(ZA) Whip up a bit of swanky-ness

Very fashionable in posh delicatessens and Masterchef-style TV programs, bone marrow is seen as a swanky and avant-garde ingredient that can only be sourced and understood by "Chef types" but, in reality, it is really inexpensive and easy to prepare. It can be frozen in small batches and mixed in to casseroles or grated in with minced beef or other meats to make even juicier burgers.

Ask your butcher for bone marrow and he will, no doubt, present you with some daunting-looking pieces of shin-bone. Don't panic. Just scoop the soft marrow into a food processor using a teaspoon. It is the consistency of chilled lard or butter so it's not difficult to extract. 

Squeeze in the juice of half a lemon, add a minced clove of garlic, a good pinch of maldon salt and blitz for around 8 minutes until it is silky smooth and the consistency of whipped cream.

Pass the marrow through a sieve and then add freshly ground black pepper and chopped parsley. Use immediately or freeze.

(ZA) Leftovers can be epic too!

It's all well and good creating amazing food on the Big Green Egg but, after the initial meal of juicy pork and piquant sauce in a fresh bread roll. What do you do with the rest of it? Well....this "Hog Mac'n'cheese" is one answer to that question!

Cooked macaroni and leftover pulled pork with a creamy three-cheese, shallot, garlic and thyme sauce with a topping of bacon rub, toasted breadcrumb and cheddar mix. The topping gives it texture whilst the extra punch of shallot in the sauce give levels of flavour that a simple cheese sauce can so often lack.

• Take two chopped shallots, two cloves garlic minced and the leaves picked from a sprig of fresh thyme and soften all this in 60g butter. Meanwhile cook 500g macaroni to the packet instructions. Once it's cooked, rinse the macaroni in cold water and drain. 
• Add 60g plain flour to the shallot mix and cook out until a foamy paste is formed then remove from the heat. Add a pint of whole milk to the paste a little at a time, stirring constantly. This will take some time...don't rush it as you'll end up with floury lumps. 
• Once the milk is used up continue to stir the sauce over a low heat and add 125g each of stilton, mature cheddar and any really strong, sharp, aged cheddar (I used Canadian extra mature) and stir in to the sauce until melted.

Now to make the bacon rub as everything is better with bacon! 

• You will need 50g of very crispy cooked streaky bacon for this. Put the cold bacon into a food processor with 20g golden caster sugar (or maple sugar), 1/2 tsp hot paprika, freshly ground black pepper ,10g maldon salt and blitz until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. 

• Blitz 100g white bread to make breadcrumbs then dry toast in a frying pan until golden & crispy.

• Mix your macaroni and chopped pulled pork into 2/3 of the cheesy sauce and spread evenly over the base of a large, oven-proof dish. Pour the remaining sauce over the top. Mix the breadcrumbs with 50g of your bacon rub and 100g of grated cheddar and sprinkle this evenly over the top of the macaroni sauce.

If you are cooking in the Egg (...& why not?) set up for indirect at 350degF for about 30mins until golden and bubbling. 

(This recipe can also be made with any leftover meat or some bacon you have lying around and cooked in a regular oven at 180degC for 30 minutes)