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menuinprogress

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Posts posted by menuinprogress

  1. That is an interesting statement: could you explain in more detail what you are going for here? I take the opposite approach, making sure during both smoking and cooking that the sausages only reach 150 F, to prevent any fat from being rendered at all.

    In general, I agree with you (that's exactly how we smoke andouille, for example).

    This particular style is more of a hot cook, though. At the places I've had it, it is served hot out of the smoker. When you bite into the sausage, it is nice and juicy from the rendered fat.

  2. We recently made a batch of beef sausages in the style of Lockhart, TX using pretty much the ingredients suggested earlier in this thread by HKDave.

    The meat was 85% beef chuck and 15% pork shoulder:

    gallery_58047_5582_83965.jpg

    Here are the stuffed sausages ready for the smoker:

    gallery_58047_5582_5209.jpg

    They were smoked with oak for about an hour at approx. 235°C.

    Here is the result:

    gallery_58047_5582_16304.jpg

    We aren't going to be putting Kreuz and Smitty's out of business any time soon, but it was very successful first attempt. My only real complaint was that they could be a bit smokier and the fat wasn't completely rendered - I think they would have benefited from a longer cooking time. We pulled them at 165°, but I think the sausage with the probe in it was hotter than the rest.

  3. In Texas on a recent road-trip I had some fantastic smoked beef sausages that I would like to try to replicate. More specifically, the sausages came from Kreuz Market and Smitty's Market in Lockhart, TX.

    Here's what I have been able to dig up so far:

    - use 15% pork for added fat content

    - grind chuck for the beef

    - salt / pepper / garlic

    Has anyone else familiar with this style of sausage? Any suggestions?

    Thanks!

  4. Kau Yuk is a home-style Hakka dish of tender pork belly layered with taro that is steamed for a long time - one of my wife's favourite ever dishes.

    That looks great! Given that anything involving pork belly is fantastic, I bet it tastes great, too...

  5. Your photos lead me to an interesting question -- does it matter which side is up when you smoke your bellies?  I noticed you put yours skin-side down.  When I did mine a few weeks ago, I smoked them skin side up.  Is there a difference, you think?

    We wondered about that as well, but couldn't find any info suggesting one way or another. Skin side down work just fine, though.

  6. gallery_58047_5582_81256.jpg

    We've been getting really fantastic corn lately from our local farmers market. Last night we rubbed some with powdered chile and cooked them on the grill.

    We grilled up some shark as well, but the corn was definitely the star - as it always is when it is at its best.

  7. gallery_58047_5582_333.jpg

    We did our first batch of bacon recently, so I thought I would share some pictures. It all starts with the pork belly, of course. We got this one from our local butcher:

    gallery_58047_5582_45243.jpg

    We cured it based on the savory recipe from Charcuterie. Here it is at the start of curing:

    gallery_58047_5582_124057.jpg

    After a week, it was time to put it on the WSM:

    gallery_58047_5582_128931.jpg

    Smoked using apple wood to an internal temp just under 140. It took about 5 1/2 hours. Here it is hot off the smoker:

    gallery_58047_5582_38925.jpg

    Cutting off the skin:

    gallery_58047_5582_63038.jpg

    Sliced:

    gallery_58047_5582_56304.jpg

    And the payoff - the first BLT:

    gallery_58047_5582_33051.jpg

    I'm a convert. I won't be buying bacon again...

  8. I've always wanted to hot-smoke my own eels, have you tried fish in your WSM?  Do you think it can accomodate a fat long eel?

    We haven't done any fish yet, but hot-smoking some salmon is high up on our todo list.

    I don't see any reason that and eel wouldn't work. You could only hang it if it wasn't too long (i.e. no more than about 8 inches - unless you maybe rigged something to hang from the top vent - and then you are looking at about 16 inches), but you could always curl it up on a grill rack.

  9. Glad you liked the andouille, PopsicleToze and Prawncrackers! The smoker has been a revelation and we have an ever-growing list of items that just *need* to be smoked.

    Prawncrackers - I am in awe of your cured meats. We haven't yet attempted anything beyond pancetta (temperatures here in Southern California can make curing difficult). Regarding the pig's head - don't skip it next time and use it to make head cheese. Fantastic stuff! Also try to get the trotters, as you'll need some of them, too.

  10. We just got a Weber Smokey Mountain and have really been enjoying using it. This weekend we did our first smoked sausages.

    Smoked Andouille:

    gallery_58047_5582_39378.jpg

    We made the recipe (the hot smoked version) from Charcuterie unaltered. Here are the spices getting mixed in:

    gallery_58047_5582_89687.jpg

    Improvised drying rack in our dining room:

    gallery_58047_5582_58192.jpg

    Sausages hanging in the WSM:

    gallery_58047_5582_93067.jpg

    Just out of the smoker:

    gallery_58047_5582_57216.jpg

    The final result:

    gallery_58047_5582_30798.jpg

    We couldn't be happier with how these guys turned out. They taste fantastic.

  11. We got a new toy yesterday - a Weber Smokey Mountain - and broke it in with some smoked flank steak, smoked portobellos and smoked tomatoes:

    gallery_58047_5582_69608.jpg

    This is the first time we've had a smoker, and we're really digging it so far.

  12. Leftover pulled pork on a potato roll, topped with Memphis mustard slaw and two kinds of homemade barbecue sauce.

    Really nice looking sandwich, Bruce! I'm generally not a fan of the slaw on pulled pork, but your picture makes me want to give it another try...

  13. menuinprogress, beautiful mole! How did you like it and what recipe did you use?

    We were very happy with the taste - the flavors came together really well. The recipe is from a cooking class we did in Oaxaca with Susana Trilling. She has a cookbook that it might be in, though.

    We still have some mole paste that we brought back from Oaxaca, so we're going to do a taste-off between that and our from-scratch version.

  14. Roast chicken with Mole Coloradito:

    gallery_58047_5582_65869.jpg

    We've made mole from mole paste before, but this was our first mole from scratch. Tons of ingredients! Here is a picture of some of them:

    gallery_58047_5582_35433.jpg

  15. Cod with spicy red lentils and yellow split peas:

    gallery_58047_5582_62176.jpg

    The red lentils meld into an almost soup-like base while the split peas keep some texture. The flavor profile is Indian with lots of aromatic spices.

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