Round 3 - Kimchi Juice Fermented Salami

I had a little time to kill last night and 3lbs of Tails and Trotters ground pork ( 70:30 ratio) in the man fridge, so I thought I'd make some salami.

pretty simple recipe ( I converted grams to tablespoons for this one )

3lbs ground pork
2 TBSP Kosher Salt
3/4 TBS Instacure #2(long term curing salt )
1/2 cup Le Nez Oregon Pinot Noir ( it was open :)
3TBSP crushed Red Pepper
1tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp granulated garlic.
4 tbsp kimchi juice ( thank you Peter)

Mixed it up, drank the rest of the Pinot, and stuffed them into hog middles, squeezed and poked them, tied them up and now into the ghetto fermenter for 2 days before hanging in the man cave(  I mean "curing chamber" )

I'm going to do a 2lb batch tomorrow with some aniseseed, cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, and pepper.

Stay tuned.

Kimchi Fermented Chorizo Salami

After the recent success of my first salami fermented with live cultures taken from Kimchi, courtesy of the current "King Of Charcuteapalooza" Peter from Cookblog, I thought I'd give it another go and see what kind of mess I can make.

Here's the recipe:

5lbs ground pork -This time I used

2lbs of premade chorizo sausage and

2lbs of premade hot italian sausage and

1lb of ground pork (70:30 ratio )

55 grams kosher salt

10 grams instacure #2 ( long term cure/not "pink salt" )

1/3 cup water

10 grams ground black pepper

10 grams fresh crushed garlic

20 grams cayenne pepper

20 grams pasillo pepper

20 grams hot smoked spanish paprika

20 grams dextrose

4 tablespoons "Kimchi Juice"

Here is another batch of kimchi I worked up just for this salami.  Instead of adding daikon or carrots, I added slivers of jalapeno for a bit of a kick.  This alone is worth the price of admission.

Here are the ingredients ready to be mixed. Italian sausage on left, chorizo on right, ground pork underneath

I couldn't resist adding a pic of the nugget, back on the job helping me ( mostly by just being cute, but she cranked a few out on the stuffer )

Here are the fresh salami's, all ready to hang for 3 weeks or so.

Here they are hanging in the mancave for about 3 weeks until they lose about 60% of their weight ( Amy likes them harder and drier than I do, so that's what she gets )

Here they are, cut and ready to enjoy with a great Oregon Pinot Noir from my friend Vincent at Vincent Wine Company

Great deep "chorizo-ish" flavor and lots of good heat with nice porky taste.

And finally.. here's a shot of my newest boozey concoction: Kumquat/Thyme Liqueur

1 gallon Vodka ( or grain alcohol if you prefer)

4lbs of kumquats, seeds and button ends removed

1.5-2 cups sugar(make simple syrup)

let sit for 3-4 weeks, strain and bottle.

Enjoy!

Salami Controne ( Kimchi Salami )

Howdy All:

I've been inspired by the Charcutapalooza winner Peter of Cook Blog to try something new

His Recipe for Kimchi Juice( or any lacto fermented product ) fermented Salami.http://www.acookblog.com/2011/12/i-always-take-a-meat-sandwich-with-me.html#more-4996

I'm giving it a try to see if I can get away with not using the commercially purchased Lacto Fermenting powders.

First: We start with 5lbs of ground pork from our friends at Tails and Trotters .  I can grind my own meat, but why bother? For an amateur charcutier like myself, this is a no brainer.

Here is the hot pepper flake powder which gives this salami it's name.  Pure Italian bliss.

Check it out.

purchased from my friend Michael at StoryTeller Wine   He's a great guy and has a great selection of wine.  Check him out, in person or online ( he'll ship to you ).

Here's the recipe:

5lbs ground pork (70:30 meat to fat ratio)

55 grams kosher salt

10 grams instacure #2 ( long term cure/not "pink salt" )

1/3 cup water

10 grams ground black pepper

10 grams fresh crushed garlic

30 grams Controne Pepper Flake

20 grams dextrose

4 tablespoons "Kimchi Juice"

Here's a pic of the seasoning ingredients

And, here's a pic of the seasoning and pork about to become one happy family.

I finally got a chance to use the sausage stuffer I purchased from Grizzly.  They're a purveyor of all sorts of machinery, and I purchased a 5lb stuffer for about $100.   I have to tell you, this also was SO much easier than using the grinder/stuffer I purchased last year.  Wait til you see the paste.. no smearing whatsoever. 

If you live in/near Portland,OR and would like to borrow it, let me know.. no need to buy one if we can share.  Here it is stuffed with 5lbs of meat paste and loaded with 15 feet of hog middles.

Here's a few links fresh off the stuffer, tied on the ends with butchers twine.  Each about 1/2 pound.

here's a closeup of one of the links.  Look at that beautiful color and fat/meat distribution.

Here's the end result of about 1 hour prep and one hour of stuffing. 11 beautiful salamis

After cleaning up, they went into the "ghetto fermenter" (plastic container put in a cold oven with the door left open enough to keep the light on, with a towel over the door, keeping the temp at about 80 degrees F or so) As an experiment, I created a "slurry" of casings from purchased salamis that had the white" fiore" mold on them with tepid water to see if I can grow the good mold without using purchased bacteria.

Here's how they look after fermenting for 24 hours.  Too bad we don't have smellavision.  These puppies smell fantastic!!

Now to hang up and come back for a taste in 2-3 weeks.

I'm still alive!

Happy New Year Meat and Pickle Lovers!

I just realized that I've been neglecting this blog terribly.

I'm not going to be able to fix it today, but thought I would add a few pics of some tasty treats I've been making over the past few months.

In addition, One of the proscuitto I hung last year is ready to be enjoyed.. the other will become a 2 year proscuitto.    I'm getting two more legs next week, and I'll make that my first "how to" post of the new year, although it will be pretty much the same as last year.

Lots of bacon, pancetta(tesa style), smoked salmon and sturgeon, some outstanding Coppa and Lonzino that both hung since last spring, and finally.. the 2011 Nocino!( Italian Walnut Liquor ).  It turned out good this year, as opposed to last year's fiasco.  Let's see how it ages and develops.

I know what you did this summer!

Hi All.. this has been a fantastic summer.. one of the best ever!

I've been doing lots of projects, just not many in the cured meats dept.

I have some great new things to show you(smoked salmon, sturgeon, pickles, jams, etc ), as well as an abysmal failure ( my Tuscan style salami )

I'll also show you how my two awesome legs of Proscuitto are turning out.. they're a beautiful mahogany color and I'm looking forward to cutting one open for the holidays in January.. the second is going to become a "2 year " Proscuitto.. or maybe longer.   

Right now it's beautiful in Portland, the sun is shining ( HOT ) and we're starting the flood of tomatoes.  I'll be setting up a pickle party in the next week or two to make about 10 cases of spicy garlic dills.. and in between I'll be doing a few cases of random stuff  ( like gooseneck and pattypan squash baby pickles, okra, dilly beans, green and red pickled tomatoes, and lots of other cool stuff ).

As the weather turns and we start thinking about the grape harvest in wine country 30 minutes away, I'll enjoy helping my friends bring in the grapes and get everything into the fermenters... after that, It's time to start making salami .. and i"ll probably start 2 or 3 more coppa and lonzino to get ready for the holidays.

Hope you're making lots of cool new stuff now.

Here's my first major failure... turns out the salami stuffer I first bought, tended to emulsify the meat paste... you can see the results below.

Here's a beautiful grouping of pancetta finished curing, rubbed in herbs and ready to hang up.   Then the end result three months later.





Absolutely beautiful!

What might be the best jam I've ever made... Peach Ginger on the right... Heaven in a Jar.. along with some Blackberry goodness.

Beautiful carrots Ella and I planted, grew, and harvested

Same carrots turned into canned Cardamom Carrots

Along the way, Amy and I managed to find time to visit Willakenzie to drink some wine.

Ate quite a few dinners on the deck of my pickles, along with great baguettes, fresh goat cheese and tomatoes from the garden...

Went backpacking with JDub to Serene Lake... what a beautiful place and water actually warm enough to swim in....

Made a ton of smoked sockeye... this stuff is going to make lots of folks real happy in 2012....

Of course, had to make time to hit OBF 2011...

Nice hanging out with JDub and drinking a few(dozen) cold ones....

Nocino 2011 is cooking away... should be done by November.

Made some fantastic tails and trotters bacon.

I also tried a new(old) recipe for beet pickled deviled eggs... awesome!...

I even found time to make a new coppa..

and the highlight of the summer... playing with my little girl on the beach in Nags Head, NC...

and watching her catch ghost crabs at night on the beach...

Ran the Epic Relay with my wife and some great friends..

I also tried a new recipe for Kimchee.. and found out that it's so good I MUST be 1/2 Korean.

Now I"m sitting in a hotel In Salt Lake City.... traveling again for work... but in the coming weeks I'll be planting my fall/winter/spring garden, pickling shit tons of cukes, making more jam, and some exotic pickles, as well as making 5-10 pounds of salami before the grape harvest comes and I get to help my friends make their wine.    After that, it's time to make the next batch of proscuittos... then cut one of the ones from last year open around the Christmas holidays. to enjoy the fruits of my labors with friends.

I hope you're all doing well... hopefully my next post won't take quite as long or be as lengthy.

Pancetta and Kimchee

Howdy everyone:

I just realized it's been almost 3 months since my last post, and while I havent' been blogging, rest assured I most definitely have been making charcuterie.

Today's entry is Pancetta... or "Italian Bacon"  if you're my mom.   It's bacon like, and comes from the belly, but at least according to the way I make regular bacon, worlds apart.

I started with 2 8lb bellies from Tails and Trotters and half of it ended up being not from the rib end where the good meat is, and was a bit too fatty for bacon, so when you're handed fatty pork belly, you make pancetta.

Here you go.. nice looking bellies, will cure nicely.   I used the standard cure ( mix of kosher salt, brown sugar, and Cure #2, along with some cayenne, smoked hot paprika, and red pepper flakes.

Into the cure they go, see you in three weeks.

Three weeks later, I give them a good rinse for about 15 minutes to leach out some salt... then coat them in a mixture of fresh rosemary, oregano, thyme ( from my garden ) along with cayenne, smoked spanish paprika, and a bit of kosher salt

Now it's into the curing chamber for 3 or 4 months while I figure out what to use this stuff for.. most likely I'll slice it super thin and put on pizzas I'll be making in my new wood fired pizza oven.. or maybe lots of pasta carbonara this winter :)

on the non meat front, I want you all to check out my first ever attempt at Kimchee ( Korean pickled cabbage ).

It turned out awesome.. fermented for 4 days with spices.. nice ginger/lemongrass flavor with strong but not overpowering spiciness.   My Korean Godfather would be proud.

Our garden is overflowing with Spinach, Arugula, lettuces, sugar and snap peas, and lots of herbs that I'm drying.  Tomatoes are very slowly catching up to where they should be.. a couple of weeks of solid heat that's supposed to be on the way should help.

I have a coppa that's about ready to come out of the cure tomorrow.. I may blog about that.. just trying to decide whether to case it, or try it without this time.

All the best you guys.

Lamb/Pork Salami Tasting Notes

Here are the finished Lamb/Pork Salami.    The reddish one on the left is the Berbere spiced and the greenish on the right is the Zattar.

They are both well made, dried to about 40% weight loss ( we like our salami drier ), and with a very light mold on them.

The Berbere has a VERY strong spice taste.. and I like that, but it's obscured the taste of the meat, so next time I'll use less.

The Zattar tastes wonderful.. exotic lamby-porky goodness, with a hint of the desert and mint tea.

These went very well with a Paulaner HefeWeizen on a rare sunny April day in Portland this past weekend.

Before:

After:

I vacuum sealed them and threw them in my keg fridge to keep them from drying anymore.. hoping that they'll be fine ( I do that with my lonzino and coppa and it hasn't hurt them yet.

The salt % was under 2% on this batch.. but from now on, I"m kicking it up to 3.5% to be on the safe side.  I just finished another pork soppressata last week and we'll see how that turns out.