Jerk Pork and Beef Shin Ragu

I've been toying with the idea of posting these two recipes for a while now. Neither of them are my own, so it seemed a bit daft to blog them here when you can go straight to the creators here and here. I've changed my mind for two reasons. One, I'm bored and can't be bothered tackling the ongoing DIY project that is my house. Two, both of the recipes are bloody fantastic, so deserve the effort. Please note, although I am posting them together I did not eat them together. That would be very, very greedy.

Jerk Pork

Good jerk is a thing of wonder. Sweet, spicy, fragrant, smoky meat, charred from the grill and oozing juices all over your fingers. When I moved house I forgot to return a joint of pork to the freezer on arrival. Spare pork plus chaotic kitchen in need of renovation could mean only one thing. Barbecue.

My memory was telling me that it was a boned and rolled joint, and as such I'd be able to chop it into large chunks suitable for marinading then grilling over coals. My memory was wrong. It was on the bone. Not having a suitable utensil for cutting through bone I had to resort to marinading and slow roasting the whole lot, then barbecuing it to finish off. Here is the evidence:

Yes those are burgers and sausages as well. The sausages were an unexpected treat (Toulouse from the Ginger Pig) that were hidden in with the joint that I'd completely forgotten about. The burgers were just in case the pork was too spicy for my friend's two year old daughter. And for me because I like to have a varied diet.

Anyhow the jerk marinade recipe comes from Helen Graves' Food Stories blog, which is one of the finest food and cooking blogs you're ever likely to find. The recipe is here, and top tips for cooking jerk are here. I didn't vary the recipe at all, other than to smother it all over a 1kg pork shoulder joint rather than some chicken pieces. Smaller pieces of meat is the sensible and better approach, as the marinade flavours will penetrate further through the meat. This was still bloody lovely though, eaten simply with some salad and crusty bread. No sauce was necessary as the pork was fatty enough to be lovely and moist on its own.

Beef Shin Ragu

This one comes courtesy of Paul at How Not to do a Food Blog, which is a misnomer as he does it very well. It's a ridiculously simple way of making a proper, slow cooked ragu. The recipe can be found here.

The only thing I varied from the original is the type of wine used (I had Chianti) and the herbs. I added some rosemary as I have a triffid like rosemary bush out back in my jungle of a garden. Apart from that the ingredients and method I used are the same. Using celery seeds is a great idea that I've never thought of before. It really adds depth when you have neither the time, ingredients or inclination to make a soffritto.

Serve with tagliatelle and the rest of the bottle of wine.