Lincolnshire Stuffed Chine

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Lincolnshire Stuffed Chine is a pork dish made in England. The centre of popularity is Boston in Lincolnshire, where it is served with a dash of vinegar on it.

It is made with pork chine (backbone.)

You turn the cut of meat bone-side down, fat and meat side up, and make 5 deep slashes (not through the bone, you need to leave it connected, and not through the sides, just the "middle.")

You then flip it over, and make 5 additional deep slashes in different places (but, again, not all the way through, you want to leave it all as one piece.)

When making the slashes, you are making "pockets" to hold the stuffing.

You then put the cut of meat in brine for 24 hours in the refrigerator, then rinse it.

To make the stuffing, you chop up great quantities of parsley (usually done in a food processor these days.) Fancier versions mix the parsley with other herbs such as lettuce, green onions, leeks, thyme, etc.

You stuff all the slashes with the herb mixture, pressing in as much as the slashes will hold. Then you wrap the joint with a cheesecloth or other cloth, tie it up securely, put it in cold water and bring to a boil and simmer for 4 hours, changing the water at least once.

After this, you remove the joint from the heat, but leave it in the water it simmered in to let stand and cool for 2 to 3 hours.

Then drain, leave the meat in the cloth, and put a weight on it for a few hours.

To serve, you slice it lengthwise, parallel to the fat and meat on top, so that the layers of herbs show.

Slices always tend to fall apart.

Many people say Lincolnshire Stuffed Chine is an acquired taste because it's an overdose of parsley -- boiled at that.


Acknowlegements


Grigson, Jane. Lincolnshire Stuffed Chine. Manchester: The Observer. March 1984. Reprinted 15 July 2001.
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