Chris Amirault

Stove-top popcorn: Get a good-sized pot with a lid; it can be loose fitting. Heat it for a good while over medium high heat. Pour in 2-4 tablespoons of oil (peanut is best, but pretty much anything will do) and swirl it until it's just about to hit the smoke point. Toss in 1/2 cup of good popcorn, and start shaking. As the popcorn pops ,you may run out of room, so have a big bowl ready to dump it as needed. When you've popped most of the kernels, the time between pops slows down; when you can count to three between pops, you're done and in danger of burning. Dump the popped corn, toss a few tablespoons of butter into the hot pot, melt it (or brown it -- yum) and dump it on the corn. Eat by the fistfull.

I just scored 25 pounds of Niman Ranch pork -- two big bellies -- from Whole Foods on special order. Two halves are curing now, the rest are in the freezer vacuum-sealed. $4.29 per pound. I'm very interested to see how they stack up to the $1.59-1.99 stuff I've gotten at the local carnicaria. I'll tell you one thing: the carnicaria bellies don't smell sweet and wonderful like these Niman ones do, and they're about 40% as thick.

Thanks for the support, folks. I peeled a few of them, and found that the really thick green stuff makes the casing stick. So if I can peel 'em easily, then I'm eating 'em. Three passed the peel test.

Took out all of the sopressata today: And I found green mold! Lots of it! I also found the mystery link that never, seemingly dried out. I cut into it but discovered nothing. There was one link that had only a teensy bit of green, and this one that has none at all: So I cut off the casings on both and had at 'em. They're delicious. Just perfect. They smell the way that really, really great cured stuff smells. Even though I'm disappointed to throw out most of the batch, of course, these two links are very encouraging. Thoughts on tackling the green mold?

For those of a certain generation, you'll know the food that Dagwood Bumpstead has named after him.

Folks, let's keep this topic on food, eating, and other subjects that relate directly to the purpose of eG Forums. Comments about pets (and other members) are off-topic, and we'll have to close the topic if they continue. Thanks.

It looks oily because there's, like, um, stuff kinda floating in there. Mold could be from the rinds, the cheesy slurry, the dog piss, the ghosts of dead Italian charcutiers....

Dave, I spend the bulk of my time in that basement scratching my head these days.

Up-topic a bit, I mentioned that I have had sopressata in my curing chamber for a while, along with some friendly white mold courtesy of a goat cheese I had in the fridge. I went down in to the laBORatory -- er, I mean the basement today to see how things were going. Here's the absurdly salty water (equal parts water and salt someone recommended somewhere) with the two pieces of moldy rind in them: Pretty crazy -- until you see these sticks of sopressata: You'll notice in the left photo that one of the sticks really hasn't reduced in size nor has it gotten the mold. Makes me wonder about the relationship between the two.... I'm letting them hang for a bit more and then will cut 'em down and check out the definition (about which I'm worried, I must say). Oh, one thought about tough casings. I remember reading many years ago about using papaya enzymes to tenderize natural casings. Just a thought!

IIRC, Ruhlman explains that the ring indicates a lack of humidity, meaning that the exterior dried out too rapidly.

Actually, I failed to mention that I resprayed with another cheese mold slurry, and I also tossed the rinds into the salted distilled water inside the chamber for good measure. I'm happy to report that I'm getting good, chalky, white mold!

Following this with interest, Erik. I haven't been very eager to incorporate scotch into cocktails either, preferring it neat, but that looks like an interesting drink.

Well, you've clearly fallen off the deep end, Abra. That's the best post I've read in months! What photos -- "fucking abbatoir" is right! I'm dying to find out... er... I'm really eager to find out what they're like. Speaking of the deep end, since I've been up repeatedly all night to tend to my butt, I think I'll go give my sopressata another vinegar wash, or maybe I'll toss another cheese rind into the "good mold" ooze....

Update: the University Heights Whole Foods now has premium Niman Ranch pork bellies waiting for you! Get there while you can!

I'd leave it alone if it's less than 1/4 cup, but if little of the belly is in contact with the cure, then I'd add a bit more, yes. edited to degarblize -- ca

If your whole point was to give a gift, I don't think a tipping lesson is in order!

Ben's right, I think. Good seasoning techniques stress that you're only putting on the initial seasoning, not putting on "the" seasoning. That you can only earn over time and with care. I wonder if the two of you didn't completely clean off the industrial lubricants before you started your seasoning process. Perhaps that's creating a layer of moisture that expands during heating.

Update on my sopressata after ten days. The slurry seems not to have produced anything quite yet, but they are looking mighty fine. I had to toss one link for green mold and washed 'em all down with a vinegar solution to be sure.

The one thing I miss most from my travels in the Middle East -- and I miss them very, very much -- are truly good dates.

Anyone who is a supporter of good food in New England already knows about Farmstead Cheese in Providence RI. Run by Matt and Kate Jennings, Farmstead has spent three years bringing the highest quality artisanal cheeses to their shop on Wayland Ave in Providence RI, and the shop has a stack of awards to prove it. They also provide cheeses to the very best restaurants in the greater Providence area, including Chez Pascal, Gracie's, New Rivers, Castle Hill Inn, Persimmon, and Nat Porter Restaurant. Visiting Farmstead is always a highlight of my day, as I feel surrounded by the hard work of cheesemakers and other food artisans who care deeply about what they do. Sareh Amber's standing next to the bowl of chevre; I'm pretty sure that's Terrence Geary, the fourth member of the Farmstead team, over her shoulder. Matt, the cheesemonger at Farmstead, travels far and wide to find the best cheeses in the world. The shop also provides artisanal foods such as olives -- -- honeys, crackers, and, my personal favorite, charcuterie. I fixated particularly on this crespone on my last visit. Just a couple of weeks ago, I found out that Matt and Kate had just created a new way to share their deep love and respect for remarkable foodstuffs with the rest of us: their new restaurant, La Laiterie at Farmstead, right next door. It's designed to fit into the neighborhood, with subdued decor and lots of windows up front. Here's what it look like just before opening. La Laiterie's mission is to provide diners with the opportunity to eat the finest artisanal cheeses, charcuterie, and other foods coupled with the handmade wines and beers. With Matt behind the stove and Kate doing the baking and managing the front, they're committed to making and serving what they call honest food -- and it's all reasonably priced, I'll happily add. I spent some time there at the bar on Saturday evening, focusing most of my attention on this wonderful charcuterie slate. I had fantastic pheasant pate and rabbit sausage, both of which placed extraordinary meat at the foreground. The "extra mature" Montgomery's cheddar lurking behind the microgreens was, without question, the best cheddar cheese I've ever had. The mains played off the tid bits, including some mighty fine cornichons and thyme-spiked toasted nuts, and the condiments were mighty fine as well, including balsamic shallots, some picked peppadew peppers, and Matt's homemade mustard. Remember that crespone that was hanging on the wall over in the shop? Here it is, up close and personal. The flavor matched the definition of this miraculous sausage. When I asked Stefan, who has developed the great wine list and was tending the soapstone bar, what I should have with the slate, he instantly suggested a saison au point made by Vermont brewer Shaun E Hill. I later had an Ayrshire brown ale from Hill that was also perfect with the food, this time Kate's wonderful chive biscuits. (No photo; I ate 'em too quickly.) Here's an entire flight of the beer selections right in front of a wedge of that blockbuster Montgomery's cheddar: All in all, a wonderful meal in a wonderful place, the first, I'm sure, of many. Has anyone else been? If not, well, go and report back!

Richard, that all sounds good to me!

The vinaigrette offsets the fat? Anthony Bourdain uses a chicken liver vinaigrette in his version; Thomas Keller uses a bacon fat vinaigrette in his. I much prefer the latter.

Yeah, I'm getting the half-crazy reaction too -- the crazy half makes it and the ain't-crazy half is the one that's feeding everyone. Report from the crazy half. Today I decided that it was time to experiment with the good mold slurry mentioned above. I scraped some good white mold off of an artisanal cheese rind, put it into a spray bottle with some distilled water, and sprayed my sopressata with the slurry. Then I dumped the rest of it into the ice bowl (trying to keep things cool during a heat wave here) for good measure. Can't hurt, you know? Report to follow.

Grace Young's Breath of the Wok is a fantastic book in every way -- and it includes a detailed section on buying and seasoning your wok. That's the ticket!

Tried it today with the chicken and turkey, which turned out great: Let me say that I didn't cure the duck for as long as I'd have liked; it was a muscovy duck breast, not pekin/long island (that's all Whole Paycheck had, at $15 a pound, too); I used ruby port instead of madeira. OK, having said that: this stuff is duck crack. Here it is on a plate with the last of my peperone. The color isn't as good in the photo as the duck turned out; it's more pink than brown. You can get a better sense of the colors here: I've had my doubts about adding flavorings to the brine of stuff I'm going to smoke, out of a sense that it's often hard to pick up the nuances. But I really could pick up the flavorings here, which played fantastically off the smoke. I really, really encourage you to make this recipe.