charcuterie

Divorce or Everlasting Love? November Charcutepalooza Challenge

by Anne Maxfield on November 28, 2011

Accidental Locavore Fresh Chorizo

The photo of freshly made chorizo the Accidental Locavore posted on Facebook, asked one of my (many) questions about making dried sausages in a small NYC apartment: “ Is this grounds for divorce, or everlasting love?”‘ and showed the hanging chorizo drying in our wine cave. My fear was twofold. One, that it wouldn’t work, but more importantly, that my husband would see the project and think the odor of the chorizo would permeate the delicate bouquet of the wines…luckily neither happened. True confession time: he works steadily at the Radio City Christmas Spectacular from the beginning of November and is oblivious to almost everything, including ropes of sausages for the latest Charcutepalooza challenge, hanging from the wine racks.

My cleaning lady, thankfully, is not so oblivious. When she saw them hanging she was immediately curious and wanted to know all about them. Since they had been quietly drying for about two weeks, it seemed like the perfect time to pull them out for a tasting. The Locavore cut down a link and sliced it up. It had dried perfectly, no mold (good or bad), no mushy spots, just links looking exactly as they should. We tasted them and they were good, a little spicy with some nice, assertive garlic, and a little smoke taste — all-in-all a really nice dried sausage. Would I recognize it as chorizo? Probably not. Is that a bad thing? Yes and no.Accidental Locavore Dried Chorizio

Understand that the Accidental Locavore has an extremely high standard for chorizo. The best I’ve ever had was from a stall at the back off the main market, La Boqueria, in Barcelona. Part of its appeal was that we ate it in the car, driving the Costa Brava, towards France and I got to cut it with the new Leatherman tool, my husband had just bought me as a gift (slices chorizo like a dream), and part of it was that it was just great chorizo. Pimento-red with nice-sized chunks of meat and fat, well-spiced but not overwhelming…great taste and great texture…a chorizo that I still hold all others to.Accidental Locavore Chorizio and Rilettes

One of the interesting things about making dried sausage, is that it’s such a crap-shoot. When you make fresh sausage and pâtés, you always cook up a little batch to check for taste. With the dried sausage, grind the meat, season and hope for the best. The next time I make chorizo (and yes, there is going to be a next time) it’s going to get more smoked paprika (the mild kind), more cayenne and possibly a little nutmeg (my cleaning lady’s suggestion…she made a lot of sausages and other preserved foods when she was living in Czechoslovakia, so I listen to her on matters like this).

Other than slicing it up and eating it, what did we do with it? Sliced up more and ate it. It made a couple of appearances at various Thanksgiving dinners, at my house with some homemade duck rilettes (more about them later) and at my friend Cozy’s in this gorgeous antipasto platter. Accidental Locavore Charcuterie Plate at Cozys

 

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The Accidental Locavore Smokes…Chicken

by Anne Maxfield on June 24, 2011

Accidental Locavore Smoker

In April the Accidental Locavore got a big, bright, shiny, red smoker. As part of the ongoing Charcutepalooza competition, smoking is one of the skills we were mastering. Since it was raining (again) last week, I thought why not smoke a chicken? Working with Michael Ruhlman’s Charcuterie book, the Locavore brined a lovely local bird overnight and put it in my smoker with a couple of big chunks of hickory. This recipe of Ruhlman’s calls for a maple-bourbon glaze. We happened to have a experimental (by my husband…late night shopping) bottle called “Snap” which is an 80 proof ginger flavored organic liqueur. Even though the rule of thumb when cooking with wine is don’t use anything you wouldn’t drink, maybe that doesn’t extend to other spirits… Snap went in the pot with brown sugar and maple syrup and got cooked down to a syrup. Halfway through smoking the chicken, we glazed it with the mixture. Smoking a chicken isn’t a laborious process, just a slow one. The chicken brines overnight and then smokes for almost five hours.

Was it worth it? Oh yes. The chicken was beautiful, a magnificent, mahogany color (the glaze contributing a lot to the special effects). It had a great smoky flavor and the white meat (never my favorite part) was still moist. Accidental Locavore Smoked Chicken

Anything to do different next time? Next time, the Locavore is not trussing the chicken until after it comes out of the brine. With the string holding it together, it was too hard to rinse the brine off really well and it ended up being salty.  While the skin looked great, it was a little rubbery and if you pull off the skin, there goes the glaze. My father says he roasts the chicken after smoking it to crisp up the skin. How do you get the skin crisp?

The big light bulb idea…do two of them at the same time! They freeze well and the smoker will hold a few birds. Another even better big light bulb idea, courtesy of Saveur magazine, butterfly them! Duh…they’ll cook much faster flat. Definitely going to try that next time and may even add their white BBQ sauce.

What did I do with Ms. Gorgeous? Turned it into a lovely version of a Cobb salad with bacon, avocado, Roquefort, the smoked chicken, greens from my farmer, local purple asparagus (raw and thinly sliced) and homemade vinaigrette. It tasted as good as it looked. Accidental Locavore Smoked Chicken Cobb Salad

Over the weekend we had my version of a chicken club sandwich with sliced smoked chicken breast, homemade mayo, local chipotle smoked bacon, Paul’s lettuce and the best looking tomato I could find. Pretty good but would be even better in a couple of months when the tomatoes are tasty! My editor, Lisa loves smoked chicken salad, what are your favorite uses for smoked chicken?

 

 

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What’s Local and Fresh in the South of France?

by Anne Maxfield on May 2, 2011

Accidental Locavore Small Purple Artichokes

For the past two weeks the Accidental Locavore has been hanging out in the South of France. I’ve been exploring the farmer’s markets in Nice and the surrounding areas, discovering what’s local and fresh in a new locale. Since one of my long term goals is to buy a house over there, this was a trial run to see what it would be like to be “living” there, shopping from the local markets, and cooking with the amazing seasonal produce. It being spring, there are beautiful artichokes, in sizes ranging from small to huge and purple as well as the typical green ones we see here. The first night we were there, I succumbed to a couple of huge local artichokes, steamed them with some big purple garlic, local lemons and served them with lovely French butter and a freshly roasted chicken. Delicious!Accidental Locavore White Asparagus

The other spring vegetable in abundance, were asparagus, both green and white and a combo of the two. I don’t know why we Americans are so fixated on skinny asparagus. Is it just that in our fast food mentality, we can’t let something grow to its peak flavor? Does it take too long to bring a thick stalk of asparagus to market, cutting profit margins? Or is it just that we don’t have the opportunity to taste big, meaty, flavorful spears? If you’ve never tried obscenely thick asparagus, you have no idea what asparagus can taste like. Now that it’s coming into season here, look for the biggest stalks you can find, and let me know what you think. I jumped at the chance to sink my teeth into thick green asparagus and were they good! We had them twice in restaurants, once with a lovely herb sauce, and the last day we were in Nice, with seared fois gras and a balsamic reduction. How can you go wrong with asparagus and fois gras?Accidental Locavore Asparagus and Fois Gras

And when was the last time you were given your choice of strawberries? Besides the fact that each and every berry looked picture perfect, they were abundant, piling on to market tables. My choice was between sweeter ones, or more flavorful, I went for the flavorful and was happily sold a box of succulent berries, each one better than the last.Accidental Locavore Strawberries

Another day at the market, we were in search of great local cheese and charcuterie. In Provence, there are lots of delicious goat cheeses, some soft and runny, others aged and tasty. We got a couple of creamy ones and one rubbed in ash and aged. To go with, a fresh baguette, some incredible homemade pates, olives from a huge selection and an assortment of smoked or cured meats. Add a bottle of local wine, and you’ve got a great meal.Accidental Locavore Cutting Cheese

Friday I’ll have ideas on some of my favorite ways to cook and serve asparagus. How do you like to enjoy them?

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Charcutepalooza Challenge: Duck Prosciutto and a Recipe for Pasta Carbonara

by Anne Maxfield on March 22, 2011

Accidental Locavore Duck Prosciutto SlicedDuck prosciutto, the first Charcutepalooza challenge. When the Accidental Locavore saw the recipe from Michael Ruhlman’s Charcuterie my thought was “how hard can that be?” According to his recipe for duck prosciutto, all you needed to do was salt a couple of duck breasts overnight, rinse them and tie them up for a week in a 55 degree room, all skills I possess.

Went out, got the duck breasts from Quattro’s where the Locavore goes for all things poultry, put them in kosher salt  overnight, rinsed them, wrapped them in cheesecloth and hung them before turning the laundry room to 55 degrees and closing them off for a week. My father who loves anything meaty and fatty (curing just makes it even better in his eyes) was up for a weekend. We sliced off a couple of pieces and tasted. OMG! If that wasn’t the saltiest thing I’ve ever eaten! Note to self; next time don’t rinse the salt, scrub it off! Two (only slightly eaten) duck breasts ended up in the garbage. As far as I know, once they’re cured, there’s nothing you can do to minimize the salt taste. Has anyone found a fix for that? Boil them like Ruhlman suggests for bacon?

Accidental Locavore Charcutepalooza-smallWhen the Charcutepalooza challenge to make duck prosciutto came up again, I saw a chance for redemption. Two more of Quattro’s beautiful duck breasts spent the night in a salt bed. Removed from the salt, they were scrubbed until their skin had a pale pink glow, and the underside was ruby red. Tied into lovely bundles and once again placed in my temperature-controlled laundry room. A week later, the breasts were a little misshapen (don’t ask why I expected perfectly flat pieces of duck meat), but the flesh was firm and dark red.

The verdict: it wasn’t love. They still retain a little saltiness and I wish there was a little more spice, or something to make them more interesting. Next time, maybe a spice rub before hanging them. In an a-ha moment, I’ve decided to make spaghetti carbonara with my homemade bacon and the duck prosciutto. And yes, I made the pasta too.

Purists will object to a lot of things with my Charcutepalooza version of carbonara, however before you scoff, try it. The duck prosciutto added an interesting note to the pasta and addition of duck fat (rendered from the duck prosciutto) could only be good right?

Here’s a quick recipe for my Charcutepalooza Carbonara (feeds 2)Accidental Locavore Pasta Carbonara

Put a big pot of water for pasta on to boil. While the water is heating, heat over medium heat: 4 thick slices bacon, cut into 1/2” strips, and about ½ a duck breast prosciutto, thinly sliced with the slices cut in half. Cook until browned and the fat is rendered.

In a small bowl beat 2 extra large egg yolks, ¼ cup heavy cream and ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese until well combined. I’ve always eaten my carbonara on the dry side, if that’s not your style, add another egg yolk, and/or some more cream.

Cook the pasta. When it’s just al dente, drain it and add to the pan with the bacon and duck prosciutto. Add the egg mixture and toss to combine (the egg will cook with the heat from the pasta and bacon). Serve immediately with more Parmesan, and lots of freshly ground pepper. Enjoy!

Our verdict? Delicious! What’s not to like, homemade bacon, my own duck prosciutto and handmade pasta. Add cheese, and heavy cream and you can’t go wrong. What do you think?

 

 

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