Its taken a week but finally the Old Blokes Kitchen Bacon sandwich video shoot is finished. I have had a week of making my favourite things frequently involving a fire so how much better can life become.

Over the course of the last week, I have cured and smoked bacon, churned butter, which was then smoked, made brown sauce, baked bread in my wood fired oven and then we put it all together. As often happens the intended result – a superb bacon sandwich was achieved but I will remember the by products as well.

Bacon rind is just the skin and we all throw it away, but if you take the skin off before you cure the bacon, you can make it into pork scratching’s, if you add a little paprika and cook it in a wood fired oven you end up with what I have described as the Norfolk super food. In the past I have used the phrase “food fit for a king” well he would have to have used a motor bike to get here fast because it didn’t last long.

The second triumph wasn’t even mine. The by product of making butter is buttermilk, which my dearly beloved used in scones. Its hard to say what was best the scones made with buttermilk or was it the fresh butter on top, but put the two together and they were  magnificent (note the past tense).

The final triumph is the apron. Following on from trendy TV Chefs I made myself an apron from denim and leather. I found myself extremely protective of it, wearing my old apron over the top of my trendy one when the camera was off to keep it clean, but I do really like it.

The good news is after a weeks work we ended up with a Bacon Sandwich that lived up to its billing  packed with flavour, with a piquant fruity sauce, you could eat by the spoonful from the jar. All we need to do now is edit the video, create the web site, write the recipe cards, so nothing really.

The icing on the cake is whilst the bread was baking the sand and cement for my summer project was delivered, a Cheese Cave which take it from me will be next years must have garden accessories, all the trendy folk will want one, so you heard it here first, although I cant guarantee to keep the apron clean.

Tom