SALTED OX TONGUE

I picked up a salted ox tongue at the Norfolk Food Fair on Saturday simply because I had never had tongue.

The tongue was an Angus tongue from Foxley Wood. If you wish to buy some quality beef for your Christmas meal or some other occasion, this farm is a very good choice. They start maturing Christmas beef in October.




The stall-keepers were two lovely ladies who gave me detailed instructions on how to cook the tongue. I promised them to write something about my experience.




Fist you need to simmer the tongue on low heat.



Skim the foam when it forms.



The tongue is done when you're able to insert a skewer easily. This will take a few hours. When the tongue is cooked, put a weight on it and let it rest. I think I used a fairly unorthodox method for this, as you can see below, but it worked.




Peel the tongue. The skin will come off very easily.




And finally, you can slice it.



I have served the tongue two different ways so far. Below you can see it with Hollandaise sauce. I have to say I didn't enjoy the sauce very much even though it's a classic.




The second time I fried plenty of garlic, an onion and tree tomatoes and added some balsamic vinegar. I added the sliced tongue into the mixture to warm it up. I also sprinkled some parsley on top. This worked much better.




The flavour of the tongue is quite mild. I have to describe it, I'd say it tastes a little bit like ham or seafood. The texture is very soft and tender, as you can see in the photo below. There are several types of tissue in the tongue and they all have a different flavour and texture.




Fridge-cold tongue is delicious on it's own. I'd imagine it makes a lovely sandwich.

NORFOLK FOOD FAIR

The annual Norfolk Food Fair was held on Saturday. This time the venue was The Forum in Norwich, not Gentleman's Walk as I think it has earlier been. I went there to have a look and this is what I saw.

A very uninviting view. No stalls in sight and not very many people.

In a tent outside.

Inside The Forum. Still not very many people and not many stalls.

Bondas and onion bhajis.

A bonda seemed to be mildly spiced chopped potatoes in a gram flour crust.

The people behind Chillis Galore being interviewed by BBC East.

Jellies and sauces.

The sausage van.

Sausage competition.

A bit busier at the sausage-tasting area, as you can see.

Trying a sample.

Sausages being prepared for tasting.

Inside The Forum again.

Some Foxley Wood produce.

A salted ox tongue.

In addition to what you can see here, there were also producers selling cakes, bread, juice, beer, jams, ice cream, cheese and of course mustard. In the sausage-tasting area there was a pot of Colman's mustard at every stand and they also had a stand of their own.

The event seemed to be smaller than in previous years. One thing I noticed was that there were no sweets on offer.

Maybe Gentleman's walk would be a better venue than The Forum because it's right next to the market, where you can find more local food. The Forum is a bit isolated, though convenient for rainy days.

VISITOR COUNTER FURY

Web-counters.org decided to update their website in a way that disabled all their customers' visitor counters. Of course they have no contact info on their website.

I was getting close to a thousand visitors since last summer.

Do not click on the Click button next to the counter. It's an advertising tool that can't be removed and will only take you to web-counters.org.

UPDATE 20/09/10: I have now removed the visitor counter because of another glitch.

I will still be able to see the number of visits because Blogspot records them but the number will not be visible to readers. I apologise for this but if anyone's curious, Salt & Thyme is definitely getting more popular.

Thank you for your visit, my dear reader!

COMING UP: NORFOLK FOOD FESTIVAL

The Norfolk Food Festival consists of various events spread around the near future though the main events are around the end of September.

There will be a food fair on Sept 25th that I will not miss. You will also have a chance to have a Norfolk afternoon tea, witness The Tallest Jelly Competition and a sausage competition Battle of the Bangers.

Click here for events calendar.

The Norfolk Food Festival is also on Facebook and Twitter.

A BIT OF FUN

Here's a couple fun websites for your enjoyment.

Pimp That Snack is about creating ginormous versions of world-famous snacks. We love photos, don't we, and this website has plenty. The users range from college rascals who have never cooked before to mature foodies. Check out the ganstalicious fig roll or the monumental Creme Egg. Yes, a lot of the recipes are British, which is refreshing. Put the kettle on while you browse, love. http://www.pimpthatsnack.com/

Ooh, I think one of the chocolate bars would make a nice gift for a teenage boy. Evil plan emerging...

Another fun website is Apocalypse Cakes: Recipes for the End http://apocalypsecakes.wordpress.com/

Now this is baking made fun. The names of the cakes are great but the recipes seem functional and the final result always looks quite professional. Have a look at the Branch Davidian Texas pecan pie with a flaming cross stuck upright in the middle. Now that's impressive, even though it may not be something to make for your mum. I think any mum would appreciate some Sodom and Gomorrah fruitcake, though! Boy, that cracks me up. Or maybe make yourself a Raining Blood cake while listening to the Slayer song? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZO5T2MHmHnk&feature=av2n

One cake they're definitely missing is one raleted to a zombie apocalypse. I definitely need to send them feedback on that after I finish typing this.

An impostor has emerged! Since June 2010, there has been a saltandthyme.com competing with my saltandthyme.blogspot.com. They must be doing quite well, too, since I found them first when looking for my own blog. Boo!

DOG-SHAPED CHOCOLATE CAKE

This was for my sister-in-law's birthday. The cake itself is a Black Forest cake, or Black Forest gateau, as Delia Smith likes to call it. As gateau is just a French word for a layer cake, I'll call this a cake. The recipe is from Delia's book Delia's Complete Cookery Course. Anyway, Black Forest, or Schwarzwald is in Germany. Why the French then?

Black Forest cake is a very traditional cherry cake, and something I wanted to try but you can use any recipe you like because this post is just about creating the dog-shape.


Delia's Black Forest gateau:

6 large eggs
150 caster sugar (Non-British readers: that just a type of sugar that's slightly finer than usual)
50g cocoa powder

Filling and topping:
300ml double cream (I'd say you need 400ml)
sugar
450g tin or jar Morello cherries
(I also used raspberry jam for the semi-circle)
1-2 tblsp Kirsch or rum
(50g plain chocolate to decorate - didn't use any because I wanted the dog to remain perfectly white.)

Use a 20cm deep cake tin. Separate the egg whites from the yolks, do not discard anything. Whisk the yolks with the sugar until they just begin to pale and thicken, which will not take long. Fold in the sifted cocoa powder. Beat the egg whites on their own until white. Stir a little bit of the egg white into the chocolate mix to loosen it up and fold in the rest of the egg white. Bake in 180°C until done but not dry.

The cake should be very moist so I used the liquid from the cherries to dampen the cake when I filled it.

What I used to paint the mouth, eye and ear is a mixture of honey and cocoa powder.


When the cake has cooled down, cut it as demonstrated below.



Thinnen the head and legs of the dog. Leave the semi-circle thick. Adjust any bits if they look wonky.




Cut the cake into layers and fill it.



Then it's time for the cream. I forgot to save some to make a tail.




Paint on the eyes, etc, just before serving if you're using honey-cocoa mixture because it will bleed a little.