he is not only well thought of, but admired’ (Rev John Trusler, The Honours of the Table, 1788)

The key to becoming a good meat carver, is to start withÌęgood meat! That sounds pretty obvious, but in the simplest of terms, good meat that comes from good stock, on a great farm, and that has been properly hung by the butcher, will cut and carve much better than young meat, which is generally what you get from the supermarket. Meat needs hanging to tenderise it, to allow the muscles time to relax and for the flavour to mature. When a carcass hangs, the fibres of the meat start to break down. This does involve shrinkage but that is where the meat magic takes place, and improves the flavour and tenderness when eating.

It is for this reason that supermarket meat is rarely (if ever) hung on the bone, as not only is the process time consuming, and time is money to the big multinationals, but it also allows the meat to shrink, which shrinks their profit margins. At a consumer base level, you have got two choices - you either pay more to a butcher and let the meat shrink in his cold (aging) room or fridge, or you pay a supermarket and watch the meat shrink in your oven. It really is that straight forward.

• Don’t be nervous or frightened, you can’t get it too badly wrong. Move the meat around the board into a position your comfortable with it, it won’t affect the flavour. Cooking the meat is much more difficult than carving, and you’ll get better with experience.
• If you carve meat orÌępoultryÌęstraight out of the oven, no matter how good the meat, the flesh is too rubbery and the juices will just pour out. Let the meat rest by covering it in foil for 15-20 minutes or so. Resting the meat continues the cooking process and allows the meat to equalise temperature throughout, and the juices to be distributed evenly, which makes the joint much easier to carve, and all the juices are deliciously retained. If the meat squeaks as it is being carved, it is a sign that it hasn’t been rested enough.
• Get yourself a good knife (ideally a carving knife), and let the knife do the work for you. A carving knife should be very sharp (use a sharpening steel if you have one), to avoid flaking and wasting the meat. A blunt knife will squeeze rather than slice, meaning the juices are going to come out of the joint rather than be retained for flavour.
• If you’re serving Medium or Medium rare joints, you are best using either a proper carving board or a warm platter to collect the juices that will run out. If you’re serving a joint well-done then a regular chopping board should be fine.
• A secure chopping board makes carving easier, so it’s a good idea to secure your board, to make sure it doesn’t move around. An easy way to do this is to use a damp cloth folded and put beneath the board.
• Remove any string, skewers, elastic bands or netting before carving. Sometimes this causesÌęrolled meatÌęto fall apart, but it’s better than serving bits of string to your guests.
• Carve across the grain, rather than with the grain, to retain moisture to give you a juicy, more tender meat. Very tender cuts such as fillet or loin, can be cut with the grain, but if in doubt always cut against the grain.
• When carving a bone-in leg joint, begin by carving a narrow wedge or V-shaped piece from the middle of the leg, and then following the angle of the ‘V’ carve down to the bone and lift out the slices.
• If your joint has a bone, use a clean tea-towel to hold and turn the bone, and cut horizontal slices away from you
• If you’ve got a good piece of meat, try not to carve too thinly, as the flavours will stand out more in slightly thicker slices, so aim for about 5mm or 1/4 inch thick.
• Enjoy the taste of your expertly carved meat, and remember the carver can usually get away with doing the dishes :-)

It is worthwhile considering what meat is best for Boxing Day as early as possible. Although people put a lot of time and effort into planning Christmas Day’s menu, Boxing Day is often an after thought, and if you don’t have a plan you’ll find yourself serving the inevitable turkey sandwiches. With a bit of creative planning and the right easy cook joint, it can be a stand-out day in it’s own right. To be fair, as the family Christmas cook I actually enjoy it more than the big day itself, as there is less pressure to perform, and most of the hard work has been done already the day before.

Boxing Day is a time to relax and unwind with family and friends. It might involve a big walk in a country park, or being in your comfy clothes all day watching TV and building toys. Regardless of what you do, everyone will need feeding, but nobody wants to be stuck in the kitchen all day.

One of the best tips I was given from a chef we work with, was to think about Boxing Day as a ‘one-joint day’. “Get yourself a big joint, pop it in the oven for a few hours, and then people can eat it for the rest of the day” It’s so simple and instantly turns christmas leftovers into a buffet table.

The key to this is to go for simple, hearty crowd-pleasing joints. I used to opt for a Gammon Joint, as that is perfect finger food, and can be prepared in advance, but that is now the Christmas Eve showpiece in our house. Last year I went for arguably the ideal joint to cook on a day when relaxing and taking it easy (as the Love Pork advertising campaign goes) with Pulled Pork Shoulder. It still amazes me when guests think there is something complex or mystical to good pulled pork, when really the key is just taking it easy. If you are hosting Boxing Day for the first time, you really can’t go wrong with a Pork Shoulder cooked low and slow. It is so versatile and unfussy, and if we are being honest is great ‘booze-food’. Unless you are entertaining Hycthe Bucket’ it is absolutely acceptable to serve with any leftover veg from Christmas dinner, but you might want to throw in some more roast potatoes as they’re an essential table companion. Working off approx 200-250g per person, a 2kg Pork Shoulder will easily serve approx 10 people which makes it really cost effective.

This year we’ve got guests over again and although I was tempted to go for pork shoulder again, it will be a slightly more formal affair so I’ll be serving a Boneless Pork Loin. Our kids are just starting to realise the delight that is crispy pork crackling, and in my opinion there is no joint to beat the loin for a crackling cracker of a table centrepiece. It’s quick to cook, easy to carve, and all of the usual boxing day elements of going well with leftover veg and spuds apply.

Happy eating, and have a very meaty Christmas.

If you learn how to cook chicken drumsticks on the bbq you are part way to being a top bbq host. So many bbq’s we’ve been to don’t know how long to bbq chicken drumsticks for and serve you up burnt to a crisp chicken drummers. It’s a sure fire way to spot a host who isn’t great on the grill. Cooked properly on the bbq, chicken drumsticks are delicious and succulent, with a lovely crisp skin. They lend themselves to any number of spices and sauces, and they are really cost effective and a big hit with old and young alike but more and more of us have stopped getting them for the bbq because of not being sure how to cook them.

The most common mistake is putting the drumsticks on the BBQ when the temperature is too high. If you do this, you’ll burn the skin and probably take them off before they are cooked through, which is a BIG NO NO, unless you are trying to give your guests food poisoning, which hopefully you’re not (if you work in health and safety, or food safety this is a joke btw).

• Preparation Time: 20 minutes
• Cooking Time: 40 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour
• Servings: 5

Ingredients

• 2kg Chicken Drumsticks (about 16)
• Chicken Spice rub or sauce

You want to cook the drumsticks on a medium heat, so cook burgers and steaks and things that like high heat first, and ideally you want a temperature around 150℃ if you are using a thermometer or bbq reader.

Add spices, seasoning and sauces either towards the end of cooking for the last 10 minutes or so, or after cooking. If you put the rub/sauce on before cooking, the chances are it will char the sauce not the skin, so you loose the taste.

Put the drumsticks on the BBQ and cook for 30-35 minutes, turning them every 5 minutes using a pair of bbq tongs so they don’t burn. Ideally you want to use a meat thermometer and cook them until the internal temperature is 75℃ in the thickest part of the drummer. If you don’t have a thermometer, insert a skewer into the thickest part and check the juices are running clear.

Take the drumsticks off the BBQ and cover them in your sauce or rub of choice. Let any excess drip off them, and then return them to the bbq and cook over what should now be a low, gentle heat for 10 minutes until they are nice and golden all over.

Oven to BBQ method

While cooking everything on the bbq is a lovely idea, the reality of most parties, is that using the oven is sometimes a much better option in terms of getting everything out and serving it at the same time.

• Pre-heat the oven to 180℃/gas mark 4. Put the chicken drumsticks in a roasting tin and roast in the oven for 25-30 minutes.
• When cooked, cover them in sauce or rub, and finish them on the bbq for 10-15 minutes, to give them that lovely bbq char and taste.

Butchers Tip - Make a chicken lollipop

A top butchers tip, and a great variation on a chicken drumstick for a bbq party, is to french trim chicken drumsticks, so they become a ‘chicken lollipop’. They are much easier to hold than a standard drummer as there is no sauce or skin around the base of the drum, just the bone, making them much easier to dunk into sauces and dips, and gnaw on.

To make a chicken lollipop you want to trim the skin and fat away from the bone. Using a sharp knife, cut around the drumstick to the bone, just below the main meaty part of the drummer. Be careful not to cut into the bone, and scrape away the skin and cartridge, to leave you with a clean bone end.

Although usually seen on cuts of lamb (legs, racks and shanks), it is not too common on chicken drumsticks, but it’s super easy, and looks much nicer than a regular drumstick, so you’ll earn host bragging rights even before you serve them, and if you cook them to perfection using this cooking-guide), you’re onto a bbq winner.

Bacon. A wondrous thing. So wondrous in fact that vegetarians eat it with their beer goggles on in the dead of night when they think nobody is watching. We can see you. Luckily, we are not the bacon police. Quite the opposite. Because bacon is magic. Actually blessed with magical powers kind of magic. Just ask any Paleo convert...or vegetarian for that matter.

When it comes to cooking, bacon has far more to offer than a soft pillow of bread with a splash of red or brown sauce. Possibly the most revered animal of the traditional farmhouse or smallholding, the pig’s popularity was largely down to the fact that it preserves so well. One of the major products of the yearly pigfest would be bacon; a serious amount of the animal can be preserved to make bacon and it would keep a family in food when the rest of the produce was long gone. Most of us may not rear our own pigs, but bacon still reigns supreme.

Nothing on earth sets off the flavour of bacon like a lightly fried egg; the interplay of the creamy yolk against the force of the bacon stands testament to the glory of simplicity in flavour. If only we could harness that magic and use it to season the world. Oh wait. We can. Think of bacon as seasoning, with lots of flavour and a bit of texture too. Use it throughout your cooking in a variety of ways.

Bacon starts with a great pig and ends with a decent butcher, who knows how to cure it with a variety of secret traditional recipes. Streaky bacon is your friend and while back bacon is a glorious thing and most definitely has its place in a world of bacon, streaky will crisp up to a crumble and will also provide you with a near constant supply of bacon fat. Make sure to keep that fat, by pouring what renders down in the pan into a little dish and put it in the fridge to use later.

A top bacon crisping tip (especially for thin streaky bacon) is to cook it well done and then place it on a cold metal tray and it will crisp up nicely.

A little bacon can go a long way, especially crisped up streaky bacon crumbled. You can use a tiny little bit and reap the benefits of subtle seasoning. You will not need salt as well. Crumble it over your cauliflower cheese, use as croutons, or toss it in a salad.

Bacon can be used as a great addition to a recipe base. Lots of recipes for soups and stews involve frying off an onion with chopped celery and perhaps a bit of carrot and usually a bay leaf. Adding a few rashers of finely chopped raw streaky bacon brings the dish alive, with a host of flavour.

Frying bacon, or anything meaty, in bacon fat is just overkill. Unless you have loads of the stuff then keep the magical ointment for the right moment. Like frying leftover potatoes, or cabbage. Or smearing on the last piece of bread in the house. It works a treat with vegetables. And mashed potato.

Bacon, if recent trends are anything to go by, goes with pretty much anything. But there are some partnerships made in heaven. Such as bacon and
 Eggs...Maple syrup...Figs...Cod...Potatoes...Cheese...Avocado...Tomato...Parsnips...Popcorn...Mushrooms...Scallops...
Cream...Beans...Chicken...Pears

Our bacon top ten

• Cauliflower cheese with bacon
• Fried potatoes, onions, bacon and cheese
• Boston baked beans (baked beans with sweet bacon)
• Bacon wrapped figs
• Popcorn with bacon fat, bacon bits and cheese
• Bacon and egg mayonnaise
• Bacon wrapped cod
• Scallops with bacon and black pudding
• Bacon guacamole
• Bacon, pear and frisee salad with mustard dressing

That should keep you going for a little while; we hope you are inspired to spread a little extra bacon joy and bring some easy magic to your cooking. Don’t forget; keep it simple, keep it sparse, and be bold.

Do you have a secret bacon recipe, if you'd like to share it, we’d love you to send them toÌęhello@greatbritishmeat.com

As more and more of us are ‘eating clean’ what to have as an accompaniment with a chicken breast or steak, becomes a challenge in order to keep the diet plan both interesting and tasty. Whilst veg (especially the ubiquitous Broccoli) is a mainstay on many an athlete’s training plan, ancient grains and pulses have also been rising in popularity. Along with the taste and variation they bring, they can also enhance the health benefits of a meat dish.

An ‘ancient grain’ is classed as such because they are virtually the same now as they were when they were grown and eaten by ancient civilisations. Now widely available in supermarkets and health-food shops, as well as tasting great they are low-fat, complex carbohydrates packed full of nutrients that are good for us giving us fibre, protein, healthy fats, vitamins and minerals. Most nutritionists agree, they are by far the best source of energy from a carbohydrate food, and most of them keep for up to twelve months if stored in an airtight container, so there is no excuse not to have at least one or two in the cupboard ready for a super easy, healthy dinner option.

Here are a few of our favourite grains to accompany steaks and chicken:

QUINOAÌęis a small round grain that has a slight bitter flavour when cooked, making it ideally balanced against a mellow steak such as Ribeye. With a firm texture when cooked, it is gluten free and is thought to have been discovered by the Incas. Widely available in supermarkets in white, you can also get red and black varieties.

BUCKWHEATÌęis a fruit seed, that is one of the healthiest, nuttiest and most versatile whole grains. Available roasted or un-roasted, it is another gluten free option, which is a fruit seed related to rhubarb and sorrel. This means it works well with any cut with a sweet taste to offset, such as a pork steak, but we think it goes really well alongside a trimmed rump steak for a super healthy low-fat meal.

POLENTAÌęis ground, dried corn, sometimes known as Cornmeal. Its consistency can be fine, medium or coarse and it is believed it was discovered by Native Americans. It is great alongside chicken, and can be used as a healthy gluten free coating or batter on a chicken breast fillet.

BULGAR WHEATÌęis parboiled, dried then cracked. When it is cooked it has a lovely nutty flavour with a slightly chewy, moreish texture. It is very popular in Middle Eastern cooking as it goes well with warm spices and red meat. It also works great alongside a steak with deep flavours such as a Lamb Rump or Fillet Steak.

BARLEYÌęis one of the most versatile ancient grains. Most commonly found as pearl barley, which has the outer husk and bran layers removed, it can also be found in flour and flake form. Barley makes a great substitute and alternative for rice, and although it works well alongside most meat, we think it is particularly good against a steak with a nice strong taste and some marbling to flavour such as Bavette Steak.

SPELTÌęis a relative of wheat and is one of the oldest known grains. With an oval shape and full-on nutty flavour it is available whole or ground to spelt flour. The nutty taste and texture works surprisingly well with a full-flavour steak such as the Flat Iron Steak.

Pretty much all chefs agree that pork belly is an amazing cut of meat. It is called by different names, pork belly, belly pork, whole pork belly, boned pork belly and even belly draft. There are equally lots of different ways to cook it, usually ways which end in flames and smoke.This method is easier and safer, and the slow roasting gives it a wonderful flavour and texture. All the juices are caught in the tray which means you can make a wonderful rich apple sauce after, ideally using some capers, sage and gherkins if you’re feeling adventurous, but you can do just about any other variant you want.

This recipe lends more than a helping hand to Glynn Purnell’s excellent Cracking Yolks and Pig Tales, which we were recently introduced to and simply can’t get enough of.

Roast Pork Belly with Apple and Caper Sauce

• 2kg piece of boneless pork belly
• Half a shallot, or small sweet onion, finely diced
• 2 tablespoons of small baby capers
• 100ml apple juice (a couple of good lugs)
• 1 Bramley Apple (English), peeled, cored and diced
• Half a tablespoon chopped sage
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley (ideally flatleaf)
• 1 teaspoon double cream
• Knob of butter
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• Mashed potatoes and cabbage or spinach to serve

Place the pork skin side up, on a roasting rack in a roasting tin and prick and stab it all over with a fork, ideally a roasting fork as that will penetrate the skin. Season all over with salt, and set to one side for at least 60 mins.

Preheat the oven to 190ÂșC/170ÂșC Fan/Gas Mark 5.

The skin might have some moisture on it which the salt has drawn out, so just give it a pat with some kitchen towel if it does, and then season all over with salt and black pepper.

Roast for about 2 hours, or until the pork is very tender. Take it out of the oven and allow it to rest for at least 20-30 mins, covering it with foil or a tea-towel (or both).

Add the shallot to the juices in the roasting tin and cook over a gentle heat on the hob until they are nice and soft. Add in the capers and the apple juice and cook at a low simmer until the liquid reduces to something like a sauce consistency.

Add the apple, sage, parsley, cream and butter and stir for a few minutes on a very low heat. Keep this warm until you are ready to serve.

Place the pork skin side up, under a hot grill to get the skin nice and crispy. You need to watch it all the time at this point to make sure it doesn’t burn.

Carve the pork and arrange the slices on plates, with a spoon of the sauce over the top. Serve with some mashed potatoes, and some spinach or cabbage tossed in butter.

Enjoy!

Whether it is for a special occasion such as Christmas or Easter, or just for a casual dinner, the chances are all of us are going to have to host a veggie some time or other. While the prospect of not eating meat is confusing to some and abhorrent to many, we all have one friend who chooses to walk a less protein-filled path.

But do not fear the vegetarian. Embrace them, for while they know not what they’re missing, we can overcome our culinary differences and prove once and for all that lions can indeed dine with lambs.

In my experience, there are two very big no-nos that are easily done when catering for veggies, don’t cook their food in the same pan/on the same grill as the meat and goose fat is NOT vegetarian, so don’t cook the Christmas roasties in it!

A friend of mine who had not eaten meat for years asked his granny why her chips tasted so much better than all other chips. “Ah you see, I cook mine in beef dripping, lad. That’s the secret!”

Now, for me there’s a lesson to be learned from this clearly wise old owl, but said friend was far from happy as he’d been eating at his grandmother’s once a month for at least five years after giving up meat. Serves him right for not visiting her more.

Joking aside, there is no reason why catering for a veggie should become the bane of your life. Many veggie dishes are simple and easy to produce and can be done well in advance of prep for the rest of the meal.

And don’t just cop-out and buy a supermarket veggie lasagne, you can be just as adventurous with veggie food as you are with your meat – if you dare risk it with brisket, don’t be afraid of becoming a polenta experimenter.

Jamie Oliver (and pretty much any other celeb chef) has some fantastic veggie recipes online, so try your hand at a few of these before plumping for one for your guest. Stuffed peppers, mushroom risotto, Quorn mince spag-bol, sweet potato and chickpea dhal
the great advantage of cooking for veggies is that the food tastes just as good re-heated or pre-prepared than it does freshly prepared
affording you precious time to focus all of your attention on your glorious pope-eye steak, succulent rack of lamb or preparing a marinade for some good old chops!

Make sure you use vegetable or olive oil, that you don’t use butter or milk for vegan meals and it’s always good to ask if your guest minds eating with others who are enjoying a meat dish
however, if they say no after you’ve gone to all the other trouble, it’s maybe time to wrap up their food and make it an order “to go”.

While meat might be the star of the show for most meals, it doesn’t mean that vegetarians are difficult to cater for. They’re often more open to trying new flavours, so try and be more open about experimenting with your own food and culinary skills, and your vegetarian mate might just teach you a thing or two.

March isn’t exactly a month noted as prolific for British food, andÌęmeatÌęis possibly even less noted. Livestock farmers focus is on preparing for lambing, and getting cattle ready to go back outside into onto the fields. There are usually some great bargains to had around this time of year, as retailers compete for Easter footfall and post-New Year saving plans begin to waive.ÌęLambÌęin particular comes in for some aggressive pricing, but as we’ve mentioned before spring isn’t necessarily the best time to buy seasonalÌęBritish Lamb.

March is pretty much in between seasons for vegetables and fruit as well, but there are still some gems to be found for the seasonal chef. There are still plenty of good winter cabbages, cauliflowers and roots around but arguably the not-to-be-missed veg that shows up around March time is the somewhat underrated purple-sprouting broccoli.

Purple sprouting broccoli is available virtually all year but is at its best in March-April time. It is a deep green-purple colour and is somewhat leafier than normal broccoli. Many growers and professional chefs view it in a similar way as asparagus, serving it almost as simple finger food to dunk into butter or hollandaise sauce. It’s tricky to grow it right, as it is time consuming cutting new flowery stems regularly, so look around to get the best produce you can. You want slender stems and leaves with a good colour, as thicker stalks can be woody.

The big caveat about purple-sprouting-broccoli, is that it is really nothing like standard broccoli, it’s much more versatile and much tastier served simply either on its own or as an accompaniment toÌępoultryÌęor fish. The most obvious way of cooking it is to boil it for 3-4 minutes, however we’d advice you to steam it if you can, as that brings out the flavour more and keeps it nice and al-dente.

Wild garlic is another fairly unknown culinary classic available in March. It grows pretty prolifically in Britain’s dark woodlands, as it prefers the damp shade. As with any foraging ingredient you need to know what you’re looking for, and if you have any doubts don’t use it, or ask an expert to help you out, as they’ll help you to recognise the green leafy herb for what it is. It is milder than commercially farmed garlic, and looks and tastes more like chives and as such it lends itself well to soups and sauces, as it is mostly used for leaves, which can be eaten raw or cooked.

Ìę

Almost since the very beginning in 1759 when Arthur Guinness invented ‘the black stuff’ through to today, Guinness stout has been part of Irish food traditions for generations. Even if it is not added as an integral ingredient, it is more often than not, a fitting accompaniment to many meals.

It might take some people a little persuading that pouring a perfectly good drink into a saucepan is a good use of beer, but history shows the results are worth it.

Guinness is traditionally added to a range of hearty homemade dishes, such as chunky soups and winter stews, with the classic Guinness and beef stewÌęfeaturing on almost every pub menu in Ireland. It also has a long affinity with seafood such as oysters, mussels and lobster, and many chefs are known to incorporate Guinness into the batter for fried fish.

Arguably Guinness works best with rich food, with the flavours enhanced by the roasted bitterness of the stout, and why it has become such a potent combination partner to certain foods, such as dark chocolate, oysters, andÌębeef stew.

Along with the traditional classic combinations, Guinness is also a surprising versatile ingredient. If you like a deep rich ham for a special occasion, especially a Christmas Ham,Ìęyou can try boiling your ham in 2 pints of Guinness instead of water. It won’t overpower the flavour of the ham, but it will leave you with a succulent Guinness infused ham that can served hot for Christmas Eve supper, or cold for lunch or warm for a perfect ham and eggs breakfast.

It is also easy to make Guinness Gravy, which goes lovely with sausagesÌęand mash (or champ/colcannon). To make Guinness gravy just melt a knob of butter in a saucepan, and stir in a tablespoon of plain flour, and mix continuously for a minute on a gentle heat. Add 300ml/0.5 pint beef stock and 150ml/0.25 pint Guinness, 1 teaspoon tomato puree and half a teaspoon mixed herbs. Reduce the heat as low as it will go and simmer for 3-4 minutes until you’ve got a rich gravy.

For barbecue season you can try making a Guinness marinade for chicken, by combining Guinness with honey, balsamic vinegar, cajun spice seasoning and lime zest and juice, or for a really rich and indulgent treat use the same marinade on a Lamb Rack, and serve it on a board with the other half of Guinness. The simple smoothness of Guinness make it an ideal accompaniment for the delicate blend of flavours in lamb, and especially a cut with such complexities as lamb rack, which is exactly how we served it in the image above.

If you think Guinness is such for drinking, we’d urge you to give it another look and consider cooking with it, as it’s an easy ingredient to enhance a whole bunch of traditional dishes. That said, if you are just going to drink it, make sure you have some great meat to go with it, as it is one of meats great wash down accompaniments .

It might seem pretty obvious, but many a barbecue is ruined just by poor planning. We're not talking about planning about what to eat, what to drink or even who to invite, we're talking about planning what goes on the grill, when and where.

Just like any other form of cooking, not all meats for the barbecue require the same temperature. Some meat, such as steaks and beef burgers, need searing quickly over a high heat and will be done in just a couple of minutes. Lamb, whether chops, steaks or kebabs, can also be served pink in the middle, although ideally you'll give them slightly longer on a slightly lower temperature than the steaks.

Pork and chicken need more care and attention, as they account for most bouts of 'barbecue related sickness' according to NHS stats. They should be cooked thoroughly, neither should be pink or bloody, but you don't want to cremate them on the outside either, so give them considerably longer on the grill at a lower temperature.

If your barbecue is adjustable you can raise and lower the grill to achieve a higher and lower temperature, but a more relaxed method is to allow time to adjust the temperature for you. As such you need plan for a dual wave of cooking for your guests. Cook the meats that need quick fierce cooking first, and serve them with whatever sides you like. Then, as the temperature drops, cook the more delicate meats longer and slower, serving them as a second wave. 99% of guests have patience at a barbecue and don't might this style, and any grumblers can usually be offset by explaining the rational for doing it this way is for good food hygiene.

The other tip to consider is not to underestimate the Great British wind, which can affect temperature dramatically. One a breezy day the constant movement of air around the fire can reduce the temperature of the cooking zone considerably, and as such timings are very different from a windless day.

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As we move into Autumn and the one-pot dish becomes the star again, we asked our friend Richard Stone, founder of Mr Cookshop, to give us his expert take on why cast iron is best for the job.

I've lost count of how many celebrity chefs and cooking programmes are on telly, but I still tune into the likes of Saturday Kitchen, Sunday Brunch and like to see where Rick Stein is off on his travels.

It was actually watching Saturday Kitchen where I first saw James Martin and the team using some great-looking cast iron casserole dishes and the beef they cooked looked so tender.ÌęÌęA visit to a trade fair later and a meeting with Staub, and we decided to stock a range of their cocottes (French casserole pots) to add to our range at Mr Cook Shop.

Being a busy business owner, dad and keen home cook, means our own large Staub cocotte is used at least twice a week for casseroles, curries, chilli con carne, pie fillings, stews, soups and anything that needs slow cooking. The worst bit about cooking is the cleaning up afterwards, but with the cocotte being non-stick it's easily cleaned with warm soapy water.

For centuries, chefs and home cooks have taken advantage of the natural heat retention and redistribution properties of cast iron, which is so versatile it can be used on all heat sources, including induction which even means you can use in an ultra modern kitchen.

So what’s the difference with a good cocotte? The Staub cocotte has a cover with spikes, which enables drops of condensation (rainfall effect) to fall uniformly onto the food simmering below. This self-basting cycle ensures the flavours of the ingredients hold their full intensity and nutrients are preserved. In fact, testing proved that the Staub cocotte lids were 9 times more effective than conventional lids, and 10% more moisture is retained.

So, if you’re after some good quality slow-cooked meals, think about getting durable cast iron cookware, that’s going to cook really well. My advice would be to choose a trusted brand as used by James and his pals. If the chefs are using it, surely you should be too?

If you're interested in buying or finding out about cast-iron or other quality cookware head over toÌęwww.mrcookshop.com

Resting meat after cooking is the simplest of simple cooking tips to make your meat taste better but the reason why it improves it is buried in food science.

As meat cooks, the muscle tissues firm up and fluid is squeezed out. This moisture moves towards the meat surface, where it evaporates during cooking. When you take the roast meat from the oven, this moisture that is still inside the meat, should be redistributed back through the meat, instead of being released. If you cut a joint straight from the oven, excess liquid pools and rushes out, which equals a dry joint.

Meat will also continue to cook for a few minutes when you take it out of the oven, so there’s more than one reason for resting.

Letting the meat rest allows the moisture to evenly redistribute and reabsorb back into the meat to give a tender juicy piece of meat. You're best off covering it loosely in foil, usually for 10-20 minutes, depending on size.

We all know that meat should be stored in the fridge below 4 degrees Celsius? If you don't, it does, it's basic food hygiene and absolutely essential to keeping meat fresh.

What we aren't so good at though is bringing meat out of the refrigerator in enough time to bring it to room temperature.

We know how it goes, you've just got back in the house, you dive in the fridge, take the meat out, and whack it in the pan – why wouldn't you? Well if you stick a cold piece of meat in a hot pan or grill, the chances of burning the meat increase, as the muscle tissues contract and tighten meaning it is harder to distribute heat evenly through the meat.

If you want natural juicy flavour and you want your meat to cook evenly, let it come to room temperature first. It should only take 30-60 minutes to do this, and it really will be worth it.