Meat Club Charcuterie

random posts about our meatings

Duck Salami

My friend had a bunch of ducks he shot up in Sacramento and I told him I would make some creations with them.  Nothing that crazy, and I don't know how it will taste, but we will see in a couple weeks, and making it is half the fun anyway, right?  I used Len Poli's recipe at http://lpoli.50webs.com/index_files/Game%20Bird%20Hunters%20Salami.pdf  


I started with about 10 ducks.  They are pretty small so I removed the breasts and skin and kept the lower half (legs and thighs) for something else.

I rendered the skin to get some duck fat, not sure what I will do with that.  I kept the bodies for stock.

Instead of lean pork I used some ground boar and the fat from that boar.  I mixed it all together and I now have it incubating (I used LHP starter culture) at about 90 degrees and 90% RH.  I will leave it here for about 24 hours and then transfer it to the curing chamber at about 65 degrees and 75% RH for about three weeks.  I'll let you know how it turns out.

Also I know the holidays are a little bit off but if you think you may want a rabbit, or a couple (roaster or fryer) let me know and I will put you on the list (price will probably be between $10-20 each, discount for multiples).

 

 

(download)

Merguez

Img_7374
This is the second time I've made Merguez and both times I have had great success! This time I made about 3 lbs and used the Ruhlman/Polcyn recipe as a guide. I did not use lamb shoulder, but rather some pieces I had left from my last whole lamb purchase from Mel at Sierra Farms. I bought uncut lamb shoulder the last time I made merguez and it was SOOOO expensive. Not going to do that again. In any case I also prefer to use lamb fat, rather than pork fat as the recipe in the book calls for. I had enough fat from the trimmings on the pieces I used. The ratio was pretty much perfect.

Img_7369

I remember from my last experience that we liked the spices slightly ramped up, so I kinda of did heaping measurements of everything. I used both sweet paprika and hot paprika (a little more of the hot than sweet). We ate a few sausages right away, but I'm letting the rest sit in the fridge for a couple of days to really get the full effect of the spices.

Img_7370

My daughter helped me yesterday and we had a lot of fun. It's pretty great having a six-year old who likes to grind and stuff sausage.  

Img_7373

Rosen Bresaola Complete -- and Too Salty!

I wish I could report that that my bresaola, using the Ryan Farr recipe from the upcoming Primal Cuts book, was a smashing success.  Unfortunately, it's not.  It LOOKS fantastic, but I think there's a serious recipe error in the amount of salt called for in the cure.  The result is that the meat is way, way too salty.  

I followed the recipe quite closely (see details on my original July 25 post) and my curing and drying conditions were very good.  But, the end product is just too salty.  I like the underlying other flavors from Ryan's good spice ideas, so am still trying to figure a way to salvage the product.   Perhaps I'll just use a small dice of it in a braise, or maybe very thin slices in a pizza, or maybe even soak some of it in water before using it to cook.  But, can't eat it straight (though I keep trying).

I will note that I was a little surprised when I read the recipe about the amount of salt called for, since Ryan's recipe is quite similar to the Ruhlman/Polcyn bresaola recipe, except that the amount of salt is much higher (and Ryan calls for nitrite rather than nitrate).  Perhaps it's a typo in the recipe.  You might just chalk it up to my personal spazitude, but Jim's try at the same recipe had the same outcome, as I'm sure he'll post. 

Anyway, here are some stats and pictures (though photo quality isn't great).  I put the meat in the chamber on 8/6/10 with a weight of 920 grams and took it out on 9/2/00 with a weight of 655, for a loss of around 30%.  Chamber conditions were stable around 55-60 degrees F and 65-70ish% RH.  The first three photos shown are from 8/20/10, about three weeks into the cure (the other bresaola is Jim's), and the latter photos are from 9/2/10.

If anyone has some brilliant ideas on a good way to use/cook the salty product I have, please leave a comment.

(download)

Sloan Bresaola, Etc.

Img_7259
I'm back at it over at JustPigs and I've just started my own Bresaola. I know that Jamie and Jim recently tried a new recipe. Since this is my first time trying Bresaola, I'm sticking to the Ruhlman/Polcyn recipe in Charcuterie. As I was preparing this one I remembered that Wayne had mentioned making Bresaola soaked in wine. Did we ever hear about/see the results? It sounded like a good idea, and I would be curious about trying it in the future. 

Additionally, I've been cooking a bit of offal. I made a very good grilled lamb's heart salad. (more pictures when you click through) 

Img_7102

I've also been experimenting with lamb's tongues in salads, stews and terrines. 

Img_7232
Img_6895

We have two other meaty projects planned: Beef Heart Pastrami and Mortadella. I have half a pig on order and am going to order a bladder casing this week from Butcher Packer. I'll let you know once we get started with those.

Lastly, because I know how you people feel about pork porn, here's a pig's foot we recently used in a huge pot of soup. First we boiled it with veggies and white beans, then we put a southwestern style rub on it and bbq'd it, finally we dropped it back in the soup and cooked it just a little more to meld all the flavors. 

Img_7223