What better place to serve a hot dog than a Fourth of July Barbeque? The menu almost writes itself- and the hot dog is the star of the show! As always, as commited as I am to the Charcutepalooza project, I felt pressed for time as I shopped for the dogs, so I was overjoyed to find that Whole Foods had Korean style short ribs ready for purchase. Cutting out that small bone was a cinch, and I now have…
As I struggled to pull together my June Charcutepalooza post this week, trying to force some personality to show through the words, I knew what fed my blogger’s block. My mother, my original kitchen mentor, died last week. It happened quickly, as she sat down to a dinner she had prepared for my dad and his friend. She was in her 87th year, and remained active to the end, playing, and winning, duplicate bridge the day before. These are all things to…
I don’t know for certain that I don’t like chicken sausage, but I assume I don’t because I really don’t like chicken all that much. So, faced with the task of producing a poultry based sausage, I immediately went looking for alternatives to chicken. One simple Google search later I was overjoyed to find several mentions of an Italian sausage made with duck and pancetta- whoo hoo! Fat, flavor and spiciness! The first step in the process had to…
This month, as I write this blog, I feel like I am back in school, burning the proverbial midnight oil, pressing hard into the night to complete the term paper (blog) before it’s due. I did all the research early on (made the chorizo, made the recipe, made a second recipe, and then finally a third), but putting it all together in the final product was left to the last minute. All these years, and the same old habits. I made…
With the arrival of the pink salt (as well as two packages of casings, one beef and one pork, in anticipation of a future sausage challenge), I was faced with this question: Corned Beef Brisket or Corned Beef Tongue. The brisket was an appropriate choice, given an impending St. Patrick’s Day, but the tongue… memories of the best meal of my life, and the worst meal of my life. Seems like I have to try it to see if I can…
Sunday, Jan. 30, 9:15 A.M.: scanning Facebook, I notice a post from a food friend in Santa Cruz- She’s taking part in a cook-and-blog event called Charcutepalooza. 9:16 A.M.: click the link to find out what Charcutepalooza is. Joy and excitement- it’s an excuse to buy Ruhlman’s ( oh how I love him) book, Charcuterie, and play with pork and other things! Always wanting to make things myself, my only venture into charcuterie was a stab at chorizo after a trip to…