Winter Food Swap, Life Update/Rant

Isn't it pleasing when the word "rant" is in a blog post title? ;)

First, here's an EXCELLENT post on the Winter Food Swap this past weekend.  Valerie is a great writer and took some amazing photographs.
Show her some love and leave some comments :)

February Supper Club and Pork Hocks

Earlier this month Mira and I tried our hands at our first supper club.
There was an ok turn-out, but the food was fantastic!

The Theme: Your Grandmother's Kitchen
We all had to bring a dish or two that our grandmothers or great-grandmothers or great-great-grandmothers, etc would've made on at least a semi-regular basis.  The foods of our heritages.

I did smoked pork hock in sauerkraut with bacon-onion perogies.
My grandmother, et al. is Ukrainian :)

Lunch Special: Curried Beef Pockets

With Zac in school for the next little bit he needed something that was easy to take for lunch.

Thus, my mutation on Empanadas!
Unfortunately for him we had guests over for dinner and had these :)  He didn't get very many for lunch.
But, what was left, freezes well and is easy to heat up in a microwave.

Curried Beef Pockets

What's New for 2012?

Since I had Londyn 16months ago, plus the 7months before that (yes, pregnancy is 9months), I've been horribly anti-social (the first 2 months were fine).

Not "baby-blues" kind of anti-social, just tired, exhausted, not feeling my best- which is what happens when one neglects oneself in favour of caring for a new life.

And I'm not complaining. Not at all! We're hoping to get pregnant again this year.

But it does play into what I hope to accomplish this year.

To be more involved! (perhaps even a better blogger ;) )

Coldrooms and Curing Cellars

My cellar is now empty.

The chorizo didn't -quite- dry to the centre. It was just that little bit moist... but it was 95% perfect! not bad for a first try. Could've been better had I been able to fix my humidity issue.

Damn humidity.

The sausages I'm keeping whole, but freezing. Then I can take them out to use on pizza, in pasta, etc once thawed. They're quite tasty :)

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 :)

Curing Update!

No, I still haven't gotten my pics up yet... but I'm hoping to be able to get them up later tonight. Because I refuse to be beaten by a computer (even though I'm sure it's gotten the best of me many times already).

The Chorizo hanging in my cellar! (yes, I'll have a pic of them here too)

They're doing wonderful, as far as I can tell. The temp has been stable. Never got over 16C and hasn't gone below 14C. That's perfect as far as I'm concerned.

They're feeling stiffer everyday. And I've been misting them with water 3-4x a day to keep the casing moist enough to allow the centre to cure properly. My link that I molded DOES have mold on it still. However, it's all on the bottom tip of each sausage in the link. *shrug* Can't win them all I guess...

Humidity is still a problem. Everyone else I know who cures uses a large bucket of salty water with a cloth wicking water out onto the floor to up humidity. I have 2 5gallon buckets of salty water with wicks! in my cellar. The highest it's gotten is 35%. It's sitting at around 30% now...

Failure.

Why? My room isn't large by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, most would call it tiny.

Could it be the shelving? Is the untreated (no chemicals for my cheese and sausages!) wood absorbing too much of the moisture? Is that a problem now, but an asset later (When it finally absorbs so much water that it's helping keep the humidity stable)?

Ideas?

I'm gonna be putting my parents old cool-air humidifier in there later this week. I forgot to grab it when I was out there this weekend. Made about a 1000 chocolate truffles with my sisters. Only ate maybe 6 throughout the day and that was way more than enough for me :P

They're delicious, truly, but one can only be around chocolate for so long.

Good thing they're for presents and not for me!

Also in the cellar right now is Duck Breast Proscuitto (recipe from "Charcuterie"). It cured in kosher salt for 24hrs in the fridge then was rinsed, dried, spiced, wrapped in cheese cloth and hung downstairs. Some people hang in the fridge, but I have a cellar and I better use it! lol

It should be ready by Saturday, that's when I checking it.

I'll get pics posted of it when I slice it. Then everyone can see how it turned out (good, bad, or ugly).

There's two breasts, one done in white pepper and another done in a blend of gingerbread spices (my own blend). Because there's nothing quite like the smell and taste of baking spices, especially around Christmas!

In the new year when I have the sausages and proscuitto out of the cellar I'm taking out the shelves that we built and reducing the width by 6inches. That's right, my cellar is sooooo small that 2' wide shelves are too big!

And then once that is fixed and the humidity is FINALLY up to where it should be... it'll be time for aging CHEESE! :D

Curing Cellar

Well, I have pics of the finished Jagerwurst, fresh Kielbasa and the Spanish Chorizo (for dry curing).... they're on my other computer. The computer that keeps crashing the website when I try to upload them for a blog post.

** I hate computers! ** specifically, really old ones. (really old in the computer world is 5+yrs)

Anyways, instead of arguing with it again (will try again tonight) I figure I'd do a post on my epic failures... yes, already.

My cellar is a degree too warm. A whole frick'n degree. That is easily fixed with getting an outdoor vent installed to let in some cold air and another to let out warm. Of course, when the temp finally gets to -20C for winter that one degree shouldn't be a problem. Should do it anyways.

The bottom of my wall isn't sealed properly. I had a water mister bottle thing crash and bust open today and all the water ran under the wall to the laundry room. That means I have cold air leaking out of there.

I can't get my humidity up. (hehe, can't get it up. oh dear...) There's a bucket of salty water dripping onto the floor (idea stolen from Kevin Kossowan) and I've been misting the untreated wood shelves and the sausages with plain old water.

I was hoping to have cheese in there by now. That would have put a couple more tubs of water in there to get the humidity up as well.

*sigh*

I'll try a get a couple of problems fixed then I guess I'll go from there.

Such is the way things go. Can't get everything right the first time. What would be the fun of that?

First Step into Sausage Making!

Today I picked up my order of pork shoulder from Acme Meat Market and dove head first into the world of sausage making!


Needless to say (if you've been following, even causally, my blog) that I obviously put a lot of time, effort and $ into being prepared for this. Getting the correct curing salts, doing research on the equipment I'd need, how to tell if something has gone wrong, sourcing suppliers, etc.


For my first round of sausage making I did a Jagerwurst (Hunter's Sausage).

It's very similar to a ham or garlic sausage that you'd find in the grocery store. It has curing salt #1 in it and is hot smoked, which fully cooks it. There is no drying/curing time in the cellar for this one, which is why I chose it (greater chance of success! lol)
The spices are (in the order I remember them in): coriander seed, mustard seed, ginger, nutmeg, garlic, blackpepper

It didn't get smoked today. That'll be for tomorrow when I have the Chorizo to go. The chorizo gets a cold smoke then goes in the curing cellar.
Also being made tomorrow is a fresh sausage (no smoking, no curing), kielbasa (Rulhman's recipe from "Charcuterie").

Then, when I get around to it, an all-beef peperone (pepperoni) in natural sheep casing. It's a non-smoked dry-cured sausage that'll be perfect for my friend Sean! He's allergic to pork and is gluten-intolerant. Since I can control everything and it's a smaller size which means it'll be more likely to succeed (dry-curing time is only 6 to 10days for sheep casing) it'll be a marvelous treat when it's done!


Here's some pics of what happened this evening...


Pork Shoulder from Acme

Beautiful! isn't it? :)
(sorry, no pics of all the spices. I'll remember to do that tomorrow for Chorizo)

Step one in the grinding process. Coarse grind. Then, half of that was put back through on a fine grind. Mix them all up and it's ready to stuff!


Natural hog casing, soaking in water.


Finished product! Ready to be looped into rings and hot smoked over some applewood tomorrow.

I'll post tomorrow on the status of the hot smoking as well as the other sausages.

And I'll even try to remember to take more pictures :)

DIY, is it worth it?

I recently came across this article written by an urban homesteader in San Francisco Bay area.

DIY or Buy?

It brings up some valid points... buying organic produce to make your own jams and pickles or organic pasture meats to make your own bacon can be WAY more expensive than buying organic products in a supermarket, or even a farmer's market.

Doing those types of home preservation isn't about saving money (though sometimes it is), it is about supporting local producers and knowing about your food. Does that mean you always have to make your own products? Of course not! Buy from your local bakery that uses local grown and milled grain products. Buy meats and eggs and dairy from the farmer's market, direct from the farmer, and use those in your home.

That'll support your local economy and farmers more than you realize.

However, when it comes to homesteading, it's about growing $2000 worth of produce from $30 worth of seed and learning how to store it over the winter so you don't have to go buy from the supermarket.

It's about, if you have the space, to have a hobby farm with chickens or a goat or two, maybe even a dairy cow or a couple pigs, and tending to them for eggs and meat and milk.

But it takes commitment.

Getting your money's worth out of your animals doesn't happen in a year. Not even in 2 years. Try 8 or ten.

That's when all your investment in supplies and materials and animals begins to pay off.

It's a lifestyle.

An urban homesteader has to realize that it's a lot of hard work to raise chickens for eggs and meat (pens, shelter, feed, TIME), and that chickens generally DON'T lay eggs in winter. Supermarkets have eggs all year 'round because they have UV lights making the chickens lay eggs all year 'round and that's why those chickens get burned out and end up being "tossed" when they can't keep up with production.

To have a couple goats just for milk?! In the city? Yeah, you're a little crazy. You have to tend to them (clip hooves, milk them, clean up after them), give them shelter from the elements ($ and space) and then feed them ($ and time finding and storing enough feed, especially over the winter).

Why go through all that when you have a full time job to go to, a social life and friends to keep up with, television shows to watch, twitter conversations to follow?!?!?

It's crazy, right?

If you think of it as a hobby or "something fun to try". It's a lifestyle choice. It takes time. It takes an investment of time and money.

It seems really expense to go through all that just for something you can buy in the store.

Then don't do it. Find some trusted farmer's at a market and buy their products. It's why they're there.

What homesteading and preserving is about is self-sufficiency. Knowing where your food is from. Feeding your family with healthy, non-gmo, products that you know what all the ingredients are and can pronounce them all!

In North America we are spoiled with the amount of food we have available to us. We waste it. We destroy it. We mutate it. We change it into things that our great grandmothers wouldn't even consider food and then consume it as our main source of energy.

And we're dieing of cancer, diabetes, heart disease and stroke. We pump our food-animals full of antibiotics and drugs to keep them healthy when they're not. We then consume them and then we become unhealthy ourselves.

We moved from natural fats like lard, suet, butter and olive oil to commercial fats like margarine, canola oil (though you can now get cold pressed), and "butter". I say "butter" because the store bought butter has trans-fats in it without any indication of a additive in the ingredients label. Trans-fat is a MAN MADE fat. Butter is a natural product. Trans-fats are not found in nature. You see where I'm going...

Anyways, read the article. Decide for yourself whether or not learning those skills are something you want to commit to. Or, if you want to support your local farmer's and buy their products instead of giving your money to industrial farms.

Also, go visiting Kevin Kossowan. He posted something that plays into this debate quite nicely... It's about eating seasonally and how things taste better when you don't eat them everyday...