22 Jun 2010

Denhay West Country Bacon

Denhay West Country Dry Cured Bacon

When you buy bacon in the supermarket, do you ever stop and think about the pig and how it was treated?

Do you search through the packs for the nicest looking meat without too much fat for the best price?

When cooking your bacon do you get a white scum forming on the meat that you have to scrape off?

Denhay Bacon is from welfare assured British outdoor reared pigs. The company are RSPCA monitored and are part of the Freedom Food scheme.

Denhay bacon is dry-cured, they use sea salt to bring out the natural flavour of the bacon without it being too salty. The taste is divine as you know the meat has been allowed to mature slowly without being forced for mass production.

What you see if what you get, there is no water added to Denhay bacon. This way the fat in the pan is directly from the meat, there is no white scud as its all natural pork fat with no water or bulking agents.

Denhay Dry Cured Bacon is available in both Back and Streaky, Smoked and Unsmoked and medium sliced. They pay a lot of attention to their product, packaging and prices.

This meat isn't the bacon you buy from your local supermarket, it is tender and wholesome. This bacon tastes like bacon is supposed to taste like, which makes a darn good bacon sarnie if I do say so myself.

Use Denhays award winning bacon in a recipe, don't just grill/fry it and slap it between two slices of bread. For example:

West Country Bacon Bruschetta

INGREDIENTS
* 150g Denhay Dry Cured back bacon
* 170g fresh garlic loaf
* 1 thinly sliced tomato
* 1 thinly sliced mushroom
* 1 finely chopped spring onion
* 25g grated Denhay Farmhouse Cheddar
* 2.5ml dried mixed herbs

METHOD
Preheat the oven to 200C (gas mark 6). Cut the bread into marked slices and place on a baking tray. Arrange slices of tomato, mushroom and onion on the bread. Cut the bacon slices length ways and place 1/2 rashers on each bread slice. Sprinkle with cheese and herbs. Place in the oven for 10 minutes or until the bacon is cooked and the cheese has melted. Serve as a snack or light lunch with a large tomato salad.

Cooking Time: Approximately 10 minutes

To learn more about Denhay's farm and their farming techniques which produce such high quality meat and cheese please visit their website: http://www.denhay.co.uk/

For further information about their bacon and links with the RSPCA please visit: http://www.spoiltpig.co.uk/

I found their bacon gorgeous, it was tasty without being fatty. You could taste the meat and the smokiness of the smoked variety. Each pack was fresh and well presented, you could tell that only the best cuts had gone into the pack.

Knowing that the pigs had had a good life without being caged has certainly shown me the difference in texture and taste of the meat produced.

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