WiredGourmet

If you like prosciutto enough to eat it fairly often, I have a suggestion. I use an American "dry" ham, aka country ham, Smithfield ham, dry cured ham, etc, and just shave it very thin and eat it raw, as if it were prosciutto. It costs far less than real prosciutto, and tastes just about the same. It's cheap, but it's quality stuff, unlike fake domestic prosciutto cheapo. You need a ham that has very little smokieness, which I find describes most of them. It will keep in the fridge for a couple of months with a piece of parchment paper applied to the cut surfaces, and wrapped loosely in parchment paper overall. In addition to using it for prosciutto, you can whack off chunks for southern-style ham steaks. I make a ham salad/spread by simmering slices in water to draw off some of the salt and to hydrate it, then coarse grinding it, and combining it with homemade mayo, and celery and shallot brunoise. A little parsley, mustard, and ground black peppercorn, and it makes a spread that will knock you out. It has such a unique, complex flavor, people will demand to know what the secret ingredient is. But there isn't one; it's the ham itself. The only thing I've never been able to do is cook one whole with satisfactory results. It either comes out horrifically salty, or horribly dry with a crumbly texture. When you simmer it to make the spread, it will get hard and crumbly, but grinding takes care of the texture, and the mayo takes care of the dryness.

I made a few batches of tamales but I wasn't satisfied with the flavor of the masa, which I made with rendered pork fat. So I gave it some thought, and I decided that whole butter would taste a lot better. I mean, when you eat corn on the cob, do you slather it with lard? Of course not; you slather it with butter. Corn and butter are a natural combo, so I decided to try it. I also added about 1 part stoneground yellow cornmeal to 3 parts masa harina, and that improved the flavor too. I cut the cold butter into the corn meal/flour, added a little salt, and then added ice water until the dough was right. What an improvement in flavor. For the filling, I found pan-browned, simmered pork shoulder to be bland (maybe I'll try barbecuing one later), so this time I tried raw strips of skirt steak, cut across the grain, and strips of fresh jalapeno. I made a marinade/sauce as well. I pureed a tin of Italian tomatoes packed in juice, and then forced the puree through a very fine strainer, leaving all the pulp behind. Then I pureed raw jalapeno peppers, raw yellow bell pepper, and a little shallot, and strained that too, taking only the liquid. I seasoned it with a little salt, and flavored it with a tiny pinch of ground dried chipotle, a good pinch of ground dried New Mexico chile, a tiny pinch of ground cumin seed, and a good pinch of ground coriander seed. I took some of this liquid and added a bit more salt, and used it as a marinade for the strips of meat, which I marinated for about an hour. The rest I thickened with a little powdered gelatin, because I didn't want to cook it and spoil its fresh flavor. I used it as a sauce at room temperature. The flavor was great, but the texture wasn't; next time I'll try pectin. Has anyone got another suggestion for room-temp thickening? Using raw meat and raw jalapenos inside the tamale worked well for me. I didn't want to overcook either, so I steamed the tamales for only about 30 minutes, which seemed quite enough to set the masa. The meat was still juicy and the jalapeno still had a slight crunch left. The results were promising. All the flavors were fresh and natural, and nothing was cooked to death. I need to work on it more, but it was a good start, I thought. I think maybe some beef stock in the masa and in the marinade, along with rendered fat from some well-browned beef, might just about perfect it. I would have browned the meat before slicing it, but I was afraid it would overcook. But that would improve the flavor, so I think I'll try browning it quickly on both sides in a very hot skillet, and letting it rest thoroughly before slicing it. Any juices the meat expresses can be added to the marinade, or even kneaded into the masa. It's not very "authentic" but I don't mind that. If it *tastes* good, it *is* good. I was also thinking of doing a charcoal grilled lamb shoulder and shredding some of it for tamale filling. That sounds pretty good to me. I'll see how it goes.

I'm such a tartare purist, I think I'll be useless on the recipe front, but as for technique, I have found that you can get a good chop with a food processor, if you use small (0.25-lb) batches and pulse carefully. I prefer a texture like that of coarse, cured sausage, and this can't be done with a home meat grinder. Alternatively, just go at it with a couple of big knives. I also, believe it or not, like a raw beef mousse. This might sound a little weird, but I use heavy cream, a little white mushroom duxelle (gills removed), and a little cooked panada. Salt and finely ground white pepper, and a hint of something herbal. The tiniest pinch of rubbed sage is what I prefer, especially for its soft texture. You definitely don't want something like rosemary which will be gritty. This stuff is amazing: I call it meat butter. Try it on toast points ;-) You have to be careful that the mixture stays cold while you work it in the food processor. If it seems to be getting warm, just stop and put the bowl into the fridge for a while, and then continue. Don't take chances: if it 'breaks' it will not have a pleasing texture.

Deckle burgers; god that sounds scrumptious. Never occurred to me. Removing the silver connective tissue might be a pain, but I'm sure it would be effort well rewarded. Did you know that it also makes fabulous stew meat?

When it comes to salads, I am so sick of all the EV olive oil and balsamic cliches; I'm glad you're looking for something creamy. I always like to keep things simple: when I think smoked salmon, I can't help thinking dill, parsley, mustard, capers. How about a mayo with dill and a nice hit of Dijon-style mustard, some grated lemon zest, Champagne vinegar, dry vermouth, ground white peppercorn, and an undetectable hint of Worcestershire? And maybe an equally undetectable hint of Old Bay? For aromatic veggies, I would consider shallot, celery, cornichon, and pimento brunoise. For your 'substantial' veggies, I'd consider blanched asparagus, and maybe some jicama julienne for a plain, sweet crunch. I would not be afraid to serve it with some sliced or chopped HB egg and salmon roe visible on top. I might even serve it in iceberg lettuce cups or romaine hearts. I would be very tempted to 'extend' it with some cold, very carefully poached, fresh salmon, and to scatter a few capers about. I know this all sounds painfully mainstream and conventional, and maybe you're looking for something more trendy, but consider: how did these combinations become conventional in the first place? ;-)

For everyday burgers, I grind choice beef shoulder, a bit of dried shiitake or cepe ground in a spice mill, some granulated onion and salt, and a splash of homemade brown stock. I always keep frozen renedered fat from dry-aged beef handy, and always grind some of that into it. The fat carries the flavor: it literally makes supermarket beef taste dry aged. Mayo, tomato, and lettuce only for me. I don't like it tricked out too much. The beef's the thing ;-) When I get fancy, I use dry-aged, USDA prime skirt steak. This has a deep flavor, and an ideal amount of fat and collagen for real succulence. To the mixture I add duxelle and concentrated stock, and dress the burgers with homemade saffron mayo. It's more work, but well worth the effort. I'm new here and not sure about the rules for linking to outside web sites, so I'll just mention that I have a detailed recipe and a video demonstration for the fancy version on my web site, which you can find linked in my profile if you're curious. I honestly think that it's the best burger that a human being can make. No truffles or foie gras; just excellent beef handled with respect, and enhanced as (I believe) it should be.

I hear you. Talk about the sacrifice of dignity in the modern world: the last time I was in London, I went to some bogus "Asian" noodle joint in Soho. I never saw anything so appalling in my life: the waiters were wearing print skirts! I'm talking pale, heliophobic English blokes in bloody skirts. It was designed to give off "island" airs, I suppose. I wavered between sympathy and contempt for a bit, and settled on contempt. Any man who wouldn't willingly wear a skirt, but would allow himself to be dressed in one for cheap marketing purposes, isn't worthy of sympathy, or even pity. My wife and I left without ordering. Neither of us could endure the sight of these eunuchs.