Curing and Cooking with Ruhlman & Polcyn's "Charcuterie" (Part 6)

[David A. Goldfarb]

Very nice, Chris.

[Chris Amirault]

Thanks, David. No mold, Chris. It's the applejack, I tells ya.

I realize that I really, really am thrilled with the Grigson saucisson sec base recipe, which is extremely permeable. Good pork, a few select, slight tweaks, and a lot of time do amazing things. I mean, yeah, duh, but you know what I'm sayin'.

[vice]

I keep coming back to that photo. How 'bout the whole recipe, Chris?

[Chris Amirault]

Sure thing! Just posted it in Recipe Gullet.

[David A. Goldfarb]

The recipe is pretty similar to the version I made somewhere up the thread. I had a bigger pork shoulder to start with, so I made half of it as a fresh sausage without the nitrate--perfect for cassoulet or grilled, and very easy to do just by saving the nitrate for the end.

Some of the Polish butchers in Brooklyn and Queens take the same basic sausage and prepare it three or four different ways, like fresh, smoked, air dried, and maybe a thin version and a thick version.

[vice]

Thanks, Chris! I see you've gone the no-starter route a la the Ruhlman recipe (Grigson too? I don't have her books). Do you know roughly what the pH has dropped to for the two batches you've made so far?

Edited February 4, 2010 by vice (log)

[Chris Amirault]

Not a clue.

[Chris Hennes]

Has anyone tried the Duck, Sage, and Roasted Garlic sausage? I was going to make it today, but Holy Sage, Batman. I only bought one package, without paying any attention to how much the recipe called for, and of course, it looks like I actually need three. Which seems like a LOT of sage. Time for plan B, I think.

[vice]

Yeah, same exact thing happened to me. I just went with the whole of one bunch, but I don't recall the weight. The prominent flavors were duck and garlic. I'm not sure how much more sage I'd want before it becomes too prominent.

[Chris Amirault]

64 grams of sage?!? That's insane. You'd never taste the duck.

[Chris Hennes]

Yeah, I went with an Aidells recipe instead (sort of... maybe more like "inspired by Aidells").

[dougal]

Just want to say that substituting Laird's bottled in bond (100 proof) straight apple brandy for cognac in Grigson's saucisson sec recipe kills. More soon with photos.

Chris - just to confirm, it seems (from the brandy) that you are referring to the saucisson a l'ail (garlic sausage) recipe, right? (There's four or five pages on dried large sausages.)

If so, did you triple grind the meat?

[Chris Amirault]

Yes to the recipe; one grind.

[scotty2]

Article in the times about 'nduja today, an item not covered in Charcuterie. Has anyone taken a stab at it themselves?

I came across a recipe at Len Poli's site yesterday (pdf).

Did you try this yet, vice?

[vice]

I haven't yet, Scott (I went for the Salami Crespone instead, indulging a desire for some nice winter spice action while the weather still warranted it), but it's on the agenda for this weekend. Any thoughts on his ratios based on the recipes you've tried?

[scotty2]

Made one last week, wrecked it during fermentation. All jowl meat. Fermented at 90 degrees. Apparently, jowl doesn't do well at that temperature. Woke up and found a sack of red liquid. Conferred with Larbo, he told me it was pretty much toast. I'm still going to go forward with curing it. Anyway, made a new one today. Same exact way. 3.5 lbs jowl, 1lb. hot pepper puree and .5lb. hot pepper powder, 3.5% salt(meat weight), .25% #2(total weight). This is roughly 30% total weight from hot pepper. I use 2:1 ratio puree:powder.

[Chris Hennes]

abadoozy, did you ever make that Mortadella? I've started looking at various recipes and Ruhlman's is one I'm considering. Any thoughts on it?

[ilikefood]

Hello:

I am currently brining a turkey breast to smoke. I am using the herb-brined smoked turkey breast recipe from Charcuterie on page 80. Since only my wife and I will be eating the turkey, what can be done with the leftovers? Do they reheat well? Eaten cold like a deli sandwich? Any great ideas or suggestions for 6+ lbs of leftover smoked turkey meat?

Also, with the thighs and one leg (the other leg will be smoked with the breast) I plan to make sausage. Any thoughts on the turkey sausage with dried tart cherries from Charcuterie on p. 132? I may substitute dried cranberries for the cherries if I use this recipe because I have those in the house. Any other recipe I should look at?

Thanks!

David

[Andrew Fenton]

I am currently brining a turkey breast to smoke. I am using the herb-brined smoked turkey breast recipe from Charcuterie on page 80. Since only my wife and I will be eating the turkey, what can be done with the leftovers? Do they reheat well? Eaten cold like a deli sandwich? Any great ideas or suggestions for 6+ lbs of leftover smoked turkey meat?

I've often smoked a turkey breast for the express purpose of making turkey sandwiches. The smoked breast will work well for just about anything for which you'd use leftover turkey. Smoked turkey soup is great. Smoked turkey chili (with white beans) is even better. You would hardly go wrong with smoked turkey enchiladas. Et cetera.

And if you're overwhelmed, I find the meat freezes pretty well, too...

[David A. Goldfarb]

Here's the latest batch of saucisson sec, similar to Chris Amirault's recipe, or maybe across between Polcyn & Ruhlman's basic garlic sausage and saucisson sec recipes, with red wine and thyme and garlic as the main flavorings. I had a fairly large pork shoulder--maybe 12 lbs--and added some fatback to it. I reserved a few pounds to make as a fresh Toulouse style garlic sausage without nitrate and hung the rest.

I ground and stuffed this with my KitchenAid mixer, and I think the screw in the grinder/stuffer kind of smooshed things up a bit. I'd like a bit better definition between the meat and the fat. Since stuffing this batch, I've upgraded the mixer to another 5 quart model with a bigger motor, and I think that may do a better job of pushing the meat through cleanly.

[Chris Amirault]

Yeah, I think that having a dedicated meat grinder with a worm that works and a better cutting mechanism (sharper blade, too) is the solution to that definition problem....

[jmolinari]

Yeah, I think that having a dedicated meat grinder with a worm that works and a better cutting mechanism (sharper blade, too) is the solution to that definition problem....

I disagree, well...partially. I think most of the definition is lost by using a screw fed stuffer instead of a piston type stuffer. The grinder helps, but even with a dedicated grinder if you use a screw fed stuffer, you'll wreck your definition.

[Chris Amirault]

Good point. Gotta agree that you need a piston stuffer too.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Good point. Gotta agree that you need a piston stuffer too.

Can I get one of those with a little extra cabinet space?

[jmolinari]

A piston stuffer is a better investment (and cheaper) than a new grinder. I still use my kitchenaid grinder...