The other day I bumped into someone who smiled as they saw me and said "I've got something for you!". They then handed me a white carrier bag full of pigs feet!
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| Bags of pigs feet |
I'm not squeamish when it comes to foot (as you all know) so these didn't bother me at all. The girls thought they were funny as I chased them around the house with them!
I did struggle to know what to do with them, I decided on doing them in a Chinese style. I boiled them for two and a half hours with Chinese five spice and load of garlic, ginger and soy sauce. I then put them in a roasting tray, painted sweet chilli dipping sauce on top and roasted them for another hour.
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| Boiled for two and a half hours then covered in sweet chilli dipping sauce and roasted for another hour |
They were falling apart by the time I'd finished, they even looked appetising!
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| Trotter with rice and home grown purple sprouting. |
And how were they?
Rubbish!
If there was three mouthfuls of meat on eight trotters I'd be surprised!
Not something I'll be trying again any time soon as there is far too much cooking and prep involved for what you get from it - even when they're free. I think you're supposed to eat the grissel and fat as well but there is only so much you can eat.
Anyone else eat pigs trotters?
No pig trotters here, but when I was young, my Dad and I would once in a while share a jar of pickled pig's feet as a treat. Not home canned, but from the grocery. I try to make use of whatever meat I have, especially if it has been given to me. But sometimes the result just isn't worth the effort.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure this was although some people go crazy for them. Pickled feet don't sound great.
DeleteAs a child mum cooked them, she often got half a pig for the freezer which always came with all four trotters and a whole head, he only request was for the eyes to be removed. Mum made brawn, never tasted a better one.
ReplyDeleteI have been offered a pigs head as well but I'm not sure how much I like meat in jelly. and if the wife would still be here once I cooked it!
DeleteBrawn is the answer. 2 trotters to half a pigs head makes a good amount and very very tasty - pig mans pate!
ReplyDeleteI suppose I should try it as I have been offered the head as well. maybe next week though...
Deletegood for amino acids. strong hair and nails.
ReplyDeleteMy hair is extra silky today now you mention it...
DeleteAren't pigs trotters boiled to make gelatin?
ReplyDeleteYeah, in fact the stock that was left over came out in one big piece of jelly.
DeleteI bought a half pig recently which came with feet, ear, bits of head and various other bits and pieces (not all of which I could identify!!) I put them all in my stock pot with carrot, parsnip, onion and a couple of bay leaves. The resulting, well-strained stock/jelly was gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteSounds good and a good use of the leftovers. I've read there's a lot of meat in the cheeks of a pig.
DeleteI thought that was fun: the game with the children, the cooking part of it looks wonderful:)...although it won't go well in our household but I've heard that trotters are full of collagen to make one young and beautiful!
ReplyDeletethere was lots of laughing and squealing going on when I chased them. They kept coming back for more!
DeleteLol, Am I not young and beautiful enough without the need for collagen?
Kev, yes the tendons etc are just as important as the meat. As you might know Chinese do not waste any part of the animal and make good use of it all in their cooking. The braised pigs feet I've had have been tasty and not fatty. (married to a Chinese, by the way).
ReplyDeleteMaybe this pig had fat ankles? I'd like to try it done in the proper Chinese way and see what it's like.
DeleteI remember my grandmother eating them and got the impression that they were something special that she liked so there must be something to them. Of course we have the saying "Eating High Off The Hog" which means you are rich and most likely excludes the feet.
ReplyDeleteHonour the beast, from the tail to the snout - someone said to me. I'm not sure how much I left of these would give it much honour though!
Deletei use pigs feet in stews and sauces for flavor and thickening and then remove them and toss them away at the end.
ReplyDeleteIf you had dogs I bet they would love them! Even less waste that way.
DeleteThey call them Crubeens here in Ireland Kev.
ReplyDeleteI heard someone use that word once and now I know what they were talking about!
DeleteI can just see you chasing your girls with those feet, that made me laugh. To answer your question off my blog, yes I googled and googled the saffron bulb situation I have and found nadda nothing on whether to leave them or dig them or ...sighhh But your idea to do part and leave part is a thought... as you say I could see what happened then. I don't want to loose them all to rot. I would like another go at the bed and soil prep for them.
ReplyDeleteThey did laugh and squeal as they ran away!
DeleteAd for your safforn I think it would be best to go for the experiment, like I said in years to come it would cause you much less worry when the weather is less than ideal.
My Mom is German. So she grew up with her Mom making sulze / sultz. It was her Fathers favorite dish. I have never had it but have heard many times how wonderful it is.
ReplyDeleteIts made by arranging on a dish a cooked pork chop, a pickle, half a hard boiled egg sliced and arranged pretty on the plate. Then pour a gelatin made out of boiled pigs feet (that they put lots of spices in) over everything, and refrigerate till solid.
My Mom said that she didn't like to eat a whole lot when she was a kid, but this was one dish that she loved.
Kimberly
How come you never tried it? I think I might like these if someone who knew what they were doing was cooking them. I was just using a few recipes off the internet and experimenting really.
DeleteMy Mom has never made it. It was her Fathers favorite dish, so they had it on special occasions, but my mom was just telling me that it takes a long time to make. Her mom would usually make the pork chops and boiled eggs one day, and then make the pigs foot jelly stuff the next morning so that they would have time to jell in the fridge. You also would have to have room in the fridge for all those individual plates chilling.
DeleteKimberly
If someone handed me a bag of pigs trotters I would make a run for it.
ReplyDeleteThe dogs eat pigs ears ... the only time I was REALLY sad about that was when our pigs ears came back from the abattoir along with the rest of the meat and LH cooked them up, I recognised Busters number on one of them when the ears came out of the oven :-(