Continuing with the Meat Series watch how Steve makes a delicious Brawn from a Pigs Head. You will not believe how tasty this is.

Brawn

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How to make Brawn
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 4-5 Hours
Set Time: 8-12 Hours

Ingredients 

For the Brine

• A Pigs Head
• 1kg / 2lb of Salt
• 3 Litres / 6 pints of Water

After Brining

• 2 Carrots
• 2 Onions
• A couple of Bay Leaves
• 2 sticks of Celery
• Bouquet Garni of Rosemary and Thyme
• A handful of Black Peppercorns
• Enough water to cover the Pigs Head

To Clarify the Stock

• 3 Egg Whites

To Finish the Brawn

• The lean and some of the fatty meat
• Juice of half a Lemon
• Salt and Pepper
• A handful of Fresh Parsley
• Some of the Stock

For  products we use in this video visit Here

Watch the full Video Tutorial

Instructions

1. Into a large plastic or ceramic container pour in the salt and 1 litre of hot water, give it a stir and then add the rest of the water. Lay the pigs head into the brine and add more water if necessary to completely submerge the head. Pop on a lid or cover and place in the fridge for 24 hours.
2. After the head has been in the brine for 24 hours remove from the fridge and prepare your biggest pot. Roughly chop up the vegetables and crush the peppercorns and throw them into the pot. Add the bouquet garni and then lay the pigs head on top of the veggies. Now top the whole thing off by pouring in enough water to submerge the meat.
   Place the pot on the stove and bring up to the boil, then turn down to a simmer and cook for 4-5 hours with a lid on. Keep an eye on the water levels and remove any ‘scum’ that appears on the top. The meat will get to the point where it falls away from the bones.
3. Once the meat is cooked turn off the heat and leave the pot to cool for about 15 minutes or so. Once the meat has cooled a little you can carefully remove the head from the stock and place onto a large tray. Allow the meat to completely cool down and then pick all the meat off the bones and set to one side. I tend to keep the meat and the fat seperate so I can control how much fat goes into my brawn.

4. To clarify the stock

   Remove the vegetables with a slotted spoon and place into a large bowl. Remove the bay leaves and bouquet garni. Now using a potato masher, mash all the vegetables into a vegetable puree. It hasn’t got to be smooth just ‘mashed’.
   Next take the egg whites and whisk them into the veggie puree. Now pour the vegetable mixture back into the liquid stock and give it a good whisk through.
   Pop the pot back on the stove and heat the stock to a gentle simmer. The vegetables will start to float to the top to form a sort of raft, this will take about 20-30 minutes for all the vegetables to float to the top, leaving underneath a beautiful clear stock.

5. Once the veggie raft has all floated to the top make a small hole in the centre and using a ladle gently take some of the stock from the middle and pour it over the raft so the liquid will gradually become more and more clear.
   Next you will want to strain the stock through some cloth over a sieve into another pot to get a wonderful clear stock. Time consuming but well worth it.

6. To complete the brawn

   Line a loaf tin with plastic wrap and then it’s time to season the meat. Squeeze in the lemon juice and add a ladle full of the clear stock. Add the salt and pepper and lots of fresh parsley. Ladle in a little more stock and then mix together with a fork.
   Tip all the mixture into the prepared tin and press down firmly with a fork. Ladle in more stock so the mixture is saturated. Cover over with the plastic wrap. I then took another loaf tin and popped it on top of the wrap, filled it with water and this was the weight to press the brawn whilst it set. Place in the fridge to set.

7. Once the brawn has set tip it out of the tin and slice and serve. Yummy!!

Brawn

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