Gravlax

We've been meaning to try this and finally got around to it.  Didn't turn out to be too much cheaper than store bought gravlax, but it was super easy and fun to do on our own.  We used the Minimalist recipe from Mark Bittman.

Basically you start with a slice of salmon- ours was about a pound.  You coat it in sugar (2 cups), salt (1 cup), and dill, and leave it wrapped and weighted down in the refrigerator for 36 hours.  Rinse, slice, and that's it- it comes out bright orange and cured!

Pâté de Campagne

This recipe only took us a couple hours and it came out really great. We did about a third of the Ruhlman/Polcyn recipe, used chicken liver rather than pork (we'll try pork next time- its supposed to have more flavor), and just used the basic onion/parsley/garlic/spices seasoning. A "pâté de campagne" is characterized by a more coarsely ground meat and 'rustic' texture.

Step 1: Grind pork shoulder butt, chicken liver, spices.

Mix with flour, eggs, cream and brandy.

Step 2: Pour mixture into a lined terrine mold.

Bake in hot water bath.

Step 3: Remove from oven and let cool overnight.

Brats!!

Stiring the ground pork/spices

Me and the hog casing

Sausage Making 101 Part 6: Making the Links

Finally the best part, making the links. This has the most amazing technique it goes like this:

First, make the first link by squeezing the filling aside and twisting clockwise (or counterclockwise what matters is that you remember which direction you started and stay consistent).

Next, squeeze the filling to make the second link but do not twist it off.

Now, squeeze off the third link and twist it in the same direction as the first link (in this case clockwise). Twisting off the third link should also twist the second link counterclockwise.

Rinse and repeat.

Sausage Making 101 Part 5: Stuffing

Now it is time to stuff the casing

Sausage Making 101 Part 4: Mixing

Next step is to mix in the water and vinegar. Keep mixing at medium speed until it has a consistent texture.

Sausage Making 101 Part 3: Grinding

Now that the meat is diced and mixed with the dry ingredients its time to start grinding. Pass all of the meat through the small die and into a chilled bowl (to keep the fat firm).

Sausage Making 101 Part 2: Hydrate Your Casing

Meanwhile, rehydrate the hog casing in cold water (let sit for ~30 minutes) then rinse.

Sausage Making 101 Part 1: Getting Started

(1) mix the diced meat with the dry ingredients

We made spicy Italian so this is pork shoulder butt with spices

Bacon for Breakfast

What sausage should I do next?

Breakfast Links?

Brats?

Spicy Italian?

BACON!

The bacon is finished cooking and is cooling now. These are some of the photos of the cooking today.

I took the pork belly out of the refrigerator when it was feeling firm (about 1 week, flipping every other day)

Generally in the United States most bacon is smoked, but it doesn't have to be. And since we haven't got the stove top smoker yet... an alternative is roasting the pork belly at 200 degrees until the internal temp is 150 degrees. Ruhlman says about 2 hours mine was closer to 3.

Next while the meat is still hot the skin need to be removed from the pork belly.

After all that is done, let it cool at room temperature and then put in away for use tomorrow morning (or tonight for BLTs...)

Brine Recipe

Due to popular demand this is the brine recipe:

The All-Purpose Brine by Michael Ruhlman:

1 Gallon Water

1 Cup Kosher Salt (important that its not iodized)

1/2 Cup Sugar

Additional Optional Seasonings as desired (we used a head of garlic, 2 lemons, rosemary, bay leaves, peppercorns...).

Heat all the ingredients, but not to boil. Then let cool before submerging the chicken, and put in the refrigerator. It's important to keep the chicken fully submerged so use a plate that will fit into the stock pot you are using to weigh the chicken down (make sure there are no air bubbles under it though).

Leave the whole 3 lb chicken in the brine for about 12 hours then rinse, dry and leave uncovered in the fridge for at least an additional 3 hours. Ruhlman says that the chicken skin should feel kind of tacky when you take it out.

Then roast or broil as you normally would. You can add additional seasoning at this point too. It's finished when the internal temp is about 160 degrees.

Bacon!

Dredging the pork belly in dry cure and brown sugar... mmm. In only one week's time it will be bacon!

The recipe is actually really easy, do as follows and you too can have home made bacon (from Ruhlman's book):

1. Make dry cure:

8oz kosher salt

4oz sugar

1oz curing salt (sodium nitrate) usually sold tinted pink

2. Buy 3 to 5 lb pork belly (I used 2.5 lbs though)

3. Dredge (cover and press into) the pork belly with the dry cure (~1/4 cup will be needed) and optional brown sugar. Put pork belly in a plastic ziplock (1 or 2 gallon).

4. Put it in the fridge and wait a week, flipping every other day. (rest of the instructions in a week...)

Brine Chicken part 2

Part 2 of the Brine Chicken. After leaving the chicken in the brine over night and out open in the fridge during the day we cooked the chicken and the bottom line is that it was a lot juicier than chickens usually are. This could have been because we bought a nicer chicken then usual, though...

Brine Chicken part 1

Charcuterie attempt 1: Brine chicken.

This is the brine. Next step let it cool.

Basically salt water with some stuff in it.

New Cook Book

This is the inspiration for the blog, Michael Ruhlman's Charcuterie. This spring I plan on learning how to preserve meat, among other things, and hopefully it will make for interesting reading. Tonight pork chops, later this week a brine chicken.