Swaledale Butchers Review
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*Products gifted for review, all opinions are my own
Have you started to think about what meat you’ll be cooking this Christmas? With it looking as though there might be a turkey shortage on the horizon, you could consider a beef or ham joint instead.
I was recently offered the chance to try some meat from Swaledale Butchers as they start gearing up their offerings for Christmas. In my hamper was a Swaledale Topside of Beef, a dry-cured york-style Ham Rump, and twelve Pigs in Blankets.
I’ve been blogging for over six years and I don’t think my husband has ever been so excited about one of my collaborations. I was upstairs when the parcel arrived and he’d already opened it like a child at Christmas by the time I got back down to take a look.
He also sent his mates a lot of pictures while we were cooking and serving everything up which has got to be a good sign right?
Before we get started, I thought I’d share a little bit more a Swaledale Butchers.
“Swaledale Online Butchers is a strictly whole-carcass, nose-to-tail butchers based in Yorkshire. Our passion, expertise, and dedication is in supplying the native, livestock breeds of Britain to homes and businesses throughout the UK.
Our pursuit of this leaves no stone unturned; breed, age of the animal, feed, length of time aging, butchery techniques – these are constantly being considered and refined.”
Dry Cured York Style Ham Rump
This was a slightly different cut of ham from any I’d cooked before, but that doesn’t mean it was any less delicious. At 2.4 Kilos the joint was actually too large to fit in my slow cooker (which would have been my preferred way of cooking it) so we decided to oven-bake instead.
We placed the ham on a roasting tray with a rack and added some water to help it steam. We then covered it in foil and cooked it for two hours on gas mark six (200°C) and then an hour at gas mark 3 (165°C).
Finally, after removing the skin and fat, we finished with a honey mustard glaze.
Top Tip: After removing from the joint, we salted the skin and popped it under the grill for a few minutes to create the most amazing crackling (see the image below for results!)
When it came to serving the ham, we created a large platter laden with all the usual Christmas favorites, including stuffing, pigs in blankets (also courtesy of Swaledale), and roasted vegetables. There were also roast potatoes but we couldn’t fit them on!
Most people associate cooking a Christmas ham with Boxing Day or maybe Christmas day but I do think it would also make a great option for Christmas dinner, especially if you’re not a fan of gravy or find turkey can be a bit tricky to cook.
This joint would easily feed 6-8 adults or 4 adults with loads leftover for sandwiches and other dishes.
My husband said this was the nicest ham joint he had ever eaten and it was definitely my favorite of the three products we were sent to try. It also made the nicest dinner we’d had in ages – we will definitely be doing something like this again at Christmas as it was so nice!
Swaledale Topside of Beef
The piece of topside of beef we were sent was beautifully cut and would make a perfect Christmas centerpiece. As I mentioned before this does make a great alternative to turkey, or I know some people like to serve up both at Christmas, especially if they have a lot of people to cook for.
When it comes to cooking a joint of beef, especially at Christmas, I am a big fan of cooking it the day before, cooling and slicing and then reheating it. This makes life much easier and produces more tender meat.
I prefer to cook topside low and slow so this joint went in the slow cooker for around 8 hours and we then made gravy with juices and served up as a traditional Sunday roast.
Swaledale Butchers Pigs In Blankets
Finally, the pigs in blankets. While bite-sized may be perfect for a buffet, I do love a full-sized pigs in blankets as you can serve two per person and know where you are. With the mini ones, everyone just seems to want more and more of them!
These were delicious and were a particular hit with our four-year-old daughter who scoffed two and then left pretty much everything else on her plate!
Would We Use Swaledale Butchers Again?
How many times has my husband been on the Swaledale website site since my meat parcel arrived? I’m going to guess at least five.
He loves cooking more unusual cuts of meat such as cheek and tongue and of course these aren’t always easy to get hold of at the local supermarket.
I think the fact that we would both be happy to order from this and pay full price shows the quality of the products that we received and honestly, I couldn’t fault them.
While I recognize this is a more expensive way to buy meat (and I know lots of people will be looking for something more budget-conscious this Christmas) I’m also aware that lots of people save up throughout the year to buy something extra special at Christmastime and I think Swaledale butchers absolutely tick that box.
