Utterly delicious pork belly roast

Now this is how I like my meat – slow cooked, full of moisture and soft enough you can pull it apart with a fork.  But up until now we haven’t really cooked meat like this, but after spotting a rather good-looking piece of pork belly at Davenports Farm Shop this was the moment.

We followed Jamie Oliver’s recipe for Pork Belly Roast and it didn’t let us down – not that any Jamie recipe ever has, I don’t think.  On top there was a layer of golden, crispy crackling, and beneath the meat was flavourful and soft.

We ate it drenched in gravy, with a pile of fluffy and super buttery mashed potato, and peas and broad beans.  De-lish!  Definitely one to make for friends.

Little Heath Farm on BBC’s Great British Menu

I completely forgot to tell you that our lovely Little Heath Farm were featured as one of the producers on last week’s Great British Menu. 

Their pork was used in Aiden Byrne’s main course of oak-roasted middle white pork with broad beans and wild mushrooms. 

Sadly Aiden didn’t make it through to the final – it would have been great to see one of our local producers have their produce cooked for the Prince of Wales.

The Wall at Coulton

I am always on the trail of great local food, and some of the best places to explore are the areas where our families live.  N’s family live in a gorgeous North Yorkshire village, and last year I sent off to the local tourist board for their ‘local produce guide’.  It was actually a lot better than I was expecting, with more than just the standard tourist trail. 

We spent a day travelling about, took a ride on a steam train, and visited a number of local food retailers.  There was a large farm shop selling the touristy deli items, a fantastic farm making their own jam and the best strawberry jam that I’ve ever tasted, and then we discovered The Wall at Coulton.

The Wall at Coulton :: North Yorkshire ::

The Wall is…well…a wall.  It’s an old wall that runs around a lovely old farmhouse with a stunning cottage garden when in bloom.  On the wall are a good variety of the vegetables that they sell.  They have a simple, but honest sign that reads ‘We grow ALL we sell.’ 

In addition to homegrown vegetables, they also sell pork and lamb, and cut flowers in summer.  Every time we’ve visited since it’s been raining, so the pictures look a bit dismal.  But this place is fantastic, a real gem, with real seriously local food. 

It works on a simple honesty tin system where you pop the money you owe in the tin on the wall. 

Soggy looking carrots – God bless the British summer.

Bags of calabrese and romanesco cauliflower.

For more information visit their website http://www.thewall-coulton.co.uk.