If I salted it, cured it, or smoked it, you should find something about it here. To me, charcuterie is the most remarkable kitchen craft. It is all about transformation, preservation, and conservation, and therefore, noble.
Also, it is damned delicious.
The June Charcutepalooza challenge was poultry sausage. This was a great for me. I’ve consumed a whole lot of sausage—you can’t live around Cincinnati and not eat a fair amount of sausage. I’ve made a decent amount of sausage, both in cooking school and afterward. But I’ve never been a fan of chicken sausage. So I [...]
When Mrs. Wheelbarrow and the Yummy Mummy leveled this month’s Charcutepalooza challenge, I knew that I had to join in the fun. The challenge was grinding meat and then making either Mexican chorizo or Merguez sausage. I just recently came into possession of some lovely lamb from Wilmington, Ohio, so there was no question about [...]
Nothing better than some quick bread-making from James Peterson’s Baking to make a day with two inches of rain and no internet access a much brighter one. But what is really turning the gears in my head is this month’s Charcutepalooza challenge: sausage-making. Just the thought of making some Merguez sausage gives me a really [...]
I have a bad habit of not posting pictures or talking about results and that is the only real complaint I’ve received in the four years I’ve been writing tartare. Right before Thanksgiving, I made a pancetta, Ruhlman-style. It came out beautifully. Some pics of the process and the product follow. My iPhone is not [...]
I started about four pounds of pancetta on Sunday…using Ruhlman’s technique, of course. I’ve been overhauling it all week (overhauling is simply the fancy name for flipping it over and redistributing the cure, to ensure that even curing). Somewhere between Sunday and Tuesday, it should be ready to roll up. I’ve been taking pictures, so [...]
So, as I had noted in a previous post, my good friend Don C had roused my interest in making some bacon. Everyone loves bacon; in fact, even some vegetarians I have known have never quite been able to get over the stuff. Now, for me, the coolest cooking school experience is garde manger work. [...]