'open for business..'

'Charlotte's Butchery' is now open for business. We had a cracking opening with the North East food God that is Terry Laybourne doing the opening for us. We then had a smashing couple of days - all a bit  amazing. Yes, hectic. Yes, full of challenges. But I hope the customers left happy and felt they should and could return. I am fully committed to ensuring that the butchering tradition stays well alive in Ashburton Village in Gosforth. I also want to encourage people to come to the area any way - there are many businesses which are fantastic. The Art House, Greenwell's - the greengrocer and all sorts of other services like fabulous podiatrists Howlett & Dickinson.

However the most popular things sold were lamb's liver, loin chops, topside and brisket. Top sellers. Must order triple next week. We're so not in London any more - we could barely give brisket away. Everything is regional, and every day's a school day.

Many thanks to absolutely every person who helped me along the way to opening. I am so very grateful and love you all. And clearly gushing. But. Thank you.

gb

'I am a very lucky girl indeed..'

So in between the mad dashing to meat suppliers (ha) I wanted to write a quick blog. So far, so good. We're all geared to open Friday 18th January 2013. Lots of fabulous ideas in the pipe line. Colin at AE Hubb has already created a fantastic customer base and some strong foundations to build on so I am a very lucky girl indeed.

I went to see the fabulous team at Thompson's in Bishop Auckland and we have been in conversation about supply of Welsh Pigs from County Durham and some stunning European cross beef from the farms in the area. A lot of the meat will be from County Durham, as I really like this abattoir and more importantly, their values. The key to all of this is to establish a relationship with suppliers. I saw the guys from Weschenfelder in Middlesbrough who were equally helpful and offering all sorts of possibilities.What is astounding is just how helpful all the contacts have been so far.
I am blown away by the levels of service.
 I think I've just been in London too long and missed the friendly nature of Northerners. I jest. Sort of.
However, I am very happy to be back and I'm looking forward to kicking off and settling in to Ashburton village - Gosforth.

In the 2 years I've been butchering - this is the longest that I have spent when I haven't cut anything.
I hope I still remember how to do it..

gb

www.charlottesbutchery.com

'I've never cooked a turkey before..'

Now being only 24 and still spending a lot of Christmases either with my parents or my in laws I have never actually had to cook the Christmas turkey. But this year my mother informed me that since I was bringing the fabulous woodland fed Kelly Bronze - I'd be cooking it. Cheers Mam. However, I am super excited. As this is one mother of a turkey. At 7.5 KG I'm going to cook it mainly upside down and for about three hours. This is because the structure of this poultry is as such that there are pockets of fat in the back of the bird that baste the breast meat which means that we avoid the issue of a dry turkey. Turkey reminiscent of Gandhi's flip flop is very bad indeed. I know I'm a butcher and I'm supposed to have this whole philosophy of meat on the bone being fabulous, however my favourite is shredding the meat off the legs and thighs, not munching on the drumstick as such - but enjoying the tenderness of the meat as it has much more depth in the way of taste.

However I hope everyone has a smashing day - check out this bonny turkey.
Happy Christmas.

gb

'chief execs..'

Fellow butchers come to our shop on a regular basis. And more often than not, they introduce themselves and we chat about business. However, it is more about presentation of counter, suppliers, quality of meat and new ideas - that fuel our conversation. Most butchers, if on holiday, will drag their poor friends or spouses just to 'have a look' in various meat emporiums. We tend to be a bit obsessive, looking at the way chops are cut or roasting joints are rolled..

However, it occurred to me the other day, that this is not tedious (really). It isn't even odd or eccentric..it's actually good. It's because we care. Now, I can't really see the chief execs of Tesco or Asda getting together to discuss how they present their steaks? Whether fattier cuts are selling? Or how exactly they flatten their cod fat?

Can you?

gb

'I don't believe in female butchers..'

I am, by no means a Suffragette. Never been a Feminist. I don't even believe in female butchers, as such. I just believe in, well informed butchers. Those that know their way around a carcass. Gender is neither here nor there to me. Someone in the meat industry that knows what to cook and how too cook it.

A customer was rather disgruntled at my gender very recently, My apologies. If you tell me what you want - I can assure you you'll get what you need. Give it a go. If you're not happy I'll refer you to another butcher - if it comes to it.

I'm not sorry I'm not a boy. But I promise you - you won't be disappointed. But you'll never know until you try it.

gb

'wise old cattle..'

So the sagely cattle nod their heads wisely - knowing exactly how to pack a flavoursome punch; possessing a deep, dark secret that will allow their meat to be rich and tender and a sensation on the taste buds. This would be a rather romantic and far more interesting way of explaining the ageing process for cattle - but sadly it is slightly more technical than that..

'Aged meat' is not the clever cattle, the ones 'in the know'. It is a process that commences after slaughter. It mainly involves placing meat in a specialised fridge and leaving it for a few weeks.  This can be an exercise in patience. These fridges extract all moisture out of the air insuring no bacteria gets into the meat and it preserves it rather than allowing the decaying process to set in. However, don't try this at home as domestic fridges can't cope with the drying. Also you would be lucky to fit a body of beef in your fridge!

It is always better to cook meat in as big a piece possible, as it is far more likely to be tender - the same is true of ageing. This is why you we don't age each steak piece by piece. For a start, we'd be there forever but also it is impractical. This is because, when we dry age meat it shrinks. Aged meat often costs more money due to the butcher having paid for an original weight and then having to incur those costs once the meat has shrunk.

There is of course a difference between ageing meat and 'old' meat. Old meat is the stuff your butcher is desperately trying to flog you in the hope of not having to put a nice piece of fillet steak into the mince. The best aged meat is claret in colour and the fat is a perfect white. However, and this is important, there is nothing wrong with beef that is slightly discoloured. Essentially when oxygen hits red meat, it turns it brown - this will not affect the taste in any way. I promise. But sadly we have a tendency to buy raw meat with our eyes and not our imaginations.

How long should you age meat for? The best amount of time is between 21 and 28 days. So we're talking a minimum of 3 weeks after the cattle have been slaughtered. This just allows the meat to mature and for the flavour to develop. If you prefer your beef to taste gamey, why not ask your butcher to age it for longer? I have tried 60 day aged beef and whilst I was in awe, the flavour was rather over powering and very rich. In contrast to this, totally fresh meat is likely to be far more chewy and lacking a quality that will truly satisfy proper steak hunger. This is when we crave iron, when we really fancy red meat.

gb

'think outside the box..' campaign post #2

The second of a few rants about boxed meat. This one is about choice. Now, I'm not necessarily referring to the 'choice' in beef as in the cut of meat, or prime rib, fore rib, sirloin or anything from the choice as such. I'm talking about our right to choose. Now as it stands most butchers, do not get full bodies of beef in. Gone are the days of seeing fore quarters and hind quarters being delivered into a shop. There are still a few of course that do, but I can guarantee you that they will have to supplement it with boxed meat. Whether this is boxed chuck for mincing or dicing or extra fillet as each loin only has the one and it is the sort of thing which can fly out for that Friday night steak night.

Now I know not all butchers are cooks, but sometimes it is worth quizzing them. If you go into a shop and they don't have what you are looking for, why not ask them for an alternative. Instead of chuck steak, why not try clod or neck? There are so many fantastic beef cuts, like salmon, bowler or feather. Now feather steaks, once the gristle has been taken out, are sublime. Just quickly fried. We need to start exploring our options when it comes to cooking, there are so many choices, why not choose something else?

gb