The View From the Brine

Here’s what our meat looked like after the brining was completed.  At this point, I rinsed and dried the meat, and discarded the brine.

Post-Brine Meat Rubbed with Pepper and Coriander

Next, I rubbed the meat with a mixture of ground black pepper and ground coriander seeds, to prepare the meat for its time in the smoker.  The meat spent a few hours in the smoker.  I can’t remember exact durations, as I was busy working on other items between feeding my fire and checking temperatures.  I really should write this stuff down next time.

After the Smoking

Here’s what the brisket pieces looked like when I took them out of the smoker. You can see a bit of that pinkish hue that the meat has taken on.  Click on the photo for a larger view.

The last cooking step in making the pastrami was to slow-roast it in the oven, covered, on a rack over some water.  I let this go for between 3 and 4 hours.  It may have only needed three, but again, I was working on other projects, and the more tender, the better!   Here’s what it looked like after the roasting.

Smoked and Roasted Pastrami

There was some significant shrinkage in size as fat was rendered out during the roasting. Here’s what the meat looked like on the inside:

Here's what's Inside that Dark Smoke-roasted Crust

Again, click on the photo if you would like a closer view.

I let the meat cool, then refrigerated it overnight before slicing it.  Here’s what we ended up with:

Reubens Anyone?

This plate was for a party.  I served this with cocktail rye, condiments, and vegetables so that guests could make little sandwiches.  This was very well received.  I’m glad I have half a brisket left over, so we can save some for later in the summer, in case a reuben craving strikes.  Any recommendations for the best kraut to go with home-cured pastrami?

Newest Entry in the Baby - Quilt Gallery

Isn’t he cute?  It’s River, the latest addition to the Baby – Quilt Gallery.

(Fear not, I’m not abandoning the pig. Remember our Team Bacon cheer:  Forza Pancetta!  Viva Lo Speck!)

Pastrami involves brining, smoking, and roasting or steaming to get from brisket to bliss, so it’s no wonder we don’t see it everywhere.  I’m guessing, however, that the gratification, while non-instant, will be high.  Bob’s pictures on A Hunger Artist suggest it’s a safe bet.

I started by creating the brine, with 4 liters of water and a collection of  salts (kosher and pink curing), pickling spices (bay, pepper, juniper) and sweeteners (brown sugar, white sugar, maple syrup).  I brought it to a hard simmer (OK, I let it boil, because I was distracted by something).  Then I cooled it to room temperature, then put it in the fridge in a large covered plastic container.

Making the Brine

Once the brine was cold, I took my beef brisket and cut it in two equal pieces, so they would fit in the brine bucket.  I then placed the beef pieces in the brine, and weighed them down with a plate, to keep them submerged.  I put the lid on the brine bucket, and returned it to the refrigerator, where it will be for about 2 more days.  Stay tuned, meat fans!

For a little history, here are the andouille sausages after the meat was stuffed into casings on Friday:

Andouille Stuffed

I then formed them into links, and left them uncovered in the refrigerator on Saturday, so they would develop a pellicle, so the smoke will be better absorbed.  (This also allowed me to spend a day in the Twin Cities with my friend B, and go out for cassoulet on Saturday night.)

The Andouille Links before Smoking

When I got my fire lit and my smoker ready, I placed the sausage links on a cheap aluminum pan in the smoker, and placed it as far from the firebox as possible.

Andouille After Time in the Smoker

After around an hour in the smoker, this is what they looked like.  Isn’t that red color lovely? I smoked them until they reached 150 degrees F, and then put them in an ice bath to cool, so I could package them for the fridge and freezer.

Andouille in the Ice Bath

After I smoked the andouille links, I hot smoked two slabs of the Maple-Cured Bacon.  I was using hickory chips, and filled in the difference with mesquite, since I didn’t have any fruit wood chips.   Here’s what the first slab looked like right from the smoker:

Mmmmm.... Bacon!

Doesn’t that look marvelous?  I thought so, too.

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!

Look What I Found!

In my case, (the latter) I found I can occasionally buy duck breasts at a local food co-op.  These come from one of three foie gras producers in the United States, which happens to be in Houston County, Minnesota.   I bought these to have for a special occasion, since my husband loves duck.  They were $18 per pound, but hey, it’s cheaper than flying him to France, eh? 

And I Paid For Them

I took them out of the freezer, and put them in the fridge to thaw.  Once thawed, I removed them from the cryovac bags, rinsed and dried them.  My next step was to get out the second ingredient (kosher salt) and two Pyrex dishes.

Step Two: Put Salt In Pyrex Dishes

Then I placed a duck breast in each Pyrex dish,

Step Three: Put Duck Breasts On Salt

and I covered the duck breasts with more salt.

Step Four: Cover the Duck Breasts With More Salt

I covered the Pyrex dishes with plastic wrap, and put them in the refrigerator.  Tomorrow I will remove the duck from the salt, and add the third ingredient.  More fun to follow.

As I may have mentioned before, the hardest part of making bacon is getting the pork belly.  With pancetta, it’s the tying of the pork belly into rolls.  But with tesa, we’ve removed that from the list.

My Aromatic Happy Mix

I started with a whole pork belly  (approximately 10 pounds), and a doubled recipe for the basic pancetta rub from Ruhlman & Polcyn’s book.

Here’s what the rub looks like, which is not all that thrilling.  What is really thrilling is how lovely this stuff smells.  Fresh thyme, crushed juniper berries, garlic, brown sugar, pepper, and salt combine to a lovely perfume.  Can you imagine it yet?  It just makes me hungry writing about it. Making it is an exercise in measuring and mixing.  You’ve seen that before, I’m sure.

I cut the pork belly into pieces that would fit into 2 gallon zipper bags (I ended up with 2 pieces). After the cuts, I rubbed the mixture onto the meat, and put the meat int0 the zipper bags.

Pork belly, with rub, in bag

I then put the two zipper bags into the meat fridge with the maple cure bacon, to add them to the overhaul schedule for 7 days.   I’ll flip them over every day or so, to redistribute the cure.  The next step for the tesa will be its peppering and drying.  Come back next week for more tesa fun!

For Teaching Offspring about Good Food

I finished An Adventurous Palate yesterday, sewing down the binding, and running it through the washer and dryer, so that it has a softer, more comfortable feel.  This is machine quilted in the ditch, with additional diagonal quilting lines through the corners of the squares.  This was pieced with Aurifil thread, but quilted with Superior Threads’ King Tut, since I had one spool of it in a nice contrasting color that works well with the fruity blocks.  The green binding matches the background fabric, a batik.

I plan to deliver this today to the new grandparents.  I’m hoping it’s a big hit.

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.

Buttermilk Waffles

from Cook’s Illustrated magazine, May-June 2010

Equipment

• waffle iron
• mixing bowls (2)
• whisk
• rubber spatula
• ladle
• measuring cups, dry (or scale)
• measuring cup for liquid
• measuring spoons
• non-stick cooking spray, if your waffle iron requires it
• wire rack
• rimmed baking sheet

Ingredients

• 2 cups (10 ounces) all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 0.75 teaspoon table salt
• 0.5 cup buttermilk powder (example here, sold in most grocery stores)
• 0.5 teaspoon baking soda
• 0.5 cup sour cream
• 2 large eggs
• 0.25 teaspoon vanilla extract (I like to use almond extract)
• 0.25 cup vegetable oil
• 1.25 cups unflavored seltzer water (or club soda)

Process

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 250 degrees F.  Set wire rack in rimmed baking sheet and place baking sheet in oven.
2. Whisk flour, sugar, salt, buttermilk powder, and baking soda together in large mixing bowl to combine.
3. Whisk sour cream, eggs, extract, and oil in medium bowl to combine.  Gently stir seltzer (or club soda) into wet ingredients.
4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour in the wet ingredients.  Using a rubber spatula, gently stir until just combined.  Batter should remain slightly lumpy with streaks of flour.
5. Heat waffle iron and bake waffles.  Transfer waffles to rack in warm oven and hold for up to 10 minutes before serving with butter and maple syrup.