Local Gems I

Like many of my comrades in the food blogosphere, the publication of Ruhlman and Polcyn's Charcuterie inspired me to make a more concerted effort in the curing and preservation of meats. Most books on the subject refer you to one of two mail order sources: Butcher & Packer or The Sausage Maker. We here in the Buffalo area are lucky, because The Sausage Maker is located at the Clinton-Bailey Market, aka the Niagara Frontier Food Terminal ( also the home of Willowbrook Farms and the US Foodservice outlets, to name a few.)

The folks there have always been extremely helpful, and I have never stopped by and not found what I needed. In fact the only sausage-making ingredient they don't have is a meat starter culture such as bactoferm - which I still get from B&P. On this trip I got some Hog Middles for Sopressata and other larger sausages, and Fermento for a batch of landjäger when the smoker gets set up.

Sometimes it's nice to live in Western New York!

It's Not About the Garnish!

Choucroute garnie, the dish described as "the symbol of Alsace" by Larousse Gastronomique, is one of our favorite dishes for a cold winter night. A large platter of sauerkraut, seasoned with Juniper Berries, Peppercorns, Cloves, and in my case Caraway simmered with an Alsatian Riesling and topped with assorted sausages and other meats. Aromatic and quite special. I started out with a trip to one of Buffalo's hidden gems - Spar's European Sausage on Amherst Street The photo of the meats shows across the back a pair each of their Knockwurst, Nurnberger Bratwurst, Spicy Smoked Bavarian and Bockwurst sausages. Next to that is a Ham Hock from Tops and some diced Canadian Bacon of my own creation. I rounded it out with some Hartmann's sausage from Wegmans - a pair of Weisswurst and a pair of Smoked Nuclear sausage. Oh, and two Sahlen's hot dogs. This is Buffalo after all.

The wines were an Alsatian Riesling and a Gewürztraminer - ostensibly to find which worked better. In practice we saved the Gewürz for another time.

David Rosengarten had a great commentary about choucroute which gets to the heart of the matter - "Remember: choucroute is about sauerkraut, not the meats that top it". For this batch I bought Rosoff, which many had suggested was most like the stuff they used to get from the barrel at the deli. I found it salty and lacking in tang. Next time I go back to Strub's from Canada.

Still the finished dish came out well, if not perfect, served with whole grain mustard and a glass of good wine!

Staying Alive and Changes

Saturday Night Fever is the only movie I have ever walked out of, so It is easy for me to choose Bowie over the Bee Gees. But, this is not a music blog.

Staying Alive refers to the fact that the dried sausage turned out OK, and nobody had any ill effects from eating it. When we took it off the hook, some ten days earlier than it was supposed to be ready there was no sign of mold or external discoloration. The texture felt like any dry sausage I'd buy at local stores. I cut into the link, and, as you can see, the color was uniform throughout. So I tasted it. It was good. Trish tasted it. It was good. Ellie tasted it. It was good, and she asked for more. Next time, when I try something more complex, I will take Bob delGrosso's suggestion to use a humidifier in the curing room.

Changes refers to the new meat grinder attachment that my wife gave me as an anniversary present, to replace the one that broke last month. For the most part the grinder looked the same, but there were three noticeable changes. The large cutting plate was larger than the old one, giving me effectively a small, medium and large plate now (you didn't think I got rid of the parts from the old one, did you?) The old wooden pusher is gone, it is now part of that plastic wrench thing that I have never used. Bad choice. It is not solid, more of an x-shape of plastic, and ingredients end up in the open stem. What really surprised me is the knife. It is no longer of the same composition as the plates - it appears to be stamped stainless steel. It has gone from 15 grams to 8 grams in weight. I was a bit worried, but it worked well.

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The Great Sausage Experiment

I have wanted to try dry-cured sausages for a long time, and with the guidance provided by Ruhlman and Polcyn, and the inspiration of Bob delGrosso, I was pretty sure I could succeed. My biggest concern was finding the place with the best environment. The most temperature stable place in the house is the cupboard in the basement, where we store extra cooking equipment and our wine rack. But, it's also where the sump pump is, and I figured that was a prime source of bad mold.

But, I got an email from Chef delGrosso which contained sound advice, and I have his permission to reprint it here: "Listen you can probably cure in you kitchen now. Don't overthink it. Do it, and if it doesn't work, then worry about it. My basement is actually a bit too dry (rel humidity is about 40%) but I'm not freaking out -yet." Mine too, despite the sump.

So I started it last week. I didn't bother taking pictures of the grinding and mixing process, as I just did the Italian Sausage one a few weeks ago. But, what you have below is kind of a time-lapse of the last 11 days. No sign of mold at all, but the drying process seems to going too fast. I have been concerned with case-hardening, and have taken to misting twice daily.

Today, I weighed the sausages, and after only 11 days they have lost more than the 30% they are supposed to lose in 18 -20 days from 719/694 grams to 387/371 grams. So, I guess I will cut into one tomorrow.

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Fun With Intestines

Bob del Grosso is a great cook and a great food blogger. He and I share a love of Ruhlman and Polcyn's masterful Charcuterie. The book is good because it is both well though out and well explained. It has information useful to both the professional and the home cook.

What has been most intriguing is Bob's recent attempts at Pancetta and my desire to work on some dry-cured meat products. We'll get to that, and Bob's advice later, but the last week or so has been filled other projects oddly all out of Charcuterie, we will get that started soon.

The fall is sausage time, as the weather has cooled enough (or not) for grinding pork products with greater safety. It is also, after a long summer of grilling, a time when I have a whole lot of trimmings - especially pork trimmings. There were scraps of meat and fat from whole pork loins used in Canadian bacon (we'll get to that next), and a whole lot of rib trimmings (The boneless brisket portion and the skirt flaps). Since they were leaner than the pork butt called for in the recipe, I adjusted the proportion of meat to fat. Everything else was just ground for use in meatloaf or meatballs.

The Photos show the progression from cubed meat to ground meat, being beaten briefly with the paddle, stuffed and portioned. The links were tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen in a ziplock bag. Except for one. I cooked it up and had it on a bun with some sauteed onions and peppers and some Weber's Mustard.

Darn Good Eating!

Oh, and the last photo is the cracked housing on my KitchenAid sausage grinder. Rest well old friend!

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