I was fortunate enough to be invited to an event that I’ll link up as soon as some of the attendees post about it. It was a fairly large pot luck comprised heavily of bloggers, and the hostess shared similar pot-luck ethics as I, so it was highly enjoyable. My dish? Cured and smoked tongue of moose. Not your average … Read More
Smoked Antelope & Cheddar Crisp
It was the last pack from the 2008 antelope – an animal that had become revered as the game meat of choice over the past couple years around here, so tying into it was an event. A ‘leg roast’, which in this case meant the whole leg below the hip and above the knee [think a larger leg of lamb?]. … Read More
Bacon. Again.
Yep. Bacon. Again. It seems I’ve written about it so much it must be redundant to do so again. But it is not. The more I work with pork, the more I love it. So versatile. It seems to embrace transformation and elevation while maintaining an undeniable humility. This batch was 10 lbs of skin-on belly from our last pig. … Read More
Jerky – A Recipe Worth Sharing
I’ve made a fair whack of jerky, both in the oven and over wood fire, sweet-glazed versions, plain versions, smoked and unsmoked. I’ve recently come across a recipe that’s worth sharing. Not only is it dang tasty, it avoids the onion/garlic powder route which even ‘Charcuterie’ suggests [a rare shortcoming of the book]: per pound of meat [in this case, … Read More
Yes, I have a smoker
In response to my serving anything I’ve smoked: “Oh, you have a smoker? What kind do you have?”. I then answer, knowing the answer will create an assumption of half-assedness. “I use my BBQ”. End of conversation, typically. Despite my desire to reassure them it is not half-assed and actually does a fine job, I just let it go. I … Read More
Burnin’ the Shit out of Bacon
This is not what bacon should look like, just coming off the smoke. This is what bacon looks like when you figure all is going smoothly, and head out with the family shopping for groceries. And instead of coming home to the anticipated wisp of smoke that needs tending, coming home to a huge grease fire in your smoking apparatus. … Read More
Jerky Day.
Jerky day. I actually can’t remember the last time I made jerky, but sadly, I think it’s been over a year. Why? Sometimes, I’m just not that smart, what can I say. But I got inspired by my moose-bacon, and was driven to do another cured and smoked game product right away. So I’ve got 5lbs of calf moose and … Read More
Mmm, smoke – I could almost eat my jacket
I’ve posted often enough about bacon to skip the details. Short story: the last batch was awesome, and it’s all gone. So out came another slab of belly. And what’s this…hog jowl? Hm. And is that a pack of calf moose belly? After a week of curing, they were smoked with apple and hickory. Man, I love hickory. For some … Read More
Apple-wood-smoked Berkshire Bacon
Charcuterie item #1 from my Berkshire hog is in the bag: Bacon. Apple-wood smoked bacon, to be precise. Perhaps of all my bacon-achievements, this is my proudest. It was my first smoking in my new yard, with apple pruned from my very apple tree, smoking pork that a friend and I butchered with our very own hands, from a pig … Read More
Bacon
I have Michael Ruhlman to thank for getting me making bacon at home. I will forever be indebted. I also must thank Gracianne, Maryann, and Yen for prodding me to post about it. It’s been a long time coming. Yen had wanted to get his hands dirty and learn how I did it, so with Ruhlman’s recipe in hand for … Read More