Pallee

I've found that if I twist the links as I stuff, one turned toward me and the next twisted away from me, that I never have a rupture. It does slow down the process a bit until you get the hang of it but worth it in the end. Also soaking the casings overnight has helped as well. My neighbour, the duck hunter, graced me with 8 wild ducks, so yesterday was sausage day. Again I used the base recipe from the book with the roasted garlic, but also added cherries and dates. It will go in the cornbread stuffing for Thanksgiving and we wanted a bit of sweetness.

You can check out a sample menu here: http://www.laurokitchen.com/menu/

Lauro Kitchen on SE Division is really nice and I've seen many families in there. The down side is they don't take reservations, but you can pretty much get in fine if you get there by 6:00. Great adult food and kid friendly food as well.

I re use the fat all the time. I strain it through a fine strainer, chill it, and lift if off any residual gelee, then freeze it til next time. Since I use such low temps to make confit, it doesn't seem to break down in quality.

There was a line by 8:50 the last 2 Sundays, but everyone got in right away who was waiting.

What he said....

Two of us had the tasting menu last weekend - you get a choice of 2 for every course and we had one of each with the wine pairing, and shared everything. It was all good. The third course had a seared scallop on braised pork belly and then I said "Wow" and realized it was the first (and only) item that wowed me. The wines were good, but again, only 2 were great. I enjoyed the meal and felt the portions were fine, but wasn't as blown away as I was hoping for.

I am so impressed by the variety of responses here! I have cast iron grates - my Weber is 6 years old - I blast them with high heat and wire brush and spray them with oil after each use and spray again before each use. I always get my steaks to room temp for at least an hour and season with salt as far in advance as I can. Get the grill as hot as it will go and then sear for a couple minutes near the front of the grill (top down) then turn 45' for a bit more. By now there's flame and I flip them over, moving to the back of the grill - turn off the flame under the back, let the front rage, give it a couple minutes, turn another 45' and turn the whole thing off. Check by touch for doneness - or if it's thick - an instant read thermometer. The residual heat is enough to finish with. But if I have time, I use my old charcoal grill as the flavor is so much better!

I've found that if you leave out part of the flour, making a real soft dough, then do most of your kneading, that the rollers work great. Then add the rest of the flour towards the end. I don't use the hook as the rollers work great when you do it this way. Does that make sense?

I've had mine for about a year and love it. I got it because I make a lot of bread and my Kitchenaid couldn't handle it. I went through Pleasant Hill Grain and I can't say enough about how good they are to work with. I got the grinder, which I use for sausage making and it is 10 times better than that came with my Kitchenaid. When I had a problem figuring something out, Pleasant Hill was so great answering my questions. I also got the blender and use it often. I expect to have to put it into my will as it gives all indications of outliving me!

Yes, they are savory. I posted the recipe in Recipe Gullet - tempted to link it with "Healthy Choices"

I don't think this is my best bacon recipe, but it sure brings smiles and strange looks from people when I mention these - Bacon Cookies!

Bacon Cookies Serves 30 as Amuse. Savory bacon cookies that go well with stews, soups, or to make your dog very happy! 4 slices chopped bacon 2 c AP flour 1 pinch salt 1 pinch black pepper 1/2 c chilled butter 1 egg, lightly beaten 3 T heavy cream 1 egg yolk, beaten Saute the bacon bits until not quite crispy. Drain and cool. Mix flour, salt and pepper and cut in the butter. Mix in the egg and cream, just to combine. Add the bacon and form the dough into a log about 1 1/2" diameter. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill til firm. Preheat oven to 350'. Slice cookies and brush tops with yolk. Bake until brown (about 15 minutes) and cool on a rack. ( RG1718 )

Sunday Brunch at Simpatica!

I doesn't take too long, I'd say about 3 - 4 minutes at most.

My oringinal Kitchenaid had a great grinding blade. I gave it to a friend in a fit of generosity and a few years later got a new Kitchenaid. The blade that came with the new one was very different and seemed to me it smeared the meat more than cut it. I make alot of bread and ended up buying the Electrolux Magic Mill and the grinder that comes with it is far superior to even my original Kitchenaid. Has anyone noticed any improvement when grinding at a higher speed? I seem to get a "cleaner" grind at higher speed with a better rope. Mybig confession is that I don't use the mixer to emuslify. I finish grinding, chill the mix, and put on gloves. I mix until it gets sticky with my hands, chill again and put in casings later. Never had a broken sausage.

Here's my Lyonnaise sausage recipe. Pork shoulder 5# Thyme 1 1/2 tspn Sage 1/2 tspn White pepper 1 1/2 tspn Salt 1 1/2 Tblspn Cayenne 1/4 tspn Zest from one Orange Pistachios 3/4 cup Madiera 1/2 cup I rough chop the pistachios and fold them in at the end. The pork butt I get is plenty fatty, so haven't needed to add more fat - adjust accordingly. Sometimes all you can get are salted pistachios, so reduce the salt and taste a sample before casing. I use fresh herbs and a microplane for the zest.

I've got a dinner for 12 tomorrow. I'm smoking salmon for chive crepes with home made creme fraiche, capers, pickled red onions. Then a salad with my latest batch of bacon, candied pecans, apples and blue cheese. I just made a batch of Lyonnaise sausage (not from the book, but yummy anyway) with orange zest, pistachios, thyme, madeira that I'm putting inside butterflied pork tenderloins that are brining and wrapping the whole thing in the rind from the last batch of bacon. Served with spaetzle and some rhubarb apple chutney I just finished. Also making olive bread. Dessert will be crisp meringues with lemon semifreddo and the last of my huckleberry sauce from last year. Did I forget anything?

Chris, what a drag. I doubt they'll cure properly. I'd smoke them and finish the cooking process and start over. Here, hopefully, is a shot of my garlic stuffed bacon I blanched the whole cloves and then sliced open a pocket and slid them in. Next time I'll add a few more.

I've made the peperone twice and agree it seems so weird to have it hanging at such high temps for the first fermentation. Goes against all the food safety stuff I know, but I've brewed enough beer to know that fermentation is your friend. I've been hanging it in the bathroom with the heater on and have kept it at 85 -90' for almost 24 hours before moving it to the 65' wine cellar. Just finished smoking my second batch of bacon yesterday. I took a smaller piece of belly and stuffed garlic cloves into it. Looking forward to tasting that. I gave my brother bacon of the month club for Christmas a couple years back and the garlic stuffed bacon was their favorite. Have yet to make the salami, but that's next on the list, with andouille close behind!

I should wear my glasses more. I thought this thread was about hash brownies. Couldn't figure out why you'd be having a problem.

I remember my first line cook job. Nice place, great food. But after 8 - 10 hours of working with food - even the best product, I'd have no appetite and after a few hours would only want something like an apple, that no one had sliced, seasoned or sauteed. No problem on days off. I still don't eat snapper after the worms, and it's been 15 years. Then becoming the chef in a huge kitchen, I'd have cooks bringing me samples all day to taste. Seemed I never got to cook. I took a rare day off in the middle of the week once to take care of some stuff and mid afternoon got a weird ache in my stomach. Finally I realized it was hunger....pretty bad when you haven't felt that in so long you don't recognize it. Been out of the kitchen professionally for a few years. Love to cook at home, eat out rarely. But when I do, it's either the top of the line or some taco stand. I can readily identify inferior product and won't put it in my mouth. Knorr's Swiss DemiGlace, anyone? Has it ruined my enjoyment of restaurant food? Not in the least, but it has refined it. I'm not willing to waste a meal in a less than stellar place.

About the trichinosis - the CDC web site says to freeze pork less than 6" thick at 5' for 20 days. Then it goes on to say that freezing game meats may not effectively kill all worms and the only sure fire way to do that is complete cooking, and that smoking, curing and drying also don't work. The trich risk seems low with venison as it mainly affects meat eating critters, but my whole family is from Montana and lived on game in the last century and wouldn't touch less than well cooked venison for all the other parasites. Everything has risks, you just need to be as well informed as you can when you take those risks, or expose others to them. I know Carlton Farms sells Trich-free pork that's been held at something like -30 for 8 days and is certified as such.

Yum! This is why I just got a dog. So I can eat stuff like this and then go walk it off (even if it takes a week!)