duck breast prosciutto

ok, first of all, i suck. i suck at getting photos up.

it's just so much easier to type than to piss around getting the photos embedded AND where i want them.

secondly, i still suck.

the humidity in my curing cellar is the bane of my existence.

i even put a humidifier in there.

The duck breast prosciutto (one in white pepper, one in gingerbread spices) is now out.

i sliced it up.... and... i didn't know what to think of it.

the non-fat side was too dry (humidity=too low) and it was still fairly moist in the centre. Was that because the fat kept it moist? was it not in the salt long enough? (i wasn't the one to take it out) did it not dry through to the centre because the humidity was so low that the outside dried too much before the centre had a chance too?

maybe i just couldn't slice it thin enough to get what i think is the correct texture of prosciutto?

So many questions. No answers.

What do I do now? They were supposed to be for my Yule Dinner on Saturday, but I decided they weren't ready.

Well, I sliced up both of them. Put the slices in separate baggies. Labelled baggies. Put baggies in freezer. And I'll think on it for a bit.

We're not big prosciutto eaters in my house to begin with (nor are any of the homes that we'll be visiting over Christmas weekend) so I'll save my slices to throw into a pasta dish of some sort. They'll get heated through (that'll put my hubby at ease) and wont go to waste.

Done.

Now, the Chorizo!!

Oh the wonderful chorizo!

The only reason I think they're working is because I've been spraying them down 3-4x a day so the outside stays moist enough to allow the centre to dry.

I cut one up the other day. Wasn't quite ready, but it was so close I could taste it!

And taste it I did!

Because it really wasn't quite done (less than a week and it will be!) I fried up the slices and had chorizo "chips"

It has a really nice heat too it. It was a cold smoked one that I tried, but because I had nothing it compare it to and i fried it, I couldn't pick up a smoky taste.

Maybe it wasn't in the smoke long enough?

There will be better tasting notes on the Chorizo before New Years.

In other news, I finally got my beef in to make peperone! I'm gonna switch out my wooden shelves for stainless steel though.

I think the wood is absorbing too much of the humidity that's going in. Thus, once I get replacements, they will be removed from the cellar!

And, once the humidity issue is solved, I'm going to try and get a couple aging cheeses made to put up :)

Yay!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone :)