Red Snapper

Snapper from the neighborhood fishmonger. This is here mostly because I thought this was a funny photo.

Garlic, Olive Oil, Butter...

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 September 10, 2011: Fig glazed Pork Chops, Biscuits & Beet Salad 

EE preparing the biscuits. 

Flour, Butter, Sour Milk (Milk & Vinegar) and sticky fingers

Into the oven (400f) for 10ish minutes

Chops (1 1/4 inch from our local pig farm via the butcher down the street) soaking in brine (1/2 gal water, 1/2 cup kosher salt, 1/4 cup sugar, etc)

Fig Jam EE made from our community garden figs (Water, Figs, Sugar, Brandy). We have half a dozen jars so we were looking for a way to use it.

Glazing the Chops

Next into the over at 350f, until they are 140f inside

Waiting for dinner, results to follow...

Roast Duck with Sausage and Apple Stuffing a la Julia Child: Caneton Roti a l'Alsacienne

We roasted 3 ducks from the Meat Hook for Christmas, using a recipe from Julia Child. It helped to watch her episode on how to roast a chicken (the chicken sisters!).

The ducks were amazing, and the stuffing was possibly even better.

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

Pork Chop for Dinner

Pork chop from the Meat Hook. Fried in olive oil and coated in salt, pepper, and chicken stock with a fig glaze. Based off a Mark Bittman recipe from his book How to Cook Everything. EE made Brussels Sprouts to go with the pork chop, somehow we missed taking a photo of them.

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.