pork - 'Ome Made Store

Vindaloo Curry

Goan Pork Vindaloo Curry

I do love a good, hot curry. However a Vindaloo curry from the local Indian Restaurant or takeaway would never be first choice as it simply is a hot curry. Heat a priority, flavour secondary.

Vindaloo originates from the Indian region of Goa. This region is heavily influenced by the Portuguese settlers. It also has a quite large Christian population meaning that pork, a meat rarely eaten in India, can be found on the menu.

So a traditional Vindaloo Curry is made with wine, vinegar and copious amounts of garlic. The name Vindaloo comes from the Portuguese language. ‘Vinho’ meaning wine and ‘alho’ meaning garlic. Quite a few people think that the ‘aloo’ in Vindaloo means potato. Strangely enough many British Indian Restaurants do put potato in there Vindaloo, just to confuse things further!

Vindaloo Curry, How Hot Can You Go?

My recipe for Vindaloo is spicy but no where near as spicy as the dish you would get in a British Indian Restaurant.

If you want more heat it’s quite easy to adapt the recipe. Either add some chilli powder when you fry the masala off. Or add more fresh chillies. Birdseye chillies are great in this dish as are the thin Thai chillies which I believe are a type of cayenne. The other option is to add some chilli pickle towards the end. Naga Pickle, of course, is always going to add plenty of heat!

On the other hand you may fancy the sound of this dish but you’re not a fan of hot curries. If that’s the case then just add however much or little fresh chillies as you want.

But I Like Aloo In My Vindaloo?

If that’s the case then add some! Simply boil a few cubed potatoes so they’re not quite cooked and then throw them in your Vindaloo for the last 20-30 minutes of cooking.

If you like the look of this recipe you might want to check out the recipe for Lamb Madras

BBQ Rubs & Seasonings

BBQ Rubs & Seasonings are available to buy from the ‘Ome Made Online Store!

Summer is almost upon us, hopefully bringing some fine BBQ weather.

At ‘Ome Made we have a selection of BBQ Rubs & Seasonings to suit all tastes. Perfect for all the grill addicts out there!

BBQ Rubs & Seasonings are a vital part of the outdoor, summer cooking season. If it’s perfect pulled pork you’re after or you just want to season some steaks or chicken ‘Ome Made BBQ Rub-a-Dub-Rub is an American style dry rub perfect for rubbing in to meat before it is simply grilled or smoked low ‘n’ slow.

Pulled Pork made with 'Ome Made BBQ Rubs & Seasonings.

American Style BBQ Rubs

As well as our traditional BBQ rub we now have more American style seasonings.

For something different on a low and slow brisket why not try our Wake Up & Smell The Coffee Rub-a-Dub-Rub? A blend of spices, sugar and coffee. It may sound weird but it gives a lovely deep, savoury flavour with a touch of sweetness. It’s not just for brisket though it works on anything you want to grill too!

We have our Golden Green Rub-a-Dub-Rub which is a blend of yellow mustard, dill and other herbs and spices. This is great rubbed straight in to pork or it can be made in to a paste to smother pork shoulder or brisket so that your chosen coating will stick to the meat while being cooked, giving you two layers of flavour!

If you’re after simpler flavours we have Man! Fire! Rub-a-Dub-Rub. A combination of Salt, garlic, onion, spices and herbs. Great for bringing out the flavours of low and slow cooked meats but equally suitable for just chucking over something on the grill!

For something a little more spicy ‘Ome Made Fuego Furioso Rub-a-Dub-Rub (furious fire!) is great for sprinkling on to your food before it’s barbecued or adding to other rubs to give a little more Oomph! Its a combination of different dried chilli peppers, salt and pepper that will really liven up your BBQ!

If you want something that isn’t so spicy we do a range of Rub-a-Dub-Rubs which are more traditional and great used as BBQ Rubs, we have;

Pork – Perfect for joints, steaks or burgers.

Chicken – Great for seasoning thighs, whole or spatchcocked birds.

Beef – For seasoning burgers, steaks or if you want a simple flavoured piece of brisket.

Lamb – Use to season lamb burgers, steaks or a whole shoulder or leg done low ‘n’ slow

BBQ Rubs & Seasoning World Flavours!

‘Ome Made do a range of rubs which take influence from around the world…

Portuguese Rub-a-Dub-Rub is based on the classic flavours of Portuguese Piri Piri. We love this rubbed on to a small whole or spatchcocked chicken before cooking indirect on the barbecue.

Moroccan Rub-a-Dub-Rub takes all the earthy, warming flavours of North Africa and goes brilliantly with lamb. Try rubbing in to a whole leg with a little garlic, lemon juice and olive oil before cooking indirect on the barbecue… a real treat! It also makes agreat BBQ rub for chicken.

We also have Jerk Rub-a-Dub-Rub and Cajun Rub-a-Dub-Rub. Always a favourite to rub in to some chicken and throw on the BBQ for a real crowd pleaser!

If it’s Kebabs you’re after why not try ‘Ome Made Ultimate Kebab Rub-a-dub-Rub. whether it’s chicken or lamb skewers. Minced meat Donner style, skewered Chicken thighs or pork this is a great allrounder!

BBQ Rubs & Seasonings. Ultimate Kebab-Rub-a-Dub-Rub

Indian On The BBQ

We love Indian food here at ‘Ome Made!

While it might be a tad to warm for a Madras or Vindaloo, that doesn’t mean Indian food has to get shelved!

We have some Indian inspired BBQ Rubs perfect for the summer months.

Try some Seekh kebabs made with our Indian Kebab Masala or one of our favourites, some Chicken Tikka or even a whole Tandoori Chicken using our Tandoori Masala & Kashmiri Masala

We Have A Range Of Curry Masala & Powder Which May Interest You. Click This Link To Find Out More.

For The Full Range Of ‘Ome Made Products Click Here!

Pulled Pork. How To Do It & Make Chilli With The Leftovers!

Pulled Pork… I do like cooking meat the low and slow method. It allows you to play around with so many flavours and you also get the rest of the day free! You also get to make great food with the leftovers. Read on for a great Pulled Pork Chilli!

Pulled pork is no exception. It can be done on the BBQ, in the oven or in a slow cooker.

Although I would prefer to cook pork for pulling on the BBQ, the British weather isn’t always ideal and I’m not one for ducking in and out of the rain just for a piece of meat!

So what is the best cut of pork for Pulled Pork? Most people will be able to get a piece of shoulder from their local butcher or supermarket and this is fine for the job. Make sure you take the rind off and cook that separately for some crackling! However the best piece of pork, if you can get hold of it, is a cut referred to as Boston Butt! This is the American name for the cut, however in good old Blighty it is called pork crop. Ask your local butcher, they may just oblige!

Pork crop for pulled pork rubbed with 'Ome Made BBQ rub from www.omemade.co.uk — Pork crop or Boston Butt rubbed with ‘Ome Made BBQ Rub-a-Dub-Rub

We are lucky to have a pig farmer just around the corner from us. Their pork is sublime. If you are in the Sheffield area you really should try and get hold of some. They are Moss Valley Fine Meats if you want to look them up.

So now you have your meat you need to decide how to flavour it. Most people will opt for a traditional BBQ flavour. In this cook I used ‘Ome Made BBQ Rub-a-Dub-Rub to rub on to the pork before it was cooked. If you can do this the day before it will help the flavours penetrate the meat. You could opt for other flavours. In the past I’ve done it Chinese style and of course South American flavours work brilliantly.

Now you need to decide how to cook it. I’m not going to talk about cooking it on the BBQ in this post, I’ll save that for another time!

To cook in a slow cooker simply put in the slow cooker with a little liquid. Apple Juice works well. For a kilo piece of pork you will be looking at 4.5 to 5 hours. Personally I would finish it off in the oven with a glaze of BBQ sauce or some apple juice, maple syrup or honey and a splash of bourbon!

To cook pulled pork in the oven you want the oven temperature to be 120°C – 125°C. Place your pork in a roasting pan. Place a little baking sheet or greaseproof over the meat, if you have it, and then cover the roasting pan with tinfoil, crimping to the edges to create a seal. for 1kg meat you are probably looking at around 4 hours. For 2kg about 5.5 hours cooking covered. after this time you need to uncover the meat. Take the meat out of the pan and drain off the juices then put the meat back in the pan. Turn the oven up to around 160°C – 165°C. you can now baste the meat with whatever you want. I used a mixture of apple juice, maple syrup and bourbon. Put back in the oven and every 20 minutes or so give it a baste. You could baste with BBQ sauce, Sweet Chilli Sauce or even reduce the cooking juices down with a bit of dark sugar or honey a little vinegar and soya sauce and use that. after an hour or hour and half if you have a larger joint the meat should be ready. Carefully take the pork out of the roasting tin and wrap in baking or greaseproof paper and tin foil. the meat now needs to rest for at least 20 minutes after which time you can pull it apart with a couple of forks. You can now add more BBQ Sauce Chilli Sauce or leftover juices to the pork before serving.

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Personally I like to serve it in some bread of some sort, with some pickled veg, cheese, jalapeno chillies and some fries on the side. Awesome! You could serve with some good old ‘Ome Made Baked Beans! Follow the link for the recipe.

Of course the best thing about pulled pork is that it goes a long way and you always end up with leftovers. If you don’t you need to buy a bigger joint!

One of our favourite things to do with the leftovers is a Chilli.

Here’s a simple recipe for a really tasty Pulled Pork Chilli!

‘Ome Cured Bacon

Who doesn’t like bacon? I’ve even heard of vegetarians succumb to the smell of bacon frying on a Saturday morning from the local greasy spoon.

One day I was thinking ‘well how hard can it be to make my own bacon’. So I got a piece of belly pork from the butchers, took the bones out and fat off then rubbed it with liberal amounts of salt and other seasonings, put it in a plastic container in the fridge and left it there for a week, pouring off the moisture and rubbing a little more salt into the meat every other day or so.

After a week I rinsed the piece of meat thoroughly under cold water, patted it dry and then sliced it as thinly as possible. The meat certainly had the texture of bacon. The colour though was slightly off putting and even after it was cooked it was a slightly pinkish-grey colour. However it tasted fantastic!

Of course in commercial curing they use a curing salt which contains, amongst other things, saltpeter or potassium nitrate although this compound has more recently been replaced with sodium nitrate (E252) and it’s this that gives the bacon the characteristic pink colour.

You can get curing salt quite easily, it’s available on line. I however thought ‘I’ll ask my butcher for some’. Sure enough, as I was buying a big hunk of belly pork from him, he was happy to oblige. I think any decent butcher would do the same, they may charge you for it but it would be better than buying a big batch and they will even tell you how much to use for the piece of meat you’re curing.

And that’s all you need, a piece of meat to cure and some curing salt.

I tend to use belly pork for my own bacon. Simply because it’s reasonably cheap and it’s great when used in cooking sauces such as Bolognaise (Pancetta is made using the same cut of pork)

I take the bones out of the piece of meat (these go in the freezer until we have enough for some nice sticky ribs), and then I rub my curing mixture into the meat. I stick a freezer bag over my hand. You really don’t want curing salt on your hands!

I enhance my curing mixture with some spices and sugar. I’ll use some muscavado sugar for sweetness, a little allspice, a tiny pinch of chili powder and a little smoked paprika. You can use whatever you fancy though or just leave it plain.

And that’s it. Place in a non metallic container, cover and stick in the fridge. It should be ready after a couple days but I’ve left it up to a week before. It’s best to drain the excess water that comes out of the meat, however sometimes I’ve forgotten and it’s still turned out fine.

Once your meat is ready you need to rinse it and then dry it. I take the rind off the meat and roast it in one piece for the ultimate crackling! The Kids go mad for it! The meat can then be sliced, diced or left in big pieces to roast (if your doing this leave the rind on). We normally slice some and dice some and freeze it in small batches.

Believe me, your own home-cured bacon will taste amazing and will be a fraction of the cost of shop bought.

Of course the best way to enjoy it is to have a couple slices of cooked, crispy homemade bacon and a squirt of tomato ketchup sandwiched between two slices of home made bread and a nice cup of tea… Perfect!