Dad had a butchery in a small village and as a small girl I used to watch my mother make brawn. She used to cook ox trotters for hours in a huge pot on the old wood burning stove. , she took the soft mass of meat and sinews, chopped them up and mixed it with the clear stock left in the pot. This magically became a stiff jelly in the fridge.
As a young mother I watched her make brawn for church bazaars while trying to keep my two active youngsters out of trouble. Now, many years after her death, I cook for myself only and I try to imitate the taste of the brawn she used to Nor is it now as few people still make it.
Brawn is so quick and simple when prepared in a pressure cooker and I have found that it is a really nice standby to have in the house.
You will need:
- 1 kg well cleaned ox trotters. (I buy it frozen at the supermarket butcher
- Enough water to cover the trotters in a pressure cooker
- Salt and pepper
- 1 - 2 Tablespoons vinegar for every liter of water
I remember my mother 's bang. I was born in 1903 and her mother 25 years before that. Now where did housewives in the 19th Century learn about this?
Method:
- Cook the brawn in a pressure cooker for about 11/2 - 2 hours
- Let it cool of with the lid on until the contents are just cool enough to handle
- Strain and remove the bones
- Chop up the very soft solids and put it back into the stocktaste
- and add more salt if required Pour to containers of your choice.
- Mine goes into the fridge in an oblong Pyrex dish covered with foil.
When does it is a thin layer of soft fat on top It is not freeze well.
I use only ox trotters and not beef shin as well as my as well as a clove, a few peppercorns, some herbs such as thyme and a sprig of rosemary for some minority extra flavor. I prefer the clear jelly and soft textured residue that came off the bones as she used to make it in my early childhood.
Others may prefer to add squares of sliced ham or other cold cuts, chopped hardboiled egg with finely chopped parsley, small cubes of multi colored cooked vegetables such as beet root and pickled gherkins or carrots and peas.
Personally I hanker after the taste of early childhood when I tasted what my mother must have tasted in her childhood home on the family farm, as she watched her own mother make brawn. Maybe the vinegar was also used as a conservative in those days before refrigeration since the tangy taste of Ma & # 39; s brawn?
Enjoy!
