Charcuterie

For some people creating something brings a great sense of peace and fulfillment.  Slowly expanding the farm over time is that way for us, especially when B can create something in its entirety that we have grown or raised on our own.

Last year was our first foray into charcuterie.  Charcuterie, originally a form of meat preservation

prior to refrigeration, is the process of preserving meats (primarily pork) to develop rich flavors. We got ourselves a pork belly and made our first pancetta.  We loved it and B has spent endless hours researching and learning how to expand this into more and more.

Doing things the natural way, letting the curing and fermenting processes evolve as they were meant to has become a focus for us.  Last week, using a slightly different recipe, we began another pancetta using a Berkshire Pork belly (This pork is the bomb, and the breed that we are looking to raise).  

As each year we expand, this year we are also curing three duck breast pancettas, homestead raised. The meat was absolutely beautiful after its initial sodium curing and after seasoning and rolling in cheese cloth it is now hanging in a temperature controlled area, soon to be incorporated into our holiday meals and beyond.

I would not be surprised if our natural food preservation techniques become an important expansion of our little smallholding as time goes on.

Random 5 Friday

1.  A secret:  I love the holidays.  I always go all out, and make the house feel festive and warm or spooky, whatever the case may be.  We participate fully in the event, suspending our disbelief wherever possible. But when it's over...it's over.  Halloween came down first thing this morning before work, and what remains is the harvest decor that will last through Thanksgiving. 

2.  Finally:  After two full weeks of battling the funk I finally get to meet our latest little tastebud today!

3.  Oh Poo!:  One of our tasks this weekend is to give the hen house a thorough once over and freshly bed the ladies down for the winter.  Fun stuff.  Ha!  At least the compost pile will be happy!

4.  Cured:  We cut into our homemade pancetta last night to give it a taste.  Oh my!  All I can say is there is more curing in our future!

5.   Treats:  These bar cookies are to. die. for.  I am always amazed at how some things that I imagine are difficult simply are not.  Take the ten minutes to make the homemade salted caramel for this one!  Happy weekend!

Oh Yes We Are!

A couple of months ago for our Tastebuds dinner club as part of a deep south theme and did braised pork belly.  We had about half of the meat leftover and were trying to decide what to do with it.  When you have six pounds of pork belly, well what else can you do?  We decided to roll up our sleeves and dabble in home curing.  We are making pancetta!  Oh yes we are!

 It is a multi-step process and we began with removing the skin, and packing the meat completely in a salt mixture. Once it was thoroughly coated, we rubbed in a spice mix.

Once we finished this we wrapped it in plastic wrap and pressed it between two weighted cookie sheets on the bottom shelf of the fridge.  We will have to flip it daily for a week.

As with many things we try, this process has been surprisingly easy.  Once the week is up we will rinse it off completely, then roll it very tightly in cheese cloth and hang it in the root cellar to finish curing.  That process will take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months depending on what flavors we are seeking out.  Just another Saturday around the farm!

**As an interesting aside:  this cut of meat would be called a flap.  The same cut that we have been discussing in our Blog Camp Goes to MIT class.