Curing and Cooking with Ruhlman & Polcyn's "Charcuterie" (Part 4)

[BRM]

Mine say roasted and unsalted on the package.

[ronnie_suburban]

Ron, i'm not sure about the salted/unsalted roasted/raw argument you make. I have unsalted ones, and they sure look and taste the same as the salted ones (just without the salt!)

jason

←

Mine say roasted and unsalted on the package.

←

Yeah, it's always best to check the label of what you're buying. I've been sourcing my pistachios industrially (because I also use them for other things), and in that venue, the 2 primary categories seem to be 'roasted and salted' or 'raw.'

=R=

[Abra]

Lovely galantine, BRM!

[davecap]

Just received some great pork from Mountain View Farms here in PA. They raise heritage pigs on lots of milk. The chops were great, lots of flavor. And as you can see lots of marbling. I have finished curing and smoking the pork belly for bacon but not yet cooked any. I was also able to get some jowls, see below. They have cured and are now hanging for guanciale.

The people who run the farm are very friendly and nice to speak to.

Chops

Belly

Jowls

Mountain View Farms

[cricklewood]

Jus wanted to post my pics of the Bacon and the smoked pig jowls I made following and adapting the recipes from charcuterie, it was so eay and the results so tasty, I am never buying bacon again.

[jmolinari]

beautiful bacon

[tristar]

beautiful bacon

←

And such lovely rosy cheeks, it's your first is it? ............ Do you think he takes after his father?

[terapinchef]

Help! I'm addicted to Szechwan Sausage! Can anybody help me find/develop a recipie for this wonderful sweet/salty/spicy concoction? Even Chef Brian didn't have a good recipie...Please Helpp!!!!

[tristar]

Help! I'm addicted to Szechwan Sausage! Can anybody help me find/develop a recipie for this wonderful sweet/salty/spicy concoction? Even Chef Brian didn't have a good recipie...Please Helpp!!!!

←

I am not familiar with Szechwan Sausage, but am assuming it is the same as the generic Dried Chinese Sausage known variously as làcháng (臘腸/腊肠), Lop Cheong, Lap Chung, Lap Chong, Lap Cheong, Lap Cheung, Lap Xuong, or Thuong Hang.

If so here is a link which should get you started:Lop Chong On Len Poli's incredible sausage making site.

Found this after the original post which may be of some assistance from The Peoples Daily

The Sichuan sausage is not very hot and spicy as some typical Sichuan dishes such as Mouth-numbing Fish (Ma La Yu), or the Fried tofu with Hot Sauce and Pepper (Ma Po Dou Fu). Nor is it sweet as that type made in South China's Guangdong Province.

The specifics for the making of the Sichuan sausage vary widely even within Sichuan Province. Different families and restaurants may also follow their own secret recipes handed down from the older generations.

But generally speaking, the native specialty in Sichuan is mainly produced with such basic ingredients as shredded fresh pork, with a fair percentage for both fat and lean meats, dotted with fried peanuts and fried sesame.

Sometimes, Sichuan people also replace pork with tofu, or carrot, or a mixture of glutinous rice and red rice, to make Sichuan sausage for vegetarians.

The Sichuan sausage is then seasoned with dried red chili, cooking starch, soy sauce, wild pepper, green cabbage seed oil, table salt, liquor, slices of old ginger, and star anise - but no food colour or gourmet powder are used, according to widely known traditional recipes.

Edited February 22, 2007 by tristar (log)

[jeniac42]

So I finally thought I was going to make some bacon, as I found skin-on belly at Wholey's, but forgot I needed pink salt. I will have to look back through the thread as I have time to do so. Unfortunately my grocery budget grows tighter and tighter, and making a lot of these items seems like a luxury, which is kind of odd considering that they were originally meant to make use of off cuts and preserve things that might otherwise go to waste.

I was thinking of using my new FoodSaver to vacuum seal the pork belly in with the cure - any thoughts on that? Or would it not allow the requisite escape of liquid?

I did make some venison sausage last week, though I didn't stuff it into casings, having run out of them. The texture was slightly grainier than I'd have liked; probably a result of using belly instead of pork back fat which was unavailable to me.

[tristar]

Jenny,

I use no pork at all in my sausages, so I don't really know if it would make a difference using belly or back fat. However graininess is normally caused by not binding the fats in a protein coating, rather than the type of fat. Did you mix the forcemeat sufficiently to achieve the primary bind?

[cricklewood]

Thanks for the bacon appreciation, it was helpful to have this thread there to encourage me as well as the book. Jenny I cured my belly after I sealed it in a foodsaver bag and I did not have any trouble at all. You can make the bacon without pink salt but the taste won't quite be the same as well as it might not keep as long but it freezes well. I might be wrong but I am sure someone with more knowledge will chime in.

[Kerry Beal]

I was thinking of using my new FoodSaver to vacuum seal the pork belly in with the cure - any thoughts on that?  Or would it not allow the requisite escape of liquid?

←

The foodsaver is how I cure my bacon. Just put the belly in the bag, sprinkle half the cure on each side, seal, then massage and turn it each day until it starts to feel stiff. The liquid starts to com out quite quickly.

[ronnie_suburban]

I was thinking of using my new FoodSaver to vacuum seal the pork belly in with the cure - any thoughts on that?  Or would it not allow the requisite escape of liquid?

←

The foodsaver is how I cure my bacon. Just put the belly in the bag, sprinkle half the cure on each side, seal, then massage and turn it each day until it starts to feel stiff. The liquid starts to com out quite quickly.

←

Yes, I do the same. My main recommendation with this method is to not remove all the air from the bag. Leave a little room (for the run-off) and seal it. You'll be golden.

=R=

[FoodMan]

Gratuitous posting of pictures of homemade sausages:

Garlic-Thyme

Italian

Chipotle Mole

All sauteed with onions and vinegar and served with green apple risotto

[ronnie_suburban]

Beautiful stuff, Elie! Are you working from recipes or strictly improvising at this point?

=R=

[FoodMan]

Beautiful stuff, Elie!  Are you working from recipes or strictly improvising at this point?

=R=

←

well, the Italian is from the recipe...the other two are done following the books template garlic sausage recipe but the flavor improvised.

[Abra]

As beautiful as those sausages are, it's the green apple risotto I really want to know about!

[FoodMan]

As beautiful as those sausages are, it's the green apple risotto I really want to know about!

←

Abra-

I have more info in the nappropriate thread right here about the risotto. I'd be more than happy to give you more details in that thread if you need to as well.

[Abra]

Hmm, I have a bit of pork loin, some red apples, carnaroli...maybe I could wing that dinner? Hints gratefully accepted!

[cricklewood]

I used to do an apple risotto to go with a confit pheasant dish. make a risotto as usual with chicken stock, when almost ready, heat another pan with some butter, sauté the apple chunks, till golden but still firm and then deglaze with either calvados, sherry or others and add to risotto, add cheese and butter and serve..roasted pine nuts work well also.

[tristar]

I was thinking of using my new FoodSaver to vacuum seal the pork belly in with the cure - any thoughts on that?  Or would it not allow the requisite escape of liquid?

←

The foodsaver is how I cure my bacon. Just put the belly in the bag, sprinkle half the cure on each side, seal, then massage and turn it each day until it starts to feel stiff. The liquid starts to com out quite quickly.

←

Yes, I do the same. My main recommendation with this method is to not remove all the air from the bag. Leave a little room (for the run-off) and seal it. You'll be golden.

=R=

←

I just use the freely available Ziploc type bags, they seem to be liquid and air tight, and they are re-usable after thorough cleaning and sterilising with a little diluted bleach. Have to think of the environment you know!

[Mallet]

I never thought of sterilizing and re-using Ziploc bags, thanks tristar!

[ronnie_suburban]

I just use the freely available Ziploc type bags, they seem to be liquid and air tight, and they are re-usable after thorough cleaning and sterilising with a little diluted bleach. Have to think of the environment you know!

←

I find that sometimes the combination of my bumbling hands and salt/sugar granules prevents me from getting a true seal with a ziploc bag. With granules in the zipper, sometimes there is leakage. This is why I started using the foodsaver bags for curing.

=R=

[jeniac42]

You can also sterilize and re-use the FoodSaver bags. Gotta think of the pocketbook, too, these days.

I do find cleaning and reusing bags problematic when they have had particularly greasy foods in them, as plastic seems to just absorb grease. Alas.