Top rump

Since the whole silverside thing happened, I decided to try another cheap beef joint to see how it went. All in all it went pretty well but due to the number of oil-rich bags I've just used, this post is unsuitable for Greenpeace supporters or as I call them, perverts.

Don't get me wrong, any sane and decent person wholeheartedly agrees with Greenpeace's principles and I stand shoulder to shoulder with every one of them. Then I see a dozen of them trespassing someone's ship and it makes me want to burn some tyres. Here's my advice to Greenpeace - engage, not enrage.

The reason I used so many bags was because the beef kept releasing juices which traveled up the bag under vacuum ruining the seal in the process. Next time I'll open the packaging and leave it to dry in the fridge for 24 hours giving me ample time to storm a BP fracking rig.

Tenderstem broccoli

I'm going for the shortest blog post ever. The entire post is going into the intro.

Sometimes in life it's nice when something's surprisingly hard. With tenderstem broccoli however, less so. Cooked the same way as asparagus at 85 degrees for 20 minutes it's annoyingly firm. Watch for an update soon.

Silverside

Us Brits are known for our roast beef. It's instinct borne of generation. Hunks of meat searing in a crackling hearth, dutifully turned on the spit while embers pop and crack in an otherwise lifeless space.

These days we stick it in a box of water replacing the fire risk with botulism and call it progress.

Duck breast

We love duck, so much so that we had a whole one a few Christmases ago. Not between the two of us, I'm talking one each. One duck, one potato, one sprout, some gravy. You'll need to buy bigger plates for that event. We've been doing confit duck legs the past couple of Christmases because every holiday deserves so much salt it takes your mind off the fat. In this episode, we tried breasts and it was a rip-roaring success.

Asparagus

So far, every post has given the impression we gorge solely on freshly culled animals but believe it or not, we really like vegetables. After all, what else are you going to feed cows on? Sometimes though you've gotta get those vitamins so today's post is about asparagus. Very controversial. Bear with me if you're a devout carnivore.

Lamb breast

Good news - I've found my carving fork.

In other news, we've cooked lamb breast. This is one of those times when a water bath excels because this particular cut of meat is full of flavour but it's tough like Vin Diesel so benefits from long slow cooking. Vin Diesel on the other hand probably doesn't.

Only one of those things is relevant.

Venison haunch

As it was my birthday and I got an Anova circulator as a present, I decided I wanted to buy a thick ribeye and cook it to see how the new machine got on with it. Then we went to the pub and got a pizza on the way back which left us with one steak between the two of us the following day. Being the resourceful types that we are, we had a bear-like forage in the freezer and up came venison haunch to top-up the meatiness. Veg stumbled into the impromptu protein party and along with some supporting characters, lunch was done.