Sluttishly Savoury: Homemade Pork Scratchings

Crispy, salty crackling, when done well, is a thing of beauty in my book, not those solid, grease-laden fatty pig lumps you buy in in the local boozer but freshly made crispy sticks of piggy pleasure are one of my all time favourite booze accompaniments. If pork isn't your thing then Sian's crispy fried chicken skin is also a sure fire winner. Neither of these recipes are very healthy but they'll be much better for you than the ones that have been sitting in a packet behind the bar of the pub for a year.

If you use your local butcher regularly they will often give you the skin for free but otherwise Morrisons sell sheets of fresh pig skin for about 30p. I always serve mine with a really fresh herby dip with a bit of spice running through it but beer, wine or cider should definitely be drank with these.

Homemade Pork Scratchings:
You will need:

• 1 kettle of boiling water
• 1 sheet pork skin (approx 20cm x 40cm)
• sea salt flakes

Make it!

1. Place the skin on a metal rack over a roasting tray and pour a kettle of boiling water over it to open up the pores. Pat dry with some kitchen towel and rub some sea salt flakes into the skin. If you have a hook near the kitchen window hang the skin up to dry in the breeze for 30 minutes to 1 hour otherwise pop it in the fridge to help it dry out then pat dry once again with kitchen towel.
2. Preheat your oven to it's hottest setting. Using kitchen scissors cut strips about the width of your finger and lay them across a rack over a roasting tray to ensure they crisp up nicely.
3. Roast for about 15minutes or until they are lovely and bubbly and golden brown. Do keep an eye on them though as they can go from piggy perfect to burnt and bitter very quickly. Once ready remove from the oven and sprinkle over some more sea salt flakes.