Pepperoni

I was very pleased with how this pepperoni actually turned out, due to the fact that it was stuffed by hand using a pastry bag. There really weren't any air pockets (except for one or two tiny ones) and no smearing. I do think that it probably could have used a bit more fennel and definitely more cayenne or red pepper flake, but overall the flavor turned out nice. I pulled this one at 32% because it felt firm and the casing aren't that big. It dried for about 4 weeks. The rest will continue to dry, but I actually like they creaminess that you get on the palate. I think this is partly that it hasn't over dried and also that I used a mixture of mangalitsa fat and wagyu fat, and mangalitsa shoulder. This is probably the most expensive pepperoni I have tasted thus far. I really like using the mangalitsa fat because it so creamy even when dried. You can see in the picture the difference between the mangalitsa and wagyu fat. The wagyu has a yellowish hue to it (some of which is picked up from the spices i think).

The Chamber is Growing

Here is an updated shot of the chamber. I have since rearranged it into rows, in which I can slide the older meats forward and hang the newer behind without much difficulty. So as it continues to fill up it will look a bit more organized. I do have a couple things I want to tackle here in the next week or so (N'duja, Boudin, and Summer Sausage), but we have the Epcot Chefs Gala, a couple of off premise catering events, and a big buyout coming up, so it will be tough to squeeze it all in. But for now, here is the chamber. The Pepperoni and Sopressata should be done soon, so some tasting notes to come.

Mangalitsa Coppa

This is my first attempt at a coppa. Our guy at culinary classics is working on getting me an actual coppa, but for now I just used cuts form the shoulder of the mangalitsa. They cured for 15 days in a mixture of salt, cure #2, cane sugar, garlic, black pepper, juniper berries, and red pepper flakes. Then they got rubbed down with a mixture of smoked paprika, cayenne, red pepper flakes, some espelette, etc.

This is my first attempt so I hope they turn out good. The most fun came when trying to case them!!!

 

I also have recently done some pepperoni and sopressata with mangalitsa. It's great having all of these mangalitsa rolling in because I am able to use all of the scraps on my projects and the quality of meat is superior. The pepperoni is a mixture of mangalitsa scraps and wagyu scraps. Should be tasty.

Here is another mangalitsa belly that I thought was worth posting. We have a handful of these going. These things are beasts.

I'll post on my recent trip to Charleston, SC and stage at McCrady's restaurant soon....

Wild Boars

I recently received some Florida wild boar from one of the servers at work. I deboned the shoulder, ground it with a 3/8" die and let it marinate over night with some garlic, red wine, dextrose, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, cardamom, ginger, and some piment d'espelette. I then reground the meat and then the fat through the 1/4" die. Stuffed it into hog casings, fermented for about 36 hours at 74 degrees and the hung in the curing chamber. Since they were so small, they cured quick. This one had 45% weight loss after just 12 days. The boar is super gamey, but the "wintery spices" if you will, come through nicely. My only problem is that there are some minor air pockets in areas, and I didn't really get much heat from the piment d'espelette.

LONG time, NO updates

WOW!! So, it has been quite a while since i've posted anything, or done much of anything extra while at work. The busy season is upon us and I quite frankly haven't had the time to get to mess around with much. EXCEPT!!!!.... A suckling prosciutto that I cured for about a month and have recently hung, but more on that much later.

Here are the updates on my Salami and Merguez (and no I didn't wait this long to taste them..ha). I will start with the Merguez. I didn't think the flavor was that bad for my first attempt. There was a nice heat and salt level, however the recipe said to dry it for at least 18 days, (which was thoroughly bashed by one of the sous chefs of the resort, and I agrre with) which was probably about 15 days too long. Nevertheless, I was still able to get a nice mold growth, which I was stoked about.

The Lamb Salami I was very pleased with, except for 1 minor error... I cut the fat way too big, and do to my lack of inexperience thought that it would shrink with the meat. If it did, it wasn't by much. However, the flavor turned out really well I thought. It could have used more heat, but had a nice salami flavor with a nice hint of fennel, and then the SUPER creaminess of the fat wasn't bad with some crackers. Overall I was pleased and look forward to new adventures hopefully in the near future.




These are some of the really fatty pieces. There were others which turned out nice with a better meat to fat ratio.