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Curing and Cooking with Ruhlman & Polcyn's "Charcuterie" (Part 2)

ronnie_suburban

By ronnie_suburban
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Bombdog

Bombdog

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I think everyone needs to make a boneless lamb prosciutto immediately. I can't get over how awesome it is.

I totally agree!

Dave Valentin

Retired Explosive Detection K9 Handler

"So, what if we've got it all backwards?" asks my son.

"Got what backwards?" I ask.

"What if chicken tastes like rattlesnake?" My son, the Einstein of the family.

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Abra

Abra

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Wow, Dave, your duck prosciutto looks totally different from mine, too. Mine was also very dark red, and the fat was ivory, as opposed to the snowy look of yours. I just used Muscovy duck breasts, and they hung for 2 weeks.

On the other hand, yours is sliced much thinner than I could get mine. Did you slice by hand, or with a slicer? And if by hand, please post a picture of your knife so I can get one right away!

Ok, lamb prosciutto coming up as my next start.

Abra

Blogging our French adventures at French Letters

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FoodMan

FoodMan

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Dave, perhaps the duck. I used magret breast when i made it.

I think everyone needs to make a boneless lamb prosciutto immediately. I can't get over how awesome it is.

Can we get some pointers on the lamb proscuitto? Did you use the proportions from the book? Was it boneless and butterflied and rolled?

That lamb sausage looks amazing. I love Abra's idea about treating it like Greek Gyro meet and tuck it in a pita with some tzatziki and onions!

E. Nassar
Houston, TX

My Blog
contact: enassar(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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McDuff

McDuff

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I finally got my hands on a pork belly and confidently went at it, and took the skin off. Duuuh. That's ok. I stopped for gas earlier, went in and said gimme 6 bucks on pump six, walked back out, got in the car and drove away without pumping.

I was just mixing up the dry cure when I got distracted by something, so I'm going back to that. The guy across the street brought over three dried sausage of unknown etiology that the buddy of a buddy of his made. They were excellent. That's what you get when you belong to a social club called The Mangia Mangia Club. All these gualiones get together on sundays and cook and eat. You have to be 100% Italian heritage to get in.

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jmolinari

jmolinari

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Foodman, i think i posted the recipe upthread, around page 13/14..Didn't use the book. Is there even a recipe for it in the book? I don't remember seeing it.

jason

My sequence is on page 15, but i dont have a formula posted. I'll post it tonight if i remember.

jason

Edited by jmolinari (log)

See what I'm cooking on Instagram  |  Curedmeats.blogspot.com  

 

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Bombdog

Bombdog

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On the other hand, yours is sliced much thinner than I could get mine.  Did you slice by hand, or with a slicer?  And if by hand, please post a picture of your knife so I can get one right away!

gallery_16509_1680_90300.jpg

Abra, yes I sliced it by hand. My favorite knife is a 12 inch Henckels Pro S chef's knife, nearing 30 years old, which had a pretty cool first user

Regarding the lamb proscuito...I don't believe there is a recipe in the book, nor did Jason post one originally. He just commented on the spices used to cure the leg. I looked at the book recipe that I used for proscuito and kinda winged it.

I'll be pulling it out of the cure tomorrow, and have pictures before I put it in also. I'll post both.

Dave

Edited by Bombdog (log)

Dave Valentin

Retired Explosive Detection K9 Handler

"So, what if we've got it all backwards?" asks my son.

"Got what backwards?" I ask.

"What if chicken tastes like rattlesnake?" My son, the Einstein of the family.

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ronnie_suburban

ronnie_suburban

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Here are some early pics from my 'Folse' andouille run, which is going on now . . .

gallery_3085_2744_19317.jpg

Today's rigging.

gallery_3085_2744_49548.jpg

A closer look shows a much coarser cut (1/4" die holes) than the double fine-ground recipe from the book.

I did make some adjustments to the Folse recipe by cutting back the salt from 4T to 3T and including 1t of curing salt for 5.5 pounds of meat. I also worked 1 C of ice water into the mixture when making the primary bind. This recipe calls for hot smoking. So, I'm going to attempt to keep the cabinet at about 175-180 and hot-smoke the links for about 4 hours. In this case, I added ice to the water pan just to extend the amount of time the water would last because of today's variable: I have to leave here in about an hour for about an hour. Who knows what will happen while I'm gone. :wacko::biggrin:

=R=

"Hey, hey, careful man! There's a beverage here!" --The Dude, The Big Lebowski

LTHForum.com -- The definitive Chicago-based culinary chat site

ronnie_suburban 'at' yahoo.com

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Bombdog

Bombdog

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This is part of the reason curing is as much an art as it is a science, and note taking is key.

jason

I agree completely. I have a small hard back journal type notebook in the kitchen that I have periodically used for jotting down things culinary for quite some time. The entire back half is now used to document my charcuterie projects. I find it very useful, if for nothing else, than to refer to for dates and weights. As I have moved towards projects of my own (and Jason's) the incredients are important too.

Dave

Dave Valentin

Retired Explosive Detection K9 Handler

"So, what if we've got it all backwards?" asks my son.

"Got what backwards?" I ask.

"What if chicken tastes like rattlesnake?" My son, the Einstein of the family.

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snowangel

snowangel

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Ron, are those paperclips I espie?

OK, gang, it's clear to me that I need to upgrade what I have. A friend has given me her KA grinder and sausage stuffer that she has never used, on the condition that I share some product.

Time for me to finish my drywalling project and get to some sausages.

Susan Fahning aka "snowangel"
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Abra

Abra

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Damn, you guys, I'm hooked! I don't watch TV at all, except for presidential elections and bits of the Olympics, but I swear I'm as hooked on this thread as people get on reality shows. I feel like I need to check every hour to see what you all are up to.

Ron, that grind on the andouille sure has more of the look I'm used to. Can't wait for a review of the flavor.

And while I'm here, I'd love any suggestions about this party I have coming up, where I'm having 7-8 eG types over for a Charcuterie Play Day.

I'm looking for a "menu" of things a group that size can all work on, including some minding the smoker (since I have a CharGriller, you do have to mind it), some on sausages, etc. I can do curing in advance, so I thought we could do some bacon, maybe get it going first thing so that hot smoking can go on at the dinner end of the day. The idea is to learn new stuff, eat some killer products, and have stuff to take home. Any ideas what projects would be really fun for an event like this? Andouille? Some fresh sausage? Gyro Dogs? Quick, Dave and Elie, we'd better patent that idea!

And hey, don't you want to have a play day of your own?

Abra

Blogging our French adventures at French Letters

My first eG foodblog

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Chufi and I blog in France

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ronnie_suburban

ronnie_suburban

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The Folse-based andouille turned very well. The stuff is delicious and very near my ideal. It needs a little more tweaking. I think I'd cut the black pepper significantly; maybe even in half. The heat is fine but there is a bitterness which shows up at the finish with that much black pepper. I might add a bit more thyme too.

Here are some pics . . .

gallery_3085_2744_28855.jpg

The finished sausages. A bit darker in color than the cold-smoked batch.

gallery_3085_2744_254189.jpg

It's a bit hard to tell, but I think the pic reveals the piece identity within the sausage, which is larger than with batch #1.

Honestly, I wouldn't mind this sausage even more coarse, but I don't know if have all that hand-chopping in me. Maybe next time I'll dice a portion of the meat into small cubes and mix it in by hand right before tubing. I also wouldn't use hickory again even though it is preferred in some quarters. Next time, I'll try either pecan or cherry. In spite of the bold seasoning in this recipe, I think the hickory overpowers somewhat.

I think I've zeroed in on how to make my perfect batch of andouille. I make one huge pot of jambalaya each year for that big party we have. If I can master tasso next, I'll never have to rely on 'the kindness of strangers' to get that pot together. But, next up is some lamb sausage . . . and a belly which is just about ready to be smoked.

=R=

"Hey, hey, careful man! There's a beverage here!" --The Dude, The Big Lebowski

LTHForum.com -- The definitive Chicago-based culinary chat site

ronnie_suburban 'at' yahoo.com

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Anna N

Anna N

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. . .

And while I'm here, I'd love any suggestions about this party I have coming up, where I'm having 7-8 eG types over for a Charcuterie Play Day. 

Any ideas what projects would be really fun for an event like this?  Andouille?  Some fresh sausage?  Gyro Dogs?  Quick, Dave and Elie, we'd better patent that idea!

And hey, don't you want to have a play day of your own?

If I could attend I would wish that someone would demo sausage stuffing in action and that some "knife geek" would show me how to accomplish thin slicing of smoked salmon and such. Have fun!

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

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Michael Ruhlman

Michael Ruhlman

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gallery_3085_2744_254189.jpg

It's a bit hard to tell, but I think the pic reveals the piece identity within the sausage, which is larger than with batch #1.

=R=

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.

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jmolinari

jmolinari

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This is one of hte pieces of boneless lamb after 30 days curing.

gallery_15167_2548_46345.jpghttp://forums.egullet.org/uploads/1144380086/gallery_15167_2548_46345.jpg

Here it is sliced.

gallery_15167_2548_76076.jpg

Here is the boneless lamb recipe:

1450g piece of boneless leg of lamb (the roasts that come already netted)

150g salt

105g sugar

6g cure #2

15g cracked black pepper

12g fresh rosemary, chopped fine

2g (1/2 tsp) garlic powder

Unwrap the leg, and remove the netting. I trimmed away what is some sort of membrane on the fat (it feels gelatinous and slimy) as much as i could. I really didn't worry about trimming the inside much.

Make a mixture of the above stuff and rub 1/2 of the mixture all over hte meat, both sides, being sure to get into the nooks and crannies.

Put in big zip bag and in fridge for 14 days. Rerub with the rest of the spice/salt mix. Put bag in fridge

1 week later, rince the meat well, and let it soak in 2 40 minute cold water baths, changing the water once.

After that you're on your own to make it look as much like a bresaola/coppa/pancetta as you can. I tried rolling it at 1 piece until i figured out i could get 2 pieces which would be rolled tighter.

Hang at 53F/75%RH until about 35-40% weight loss.

The only change i would MAYBE make, is to soak the meat a touch longer in the water baths. It is ever so slightly salty, but definitely not an eating hinderance on this batch.

jason

See what I'm cooking on Instagram  |  Curedmeats.blogspot.com  

 

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Chris Amirault

Chris Amirault

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I picked a bad week to have the flu! This stuff looks amazing. Jason, I hope you'll put that recipe into Recipe Gullet -- and, Ron, can you write up that Folse recipe as well? I agree with Michael: that is some hunger-inducing definition!

Chris Amirault

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dls

dls

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I picked a bad week to have the flu! This stuff looks amazing. Jason, I hope you'll put that recipe into Recipe Gullet -- and, Ron, can you write up that Folse recipe as well? I agree with Michael: that is some hunger-inducing definition!

Chris - My guess is that Ron used the Folse recipe from the Gumbo Pages website. It's interesting to note that the andouille recipe here on Folse's own site calls for 2 T of salt instead of 4 and pecan (+sugar cane) instead of hickory. Sort of confirms a couple of Ron's adjustments and observations.

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Abra

Abra

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Has anyone made guanciale yet? I'm going to start some today, and am planning to use this Babbo recipe, unless someone has tweaks that will improve it.

Dave (BD), that's a cute knife story! Chris, isn't pork the approved cure for flu?

Abra

Blogging our French adventures at French Letters

My first eG foodblog

My second eG foodblog

Chufi and I blog in France

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Bombdog

Bombdog

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Dave, how did you hit on the half and half double-cure idea?  I haven't noticed that in any other recipe.  I must say that the end result looks splendid.

Abra, did you mean to ask Jason that question? I'm not at all clear on what you are asking me.

Dave

Dave Valentin

Retired Explosive Detection K9 Handler

"So, what if we've got it all backwards?" asks my son.

"Got what backwards?" I ask.

"What if chicken tastes like rattlesnake?" My son, the Einstein of the family.

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Abra

Abra

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Doh! Yes, Jason did the double cure, and I just spaced it out. Sorry.

Seeing no advice on guanciale, I'm set to do the Babbo cure. I only hesitate because I love Armandino's guanciale, and it has some sort of "wild" taste that I can't identify. But endless Googling reveals no secret spice suggestions, so off I go with Mario.

Abra

Blogging our French adventures at French Letters

My first eG foodblog

My second eG foodblog

Chufi and I blog in France

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FoodMan

FoodMan

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Doh!  Yes, Jason did the double cure, and I just spaced it out.  Sorry.

Seeing no advice on guanciale, I'm set to do the Babbo cure.  I only hesitate because I love Armandino's guanciale, and it has some sort of "wild" taste that I can't identify.  But endless Googling reveals no secret spice suggestions, so off I go with Mario.

Abra, where did you get fresh pork jowls from? I can never find them here. Only smoked ones are available.

E. Nassar
Houston, TX

My Blog
contact: enassar(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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Abra

Abra

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I got the pork jowls from Niman Ranch, as well as fresh back fat, caul fat, and the more pedestrian bellies and butts. I just put my jowls in the cure, and was disappointed to see that they were in weird pieces. I'd envisioned something more uniform in size and shape, but I got one large and one small piece. Obviously not from the same pig. But of course that might be an advantage, since the small one should dry faster, the better to eat it sooner.

Abra

Blogging our French adventures at French Letters

My first eG foodblog

My second eG foodblog

Chufi and I blog in France

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