Guess what - I'm curing some duck prosciutto in my fridge. It's for this little side project I'm working on called Le Petit Bar.
I'm learning all I can about charcuterie outside of taking a course in the cookery, which I plan to do sometime this year. I'm pleasantly surprised to be able to report that it is not all as hard as it does seem. Some of it is very manageable - making sausages and pates, rillets and terrines - and some of it is unattainable in my current home kitchen set up - dry-cured sausages and salumi for example.
So far I've attempted a simple chicken liver pate that turned out very well. And now I've got this duck prosciutto hanging in my fridge.
I need a few more days to finish curing it before I can unwrap it from it's cheesecloth, thinly slice it, photograph it and show it to you. But here are the basic steps. You won't believe how easy it is:
1. You need roughly as much kosher salt (by weight - grams) as you have duck breast.
2. In a non-reactive container (I used a glass baking dish), spread about half of the salt, covering the entire bottom of the dish. If you use a very large dish you'll need more salt than I've suggested, of course.
3. Place the washed and patted-dry duck breast(s) skin side down in the salt in the dish. Make sure if you are using more than one breast they are not touching each other.
4. Spread the rest of the salt over the duck breasts, ensuring they are both completely covered. Cover with plastic warp and refrigerate for 24 hours. The duck will become slightly firmer and darker in colour.
5. After the 24 hours of curing, rinse the duck breasts very well and pat completely dry with clean kitchen towel. Discard the salt used to cure the breasts. Season the duck with a little pepper, crushed coriander, juniper berries, orange peel... whatever you think will taste yummy.
6. Wrap each breast in one layer of cheese cloth and tie the ends. Hang from one of the shelves in your refrigerator for seven days before testing to see if ready. The duck will be quite firm, if it's still squishy, leave to dry even longer.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Friday, December 16, 2011
My Blank Canvas
This is it.
And it's mine (mostly).
Volia, Le Petit Bar - bar a vins et charcuterie. Le Bar est situe sur la rue Water a Peterborough.(Forgive my French, but I'm trying to improve... I am, after all, about to open a Parisian-inspired wine and charcuterie bar)
Roland and I are very excited to be entering this new venture. I hope you'll follow us along as we build this new bar.
Make sure you visit us here: www.lepetitbarpeterborough.blogspot.com to follow our bar building adventures, and watch for our twitter feed: @lepetitbarptbo
And it's mine (mostly).
Volia, Le Petit Bar - bar a vins et charcuterie. Le Bar est situe sur la rue Water a Peterborough.(Forgive my French, but I'm trying to improve... I am, after all, about to open a Parisian-inspired wine and charcuterie bar)
Roland and I are very excited to be entering this new venture. I hope you'll follow us along as we build this new bar.
Make sure you visit us here: www.lepetitbarpeterborough.blogspot.com to follow our bar building adventures, and watch for our twitter feed: @lepetitbarptbo
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
I have something to tell you...
Shhhh. I have a something to tell you. But, I'm going to keep you in suspense. All will be revealed. I promise. And, I hope, you'll find it's been worth the wait. That is, if you are still out there, reading this. I am the girl who cries wolf, with my promises of a new post, photos, recipes and food ideas. I hope when I can tell you my secret, you'll understand why I have been too preoccupied to share with you.
I have many great photos to share - lots of delicious Belgian beers, and I'm going to get those on here. Really, I am.
Last night I roasted a pork tenderloin over a trivet of onion, garlic, carrot, celery, rosemary and pear. A little chicken stock added to the drippings and some cold butter (off the heat, of course) for body and it made a dynamite sauce to go with a perfectly cooked pork tenderloin - the most perfect I've ever cooked. After eating pork tenderloin at Mesa Grill, Bobby Flay's restaurant in Las Vegas (I know what you're thinking... and you can't believe I buy into that whole celebrity chef thing. BUT - the food.... incredible) at a perfect medium rare, I am no longer afraid to under-cook pork. I know you can safely enjoy pork at a nice medium temp, but that med-rare piece I had at Mesa Grill was a revelation. It's just better. In fact, it's a amazing. So, here's the secret friend - prob with a thermometer regularly, and get that bad boy out of the oven at 145 degrees. Let it rest. You'll be pleased with yourself.
To serve with this pork tenderloin I braised some cabbage with caramelized onion & pear, anise seed, some champagne vinegar and chicken stock. Also awesome. I feel particularly proud of this dinner, and I have no evidence of it. I was so eager to devour the thing I didn't photograph it.
Oh - do you know I have a Twitter feed? Please read! @shanlmak
The next few months are going to bring with them lots of recipes for pate, rillets and terrines, cured meats and fish, condiments and pickles. And, I'm going to share those recipes and experiences here. There's a little bone for you... figured out my secret yet?
Till next time...
(hope you're all eating well)
I have many great photos to share - lots of delicious Belgian beers, and I'm going to get those on here. Really, I am.
Last night I roasted a pork tenderloin over a trivet of onion, garlic, carrot, celery, rosemary and pear. A little chicken stock added to the drippings and some cold butter (off the heat, of course) for body and it made a dynamite sauce to go with a perfectly cooked pork tenderloin - the most perfect I've ever cooked. After eating pork tenderloin at Mesa Grill, Bobby Flay's restaurant in Las Vegas (I know what you're thinking... and you can't believe I buy into that whole celebrity chef thing. BUT - the food.... incredible) at a perfect medium rare, I am no longer afraid to under-cook pork. I know you can safely enjoy pork at a nice medium temp, but that med-rare piece I had at Mesa Grill was a revelation. It's just better. In fact, it's a amazing. So, here's the secret friend - prob with a thermometer regularly, and get that bad boy out of the oven at 145 degrees. Let it rest. You'll be pleased with yourself.
To serve with this pork tenderloin I braised some cabbage with caramelized onion & pear, anise seed, some champagne vinegar and chicken stock. Also awesome. I feel particularly proud of this dinner, and I have no evidence of it. I was so eager to devour the thing I didn't photograph it.
Oh - do you know I have a Twitter feed? Please read! @shanlmak
The next few months are going to bring with them lots of recipes for pate, rillets and terrines, cured meats and fish, condiments and pickles. And, I'm going to share those recipes and experiences here. There's a little bone for you... figured out my secret yet?
Till next time...
(hope you're all eating well)
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Brugge, Antwerpen, Bruxelles
In three days. We leave in three days for Belgium - Bruges, Antwerp and Brussels.
Most excited for: beer (duh), food (of course) and street style (Antwerp)
Have been so busy lately - it's fantastic, I'm bogged down with communications work, but it means I haven't found the time to write or post photos of some of the great food we've been eating and making.
Heading this afternoon to Viamede Resort, about 45 minutes outside of Peterborough. They raise Tamworth pigs on the resort and today they're hosting a hog roast. Covering the story for Pearl Magazine, and I will post photos about the experience here.
If you're still reading this... you're wonderful.
Let me catch up with work and I'll be posting more food experiences and recipes.
xoxo
Most excited for: beer (duh), food (of course) and street style (Antwerp)
Have been so busy lately - it's fantastic, I'm bogged down with communications work, but it means I haven't found the time to write or post photos of some of the great food we've been eating and making.
Heading this afternoon to Viamede Resort, about 45 minutes outside of Peterborough. They raise Tamworth pigs on the resort and today they're hosting a hog roast. Covering the story for Pearl Magazine, and I will post photos about the experience here.
If you're still reading this... you're wonderful.
Let me catch up with work and I'll be posting more food experiences and recipes.
xoxo
Monday, October 10, 2011
Post Over Due
It's been a long while, and I haven't written anything here on my quiet blog.
Now I'm in a coma from the turkey soup that I made after recovering from the turkey coma I self-induced at dinner last night with 13 of my family members all squeezed into my very small living/dining room.
Turkey was awesome. So was the stuffing, the gravy - giblet gravy always scared me, but I'm definitely doing it again after this experience! - and the potatoes, roasted in duck fat like potatoes always should be.
I also have to update you on my trip to Las Vegas - weird city, pretty great food, baffling culture.
All of this has to wait; I need to recover from Thanksgiving first.
Hope you've had a lovely weekend - what a beautiful weekend!
Now I'm in a coma from the turkey soup that I made after recovering from the turkey coma I self-induced at dinner last night with 13 of my family members all squeezed into my very small living/dining room.
Turkey was awesome. So was the stuffing, the gravy - giblet gravy always scared me, but I'm definitely doing it again after this experience! - and the potatoes, roasted in duck fat like potatoes always should be.
I also have to update you on my trip to Las Vegas - weird city, pretty great food, baffling culture.
All of this has to wait; I need to recover from Thanksgiving first.
Hope you've had a lovely weekend - what a beautiful weekend!
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Tomatoes and Mozzarella
It's finally here. We have been waiting a long time, since March, for this moment. This is the time I look forward to every summer. This is why we grow a garden in our backyard. It's time. Time, to harvest the tomatoes. Look at them!
Since starting our garden we have grown heirloom varieties. I'm still learning, and I don't know all their names, but we have heirloom tomatoes and heirloom paste tomatoes - the best for making sauce - in our tomato raised bed.
The plants are heavily weighed down with tomato fruit, and everyday there are ripe tomatoes to harvest. This Satruday will be the first of an upcoming few where we spend all day processing tomatoes for canning. Those paste tomatoes will turn into puree, sauce, salsa and ketchup. The colourful heirlooms will be used for fresh pasta, pizza and Caprese salads - one of my favourites.
Caprese salad, or Insalata caprese, is so delicious because it is so simple. Only worth eating when all of the ingredients are in season, it's the freshness and ripeness of the tomatoes, basil and fresh mozzarella coming together that creates a taste experience worth revisiting. It's true that what grows together goes together, and we know basil and tomato are best friends. Their second best friend, mozzarella, is best when it's fresh - no rubbery yellow cheese balls, please - and worth trying to make yourself.
In the August/September issue of PEARL magazine I write about St. Veronus Cafe and Taproom's new menu and their homemade fresh mozzarella cheese. Chef Susan Houde flavours her mozzarella with Affligem beer and seasonal ingredients to create a seasonally evolving salad, a staple of the menu. She shared her recipe with me, and I'm going to include it here.
Now, I have tried making mozzarella and I wasn't as successful as Susan. Rennet and citric acid (this is a powder) are essential to successful mozza. From experience, you cannot replace the citric acid with lemon juice.
You can find citric acid at health food stores (Joanne's or the Main Ingredient in Peterborough carry it). I purchased my rennet from the Empire Cheese vendor at the Saturday Peterborough Farmer's Market. He looked at me like I was crazy - why on earth would I want to make my own cheese? After making some successful fresh ricotta cheese I can tell you that it is very, very, very rewarding. That is why you should make your own cheese.
Susan told me that while there are many steps to making mozza, it's actually fairly simple. What's important to remember is that once the ingredients have come to the right temperature, and you're ready to start working the mozzarella, things happen very fast. Read the recipe a few times so that you have a good grasp of how and when you need to jump to action. You need to stretch and play with the curds in order for them to come together into mozzarella. The curds need to be warm for this. Susan has said that this stage just takes practice - the more you do it, the more you recognize how the curds should feel before being shaped into the mozzarella.
You will need:
Stainless steel pot
Candy thermometer
Bottled/filtered water
Cheesecloth and strainer or colander
Wooden spoon
Knife
Fresh Mozzarella Cheese
This recipe is designed to make a large batch for a restaurant's use. You will want to reduce the measurements quite a bit if you're just making it for your Insalata caprese or pizza margharita
12 L homo milk
2 tsp citric acid
1 tsp rennet mixed with 2 cups bottled water
1. Pour the milk into a stainless steel pot
2. Heat, stirring, to 80 degrees Fahrenheit
3. Add citric acid, continue to heat to 90 degrees Fahrenheit
4. Once temperature is reached, turn the burner off
5. Add rennet, stir and leave to curdle (about 20 minutes for this large batch)
6. Cut into the curds making a criss-cross pattern
7. Heat curd mixture on high for 10 minutes
8. Strain mixture into a strainer or colander lined with cheesecloth set over a pot. This will allow the whey to drain from the curd. Reserve whey.
9. Press curds (in cheesecloth and colander) to remove moisture
10. Heat the whey (which has been reserved in the pot), to 165 degrees Fahrenheit
11. Add the curd back into the whey for a few seconds to reheat the curd - it must be warm to stretch
12. Stretch and shape the curd, pulling it and pinching it into a ball
13. Store the mozzarella ball in cold water and salt, or, like they do at St. Veronus, in some beer
Alternatively, you can purchase some lovely Buffalo mozzarella at Chasing The Cheese on Water Street. I spent some time with Jacquie Mellor, an employee of Chasing The Cheese, and she gave me some great tips on composing a cheeseboard. I won't overload you with them now, but watch for them in my next post.
Good eating!
Since starting our garden we have grown heirloom varieties. I'm still learning, and I don't know all their names, but we have heirloom tomatoes and heirloom paste tomatoes - the best for making sauce - in our tomato raised bed.
The plants are heavily weighed down with tomato fruit, and everyday there are ripe tomatoes to harvest. This Satruday will be the first of an upcoming few where we spend all day processing tomatoes for canning. Those paste tomatoes will turn into puree, sauce, salsa and ketchup. The colourful heirlooms will be used for fresh pasta, pizza and Caprese salads - one of my favourites.
Caprese salad, or Insalata caprese, is so delicious because it is so simple. Only worth eating when all of the ingredients are in season, it's the freshness and ripeness of the tomatoes, basil and fresh mozzarella coming together that creates a taste experience worth revisiting. It's true that what grows together goes together, and we know basil and tomato are best friends. Their second best friend, mozzarella, is best when it's fresh - no rubbery yellow cheese balls, please - and worth trying to make yourself.
In the August/September issue of PEARL magazine I write about St. Veronus Cafe and Taproom's new menu and their homemade fresh mozzarella cheese. Chef Susan Houde flavours her mozzarella with Affligem beer and seasonal ingredients to create a seasonally evolving salad, a staple of the menu. She shared her recipe with me, and I'm going to include it here.
Now, I have tried making mozzarella and I wasn't as successful as Susan. Rennet and citric acid (this is a powder) are essential to successful mozza. From experience, you cannot replace the citric acid with lemon juice.
You can find citric acid at health food stores (Joanne's or the Main Ingredient in Peterborough carry it). I purchased my rennet from the Empire Cheese vendor at the Saturday Peterborough Farmer's Market. He looked at me like I was crazy - why on earth would I want to make my own cheese? After making some successful fresh ricotta cheese I can tell you that it is very, very, very rewarding. That is why you should make your own cheese.
Susan told me that while there are many steps to making mozza, it's actually fairly simple. What's important to remember is that once the ingredients have come to the right temperature, and you're ready to start working the mozzarella, things happen very fast. Read the recipe a few times so that you have a good grasp of how and when you need to jump to action. You need to stretch and play with the curds in order for them to come together into mozzarella. The curds need to be warm for this. Susan has said that this stage just takes practice - the more you do it, the more you recognize how the curds should feel before being shaped into the mozzarella.
You will need:
Stainless steel pot
Candy thermometer
Bottled/filtered water
Cheesecloth and strainer or colander
Wooden spoon
Knife
Fresh Mozzarella Cheese
This recipe is designed to make a large batch for a restaurant's use. You will want to reduce the measurements quite a bit if you're just making it for your Insalata caprese or pizza margharita
12 L homo milk
2 tsp citric acid
1 tsp rennet mixed with 2 cups bottled water
1. Pour the milk into a stainless steel pot
2. Heat, stirring, to 80 degrees Fahrenheit
3. Add citric acid, continue to heat to 90 degrees Fahrenheit
4. Once temperature is reached, turn the burner off
5. Add rennet, stir and leave to curdle (about 20 minutes for this large batch)
6. Cut into the curds making a criss-cross pattern
7. Heat curd mixture on high for 10 minutes
8. Strain mixture into a strainer or colander lined with cheesecloth set over a pot. This will allow the whey to drain from the curd. Reserve whey.
9. Press curds (in cheesecloth and colander) to remove moisture
10. Heat the whey (which has been reserved in the pot), to 165 degrees Fahrenheit
11. Add the curd back into the whey for a few seconds to reheat the curd - it must be warm to stretch
12. Stretch and shape the curd, pulling it and pinching it into a ball
13. Store the mozzarella ball in cold water and salt, or, like they do at St. Veronus, in some beer
Alternatively, you can purchase some lovely Buffalo mozzarella at Chasing The Cheese on Water Street. I spent some time with Jacquie Mellor, an employee of Chasing The Cheese, and she gave me some great tips on composing a cheeseboard. I won't overload you with them now, but watch for them in my next post.
Good eating!
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