Unfortunately.....

Like I said I was planning on showing my trials, hopeful successes and errors. Unfortunately this is an error. Well, maybe not so much of an error, but an unsuccessful attempt none the less. In the previous post I believe that I talked about the fact that the casings were wayyyyyy too big for the loins. So after talking to a couple of different chefs, and Scott from sausage debauchery I decided to remove them from the casings, wipe down with a vinegar solution and hang bare. Well, as you can see in the following pictures I lost a couple to mold (which was my main concern from the beginning. It all started under the casing). I was however able to save three that were covered with white mold, thankfully.




this was actually two loins I cased together, originally there was no separation, but I pulled it apart to see how the inside smelled and of there was any mold. They smelled great actually, but the outside is whats scary. I am looking forward to cutting into the others though.

On a brighter note, I took a trip to Ocala to see the first ever Florida raised and killed mangalitsa pig from Pasture Prime Wagyu. I will post more on that soon, but for now you can check it out Bluechefs or Wooly Pigs.

Lonzino

The other day I was lucky enough to receive some kurobuta pork loins from the banquet kitchen. I cured the loin with some cure 2, black pepper, salt, garlic, etc. I kept the flavors simple and straight forward (even though I was pleased with my Cocoa rubbed lonzino last time around) hoping not to hide too much of the natural pork flavor, especially since it's kurobuta. My only worries this time around are that a) I have never used synthetic casings (not very stoked about it) and b) they were too big for the loins after curing, so I had trouble getting a lot of the air out. I used my probing needle to poke holes and tied them as tight as I could, but don't know what is going to happen.

I am expecting these to take about 3 weeks, maybe a bit less since they aren't very big. After curing for about 10 days they were cased, hung to dry at 75' for about 16 hours and will cure in my chamber between 58 - 65' with an RH of about 75 - 80% (after the first couple of days. The humidity always gets jacked up when I first hang fresh batches in it). Here are some pictures of the loins before going into the chamber.


after curing




here you can see the one that most of the air didn't come out of

STOVE MONKEYS!!!

The other day I received my Prosciutto T from stove monkeys. If you haven't checked out the website or any of the products you have to. The owners Matt Mytro and Anthony Lynch created a clothing line for chefs (as young chefs) that could be worn on an everyday basis. The shirts are super comfortable and the designs are SIC!!! They have a new line coming out soon and have been working with chefs to create shirts that best represent and support them.

You can check them out at their website Stovemonkeys.com, Twitter, and Facebook. You won't be dissappointed.

Preserved Cherries

My parents are coming in this weekend for dinner, so I am messing around with a couple of ideas so they can taste some of the things that I've been making over the past year. This is the dessert that I am planning on sending them. It needs a bit of tweaking, but for the most part this is how it will be. I plan on sending this after the entrees as a semi-savory transition into the sweeter desserts.

Long Pepper Preserved Cherries, Frangipan, Brown Butter Powder, Amaretto Meringue, Tonka Been Ice cream

Prosciutto de Orlando

Tonight I decided that I could no longer wait to cut into my suckling Prosciutto. I have been waiting months, and would wait no more!!! The only problem with charcuterie is the wait, but as they say, "Patience is a virtue." Well, I had waited long enough. The prosciutto had probably been ready for a month or so, but since this was my first attempt at curing a ham I decided to let it go as long as I possibly could without giving in...(and I did....both!).

I cured the prosciutto, rubbing it down with just kosher salt for a month. I covered the exposed muscle with a mixture of lard, semolina and ground black peppercorn, and I then hung the little thing at room temperature for about 72 hours, and then in to my curing chamber it went where it has been at about 62' F with an RH of 75 - 80%, with a constant breeze from my trusty little cool-eaze fan. It went into the chamber some time around early September, so hung for a total of about 5 months. Here is a picture of the finished prosciutto before I cut into it.



The yield on this thing was pretty bad (obviously) however my main goal with this project was to a) cure a prosciutto succesfully and b) prove that my chamber works. I feel that I was successful at both, and am more than happy with how my prosciutto turned out. Here you can see my yield after removing the semolina paste, skin and one of the muscles.

Clockwise from top: Semolina paste, muscle, skin, rest of prosciutto.


Now onto the flavor. I was happy with the way the flavor turned out considering the drying conditions are not quite as good as a barn in Parma. The color is a nice deep red. The smell is like a prosciutto, but is a bit gamey smelling (but in a nice aged meat way). It's almost nutty and grassy. The flavor is salty, a bit of melon at the beginning, but the finish is really gamey and reminds me almost of a country ham. (I wish my grandfather still had the property he grew up on in Kentucky. I would love to get into the old 'summer house' and hang some country hams.) The only problem is since the muscle is so small, I have to cut it with the grain, otherwise the pieces would be way too small. So, it is a little tough when cut this way, but what can you do?





These 2 are pictures of the muscle before I removed the skin



This is the cleaned prosciutto before slicing



Sliced and ready for tasting.....

Eat Local Week

Today is the start of Eat Local Week in Orlando. You can find a list of the restaurants and purveyors involved at the Slow Food Orlando website. Here is a copy of the menu Chef Windus put together for Bluezoo.

3 Course Tasting Menu $39

1st

Cape Canaveral White Shrimp…
3 way hammock hollows cauliflower, pickled flambeau radish, meyer lemon vinaigrette
Hammock hollows herb co. cauliflower, radish, and meyer lemon,
Gary's seafood fresh florida shrimp

or

Rabbit confit…
maitake mushroom, truffle beurre noisette
Seely Farm, Dunnellon, Fl

2nd

Rosas Farms Grass Fed ribeye…
hammock hollows glazed turnips, baby sweet potatoes
Rosas farms beef, hammock hollows turnips
or

Florida black boar…
smoked shoulder, beer braised belly, celery root
Rosas farms boar, Orlando brewery beer

3rd
florida citrus pavlova…orange ice cream, citrus filled meringue, grapefruit gel, orange caramel
hammock hollows sunburst tangerines, Chinese honey oranges

TASSO!!!

A few days ago I cured another batch of pork shoulder for the house smoked tasso. The shoulder is cut down into slabs and then quick cured, rinsed, patted dry, rubbed down with a mixture of spices and smoked for 12 hours. We then dice it up and render it a bit with some tomato as a base for the risotto on our "Dirty South Swordfish", which is barbecue rubbed and seared in a smokin hot cast iron. I'll try to snap a shot of the finished product and the whole dish and post it up soon before the spring menu change.

Here are some shots of the shoulder being cured....