hwilson41

One quick test that won't require removal. What does it smell like when you open the bag? If it smells like it looks, I fear you might be done with this experiment .

Well, they say confession is good for the soul, so here is my mea culpa for today . I haven't included any pics for reasons that will be obvious shortly. I smoked my andouille yesterday, and made a pot of andouille and shrimp jambalaya last night. I've made my version of jambalaya many times, always with andouille from either Jacob's or Poche's, so we all know pretty well what it sould taste like. Bottom line, I made the andouille too hot for that use and its heat obscured the other flavors in the dish. I'm a pretty hardcore chili head, and the sausage makes a nice accompaniament to scrambled eggs, and probably a pretty fair hot dog, but the spice was overwhelming in the jambalaya. The recipe was a variation on Folse's, but with much more heat. 3-1/2 lbs Pork Butt, trimmed of fat and cubed 1-1/2 lbs Fatback, cubed 5 Tbsp Garlic (not enough) 3 Tbsp Cayenne 2 Tbsp Black Pepper 2 Tbsp Red Pepper flakes 2 Tbsp Kosher Salt 1-1/2 Tbsp Dried Thyme Leaves 1 tsp Pink Salt 1/2 tsp Allspice 1-1/2 C Ice Water 10' Beef Round Casing (38-40mm) The red pepper flakes, I think, were the culprit on the heat, and I'll eliminate them next time. I'll also increase the Garlic to 8 Tbsp (1/2 C) and the Thyme to 2 Tbsp. Basically I'm getting to about the same point as what Ron's recipe is evolving into. That's probably not surprising, because we both have bought andouille from well known vendors in Louisiana and that has fixed in my mind at least what it should taste like. As an aside, the folks selling beef casings say they are inedible, but we did not find that to be the case. They are a little tougher and chewier than pork casings, but after cooking in the jambalaya for an hour or so, they are just fine. They are also much less subject to blowout than the pork casings. And a final thought: it is not a pleasant task to explain to a hungry wife and son that if you're going to be a chef, you have to be prepared for occasional failures . But I promised I'd do better next time .

Beautiful stuff indeed, Dave. What does it taste like? And is it really as purple as the picture looks, or is that due to the ambient lighting?

From the age of 15+ until I graduated from high school, I had a paper route (Ft Worth Star Telegram - morning, evening and Sunday ). When I'd get home about 5:30am from the daily route, I'd cook myself some bacon, toast with strawberry jelly, and two eggs fried in bacon grease. Damn, I still remember those breakfasts as some of the best ever. My intoduction to cooking, and the beginning of my career as a food lover and critic I suspect.

Well, from all the above I feel I'm waaaay behind the power curve here (my usual state of affairs ), but my eagerly anticipated andouille is about to become the real thing. Received the pecan last Sunday, and because of some scheduling problems (damned day job!!), I didn't get to make the sausage until today. It is in the fridge developing the pellicle as we keyboard, and will be smoked over pecan tomorrow, God willing and the creeks don't rise. Pictures - and I'm hoping some kickass shrimp and sausage jambalaya - to follow shortly. As an aside, and with no intended putdown to anybody, the andouille I've ordered from Poche's and Jacob's has come to us in Virginia at a landed cost of almost $9 per lb. This homemade version I'm figuring is coming in at about $2.50/lb, including spices, so it won't take very long to pay for all the stuff I've bought to make this possible .

Thanks much for the info. Do you remove the skin before curing (as in the pancetta recipe), or smoke it and then remove the skin like the other bacon recipes? Done deal. I'm also supposed to pick up the pecan either Sunday or Monday, so I'll be a busy boy curing, stuffing and smoking for the next week or so . I'll report back on the bacon and the andouille as soon as they're done.

Dave, at the risk of sounding like an echo, that peperone is just magnificent. And I don't even like storebought pizza very much (although I might change my mind if it were homemade with real peperone ). A question for all you smokers of dead flesh: I've made the maple flavored bacon twice, smoked over apple, and both times it received rave reviews. However, I also need some savory bacon, both for eating and especially for seasoning in dishes like collards (the maple bacon makes collards taste a little strange, I found out the hard way). Am thinking of using the recipe for pancetta, but smoking it after the cure, probably over a combination of hickory and cherry, or maybe hickory and apple. Any thoughts or suggestions from the others of you who are into homemade bacon? TIA

All you folks are doing beautiful work. If this topic doesn't inspire one to new and better things, I don't know what would. I just need to figure out how to get invited to dinner in places that are 500 miles apart when gas costs $3/gal . Ron, I picked up some Cherry earlier this week and finally scored some pecan, down in Tidewater VA. Best news is that it is free, so as soon as I get it here (next week?), I'll be trying my Andouille. There's a big pot (or three) of jambalaya on my horizon. I can feel it in my bones (or maybe in my sausage) .

Chris, I'm sure your butt will turn out splendidly, as almost all of your projects do . One thing you said above puzzles me. I thought the Bradley was more or less ideal for cold smoking also (unlike my side box smoker , which is difficult to hold much below 200F). I gather that is not the case without some jury rigging, right? I ask because I'd really love to cold smoke salmon, but if I'm going to have to jury rig anyway, I might as well rig the one I already own rather than buying a Bradley also.

One of my all time favorites with steak is St Julia's French potato salad (served warm) in Mastering the Art.... I've modified the recipe a bit to strengthen the dressing by reduction, but it's a great hit however you make it. And I second the grilled asparagus if you have room on the grill. One of my favorite spring vegetables .

It was just a shot in the dark (maybe extrapolating my own fondness for red wine to others). I gather that it was spot on too .

Bombdog, this is a disease shared by several of us. Not to worry, though, it's not fatal...unless your cholesterol level kills you. But be sure to keep up the heavy doses of red wine and you'll be fine .

Non-answers are just fine. One of the marks of a true intellectual is that he is sufficiently secure that he has the nerve to say "I don't know." when he doesn't know . I'm using the storebought stuff also until our farmer's markets open, but I think I'll tone down the garlic a bit for a first run, maybe 1 Tbsp per pound of sausage...a decision I may live to regret .

Ron, I'm still pondering this recipe while I search for some Pecan (with no success so far, but it'll come). Compared to the ingredients lists from Jacob's and Poche's , Folse's recipe has a lot more garlic than the others (assuming they list the ingredients in order of volume/weight). Could that have been the source of some of the bitterness also? I'm dying to get going on this, and may bag the Pecan search temporarily and use a mixture of Hickory and Cherry if I don't score pretty soon. Your sausages are making me anxious to make a batch of jambalaya in the worst way .

Every summer, my family and I go to the Outer Banks with another family of old friends. At the fresh vegetable (and shrimp ) vendor across from the Food Lion at Whalehead, they have what we call a Very Berry Pie, that has rhubarb, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries in it. I don't have a recipe...yet...but have started fiddling around trying to duplicate it. I would hazard a guess that it's as good as any pie I've ever eaten in my life. Major yuummm .

I'm not a hostess (wrong sex), but feel free to put me on your gift list any time you'd like .

Must be the "great minds" phenomenon at work again . After reading your comments about the bitterness in the finish, those are the exact proportions I decided on. I'm still in search of Pecan right now, and probably won't try the Andouille until I find some...soon, I hope.

Try one of the Latino mercados. Most of them keep fatback for making their own sausage. If memory serves, I paid about $1/lb, if that, the last time I bought some here in northern VA.

Susan, soon you'll be an old pro. We're all anxious to hear how the flavor turned out. Based on earlier reports, I'm sure it will be delicious. And congrats on remembering the plastic thing. Life is such a drag without a plastic thing .

Uhhh...are you accepting job applications right now ? Ain't it the truth! We visited our daughter and family over the weekend, and I took a pound or a bit more of the second batch of maple cured, apple smoked bacon with me. It was gone by Sunday morning after a batch of bacon, egg and cheese biscuits cooked by yours truly. As we were getting ready to leave, my daughter said "Dad, why don't you freeze another pound or two of that bacon and send it to us." That bacon vanishes faster than luck at a roulette wheel .

Anna, my prediction is that once you taste some homemade sausage and bacon, you'll forget all about how much the pink salt cost . Best of luck with the new venture. I'm sure it will turn out great.

I'm a bit late to the party, but we were out of town over the weekend and I just got caught up this morning. Beautiful work, Ron, as always. And I'm glad to get the tips about the recipe before I start on mine (this week, I hope). Re reducing the black pepper, did you give any thought to increasing the cayenne a bit to hold the heat constant? I'm thinking I might try that, but not sure yet. You are correct that hickory is too assertive for most sausages as it tends to overpower the flavor. Pecan, which is a member of the same family, has a milder flavor and would be much better. Some Andouille pros in LA recommend a combination of Pecan and Sugar Cane (which I wouldn't have a clue where to find ), but straight Pecan should work fine. The last two sausages I tried I used pork shoulder, trimmed of all fat, and then used fatback (courtesy of the Amish farmer) for the fat. It works really well, and I love the flavor, so that's probably what I'll do on this batch also. Thanks again for being the lead experimenter .

Beautiful sausages Ron, and I'm glad to hear the flavor worked well. How would you compare them to LA Andouille? I'm anxious to hear how the Folse recipe worked out too, because one of the two will be my next project when we get home Sunday night. Right now, smoking my second 10 lb batch of bacon over some apple, and it already smells devine .

Ron, I'm dying of curiosity re your sausage. Any results yet? Enquiring minds want to know .

Agree completely. I grew up in Texas, and Mesquite was discovered sometime around 1970 or so. Before then, it was a noxious weed tree, best burned on sight if you could figure out how to get it out of the ground. In general, the flavor is waaay too strong if you're truly smoking. Hickory is good, but for a gentle smoke, Pecan is the wood of choice. Pecan is in the same family as Hickory, but a gentler flavor. Adding a little fruitwood (Apple, etc.) doesn't hurt either .