Diary and Notes
He's back...
What's all this going on here then eh? What's all this writing a noshblog page and it's all over?
Is this the review he was promising us?
No sorry my chums - I will get around to the review at some point, I've been a bit busy of late - plus
by the time I finished my challenge I was so cheesed off with the whole thing I couldn't face writing another word.
I am however somewhat recovered and thought a little update on how I've been eating since it all finished would
be a good idea.
I've had a few emails from people asking me questions and I shall answer these first (then get on to the
sausages):
Am I missing eating different things every day? Not really, I'm still eating pretty well. I am sort of
missing the routine though. For the first few days it was really weird being able to eat anything I wanted. The first
day I after I finished the challenge, me and some friends went out for a curry and I sat there looking at the menu
thinking what I
was able to eat and then realised I could eat anything, absolutely anything. I had a lamb handi which was
quite tasty but needed to be spicier. It was also good to go to a restaurant and not have to photograph the food.
What's the first dish that I repeated? I don't think I had a handi on my blog so that would have counted
as new. The next day I went to visit my chums Curtis and Helen (who have a new born) and they cooked me a meal
from a recipe from my blog. Actually Curtis started cooking and then ran off to look after the baby and left me to
cook the dinner in the end. It was a Croatian style pork stew and it wasn't bad. The one on my
blog was better though (I'm not sure what I did wrong - probably needed a bit longer cooking - plus I forgot
to put any mustard in).
Have I had any good cakes since my blog ended? No. I have almost completely avoided eating cakes of any sort.
The only new cake I've had was a Ben & Jerry's 'Wich. A sort of ice cream sandwich with cookies. It wasn't
good and was definitely overpriced.
So what's with the sausages and why did a few strings of sausages inspire me to start my blog up again -
they must have been darn tootin' fine sausages indeed. Yes, darn tootin' fine they were - plus they were home made, by
me, all by myself.
I got a hand mincer for my birthday (cheers Fran & Matt) which in addition to grinding meat has some tube
attachments for stuffing sausages - I just had to have a go.
My first effort last week wasn't great. They looked good but the blend was too dry (not enough fat). These were
my second attempts and what great sausages they were too. I am recommending everybody has a go at making
their own, it takes a little time but the result is really worth it -
I wish I could send you all one in the post to show you just how good they were.
So if I get any other interesting meals or make anything strange I might add a site to my blog just
to keep my hand in. I'm having haggis for dinner tonight - I'll take some photos and write a piece - aah
it's grand to be back.
Preparation
I made two different sausage blends - the first basic recipe which I'm calling my 'Evening dinner blend' was
about 1kg of pork shoulder (ground in an old style hand mincer), one packet of lemon and thyme
stuffing (reconstituted in boiliong water), a sprinkling of vegetable suet, pepper, mixed herbs, a pinch or
two of MSG a little celery salt and some paprika. The second 'breakfast blend' - to give me a pep in the
mornings was the same as the above but had 1 Tbsp of
dried chilli flakes, 2 tsp of very hot chilli powder, 2 tsp mild smokey chilli powder and a extra tsp of black
pepper. The sausages are quite easy to make - you need the casing of course (which I bought from Frosts in
Chorlton for £3.00 - enough for 20kg of bangers no less) and these need to be soaked in water for
30 mins. Grind the meat and mix everything together with a little water for lubrication. Chill the mixture.
Thread some casing onto the tube and stuff away. Leave them to hang for an hour to dry a little. Easy (ish)
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JCBorresen@GMail.com
