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Well, I have to confess I adore blood (black) pudding! It's rare that I eat it though, because it's so fattening 
. Nowadays we're not allowed to use real blood for black pudding because the European Union is worried about it posing a health risk 
. Nevertheless, whatever the commercial producers use as a substitute is just as tasty 
. I've got a feeling there may still be some individual butchers who stick to the old ways, but they're very few and far between.
Here's the bacon recipe I use. There are so many good bacon producers in North America, though, that I suspect there are better recipes easily available.
I found that the bacon was much easier to slice with an electric slicer if you leave the rind on throughout the curing process.
I love bacon when it's cut into very small pieces, fried until crispy, and mixed with pesto sauce. Then I add some cooked and quartered brussels sprouts and mix it all with freshly cooked pasta. It may sound like an unlikely combination, but it tastes gorgeous and it's a great way to get people who hate sprouts to eat them.
Gill
. Nowadays we're not allowed to use real blood for black pudding because the European Union is worried about it posing a health risk . Nevertheless, whatever the commercial producers use as a substitute is just as tasty . I've got a feeling there may still be some individual butchers who stick to the old ways, but they're very few and far between.Here's the bacon recipe I use. There are so many good bacon producers in North America, though, that I suspect there are better recipes easily available.
BASIC CURING MIX
8lb salt
2oz saltpetre
2lb sugar (use whatever you fancy, different sugar, different taste).
Mix this all together well.
Use 1½oz of the cure to each pound of meat. As far as curing time, use the inch theory: 7 days for each inch thickness of meat i.e. 21 days for 3 inches of meat. Might need longer, might be shorter, a matter of experience and taste.
Get together the appropriate weight of cure, use half for the first part of the process, rub in well. Put the meat into a good quality plastic bag. Put a layer of mix in the bottom of the bag then place the meat on top of this, tie the bag up tightly, making sure all the air is excluded. Keep the curing temperature around 40/42F (I put mine in the fridge).
After about four days a lot of body fluids will have leached out, so undo the bag(s), drain the fluid off, remove and re-salt the meat. DO NOT overdo this, just a light covering, return to the bag and retie.
When the meat has finished it’s curing time, remove it from the bag, wash thoroughly in clean water, put string through one end and hang it up to dry. The temperature should be around 50F, there should be a through current and not in direct sunlight. This should take about one week to dry off and equalise. However, this summer I just left my bacon uncovered in the fridge after washing it, and it seemed to dry out fine.
8lb salt
2oz saltpetre
2lb sugar (use whatever you fancy, different sugar, different taste).
Mix this all together well.
Use 1½oz of the cure to each pound of meat. As far as curing time, use the inch theory: 7 days for each inch thickness of meat i.e. 21 days for 3 inches of meat. Might need longer, might be shorter, a matter of experience and taste.
Get together the appropriate weight of cure, use half for the first part of the process, rub in well. Put the meat into a good quality plastic bag. Put a layer of mix in the bottom of the bag then place the meat on top of this, tie the bag up tightly, making sure all the air is excluded. Keep the curing temperature around 40/42F (I put mine in the fridge).
After about four days a lot of body fluids will have leached out, so undo the bag(s), drain the fluid off, remove and re-salt the meat. DO NOT overdo this, just a light covering, return to the bag and retie.
When the meat has finished it’s curing time, remove it from the bag, wash thoroughly in clean water, put string through one end and hang it up to dry. The temperature should be around 50F, there should be a through current and not in direct sunlight. This should take about one week to dry off and equalise. However, this summer I just left my bacon uncovered in the fridge after washing it, and it seemed to dry out fine.
I love bacon when it's cut into very small pieces, fried until crispy, and mixed with pesto sauce. Then I add some cooked and quartered brussels sprouts and mix it all with freshly cooked pasta. It may sound like an unlikely combination, but it tastes gorgeous and it's a great way to get people who hate sprouts to eat them.
Gill
What I like about it is that any cut of pork can be used, right? It would be a break from the regular stripey American bacon (which can be very good, but expensive, too).
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