Was ist das?

Today I was playing around with sausage. I really wanted to do a Braunschweiger. Who knew pork liver would be impossible to find? I'll have to try an Asian market. In the meantime, I made a lot of coarsely chopped lamb sausages, still curing with garlic, rosemary and such. But for kicks I tried a weisswurst, bockwurst, I don't know what to call it, as usual. It's all veal, finely pounded, with juniper and pepper. It's being steamed over Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA. I may lightly smoke it next. Jane Grigson suggested such weirdness for a saucission de foie, so who knows? The white one is about a half pound. And the little one is lamb, just to see what would happen with the same technique. They smell really great. Maybe dinner, who can wait?

Hangover 5th Cheese

On Sunday, July 5th, two lovely milkmaids helped me with some cheeses. At least two of us were seriously hungover, hence the name. The idea was to follow the directions in my cookbook to see if they are clear enough. This is made from 2 gallons raw milk plus a cup of raw cream, just to give it a little more unction. Also, we decided that it should be aged a full year this time. So July 4th, 2010, the cheese (which you can see below) will be opened. I decided to wax it rather than gauze and lard, mostly because the last one dried out too much on the rind. This shot is before waxing though.

Above you see what would happen if someone didn't follow the directions. It is a Cheese for Impatient people. Half gallon of lowfat milk. All the timings skimped. Pressed half-heartedly. And now I've been washing the rind. It is actually beginning to look like a nice pave d'affinois. Maybe it will pick up some mold in the cave too! We'll see. I'm only giving it a few weeks. It's so ugly it's loveable.

We also made butter, which was unbelievably good on rye, and ricotta from the whey. All this while downing mint juleps. A whole bottle of bourbon later and everyone was feeling just fine. Nibbling ricotta-semolina gnocchi. Crash!

Pate de Campagne?

I have to admit, I was not sure what this would be when I started. And I'm still not sure. A souse, coppa di testa, sulze. Not really, those are all set in gelatin. Nor really a pate, because it isn't smooth and spreadable. Not that a pate de campagne should be. So there it is. And have to admit, this solid toothsome version is much more interesting than the cream-laden versions one normally sees, covered in bacon. If you want bacon, eat bacon. This one is actually cured pork. Very simply seasoned.

SO, I offer you a recipe! In standard format. Ah me. But technique IS antiquated.

2.5 lbs of boneless pork shoulder, or 4 fatty country ribs.

2 tbs salt

1 tsp coarsely ground pepper

1 tsp thyme or other herb you like, esp. juniper

1 good pinch instacure #1 (pink curing salt)

3 ice cubes

Coarsely chop the pork and pork fat into small nubbins. Add the seasonings. Mix and put in the fridge for 5 days to cure. Then put the mixture into a large mortar and pound the hell out if it for about 15 minutes. Throw in the ice cubes as you go. This is a GREAT upper body workout. I suspect if you kept going with this you would have a smooth bologna. The mixture is very much a sausage mix, with darker, lighter and white fat in a suspension but still separate, which would not work in a grinder or processor. If you have a large beef bung I would stuff it in there. I used a large round porcelain ramekin. Cover it with plastic wrap, and place in a steamer. Steam gently for 40 minutes. Cool and refrigerate at least 24 hours. Slice and serve with mustard, good rye (which I baked yesterday) and cornichons - which alas I had not. You can also slice this very thinly and make sandwiches. The next time I do this I am going to pour in a glug of cognac, or maybe vinegar. Gin would be lovely too.

One Bunny on a Bun?

This past week I cooked one of my favorite recipes on an open fire, a smeared rabbit in a pipkin from the 1588 Good Huswives Treasurie. This was at a lovely conference in Vermont at Sterling College, made in a brand new pipkin I threw a few days before, with a rabbit which I drove through a torrential downpour on a dirt road over a mountain in a put-put rental car to obtain. While cooking, there were a pair of draught horses cavorting on the horizon above us, with mountains in the background. Perfect. If anyone there has pictures -I did see a few with cameras - please share them with me. This picture here is not the simple rabbit, onion, currants, verjus recipe, but what I thought would be beautifully classical. Browned first, shallots, bacon, bouquet garnis, white wine, and a few lemons and rosemary for kicks. This image is before braising.



And here's after. Yes, looks like a mess, tastes incredible. The 16th c. version is better though. Actually Innes was the only one to have eaten it besides me. He's the gourmand neighbor in training. Age 10.




And in case you're wondering what a pipkin might be, here are the beans I cooked in the second pipkin a few days ago. Lid off. This one is a little smaller and cuter than the first, which I gave to Megpie. Beans are killer. Rancho Gordo. You were expecting maybe?? Humphey Bogart?

Bear Ham

Last week the fridge was rumbling and groaning something awful. So before calling the Sear's Repairman, I thought I'd take a peek at her. Well, of course, the freezer is packed to the gills. No wonder she can't breathe. So I decided to CLEAN THE FREEZER. There are few things so frightening in this world or the next. A few chicken carcasses here, a big bone of who knows what there, some fugitive pates and tupperwaresful of God knows what leftover muck. Tossed it all. And then, what dost mine eyes behold? The lower half of the bear's leg that I sawed off and froze some months ago!

When life gives you a bear's lower leg? Make ham. So I cured this with salt, brownsugar, nitrites, some warm slices like clove. Left it for a week in the fridge and gave it a two hour cold smoke on mesquite just now. And I am HOPING, beyond all hope, that a few weeks in the cellar will dry it out and make it a proper ham.

Did I dream that there was such a thing as bear ham?

Behold CHEESE

At the risk of being accused of impatience, I give you Lincoln, the cheese. I ought to have waited 6 months as planned, but here it is at 4. My only justification, apart from greedy hunger, is the imminent deadline for the book in a few weeks, and I could not in good faith offer a recipe for something I had not tasted. And taste it did, lovely. Nice crumbly texture, subtle graininess, slightly piquant. This could have gone a year easily. SO, I guess I make another one and just wait.

And for those of you following other experiments, here is the salami. As you can see, remarkably fatty, sweet and nutty. Really quite fetching, and the word is... toothsome.

Pastrami?

I have no idea what this should be called. It's a London Broil, sat in a dry cure for a week, cold smoked for two hours and that's it. Succulent, tender, smokey, and as you can see very lean. It's still raw really, so not a pastrami. IT was tasted last night with the first little salametti. YES, It sure did work! Needs another few weeks though. And I am still alive. Though I have to admit, the whole bottle of absinthe nearly did me in - OK, shared with two people, but all the same.