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 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 ›
It was an absolutely beautiful weekend here in Minneapolis; 85 degrees, sunny, low humidity, light breeze. It rained early Saturday morning so everything was sparkly and fresh. I spent my Saturday at the farmer’s market and canning, jamming and pickling. 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 ›