Demo approaches.....

After a minor setback yesterday evening my preparation of my take on meat and two veg for the Reading Town meal demo can get back on track today.

I've already had a run through of the dishes and I now have a clear image in mind of how it all should proceed, the only thing I'm really concerned about is getting the crackling right on the Pork......or not if the case maybe.

Because it takes such a long time to cook I had to purchase a rather large pork belly joint from my local butchers (Jennings in Hurst) so that I could prepare half for the actual demo and half for further practice and variations on how to get that crunchy crackling.

My idea so far has been to separate it into two joints, rub the skin side of each with sea salt the rest skin side down on a bed of salt for 24 hours to draw out any excess moisture. This is done and I think it's been a success, the skin feels more rigid and it's changed to a more pale colour.

The problem then was that I went to vacuum pack them and realised I'd run out of plastic vacuum seal bags! What followed was a manic drive to Waitrose to pick up all kinds of things I thought might do the job but none could. Thankfully an internet search pointed me to the Lakeland store in Reading where they stock a different brand to my normal supplier but I assume they are all much of a muchness. I'm glad I gave myself that extra day to prepare.

The added bonus of using my local butcher was not only the fantastic piece of locally reared pork that I purchased but I also bagged the rib bones. I had the butcher cut these out and from them I've made a terrific stock which will be perfect for making the rich Calvados sauce that'll accompany the meat and two veg.

The veg for the dish will be a simple savoy cabbage and bacon mix with an equally simple celeriac mash/purée. I took a trip up to Waltham Place farm shop on Tuesday to see what I could grab from there to use in the demo and I came out with some of their own back bacon and a couple of tremendously well packed cabbages.

The bacon is very nice indeed, of course I got far more than I needed because it's absolutely necessary to try it in a bacon sarnie before using it in a dish as elaborate as meat and two veg :-)

It's not organic bacon as it does contain sodium nitrate, this is very clearly stated on the packaging so it gives me confidence that they are trying to be transparant in all they do. As a small farm slaughtering maybe a pig a month I'm guessing this is necessary for preservation purposes. Having said that when I cooked it there was none of that white gunk you get streaming out of cheap supermarket bacon and the meat was firm and not at all likely to rip apart like some type of wafer thin processed ham. I really need to look into bacon production some more to get a proper understanding of the processes they use.

Best of all when I enquired as to whether they had any savoy cabbages the guy there jumped to his toes and exclaimed that this years crop were the best he'd ever had and ordered me to wait while one of is farm hands ran off into the fields to cut a couple fresh off the land, I'm really looking forward to using these, I think the could make the dish!

The real highlight of the demo preparation has to be concerning the dessert. I'm going for an incredibly simple dish of poached pears with raspberry sauce. It was the addition of a raspberry leaf tea bag into the poaching liquid that has proved to be a winner and I think with it's simplicity, it's taste and it's presentation I'm onto a real winner.

Overall I think I've hit the brief right on the head here. I'm cooking a classic family staple of meat and two veg using very affordable ingredients that have either been sourced within a 5 mile radius of where I live or are from the independent producers whom themselves are taking part in the event.

It's all kicking off in Forbury gardens from midday on Saturday (1st Oct) and you can get all the information from here

My demo is first up at 12:15 then I'll be followed by this years RSC finalist Rick Wyatt who'll be cooking up something that he's paid absolutely nothing for, his approach to food and cooking is really quite inspirational and it's well worth listening to his thoughts on foraging for food and using game.

After Rick it'll be Paul Clerehugh, owner of London Street Brasserie and the Crooked Billet in Stoke Row. He was voted Reading's first "Food Hero" and his work providing his local school with meals way before it was a twinkle in Mr Oliver's eye is just one of the reasons why this was awarded.

There is just so much going on for everybody to enjoy and the first 1000 people get a two course meal absolutely free which is being cooked up by the students at Reading catering college.

It might all sound a bit Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and it really is. It's all about what we can all do to help ourselves and of course it's mostly about the town of Reading and it's wonderful people.