Michael Ruhlman

i would only confit pork that was very fatty, shoulder of or belly, or something cheap and flavorless, commercial loin. i wouldn't confit good chops. i imagine they'll be very dry, especially if you grill them after.

that is gorgeous stuff. what i love best is that it looks like real dried sausage, not crap in plastic yellow packages or the greezy shit on a dominoes pizza. thanks for the pix.

Chicago City Council What a bunch of showboating ignoramuses. How embarrassing for Chicago. It's the kind of thing you'd expect in Cleveland.

i hate to disagree with the august mr. ruhlman, and i know that this is the bouchon party line, but i have made it repeatedly with a springform pan without leakage--once i overcame my urge to over-roll (difficult because the pastry is such a joy to work with). ← you LOVE to disagree with me Russ. you must be rolling mighty thick dough. i tried three times using springform because it didn't make sense that a springform pan wouldn't work. Keller kept saying, no it won't work, and three was enough for me. it's really disheartening when it leaks. i think you should head up to yountville, russ, and show those young men in the kitchen how it really works!

susan, it doesn't work in a springform pan, always leaks, don't know why. Imperative to use a ringmold.

susan, no wonder the quiche is so diificult, you're dividing your affections between the custard and the hog.

pig skin is loaded with collagen--add it to your stocks for fantastic body. poached till tender it can be diced and added to stews, beans etc or you can scrape the fat from it, slice it thin and deep fry it. cured skin can be used same as fresh though it will have that bacony flavor if it's cured. the skin's great smoked as well.

Dave, unless your belly is unusually thick, I'll bet that it's ready. It should feel firm when you press on it, but it's not going to be completely stiff. I've never left a belly on the cure more than 7 days using that quantity of salt. If I were you, i'd take it off the cure to day, rinse and dry it, refrigerate it uncovered today and smoke it tomorrow. Or: leave it on the cure for a few more days, then refrigerate till next weekend. It's cured so no need to freeze if you're going to cook it in a few days. you could hang it in your kitchen to dry if you wanted and it would be good.

and there's a new place on coventry, the bad karma corner of hampshire, a thai place called mint, favorably reviewed in the free times. haven't been but eager to.

abra, i'm swooning, that is a BEAUTIFUL egg shot.

bombdog, he was refering to snowangels comment, and he's cranky today anyway. abra, your bacon looks perfect. the reason for smoking at a low temp is to get more smoke on the meat; if that's what you want, you did it just right. there isn't much difference between ham and canadian bacon, that's what pork cured with sodium nitrite tastes like--you'd get the same flavor if you did it with a pork chop, or as a pork shoulder (which is called a cottage ham in some places).

Brian's response: "Sub in any dried fruit, apricots, prunes, raisins etc.. sugar added to dreid tart cherries probably because they would be too tart after drying. What’s wrong with sugar? Try caramelized onions or roasted garlic as a moisture and flavor enhancer. On the gamey issue depending on what the animal had as a diet will determine the flavor of the meat also aging the meat properly before freezing will enhance the taste. I’ll tell milos tonight that this guy doesn’t like his recipe." the venison sausage is quite good actually. michael symon in cleveland does dried venison loin. and yes, freezing will take care of trichinosis bugs.

Driving through little italy last week i saw that Battuto has a huge new facade--there had been scaffolding there forever. at a glance it looked great. has anyone been. i'm a huge fan of mark and giovanna and hope the inside is as dynamic as the out. recently had good food at Fahrenheit, rocco whalen's shop—he bagged the chili cookoff judging when the 30 minute maven came to town—and was happy to see a packed house. also had a slew of interesting aps at sergio's new place on shaker square--a sprawling restaurant--maybe too big for it's own good. The bar area seemed to be rocking but the farther to the northwest, it retained a kind of bookstore cafe feel. i admire sergio, loved that he serves a toad in the hole, and really want this restaurant to help anchor the square.

a response to a few points of discussion here. three tablespoons of salt or 4 tablespoons of basic dry cure will cure as much as five pounds of belly, but dredging as described above is also a sure method of getting the right amount of salt. believe it or not, you can use rendered fat to make an emulsified sausage or any sausage as long as it's freezing cold and ground. remember though that it no longer has water in it so increase that a little. for the mortadella that wants more pinkness and tangyness, you might try increasing the pink salt to one teaspoon, and also perhaps seasoning the mixture with an acid, lemon juice or white wine vinegar (but not enough to actually taste which acid it is). boudin blancs are a great sausage to make--make sure your spices are very fresh.

question: has anyone besides melkor done an emulsified sausage, either with cuisinart or with the paddle. if so was there any problem with incorporating the fat?

That's exactly right, grind into the bowl then paddle then stuff. only concern is that the meat stays cold. the temptation is to grind it directly into the casing.

By chance, I made this very sausage yesterday, and i don't know what you're talking about re: silverskin. The connective tissue in chix thighs is not that tough, nor does recipe call for this. I just check the thighs for missed cartilage and then dice, fat connective tissue and all. I like the description higher up of noticing that the fingers on the hand you're feeding the grinder with should be uncomfortably cold. you know then your meat's cold enough. re: kitchen aid grinder stuffer. this does work (I believe judy rodgers uses a similar grinder-stuffer arrangement, or for years did), but it prevents three things. First, it doesn't allow you to create a good bind, resulting in a crumbly texture (though some people prefer this and it's what they're used to); second, it doesn't allow you to distribute the seasoning evenly; third it doesn't allow you to incorporate additional liquid; all of which are achieved in the paddling stage. One of the cool things about Brian's chix sausage recipe is the incorporation of the vinegar wine and olive oil (he's put the sauce, the vinaigrette, inside the sauage--i love that). good luck.

The word for the appearance of the interior of a sausage is definition. This sausage has good definition, indeed hunger inducing definition, a healthy amount of fat, aromatic herbs, and dense meat. A thing of beauty.

fyi to cleveland folks, there's a chili cookoff tomorrow to benefit autism organized by chef brian doyle at great lakes brewery. i'm a judge along with a few others including cheese maven, continental chef, baricelli chef, chef chef, awesome chef, and voted cleveland's second sexiest chef paul manillo. 6 pm, fifteen bucks recommended donation.

I would like to second that motion. Michael, your comments are invaluable, and we really appreciate your participation and continued input. We're all learning here, which is what eG is all about, and you are miles ahead of any of the rest of us on these topics, so please continue to comment and contribute. I think I speak for the other participants that we're all grateful for your book and your help. ← you all have given me more than i've given you. and for that gift and that honor, thank you. all your work and words will result in more people demanding better pork which will result in happier healthier pigs and happier healthier farmers and happier healthier people. and that is better by far even than the bacon itself.

anna, are you doing one with no seasoning, only the basic dry cure? it will still be unsmoked bacon (i don't think you're smoking), but it will be very plain. best suited for soups and stews. If I had three pork bellies and wanted to do three cures, I'd do an asian one, recipe somewhere up thread--soy, maybe some ginger garlic scallion...

Abra, i'm sure your pancetta will be delicious. it's sometimes cured with skin and then removed; we added the "skin removed" at the last minute. so you did nothing wrong other than not read the recipe (sure sign of a cook). add the skin to stocks or bean dishes for incredible body--it's loaded with collagen. or braise it then chill it then fry it. the bacony flavor your husband is missing may be from not enough nitrite. you can add a little more but not much. i'm not a big fan of the maple syrup cure (brian uses maple sugar). the seasoning there also might be a reason for lacking the distinctive flavor your husband wants. try adding plenty of freshly cracked pepper next time or use the pancetta cure. It's my understanding that in america, bacon is by definition smoked, typically hot-smoked. it is cold smoked only so that it can be heavily smoked before it's cooked. i don't like ten hours of smoke, so hot smoking is fine, or cold smoking and then gently roasting results in the same bacon. bacon should be fully cooked, then chilled then recooked. but it can be grilled fresh as well and then braised. and it can be confited of course. we could have a pork belly festival. chris, thanks for the awesome and tantalizing pix. and thanks for underscoring the importance of keeping things cold. I don't know exactly why two hours at room temp doesn't hurt the emulsion, but my sense and experience is that, like a mayonnaise, once the emulsion is achieved, it's pretty stable at room temperature. all of you guys are inspiring!

You may need to cook it longer than 5 minutes, till you can't sense the alcohol by smell or until it won't flame. Yes, it would be good to do this for the salami as well if the alcohol bothers you. it always improves the wine effect. you can add aromats to the wine as well.

sodium nitrite or sodium nitrate (#1 or #2) are not necessary for curing duck this way because botulism isn't an issue. The only preparations for which #2 is essential are dry-cured sausages.

abra, that looks way to soft. it's possible that those gorgeous breasts needed a little longer packed in salt, or perhaps they were so thoroughly wrapped in cloth that they didn't lose enough moisture. they need to breath. let them dry a while longer. you must be able to cut this slices--it won't be good to eat otherwise.