Chilled Duck

A lovely crisp spring morning on the friendly farm, the ducks are starting to shape up nicely for our Easter Saturday sales day.

Simple No Messing Recipe For Bork Belly

Here is a simple recipe to get the best out of some outdoor reared pork belly.

1.5kg/3 a quarter lb pork belly in one piece, rind on, well scored

1 tbsp smoked paprika

1 tsp salt

Dressing 4 tbsps olive oil

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 tsps smoked paprika

2 scallions, chopped

1 tbsp fresh coriander

1 red chilli, chopped

Salt and black pepper

Pork belly (also known as lap of pork) is currently trendy in restaurants but tastes much better when cooked at home. It's easy on the budget and is often the only cut available rind-on from butchers and supermarkets, who now tend to sell everything without the skin -- so no delicious crackling. Belly of pork makes brilliant crackling (and lots of it), and much of the fat melts away during cooking to leave beautifully succulent meat. This is a spicy dish, but the joint is also delicious cooked plain (simply scored and rubbed with a little salt) to serve traditionally with gravy, apple sauce and seasonal vegetables.

Serves six.

1 Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Place the pork on a rack over a deep roasting tin, then pour half a kettle of boiling water over the rind. Discard the water and dry off the pork with kitchen paper -- this will help to give you really crisp crackling.

2Mix the smoked paprika and salt together. Spread it over the rind and meat. Place the pork back on the rack over the roasting tin and place in the hot oven for two hours, or until the meat is tender and the crackling is well browned and crisp. Potato wedges, seasoned with a sprinkling of smoked paprika and salt, can be cooked in the oven with the pork for the last half hour or so.

To make the dressing

Heat the olive oil, add the garlic and allow the garlic to just turn golden. Tip the oil and garlic into a food processor. Add the smoked paprika, scallions, coriander and chilli and whizz for a minute; taste for seasoning. Slice the pork thickly (remove the crackling for easy slicing) and serve with a spoonful of the dressing.
Lunch idea: Leftovers can make a great sandwich for lunch. Toss a mixture of grated carrot, bean sprouts and thinly sliced scallions with a little of the dressing and use with thinly sliced cold pork.

- Georgina Campbell

Irish Independent

Puppy Power

Could this puppy protect the lives of thousands?

The latest addition to the farm is Bess a 12 week old Pyrenean Mountain Dog. Pyrenean Mountain dogs are classed as 'livestock guardians' and if trained properly they will protect whatever livestock they live with, she could prove to be a brilliant help on the farm as one of the biggest obstacles to running a successful pasture poultry operation is predators (fox, dogs, minks & even humans!).

But, (and there always is a but) the challenge is that we have no experience of training such a dog. We may be the first in Ireland to try this out, I will post more details later on the breed, training and their role in farming and the pasture poultry model, meanwhile we can just admire how cute she is!

Pork up Your Sex life!

Think would our Leaders partners appreciate them more after some outdoor reared pork sausages or rashers?

Back to the Future

We are back into rearing sheep, for the first time in over a decade there are sheep on the farm. My Grandfather was alive & actively farming the last time we had sheep, god only knows what he would think if he was around now. Hopefully these 15 Suffolk Galway Cross ewes will become the base of a new flock, all going well allowing us to sell lamb meat boxes by autumn 2011. Its a slow burner but aren't all good things?