Grub Hacker

Peach Smoked Madison Maple and Guava/Agave Bacon

Its been too long since my last post... I have been cooking a lot but find it hard at times to get the proper lighting needed to get good looking photos.  Today was a beutiful fall day and my cured bacon had just finished up its week long magical curing jorney.

I made two different types of bacon today, one was a Madion maple and the other was Guava/Agave.  Both of these were smoked on some peach wood that my freind had cut for me earlier in the spring.

 

Bacon Cure

1 Poud Kosher Salt

8 Ounces of Sugar

2 ounces pink salt

Rub each pork belly with 1/4 cup of cure

 

Madison Maple bacon

1/2 Cup maple syrup added during cure

  Mix and add to slab when you add the cure 

 

Guava/Agave bacon

1/2 C Guava Necter

1/3 2 TBS Dark Agave Nectre

 Mix and add to slab when you add the cure

 

Cure each bacon slab for 7 days with 1/4 cup of cure and select sweatner

 

Smoke at 200 degrees over your choice of fruit wood until bacon hits 162 internal temprature

 

 

Cool, slice and enjoy

 

 

Anyone have any other interesting bacon flavoring ideas? 

Seth

First time Beehive

I installed my first ever package of Russian bees the other day in the vineyard.  Here is the video that John took of the experience.  Warning, no stings but explicit language.

Seth

 

Fiddleheads for dinner!

Had this delicious pile of yum a few days ago and since John has lit a fire again to get the blog moving, I wanted to share these.  In my opinion, these are some of the tastiest forest morsels that we have in our area.  They really have a very mild flavor much like asparagus with a very nice texture as long as you take care not to overcook them.  These were sauteed in some light butter with some fresh fleur de sel sea salt.

Seth

The Reinvigoration of Grub Hacker

It seems that work and hunting have consumed far too much of my time in the last year, and I have failed to document any of the activities in and around my kitchen.  Seeing a steady stream of visitors here, browsing content over a year old, I have decided to begin documenting my culinary exploits yet again. 

Two days ago, I had the fortune of running into a local dairy farmer who graciously allows me to hunt waterfowl on his land.  I regard this particular piece of property as my best local hunting spot.  Being the lone corn field harvested for silage to feed to his herd over the winter, it is cut much earlier than neighboring swaths of crops.  As any avid waterfowler knows, having permission on the first cut corn field near a multi-thousand acre lake is what dreams are made of.

During the course of our conversation I asked what his cows were eating this time of the year.  I was intrigued when I learned that their diet consisted of mostly alfalfa and other grasses, not the mixed corn diet that they are on during the winter.  After a little prodding, I convinced him to allow me to take 5 gallons of raw milk, straight from the cow from the next mornings milking.  This did come with a disclaimer: "If you get sick, I don't know you!"

Today, Seth and I will be making a run of mozzarella and ricotta cheeses.  Stay tuned for pictures and our recipe in the next day or two.

John

Guanciale Spaghetti Carbonara

The Guanciale is complete and I have been using it in all sorts or ways as a direct substitute for bacon.  Guanciale has a taste like no other.  It still retains the deep fatty, porky flavors that is unique in every way.  Since Guanciale is not smoked but cured it also has a different flavor than bacon and no doubt makes a an incredible substitute. One of the mystique's of Guanciale is that its not available anywhere unless you order it at one of the few specialty places in the US that I could count on less then one hand.....  When you make it at home you are able to use it in so many dishes that would call for bacon.  This creates a wonderful new dish that tastes all its own. 

I encourage you to make, cook, plant and grow as many things as you can.  Its so deeply satisfying and rewarding when you create things yourself.  I have found that the longer something takes to create, make, grow the more deeply satisfying it is to the soul.

 
 
 
Guanciale Spaghetti Carbonara

1 LB Spaghetti
1 TBS Olive Oil
1 Shallot, finely chopped
2  small Cloves Garlic, chopped
4 Eggs
3/4 Cup Parmesan Reggiano
1/4 - 1/3 pound Guanciale or bacon cut into small strips
Large Pinch Course Pepper
2 Tbs Chopped Parsley

Cook pasta from directions, drain and toss with 1 TBS olive oil.

Saute Guanciale or bacon or on med-low heat until crispy, remove and set aside on paper towel

Add Shallots and garlic to bacon oil and saute at medium for 3 minutes
Add Pasta back into pan and stir for 30 seconds

Add eggs, Cheese and bacon and raise heat to medium high and start stirring briskly. The eggs and cheese will start to melt and right as they form a creamy sauce scoop into large heated bowls.
Garnish with a sprinkle of cheese and parsley
Serve immediately

 
 
 
 

Fresh Pastrami

I've been waiting to make something that I considered to be appropriate for my first blog post here, on Grub Hacker.  Surprisingly, none of the imaginative wild game dishes created in my kitchen seemed to be able to make the cut, and I ended up choosing this! 

Inspired by the most recent episode of No Reservations, and an appealing recipe in Charcuterie, I decided to make fresh pastrami. There's nothing quite like getting fresh, hot pastrami on rye bread from a hole in the wall deli; the results of the following foray into recipes from the aforementioned book are just as fulfilling. 

The recipe is very easy, just brine, smoke, steam and serve.  Pardon all of the pictures, I'm just becoming more comfortable with my camera and starting to get good pictures.  My only regret is that I am unable to stop time and passing by clouds in order to have the sunlight right for pictures.

Cornichon Fail!

I Purchased some fresh tarragon on Thursday in preparation to make some cornichon pickles on Saturday.  Friday night I chop the pickles and salted them to let them cure overnight.
Saturday morning I get everything out and ready and realize that my tarragon is now brownagon..

Dammit!

Off to store in town.... Out.....
Stop at another store in town... Out.....
Drive to next town over..... Out.....

WTF!  Who put the run on the tarragon?

I settle for a crappy bunch of dill and head home to make dill pickles...

Don't get me wrong, I love dill pickles.  But I have made dill pickles so many times and the whole point of making pickles this time was to make cornichons, with TARRAGON!

Here is basically the cornichon recipe, substitute dill for tarragon

Homemade Italian Beef Sandwiches

So I was at restaurant depot the other day and saw a beef knuckle roast.  I picked one up since for one, I had never seen one, and two, it was cheap.  At the time I had no clue how I was going to prepare it but figured I would let things evolve over the course of the week. This cut is lean and as it turns out has a ton of flavor and great value at 1.60 something a pound.

The timing of  Paupered Chef:Homemade Italian Beef post this week was perfect and it provided a perfect fate for this nice looking cut of meat.  I know the recipe did not call for this cut but it worked out perfectly and if you can get your hands on Beef Knuckle its worth a go.  This basically is the Paupered Chef's recipe that is doubled and tweaked a bit.

  Question O the Day

 

Have you ever bought something with no clue how you were going to prepare it?  What was it?  What inspiration did you draw from? 

 

 

Salami, Saucisson Sec and Guanciale Update

The curing closet in the basement has been working out great.  At this point I have Salami, Saucisson Sec and Guanciale in the closet and I am just about ready to take the small Salami links down at about 3 weeks hang time.  

The curing closet has been holding a steady 56-58 degrees Fahrenheit and 67-71% humidity and I have been amazed at just how well my humidifier has held these humidity levels. I think the humidifier was purchased at home depot some years ago and has a simple LCD screen read out with twin tanks.  I would imagine that this setup could run my curing closet for a good month and a half on full tanks.  

  

Review: Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking and Curing

 

  

      

 

Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking and Curing

   

If you have not picked this book up and have any interest in making fresh or dried sausages, pates, smoked foods and other cured things I would drop everything and run out and pick this up.  Charcuterie has a huge volume of wonderful, diverse charcuterie recipes.  Some of the sections include fresh sausages, smoking, pates and other cured things like pickles, vegetables and kraut.  This book reads very well and  is choked full of great recipes with easy to follow instructions and should appeal to both amateur and the experienced.

In the past, much information on charcuterie as a whole has been very limited and spread across many different sources.  Michael and Brian do a wonderful job explaining each process and technique which demystifies the entire process of salting, curing, smoking, and emulsifying.

  

Also, I am sure my girlfriend has been dreading buying me Charcuterie since as of late John and I have been making a ton of items from this great book with many long nights working on recipes with nothing to show for or feed our better halves... Doh!

Charcuterie: Amazon Link