Peter the eater
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Posts posted by Peter the eater
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So all sausages break as you cook them?
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Sausage production was halted last night when we lost electricity due to Hurricane Kyle. Fortunately, it's warm outside and the outage was brief -- no need to start the generator. With the remaining meat I decide to freeze some patties.
Inspired by my mother's 1975 Ronco Patti Stacker, I used a rosti ring and an empty can of Laura Secord hot chocolate mix. The Pam wasn't needed as a simple twist of the can released the meat beautifully.
Question: Please describe breaking sausage. Is it irreversible?
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I could take or leave chocolate as a flavour but working with it is incredible amounts of fun.
Really? I've never really worked with chocolate -- if the making is better than the eating then I think I'm missing out.
I'd really enjoy doing one of those enormous, colorful but fragile sugar sculptures. Those ones where you channel your inner structural engineer and Venetian glass blower. Not to keen on the eating part, though.
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You guys should try a hydroponic Tiny Tim tomato from my inlaws' farm -- they have the sweet flavor and texture that might convert a non-believer.
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It sounds like the stew was gooey from the grain that was added into it. Adam Balic has the right idea, serve the grain on the side.
That leaves the meat, bones, salt, and onions as your stew ingredients. To maximize flavor (and also to avoid that gray boiled meat look), brown the meat well on all sides, remove from the pan, then slowly cook the onions over medium-low heat until they are lightly golden and caramelized. Put the meat on top of the onions, add some stock (some white wine would be good, too), a little salt, and braise until tender. Adjust for salt at the end of cooking. The stew may also need a little acid at the end (vinegar, lemon juice, mustard) to balance the fattiness of the meat.
One pot stews are a nice and easy idea but not all ingredients behave the same under long times at low temps. The mutton was delicious once browned but still pink on the inside. After 10 minutes in the pot, it became well done and quite chewy. An hour later it was back to being very palatable and soft. Same goes for beef and pork -- basic stew theory.
If I'm at a cocktail party enjoying Viking style nibbles, I don't really care how many pots were used -- only how good it tastes. You're right to keep the players apart so they can all reach their flavor-texture zenith as they are go in the mouth.
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I prefer ripe and over-ripe fruits most of the time, but occasionally the younger fruit is better. There's really nothing to lose since they're on your counter already -- why not experiment?
Simmer some chunks in a fortified wine like a Ruby Port. Add sugar, molasses, nutmeg, whatever. Send it through a food mill and you'll have a nice condiment even if you can't taste the pears.
Firm fruit can be very nice off the gas grill or barbecue.
Make a soup . . . with crumbled blue cheese!
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What a spread! I never think to make spatzle for a get together, never mind with those embellishments -- bacon, cheese and leek is like a Holy Trinity for me.
No smoking for me this weekend, I went with the eGullet Recipe Cook-Off XVII -- Sausages.Your photo inspired me to pull a neglected 25lb pork shoulder out of the freezer. Guess I better make a decision what to do next. -
Today was part one for me too: hunter sausage from Aidell's book, plus restocking kielbasa and hot italian, the house standbys.
Peter, that sausage directly above on the left looks like it broke. Or did liquid get into the casing?
That one rolled around in the simmering water for 8 or 10 minutes. The casing was intact but it obviously took on water, it was very turgid and squirted when cut. The fried ones split but I could have avoided this if were more attentive, lower temp, etc.
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Today was sausage day.
I defrosted a giant pork shoulder in the sink and assembled lots of flavorful ingredients:
I've ground plenty of meats before but this was the first time for stuffing collagen casings. I found a company (in Texas) online that sends free samples (from New Jersey):
So the plan was to stuff some basic pork sausages and to get comfortable with the casings and the new Kitchen Aid stuffer attachment. The tips on process posted here were very helpful, thank you Chris A, Chris H and the rest of you sauSAGES. I was careful to keep things chilly and not to rush it. The hardest part for me was controlling the air as the tube filled up. I eventually got the hang of it after some big bubbles and ruptures. It's easier with an assistant.
I used dry sage, kosher salt, cracked black pepper and the pork as the base mixture. I took a couple pounds of this and added garlic and honey. Another couple pounds received chopped onion and another got chopped hot finger peppers. It was very useful to cook a small patty before stuffing:
Mmmmmmmm:
From left to right poached, steamed and pan fried:
All three tasted fine, but fried was best with that golden crunchy exterior. Given the work involved I think I'll go for a bigger diameter next time -- more meat per metre. And if I'm going to cook the links with water they're going to need better colour -- I'm thinking paprika, turmeric or soy sauce. Maybe beets, they stain everything.
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. . . . Most of us are overnourished anyway.
Sad but true, and even sadder still considering it's not true for many people around the world.
Slow cooking is what separates us from the animals. Think about it, one end of the spectrum involves sinking your incisors into a living creature, ripping off a chunk, chewing and swallowing. The other is a slowly bubbling cauldron with spices, enzymes, acidity and heat -- like an external stomach.
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Can you get whole/pearl spelt rather then the rolled type? If the process is anything like with oats they will have been steamed and then squashed, which means they turn mushy very quickly. The whole variety remains intact much better and you end up with a texture closer to risotto. A basic dish of this flavored with cheese/butter herbs served with a mutton stew would be good.
Good idea -- back to the Bulk Barn where I can buy as little or as much as I want. Very handy for grain experiments.
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The question: when meat, particularly a tough cut, has been cooked for so long that it falls off the bone, does it loose nutrition? If so, how much?
That's a great question.
I don't know the answer, but here's what I think:
Food that's eaten raw for nutritional reasons has pretty much lost its advantage by the time it hits the small intestine for absorption. Meat that's slow-cooked all day has surely lost nutrients but what remains falling off the bone is still delicious protein. Meat cooked sous vide has at least retained the volatile components within the bag.
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Curry Theory sounds like a course I would enjoy.
There are infinite flavour variations and so many cultural and geographic connections. That's what I like about curries -- impossible to screw up.
Having said that, the go-to constellation in my wheel is: turmeric, fenugreek, ginger and garlic. You need spicy heat and yogurt on the side. Sweet sultanas, coconut and bananas just make it better. Rice and warm beer. Lamb.
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For me, I'd have to say its canning. I love canning jams, salsa's, sauces etc because I'm thrifty like that and I love giving them for gifts. But, I hate raw tomatoes and I dont really eat that much jam.
I hear you. I think I like seeing my handsome pickled eggs in the fridge more than I like eating them.
You don't really hate raw tomatoes, do you? BTW your strawberry jam lasted three days in my house.
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I figured I should make a one pot stove top stew with only the stuff in the picture. I did, and was not very good. It was gray and gooey and lacked pizazz.
It sounds very authentic, though, for Viking c.700. Was that what you were trying to do?
I was trying to create a simple hearty hot dish that could be served to people at a party. I was envisioning stew shooters (stewters?) in shot glasses that could be belted back with one hand while standing up talking with guests. The meaty bits need to be appropriately smaller and there must be greater visual appeal, to say the least. I need flecks of color and a sharper taste, the "one pot prep" is not nearly as important as the "happy eaters".
In retrospect, I was kinda lazy and half expected something magical to happen when I arranged the ingredients in a primal circle. It's important to do a test run.
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Oooooo, that pork and poultry look nice. Your photo inspired me to pull a neglected 25lb pork shoulder out of the freezer. Guess I better make a decision what to do next.
Can you describe the juniper flavoring process? My experience with juniper stops at a gin and tonic.
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. . . . we all decided that a cool name for Mothers milk ice cream would be " Thanks For The MOO-maries."
Whatever it's called it's headed straight to the famous Ben & Jerry's Flavor Graveyard in Waterbury, Vermont for burial alongside "Bovinity Divinity", "Miz Jelena's Sweet Potato Pie" and "Peanut Butter & Jelly".
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Walnut tree + slingshot + ball bearings = squirrel farm
I can't quite visualize a squirrel farm without smirking. Are farmed squirrels more docile, less gamey and fatter?
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Racheld, I'd not heard of sand-pears so thanks.
Here in a zone 6A I'm pretty much done harvesting stuff -- a few zucchinis and some mint maybe still in the garden. I had to scrape the car windshield this morning, but outside hit room temperature by 10 am. Now I've learned we're preparing for Tropical Storm Kyle this weekend so that should be the end of getting things from our garden. Farms around here still have some excellent corn and those strawberries that just keep going.
Over the next few weeks I think we'll make applesauce and pear chutney.
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There's a bad 1990 Jeff Goldblum movie called Mister Frost in which he plays the evil title character who has the strange habit of preparing complex gourmet food, takes a Polaroid, then scrapes the plate into the trash without a taste.
While replying to Rover's popcorn popper thread it occurred to me that I prefer making popcorn on the stove with the handcrank aluminum pot than I do actually eating it.
What are some dishes you'd rather make than eat?
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I think I'm now in the market for a new popper. What's good out there? Does anyone have a favourite?
I bought one a few months ago from Loblaws for around $20 and I love it. Popcorn is something I wish I liked more than I actually do -- I like the making more than the eating. My new machine was used exactly twice for corn and now it's a dedicated coffee bean roaster -- which by the way it does very well. It doesn't have a proper brand name on it, just a stylized letter D and the words "Joint Shine, made in China" on the underside.
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I've been tinkering with some Vikingesque ingredients:
Starting at 12 o'clock: blackberries, honeycomb, mutton, beef marrow bones, onions, spelt with sea salt and dill seeds in the centre. Note the geographically appropriate use of Ikea bowls.
I'd never worked with mutton before, but as a hardcore lover of lamb our union was inevitable. This sample was from a 3 year old ewe and let me tell you it was lovely -- nothing like what I'd heard and expected. My theory is that that the yucky mutton taste comes from peripheral fat and not from the meat or it's marbling -- just a theory.
I figured I should make a one pot stove top stew with only the stuff in the picture. I did, and was not very good. It was gray and gooey and lacked pizazz.
Porridge + meat = stew
I saved the berries or honey for desert.
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Any taste or ethical comments?
Thanks Busboy for the thread, I'm enjoying the responses -- how can you NOT have an opinion?
I recall Dr. Ruth (Westheimer, famous sex therapist) saying that sex is 99% brain and 1% other stuff. Same goes for food. Mario Batali could serve me larvae ravioli with floor sweepings and human cream sauce and I'd probably enjoy it if the presentation was good and the bogus description made me pine for Lombardy.
I met a lactation consultant when my kids were born. She cited anthropology studies that described how children have continued to nurse into their teenage years if it was necessary for survival. It's ironic how the ultimate food is so taboo.
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Grapes of Wrath was the first thing I thought of -- I read it in grade ten and still haven't fully recovered from that last page.
I wouldn't go to Hooters for a slice of Mama's Cheesecake. Besides, human breast milk is a gateway food to cannibalism.
Sausages--Cook-Off 17
in Cooking
Posted · Edited by Peter the eater (log)
Uh-oh, I think I shouldn't have skipped that class on sausage theory. Live and learn, that's what these Cook-Offs are for after all. And for showing off when its done right.
I don't think I ever had an emulsion -- just flavored meat pieces in a tube. I had ground pork, maybe 25% white fat, and some dry ingredient for flavor. I kept everything in the freezer until the outsides were icy and mixed by using my hands -- which was slightly painful in a frostbite kinda way. No conscious effort to add liquid or make a bind, I just wanted the lipid to remain firm.
I detected no flavor or texture discrepancies between the pre-stuff test patty and the finished fried sausage. The water-cooked ones may have been a bit crumbly.
I think my stuffing mix was way too dry, not a nice flowing slurry -- certainly not the ideal emulsion. This explains the labored passage along the worm and the air pockets.
How viscous is a good fresh pork sausage emulsion, or batter as McGee calls it? Can you pour it?
Does this mean baloney's an emulsion?