Category — Cookbooks

For those of you who’ve been following the cured meat marathon, and have seen the amazingly simple steps I took with the two duck breasts I got, here’s what happens next.  F0r those of you who may have missed this thrilling adventure with salt, click here. (or scroll down)

Now that my duck breasts had cured in salt for more than 24 hours, it was time for the next step.  As you can see, it’s just like after being at the beach- they’ve been rinsed of salt and dried, and they have a deeper color.

Step 5: Rinse And Dry Duck

I then got my mise en place, which includes the Third Ingredient, White Pepper (after Duck Breast and Kosher Salt).  I took out my butcher twine and some cheese cloth, and the trusty shears.

The Third Ingredient, and the Wrapping Stuff

Step Six: Pepper the Duck

I sprinkled the duck breasts on both sides with the ground white pepper.  This adds a nice fruity smell, some bright pepper flavor, and deters insects during the drying process, which will last for the rest of the 8 days.

Step Seven: Wrap in Cheesecloth, Tie With String

As you can see, I wrapped the peppered duck breasts in cheesecloth, and tied them up with butcher string with extended loops, so I have something to hang them from.   Step Eight was to hang them on a h0ok in the basement, which is about 65 degrees, with about 70 percent humidity, or a little higher since we’ve had lots of rain this week.

I’m planning to serve this, sliced very thin, with pieces of melon as a canape at our big party next week.  We’ll see!

Homemade Mortadella- Not Bad for a First Try

In case you did not know, the meat product we call bologna (sometimes pronounced baloney) in the United States is really based on Mortadella, which is an emulsified sausage (or forcemeat) that is indigenous to the city of Bologna (pronounced boh-loh-nya), in the region of Emilia-Romagna in Italy.  I used Ruhlman & Polcyn’s recipe for mortadella, which includes pistachios with the classic chunks of creamy white fat, but often the pistachios are omitted in commercial versions.

This was my first try making an emulsified sausage (hot dogs are another example of an emulsified sausage), and it was a bit more challenging than the other 0nes I have made.  Now that I’ve gotten the grinding procedures down, getting the stuff ready for the emulsification was pretty easy.  I mixed the emulsion in the food processor, and it all came together pretty well.  Then came the hard part for me.  I made a large sausage shape by wrapping the forcemeat in plastic wrap, and then poached the sausage in 160 – 180 degrees F water on top of the stove, using a plate to keep the sausage submerged.

The hardest part of poaching is keeping the temperature within this range, and getting the sausage to cook evenly.  The pot I used for poaching tended to cook the bottom a little faster than the top.  This was frustrating, since my temp readings for one side would be about 100 degrees F, while my temp readings for the other side up would be 50 degrees F.  This is likely due to the shallowness of my poaching pot, since I did this on a burner.  I’m wondering if I would have better luck bringing the water to temp, then poaching this in a 180 degree oven, or if I just should use a deeper pot?

I think I was so freaked out about the warnings of cooking this too hot and having the emulsion break that I went too far the other way- instead of taking 12-15 minutes to cook, this took about an hour, and multiple checks of temperature, which meant more holes in the plastic wrap.

As it turns out, I had a good texture, and got a great first time result.  And none of my tasters were disappointed.  (Maybe my tasters are too nice?)  I should have more confidence at this stage of the game, I guess.  I’ve ordered some beef bungs and collagen casings, so hopefully my next attempt will be better packed, and more consistently shaped.

After my success with the new equipment and the Breakfast Sausage with Fresh Ginger and Sage recipe (aka Da Bomb, from Ruhlman & Polcyn’s book),  I realized that 5 pounds of sausages isn’t that many. Once you have a brunch party, give a few to your friends to taste test, and eat some for dinner the next night, there isn’t that much left in the freezer for later.     My only recourse was to make more!

On Monday morning I called my favorite meat shop, Ledebuhr’s, and ordered more meat for curing and drying fun, and preparation for a party we’re going to have at the end of the month.  The order:

• 20 pounds of pork shoulder butt  (Sausages, Mortadella)
• 2  eye of round roasts of beef  (Bresaola Round 2)
• 3 pork bellies (Pancetta and Smoked Bacon)
• 1 full beef brisket (to be dry rubbed and smoked for the party)

I ordered the pork shoulder butt for our sausage making Thursday, and picked up the rest of the meat on Saturday, for curing fun this next week.

The Bag My Pork Shoulder Butt Was In

Here’s a shot of the bag that the pork was in when I picked it up on Thursday.  Note the lack of last name, phone number, etc.  I love that I’m on a first name basis with my butcher.

My friends Sheila and Connie helped me make more of the Ginger and Sage Breakfast Sausage, and some spicy Mexican Chorizo.  More on that at a later date.

from Charcuterie by Ruhlman and Polcyn, with additional commentary

Mexican Chorizo is classically a free form sausage used loose as an ingredient in other dishes, rather than in links or in patties.  But don’t feel bound by classic rules if you like a spicy sausage with a long, interesting finish!

Ingredients

• 5 pounds /2.25 kg boneless pork shoulder butt, diced
• 1.5 ounces / 40 grams kosher salt (3 tablespoons)
• 2 tablespoons /16 grams ancho chile powder
• 1 tablespoon / 8 grams hot paprika
• 1 tablespoon / 8 grams chipotle powder or cayenne powder
• 1 tablespoon / 18 grams minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon /3 grams freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon /6 grams chopped fresh oregano (1 teaspoon / 0.5 gram dried oregano)
• 0.5 teaspoon /1.5 grams ground cumin
• 3 tablespoons /45 ml tequila, chilled
• 3 tablespoons /45 ml red wine vinegar, chilled
• 10 feet /3 meters hog casings, soaked in tepid water for AT LEAST 30 minutes and rinsed

Prep (can be done a day or more in advance)

1. Put the bowl from the stand mixer in the freezer.  Put the grinder attachment in the freezer.  Let them stay there as long as possible before grinding the meat.  I have the luxury of freezer space, so I put them in a day in advance.
2. Dice the pork shoulder butt in one inch cubes.  Put these in a large mixing  bowl, cover with plastic, and put in the refrigerator and allow to chill as long as possible.  I found chilling it overnight works well.
3. Soak the casings (if you’re going to use casings) in tepid water for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour.  I’ve found that soaking overnight, and then changing the soaking water helps relax the casings so that they are easy to work with.

Process

1. Combine all ingredients except the tequila and vinegar and toss to distribute the seasonings.  Chill until ready to grind.
2. Grind the mixture through the small die into a bowl set in ice.
3. Add the tequila and vinegar to the ground meat mixture and mix with the paddle attachment until the liquid is incorporated and the mixture has developed a uniform, sticky appearance, about 1 minute on medium speed.
4. Saute a small portion of the sausage, taste, and adjust seasonings if necessary.
5. If desired, stuff the sausage into casings and twist into 6 inch / 15 cm links.  Refrigerate or freeze until ready to cook.

Cook

1. If in link form, gently saute or roast the sausage to an internal temperature of 150 degrees F / 65 degrees C.  If using loose, saute until cooked through.

from Charcuterie, by Ruhlman and Polcyn, with additional commentary

Ruhlman and Polcyn are not kidding when they refer to this as Da Bomb.  This sausage has complex flavors that wake up your whole mouth.  I don’t want to be without some of this in my freezer.

Ingredients

• 5 pounds/2.25 kg boneless pork shoulder butt, diced in 1 inch pieces
• 1.5 ounces/40 grams kosher salt (about 3 tablespoons)
• 5 tablespoons/50 grams peeled and finely grated fresh ginger (we minced ours)
• 1 tablespoon/18 grams minced garlic (about 5 cloves)
• 2 teaspoons/ 6 grams ground white pepper
• 1 cup / 250 ml ice water
• 20 feet / 6 m sheep casings or 10 feet/3 m hog casings, soaked in warm water for AT LEAST 30 minutes and rinsed
• ice cubes (for bowl under ground meat)

Prep (can be done a day or more in advance)

1. Put the bowl from the stand mixer in the freezer.  Put the grinder attachment in the freezer.  Let them stay there as long as possible before grinding the meat.  I have the luxury of freezer space, so I put them in a day in advance.
2. Dice the pork shoulder butt in one inch cubes.  Put these in a large mixing  bowl, cover with plastic, and put in the refrigerator and allow to chill as long as possible.  I found chilling it overnight works well.
3. Soak the casings (if you’re going to use casings) in tepid water for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour.  I’ve found that soaking overnight, and then changing the soaking water helps relax the casings so that they are easy to work with.

Process

1. Combine all ingredients except the water and toss to distribute the seasonings.  Chill until ready to grind.
2. Grind the mixture through the small die into a bowl set in ice.
3. Add the water to the ground meat mixture and mix with the paddle attachment until the liquid is incorporated and the mixture has developed a uniform, sticky appearance, about 1 minute on medium speed.
4. Saute a small portion of the sausage, taste, and adjust seasonings if necessary.
5. Stuff the sausage into casings and twist into 4 inch / 10 cm links, or shape into patties.  Refrigerate or freeze until ready to cook; or roll into a log, wrap in plastic and freeze; slice into patties.

Cook

1. Gently saute or roast the sausage to an internal temperature of 150 degrees F / 65 degrees C.  If you are using this loose, or in patties, saute until cooked through.

Pork Sausages With Ginger and Sage

This weekend I made sausages with casings for the first time, with some help from DH.  (Finally using my Christmas present from last year, the sausage stuffer!)  The recipe here is from Ruhlman & Polcyn’s Charcuterie book, for breakfast sausage with fresh ginger and sage.  I followed the recipe pretty faithfully, though I diced my ginger instead of grating it.   Now that we have the extra freezer and fridge, this is a lot easier- I have more room to keep the bowls and grinder parts cold.

Mise en place for Sausages

Here is my five pounds of cold pork shoulder butt, in 1 inch cubes, along with the rest of the ingredients:  salt and pepper, minced fresh ginger, garlic cloves, and minced fresh sage (from my kitchen garden, thank you!).   After mixing all of these ingredients, I chilled them while I pulled the grinder parts out of the freezer, and set up a bowl of ice underneath the mixing bowl (which had also been in the freezer).

Grinding the ingredients

Here is my DH doing the grinding.  You can see the little flecks of sage in the ground meat as it is extruded.  The grinding went much more smoothly than the last time I used the attachment.  I believe that is because the meat was colder- the cubes had been in the fridge overnight before we mixed in the spices, and since the grinder parts had been in the freezer, the whole system kept the meat colder.

The casings (hog) soaking in warm water

Meanwhile, I put the casings (natural hog casings, purchased at Mills’ Fleet Farm, aka The Man Mall) in warmish water to rehydrate and soak out the salt that they are packed in.  I changed the water a few times, and I rinsed out the insides of casings, too.  As you can see in the next photo, they do stretch, and as they re-hydrate, they  get easier to work with.

Rinsing Casings

After all the meat was ground, we added some ice water, and then mixed with the paddle attachment on the mixer, so that it got the correct sticky texture needed.

Ready to stuff in Casings

At this point, I had hauled out and rinsed my sausage stuffer, a Christmas gift from my Mum.  This one holds five pounds of sausage meat at a time, and comes with three sizes of stuffing tube.

The Stuffer

Front View of Stuffer

This part of the process is filled with opportunity for snickering and bad puns.  It also really requires both hands, so it didn’t have a good point for me to stop and photograph it.  While you may or may not agree with Julie Powell’s assertions about males being more suited to doing this work than females in her book Cleaving, it is a situation ripe for baudy humor.  It takes you right back to Junior High juvenality.

Here, however, is the result of the stuffing process- pinwheels of sausage.

Pinwheels of Porkiness

I got three big pinwheels from my five pounds of meat.  The last step was to measure out and twist the links and pop the casings to release air bubbles, then freeze the sausages.  I make approximately four inch links.  The casings I got were more bratwurst diameter than breakfast link diameter, so they look a little stubby in comparison to your average bratwurst.

These are tasty little things.  We served them yesterday for brunch with waffles.  My favorite local nine year old thought the combination was great.  (Here’s to kids with adventurous palates!  )  Of course, our realization after brunch was that 5 pounds of these is not very many.  I’ll be making more of these soon!

Bresaola (pronounced Breh-say-OW-la) is beef that has been rubbed with spices and cured, then hung to dry.  The dry cured beef originates from Valtellina, an area north east of Lecco and Bergamo, in the Lombardia region of Italy.  It is served sliced paper thin, not unlike proscuitto, often with arugula, olive oil, and an acid as a first course.  Unlike proscuitto, this is done with a very lean cut of meat, the eye of round.

I know all this safety stuff can get pretty dull, but it’s important when dealing with meat, to avoid cross-contamination from other things in the kitchen. Here’s my knife and cutting board in a bleach water solution, being sanitized before I start working with the meat.  I’ve also wiped down my work area with the same solution.

Yeah, yeah, we GET it.  When do we get to see the meat?   OK.  Thanks for your patience.  Here are my two eye of round roasts.

I’ve trimmed them of any excess fat and silverskin.   Each of these is about 3 pounds in weight.  While I was waiting for the sanitized stuff to air dry, I mixed up the dry rub in my little coffee grinder.  It’s in the bowl on the left, and I’ve got a closeup:

This rub contains sugar, salt, pepper, juniper berries, thyme, rosemary, and Insta Cure #2, aka DC Curing Salt #2.  I’ve used fresh herbs, so instead of being completely a powder, there’s a little clumping of the cure, due to the moisture in the herb leaves.

Those of you familiar with quilting might find humor in that I had to run upstairs to the sewing room to find my freezer paper before doing these steps… I actually use more freezer paper for quilting templates than I do for food related applications at this point.  We’ll see if I get to the point of storing freezer paper in the kitchen.

I rubbed half the spice mixture on the meat, and reserved the other half for after the  initial cure is over.

The next step is to put the meat in zipper bags, and let it hang out in the refrigerator for a week.   I put each roast in its own bag, then inside a second bag, to prevent leaks.

I’ll overhaul this (Don’t you love specialized vocabulary?  That means I’ll open the fridge and flip the bag over, to redistribute the cure) every two days or so, until its first week is over.   Until next Wednesday, this just has to do its thing.

While there is a very low risk of getting trichinosis from pork in our modern day due to improved feeding, etc. of pigs, there is still a small risk in dry cured pork products such as salame and sausages.  However, this risk can be eliminated by freezing the meat and fat below -5 degrees F for an extended period of time (20 days), according to the Centers for Disease Control.   According to Ruhlman & Polcyn (Charcuterie, 2005  page 180), if the freezing temperature is lowered to  -10 degrees F, the time can be shortened to 12 days.  At that point, the meat can be thawed in the fridge for 1 to 2 days, and then processed.

Even though the risk is low, I’ve decided to send the pork back fat and pork shoulder meat on a two-week vacation in the big freezer.  I want to do what I can to insure a good result.  More on making dry cured salame after April 26th.

photo by Ward Thompson © 2010

We all need a go-to dessert that will be an automatic pleaser.  Especially if we can find one that is either

• Easy
• Fast
• Delicious
• Chocolate
• Impressive

Of course, it’s best to combine as many of those as possible. This recipe is not easy if you don’t have a mixer, or if you have fear of folding egg whites in a mixture, but it fits all of these criteria for me.  The best thing about it is that you can make the souffles ahead, and keep them in the freezer for up to a month, and just put them straight from the freezer to hot oven, only pausing to unwrap the plastic wrap.

Individual Chocolate Souffles

from The Best Make-Ahead Recipe by Cooks Illustrated

Equipment

• 8 8oz ramekins (or more ramekins of your preferred size, say 4 or 6 oz)
• rimmed sheet pan
• medium heatproof bowl
• stand mixer with bowl and whisk attachment
• measuring cups
• measuring spoons
• spatula/spoonula for folding ingredients together
• dish for separating eggs

Ingredients

For ramekin prep:

• 2 Tbs softened unsalted butter (nonstick spray works here, too)
• 2 Tbs granulated sugar

For souffles:

• 8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 4 Tbs (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 Tbs Grand Marnier (orange liqueur)
• 6 large egg yolks
• 2 1/3 oz (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
• 8 large egg whites
• 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1/2 oz ( 2 Tbs) confectioners sugar

Procedure

1. Grease the inside of the ramekins with the softened butter, then coat the inside of each dish evenly with the sugar.  Place the ramekins on a  rimmed sheet pan, for ease of moving them around.
2. Melt the chocolate and remaining butter in a heatproof bowl, either in the microwave, or over a pan of simmering water.  Stir until the chocolate is smooth.
3. Remove the melted chocolate from the heat and stir in the salt, vanilla, and liqueur, and set aside to cool.
4. Put the egg yolks and sugar in the bowl for an electric mixer, and whip at medium speed until the mixture is very light in color, and triple in volume.  If you are using a stand mixer, this could take as little as 3 minutes.  If you are using a hand-held mixer, this could take 8 minutes or so.
5. Fold the yolk mixture into the cooled chocolate mixture.
6. Thoroughly wash and dry the mixer bowl and beaters, so there is no possible trace of the egg yolk mixture remaining.
7. Whip the egg whites with the cleaned bowl and beaters on medium-low speed until frothy (1 or 2 minutes).  Add the cream of tartar.
8. At medium-high speed, continue whipping the whites until soft peaks form when the whisk is lifted (1 to 2 more minutes).  At this point, add the confectioner’s sugar, and continue to whip until stiff peaks form (2 to 4 more minutes), but don’t over whip.
9. Vigorously stir one quarter of the whipped egg whites into the chocolate mixture.
10. Gently fold the remaining whites into the chocolate mixture until just incorporated.
11. Carefully spoon the mixture into the ramekins almost to the rim, wiping excess filling from the rim with a wet paper towel.
12. Cover each ramekin tightly with plastic wrap, then aluminum foil, and freeze for at least 3 hours, or up to 1 month.

Baking Procedure

1. Put the oven rack at a lower-middle position, and preheat the oven to 400 degrees Farenheit.
2. When the oven is at temperature, remove the ramekins from the freezer, unwrap them, and put them on a rimmed baking sheet.  (DO NOT THAW THEM BEFORE BAKING.)
3. Bake the souffles until fragrant, fully risen, and the exterior is set, while the interior is still a bit loose and creamy.  This will take about 25 minutes for 8 ounce ramekins, 20-22 minutes for 6 ounce ramekins,  18 minutes or so for 4 ounce ramekins.
4. Serve immediately.

These are really tasty, and not overly sweet.  But as you can see from the first photo, they have appeal amongst the small set as much as the adult set. You’ll feel great about having a few of these in the freezer, ready for any chocolate emergency.  I expect ramekin sales to go through the roof.  Just don’t eat too many of these at once. You don’t want to experience chocolate overload:

photo by Ward Thompson © 2010

I jumped on the bandwagon on Michael Ruhlman’s blog to join in on this summer’s BLT From Scratch Challenge, which was one to creatively make a BLT sandwich entirely from scratch, making the bread, the bacon, growing the tomato and lettuce, making the mayonnaise, and then sending in a writeup of the results.

Here is the basis for my entry, Panino del Po,  (Bacon Butty Italian Stylie, in Jamie Oliverese)

I made the  basic pancetta recipe from Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing with friends M and B some time ago.  Here is a picture of us with our lovely tied rolls of pork belly, ready to hang for curing.  As you can see, I was wearing the official Team Bacon t-shirt when we did it.

Pancetta, Rolled and tied, ready for cure

Here is what the results look like, sliced, before cooking.

Slices of cured goodness for the sandwiches

The tomatoes have been growing along, pretty slowly, but have changed to some lovely colors.  I think the micro climate near our driveway has been warmer than that of many others this year, despite our Minnesota locale.  I picked out two pretty tomatoes for the project.

A Jubilee and a Cuor di Bue

The one on the left is a Jubilee (I think).  The one on the right is a Cuor di Bue, which has taken over as one of my favorite tomato varieties.  You can see that it is shaped somewhat like the heart of an ox, which is the meaning behind its name.  Both of these varieties have dense “beefsteak” texture, and are juicy but not watery when you slice them. In the interest of giving credit where it’s due, I’d need to thank Whitewater Gardens for starting the seedlings, and my DH for helping with the watering of the plants.

While my love of Italian flavors is influencing my overall product, good toast was an essential for my sandwiches.  My current favorite bread for toast and club sandwiches is Pain de Mie.

The prepared pan and risen dough

I used Nick Kindelsperger’s recipe from The Paupered Chef.  I had better luck with this recipe than I have had with others.  This is the first time I’ve had a perfectly even colored crust. Since it came out so well, I’m happy to say I’ve now checked #78 of the Cook’s 100 off my list.

Even shape and even browning

For the mayonnaise (or otherwise emulsified sauce, also #54 of the Cook’s 100),  I chose the basic recipe using one egg yolk from Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking, also by Michael Ruhlman, but not without prior research in the works of Julia Child and Simone Beck.  The main tipping point was not that quoting Michael Ruhlman again might provide me with a better chance at a prize in the challenge, but for the simple reason that I didn’t need two and a half cups of mayonnaise for only two sandwiches.  Ruhlman’s recipe yields about a cup, which was more than enough.

Mise en place for arm-strong mayo

I decided to use the mayonnaise as my arm workout for today.  And I’m glad I did.  It’s very satisfying to improve one’s understanding of the egg and emulsion, as Julia Child might say.  Beating the 1 yolk, 1/2 tsp. salt, 2 tsp. lemon juice together with a teaspoon of water, then drizzling 1 cup of canola oil into it very very slowly while whisking constantly does, really, create a cup of mayonnaise.

After tasting the basic mayo, I flavored it with some balsamic vinegar (1-2 tsp.) to fit in with the other Italian flavors.

"Arm-strong" Mayonnaise

Finally, while Panino del Po was completely homemade, it does not contain lettuce, since we never got any lettuce planted.  Instead, to stay with the Italian flavor profile, and still use home grown ingredients, I used large basil leaves which we grew alongside our tomatoes in containers.

Sandwich fillings, ready while the bread is sliced and toasted

Here’s how the sandwich finally looked:

The end result, ready to eat

I’m no Donna Ruhlman, so the photos of this may not do the sandwich justice. This was a lot of fun to make and to eat.  It was well worth the effort.  This project entertained me several times.