Recipe: Slow-roasted pork belly with fennel and garlic

nineveh_uk expressed interest in the pork recipe I mentioned yesterday. As the Big Red Book ("In the Kitchen" by Campion and Curtis) is out of print and very difficult to find second hand (might be easier outside Aus, actually - the only copies I can find are not in Aus, and the shipping costs significantly more than the original book did), I present you, a recipe using quince jam.

( Accessibility and Dietary Notes )

( What you need and what you do with it )

Bafflingly, the Big Red book gives this recipe twice: once as is, and once with an accompaniment of Catalan Potatoes. I assume this is a quirk of the Big Red Book being a "best of" Campion and Curtis' previous books.

Other savoury quince recommendations from the Big Red Book (which I have not tried: when I was living in Aus a decade ago, quinces and quince products were both unfamiliar and way out of my price range. In Europe, meat was much more of a luxury. Currently, my partner has introduced me to roast pork, and possesses a stash of quince paste pots bought for Occasions, upon which I may prey): consider Proscuitto-wrapped pork fillet with roasted quinces, or, sticking with quince paste, Moroccan lamb with quince glaze.

*waves tiredly*

Hi, non-mutuals. There's been a small outbreak of new followers lately, and tbh this probably applies going back YEARS:

I'm scrabbling to keep up with my Life At Large, and DW as a slow-paced internet wossname falls by the wayside easily. I'm rarely reading my circle, and hence, have not got around to figuring out who might be interesting to follow.

If I do post, it's often by email, without interacting with the site proper (and locked by default). I HAVE been steadily scraping more brain together to post and/or read here, but "more" is from a very low ebb.

Please infer no personal slight (ditto mutuals with whom I have failed to interact; comments gone unanswered; etc). There are actually fairly good odds of new people getting comment responses if you pop in to a public post. Old pals... oh how I wish for an "acknowledge" button. You've either said something that I'd hit "like" on, or something which made me think Too Much and I don't spend enough time at my personal computer anymore to mull it over and formulate a proper response.

Please accept a consolation kitten, big mad about being deemed "too clever" to be allowed on the balcony:

Further Individuals Of Sydney

Some recent, some not

1. The man who stands outside Ashfield station on irregular (but usually Thursday) afternoons, shouting in a voice reminiscent of 90s car sale ads, about REPENTANCE and HELLFIRE.

I went so far as to set up speakers in my partner's home office, with the intention of blasting Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life, but by the time I got them set up, he had given up.

Housemate has since purchased a bowl, and wrapped candy, and made little labels that say "hell isn't real have a nice day", so I assume we will never see him again now we have prepared this counter-offensive.

2. Bearded bicyclist with a very large backpack, strapped to his body with occy straps, and some kind of implement with a pole and a tripod base shoved in the side, cycling up the road by Ashfield station with speakers (not visible) loudly blasting disco music.

3. Announcer at central station with a fairly broad Aussie accent who remonstrates with passengers. "No need to run across the platform, there's always a train right behind!" and "Don't rush, it's a Monday morning", and, most futilely, tries to tell people to descend the stairs two abreast (the stairs can fit four abrest and don't have a divider for up and down). Today, he urged us "be nice to the person coming up, when you're going down ... the stairs". The ellipsis was the kind of space where you realise you might have said something snigger worthy, not the kind that suggests you MEANT to induce sniggers.

4. Several train announcers with Aussie-Indian accents, who, due to the intonation patterns of said accent and the crackliness of the tannoy, appear to be saying "we apologise for any convenience caused" (same thing happens in the UK, and is equally funny there).

5. Vet nurse who looks disconcertingly like my ex R. Like a close relative, and also queer (has undercut). Would ask pronouns if pronouns were relevant and/or if in a social setting. Long-ish wavy red hair, Queer Undercut, and wears purple scrubs with dinosaurs on them.

6. Coworker who turns up to work exclusively in wet-look leggings and fuzzy faux-fur jackets. This coworker is at least 50, and knows much institutional history. I applaud this coworker, but am somewhat baffled. I assume they do not do the parts of the job for which I must wear a blazer upon pain of Glaring.