Sauerkraut = Fail

Soy Milk 1

We decided to try to make soy milk and then tofu today. The first step is finding the ingredients. You'll need ~1lb of soy beans and nigari (or gypsum salt). Here in NYC you can get both at Sunrise Mart in the east village.

The beans need to soak in cold water until they are softish (~8 to 24 hours).

More detailed instructions can be found at http://www.justhungry.com/milking-soy-bean-part-1-soy-milk

Sour Kraut 1

We decided to try Foxfire's recipe for sour kraut as part of the preparation for an attempt to make brats. They recommended adding some hot peppers for extra flavor, other than that all you need is a nonreactive container, cabbage and kosher salt.

Valentine's Mussels

For Valentine's day we made mussels a la mariniere from a Julia Child recipe. It was a lot easier then I expected, just a little cleaning and steaming.

It's the Year of the Tiger, It's the thrill of the fight...

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.

The "Urban-Woodsman"

We saw this article in the recent New York Magazine and both kind of laughed. The Urban-Woodsman: meatmaking, fancy jeans, flannel...sound familiar??

Pictorial Websters

Just got this book for inspiration in my letterpress class. Pictorial Websters: A Visual Dictionary of Curiosities, by John Carrera. Its got some really great images and is printed from original plates made for the first Webster dictionaries. Beautiful book too.

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