Pig Blood Soup

Ingredients:

• 3 spoons dried blood

• 600ml cold water

• 1 tablespoon vinegar

• 400ml fish stock

• 300g Pork belly

• 1 onion

• A small bunch of Wild Garlic

• 2 bay leaves

• 2 tsp black pepper

• 1 tsp salt

Method:

Mix together the dried blood and water, until smooth. Stir in the vinegar (this will prevent coagulation when cooking).

Cut the pork belly into chunks and fry in a little butter or oil, for around 10 minutes, until browning on all sides. Peel & thinly slice the onion and add to the pan, frying for a few minutes to soften.

Roughly chop the garlic and add to the pan, along with the blood, fish stock, bay, salt & pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer for around 15 minutes.

Remove from the heat and serve.

Pinnekjot (stick-meat)

Ingredients: 

• 250g salt

• Goat, lamb or pork ribs

• Water

• Birch sticks (bark removed)

Method:

To preserve;

Place the ribs in a large container and work the salt into the meat, making sure every part is covered.

Leave to rest somewhere cold or in the fridge for 24 hours per Kg. Turning every 12 hours.

Brush the excess salt off and hang in a cool & dry location. Dry for 4-6 weeks.

To cook;

Separate the ribs lengthwise and place to soak in cold water overnight.

In a large pan or cauldron build a grid with the birch sticks by criss-crossing the sticks in the bottom.

Add water to the pan, to just about cover the sticks. Place the ribs on top of the grid and pop a lid on the pan. Leave the meat to steam for 2-3 hours on a low heat. Be sure to add water occasionally to make sure it does not go dry. When the meat falls off the bone, it is done.

If you choose you can put the meat on a grill for about 15-20 minutes to crisp prior to serving.

Taken from my book ‘Eat like a Viking!’ Available now on Amazon

Pork & Barley stew

Ingredients:

For the stew; 

• A knob of Butter

• 300g pork (diced)

• 200ml cider

• 4 large handfuls of barley

• 2 turnips (peeled and and cut into chunks)

• 1 stick of celery (quartered and sliced)

• 1 leek (quartered and sliced)

• A handful of kale

• 2 tsp black mustard seeds

• 1 sprig of rosemary (finely chopped)

• A small bunch of thyme (finely chopped)

• Salt & pepper (to taste)

For the dumplings;

• 50g suet

• 100g flour

• 100ml cold water

Method:

Melt the butter in a large cooking pot. Add the pork and cook until nicely browning

Add the rest of the ingredients and add enough water to just cover everything.

Bring to the boil and simmer uncovered. Don’t let the stew run dry, add a drop more water, if necessary.

While that’s cooking. Mix together the suet and flour and season with salt & pepper. Slowly add the water, while mixing with your hands, until it all comes together.

Divide the dough into 4 and press firmly into balls. When the stew has been on for about 90 minutes, carefully drop the dumplings into the stew and simmer for a further 20 minutes.

Taken from my book ‘Eat like a Viking!’ Available now on Amazon 

Pig tail soup

A favourite of the Anglo Saxons.

Pork was know as ‘swin’ or modern ‘swine’. With no secondary uses a pig would have been used solely for its meat.

A Saxon swineherd who looked after his lords pigs was entitled to one pig and its entrails, presumably for making sausage casings.

Ingredients:

• 3 pig tails (cut into 1-1.5’’ chunks)

• 1.5L chicken stock

• 1 onion (finely chopped)

• 3 white or purple carrots (quartered and diced)

• 3 handfuls of split peas

• 3 celery (finely chopped)

• Handful of wild garlic (roughly chopped)

• 2 bay leaves

• Butter

Method:

Stick the pig tails in a pan or cauldron. Add the stock.

Bring to a boil & simmer for 40 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for a further 20 minutes.

Remove from the heat and remove the tails from the soup.

Heat some butter in a pan and fry the tails for 10-20 minutes, until crispy. Return the tails to the soup and serve.

Taken from my book ‘Eat like a Viking!’ Available now on Amazon 

Sausages

Use the cut end of a piece of horn to aid the stuffing of sausage cases. An old drinking horn works well. It needs to be small enough to fit a casing on to, but with an opening large enough to stuff meat through. Mine measures approximately 2’’ long by 1’’ at its narrowest. The opening at the small end is about 1/2 inch, but find what works for you.

When you cut the horn, you may need to use a drill to open up the hole a little more.

Ingredients:

Recipe 1;

• 240g venison

• 60g pork fat

• 1 tsp wild garlic

• ½ an onion

• ½ tsp of salt

• ¼ tsp freshly ground pepper

• Sausage casings (soaked in cold water and rinsed)

Recipe 2;

• 240g Pork

• 60g pork fat

• 1 tsp summer savory

• ½ tsp salt

• ¼ tsp freshly ground pepper

• Sausage casings (soaked in cold water and rinsed)

Method:
Chop the ingredients up as finely as possible, then knead and mash the ingredients together for a few minutes. If you have a sausage maker you could grind the meat through this to save a lot of time.

Push one end of your pre soaked sausage casing over a sausage horn and tie the loose end.

Stuff the ingredients through the horn into the casing. This is a slow process, don’t rush or overfill the casing, or it might split.

Twist the sausage at even intervals to mark out individual sausages. If there is any trapped air in the sausages prick the skin with a small needle or pin.

To cook these, boil them in water (or try stock or beer) for 10-15 minutes, until cooked through. Alternatively, though less authentic for the time, they can be grilled or fried.

Taken from my book ‘Eat like a Viking!’ Available now on Amazon