I recently saw a tweet go by for “Sichuan Bacon.” Hold the phone. Click. It was from Hank Shaw author & blogger of Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, who’s site I just love to follow. What a fabulous idea. I had just purchased a few ounces of Sichuan peppercorns, so the tweet was clearly a sign of planetary alignment. Last year while participating in Charcutepalooza, I honed my curing skills, particularly on bacon and ham. Read more ›
Growing up, corned beef was a treat in my house. Simmered on the stovetop or braised in the oven with potatoes, carrots, and onions, I could not wait to eat that salty, preserved goodness. I was fortunate enough to grow up on a farm where we raised our own cattle. When we slaughtered a steer, my dad always ask our butcher to corn the briskets and a couple of chuck roasts. Read more ›
The final challenge for Charcutepalooza was to make a whole mess of charcuterie items and throw a party to celebrate the makings. Thank goodness I had a whole month to prepare, because that’s how long it took me to do it all. If I had not done the eleven preceding challenges, this final project would have been impossible. Read more ›
Bresaola is remarkable food. Like a woodsy prosciutto with a full beef flavor, bresaola is silky, herbaceous and complex. This cured meat knocked me off my feet. I made this myself? So cool. Read more ›
This rillette’s recipe came from Charcuterie by Ruhlman/Polcyn, but there are lots of good recipes out there. In fact, you barely need a recipe. What you do need it the right cut of meat. Read more ›
It’s time once again for this month’s Charcutepalooza challenge-packing! No, not packing for your trip to Paris (darn!) I mean packing lovely porkie goodness into a terrine for paté, in my case. I used Mrs. Wheelbarrow’s Paté Campagne recipe, but instead of prunes I used red flame and golden raisins, Read more ›
I grew up on a farm in the northern California community of Little Shasta, just south of the Oregon boarder. The “big” town near us was Yreka. Every August the city hosted the Siskyou County Fair, which was a big part of our lives. My brother, Tad, and I were in 4H club. Read more ›
I was a little late doing my Charcutepalooza challenge last month. The assignment was to make either headcheese or a seafood terrine. It was ridiculously hot and humid in July, so I couldn’t bring myself to boil pigs feet for hours on end, no matter how tasty the result. Read more ›
I’ve been part of this crazy Charcutepalooza group since January 2011, where we work our way through Michael Ruhlman’s “Charcuterie” book, one challenge a month. So far we’ve made duck ham, bacon, corned beef, chorizo, chicken sausage and mortadella. Read more ›