My final Charcutepalooza post, on the topic of showing off, takes the form of two family stories. Origins of the Sweetheart Once upon a time in 13th century Europe, lived Devorguilla of Galloway. Devorguilla was a woman of substance (i.e. wealthy land owner) whose parents arranged her marriage to John de Baliol. Read more...
Read more →The eleventh Charcutepalooza challenge is curing. Alex and I have cured and dried many meats including saucisson sec, fermented chorizo, and coppa. I asked my daughter Lillian to complete this challenge with me. She’s been around hanging meat for most of her life. Curing requires minimal skill and can be left for days at...
Read more →Ever wondered how to make bacon? Why nitrites/nitrates are sometimes used? Do you enjoy making meat jokes? I will cover all this and more in my Charcuterie Class on October 18 at Wild Goose Creative, the last of my Preserving Series. Participants get to go home with tasting samples in their belly and a...
Read more →A story of a homesteader who meets her match in the common hot dog. Go Girl! Bone local beef with a sharp knife, grind it (standing on a stool because you’re a short girl), and mix with salts. Feel so powerful that you go on to make cucumber relish. The next day, you’re ready...
Read more →It was just over one year ago that my husband and I killed and butchered Red the pig. That single event informed my eating more than any other ever has. A Vegetarian Slaughters a Pig At the time of the slaughter, I was a vegetarian, as I had been for a decade. I didn’t...
Read more →Italy has prosciutto, German has sausages and Spain has serrano. It seems to me that America’s go-to cured meat is bacon. Long ubiquitous at breakfasts, bacon has recently enjoyed resurgence to cult status, flavoring everything from beer to cupcakes. With a populace growing in concern about high fructose corn syrup and additives, making bacon...
Read more →Stay fresh in the kitchen this winter – take a class with me at the Franklin Park Conservatory! Register by calling 614.645.5923 or download a registration form here. Delicious Dough (ages 3-5 and their favorite adult) Kids will make a moldable raw dough and a yeast-risen dough. Class participants will also create a scent-sational...
Read more →Are you mystified by canning? Seeking great sausages? Curious about cooking with children? Look no further than the Hounds in the Kitchen Fall 2010 class schedule for hands on workshops, tours, and more to excite you about the harvest season. Email me with any questions you may have. I hope to see you at...
Read more →If you home cure meat, this might be a familiar site: Five pounds of saucisson sec and a fifteen pound serrano-style salted air-dryed ham hanging in our basement. Both are made from the meat of Red, the hog we slaughtered in April. The saucisson sec will hang for three to four weeks and be...
Read more →You may have read Devie the hound dog’s version of making sausage. Here’s my version of the basics. I received the book Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman last Christmas. Since then I experimented with making my own bacon, smoking various meats and cooking confit of all sorts. Until recently, I had not attempted to make...
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