Bacon - The Candy of Meat

Bacon. Tasty, wonderful bacon. The candy of meat. Perhaps the singular "Meat of the People", surpassing even the noble burger. The bacon craze has ben quite evident over recent years. I first noticed when I first had the chance to try Voodoo Donut's Bacon Maple bar. Soon after, it was Mo's Bacon Bar by Vosges Chocolate. All manor of bacon inspired offerings followed. Soon though, there would be the tail end..the nasty bits, such as Denny's Bacon Maple Sunday (which I ordered for breakfast one day) and more recently Jack in the Box's Bacon Milkshake ( heinous, I'm told). It's easy to understand why many who are certified masters on the subject often and loudly declare that the bacon craze is dead..over ...kaput. Even John Stewart, of Sonoma County's Black Pig (who teamed with Duskie Estes of Zazu to win 2011 Grand Cochon) ventured to offer up such blaspheme. Yet, like a determined zombie, bacon marches on. Relentless - unwavering. Case in point: I give you the bacon coffin.



Face it. Embrace the horror. Bacon rules.And, it was fortified with such knowledge, that I set out to make my own. My muse descended upon me when I first took notice at our Santa Rosa Farmer's Market of some blessed folk offering their own ranch raised Berkshire Hog pork products - most notably pork belly. What's so special about Berkshire hogs is that they are a heritage breed, and overall much leaner than the average commercial animal. The price also was quite reasonable: about $6 a pound. Outstanding. A quick online check of curing techniques ( I was already up on the smoking aspect) and I was ready to go. The end result: some kick ass home made bacon! It's so easy, it should be illegal. And if the Food Nazis who currently reside in our assorted govt institutions have their way, it will be illegal in our lifetime. Don't doubt me, and don't get me started. Anyhoo - here's how it went it down.

First up, the cured product. These beautiful slabs were drying, just having been washed of the salt/sugar cure I had put them through for 5 days.


My smoker in action. The cured pork bellies are smoked over hickory for 2.5 hours at about 225 degrees. No higher. We're smoking here, not roasting.


The finished product, ready to for feasting.


It's understandable that one would be nervous at the thought of consuming home made bacon on the first go around. Don't be. I've done this several times over. Even consumed some of the cured but not smoked product and all is good. In fact, it's superior in every way. And again, it's damn easy. The hardest part is finding pork belly. The folks I go to are from Dream Catcher Ranch located around Chico/Redding area. You can find them at the Wednesday Farmer's Market in Santa Rosa and online as well. Oliver's Grocery also has decent pork belly. So now you know - what's stopping you?

Laissez le Bon Temps Rouler!

Yes it’s Mardi Gras, and once again you’re not prepared. Most likely, you’ve not given it any thought. Shame! It’s not too late to snatch victory from the gaping maw of culinary defeat. All that’s required are a couple of key tools and you are well on your way to bringing a bit of ol’ NOLA into your home.

Time is definitely short so we’ll go with 2 ingredients that multi task very well. The most basic is a good bayou seasoning. Most of what you find in the stores are little more than seasoned salt, so why not make your own out of what you already have on hand? Easy, cheap and infinitely better.

Bayou Seasoning
2 ½ tbsp paprika
2 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp dried thyme
Combine all the above ingredients and you are locked and loaded. Use to blacken chicken or fish. Add a couple of tablespoons to a creamy pasta sauce or toss with roasted baby red potatoes. Whatever you want to do, it’s your show and definitely feel free to change the above ingredients and proportions to suit your taste.
Next up is a classic Creole condiment: remoulade. Remoulade goes best with fish, but this is so good you won’t hesitate to lick it off an old boot. And again, you already have most of these ingredients on hand.

Remoulade Sauce
½ cup mayonnaise
3 tbsp finely chopped celery
1 ½ tbsp chopped Italian parsley
2 ½ tbsp prepared horseradish
2 tsp minced shallot
2 tsp ketchup
2 tsp Dijon mustard (whole grain Dijon if you have it)
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp paprika
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ tsp cayenne pepper.
Combine all above ingredients. Serve with crab cakes, grilled shrimp, oysters..whatever you want. Already looking for that boot aren’t you?
So now you have some key building blocks for a suitable Mardi Gras soiree. All that is missing is the proper libation, and here’s the classic:

The Hurricane.
2 oz light rum
2 oz dark rum
3 oz orange juice
Juice of half a lime
1 oz grenadine ( I prefer the syrup from a jar of maraschino cherries)
1 tbsp simple syrup, agave nectar or 1 tsp sugar
Squeeze lime juice into shaker filled with ice. Pour remaining ingredients into shaker and shake well. Strain into hurricane glass (or reasonable substitute) filled with ice. The original Pat O’Brien’s recipe called for 2 parts passion fruit juice to 1 part OJ, but again who of us keeps that on hand? No rum on hand? Then crack a beer – it’s Mardi Gras and it goes well with whatever you’re making. C’est si bon!

New Year's Food Finds

We’re well into the New Year, and off to a great start, gastronomically speaking. The holidays saw some fantastic food and beverage, as well as a few misses. Aperitifs are a usual starting point to let’s visit the subject of potent potables. At the top would have to be a limoncello that I participated in with Gastro Gal aka Debs. We used a pure grain alcohol, Everclear, along with the zest of Meyer lemons, homemade simple syrup and water. The result was a dangerously tasty quaff. So tasty in fact one has to remind themselves that it’s still booze. The batch of holiday hooch was crafted with the intent of distributing as gifts. The first reviews came in quickly and went something like “…holy @#%@#$ that is @#$%@$# good!” I think you get the idea. A miss on the beverage side would have to be the cocktail service at the Slanted Door at San Francisco’s Ferry Building. Now I’ve had decent service in the past but I’ve observed that it has always been spotty. I had the opportunity to stop in at The Slanted Door during a recent outing specifically targeting the farmer’s market that takes place on Saturday’s in and around the Ferry Building. The service was off-putting to the point of rudeness. Our party of 5 was gone within 5 minutes. A better bet is Market Place Wine Bar. We went with a couple of bottles of a nicely dry prosecco whichat $20 bottle was very reasonable. Be sure to check on their website as offerings are rotated monthly. On your way to score your beverage, be sure stop by Chris Cosentino’s Boccalone salumeria. Grab a few meat cones and then head a couple of doors down to the wine bar and tuck in.

The food over the holidays was of course great, as it simply has to be as people are putting their very best efforts forward. A personal revelation was my first try of truffle honey. Unbelievably good. Any attempt by me to describe it would be an injustice. It’s definitely a splurge but one of those curios that must be indulged in at least once in one’s life. Pair it with a soft farmer’s cheese. Locally, both Whole Foods and Oliver’s carry this decadent condiment. Something on the bizarre foods list of holiday experiences was an ice cream made with candy cap mushrooms. If you’ve never had candy caps, they feature a pungent aroma of maple. The flavor is more subdued and earthier. The ice cream itself mirrored these characteristics – sweet maple syrup with an earthy almost musty background that made it hard to wrap one’s brain around. Still, it was GOOD. A definite miss was a “meat in tube form” known as cotechino. An Italian dish traditionally served around the New Year, it signifies the prospect of good luck and fortune for the coming year. It is also easily double to triple the girth of most sausages. Its menacing appendage like appearance did not dissuade me from acquiring some at the local farmer’s market from Franco’s Sausages. All of their products to date have been top notch so I was very confident of my purchase. What I didn’t know ‘til later was that cotechino was developed during a prolonged siege somewhere in 16th century Italy. A pork product formed of secondary cuts, skin and fat, there is both a tactile and audible squeak as one bites into their medallion of mystery meat-a result of the rubbery bits of pig skin, no doubt. Again, it did actually taste good but the texture was a definite challenge. While I finished my porcine behemoth, others could not bring themselves to approach even a second bite, having been cowed into submission and defeat by the monstrous meat offering.

As I like to end on a positive note, I should also say there was bacon…my homemade bacon and I have to agree that it is pretty damn good, and will be the subject of an upcoming post.

Cheers!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas wishes from all the gang at Gastro Hounds.

'tis the Season

We're smack dab in the middle of the holiday season, and the gatherings and various festivities that accompany it are well underway. Now is a good time for reminder on holiday party etiquette on the part of the guest - a discussion that dovetails nicely with a somewhat similar discussion held over at I Am Not a Chef blog.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, a discussion emerged between Gastro Gal and myself regarding proper etiquette when a guest is bringing a dish - in this case an appetizer. My plan was to do Calibresi skewers of grapette tomatoes (the last from my garden), balled goat cheese to resemble buffalo mozzarella and pesto also made of basil from my garden and all finished with a drizzle of a balsamic reduction. I had planned to prepare the skewers and finish with the pesto and reduction at the hosts house. The point of contention being: should the appetizer be complete upon arrival? Is it appropriate to assume that some preparation done at the location of the gathering, however small, is OK? Gastro Gal was definitely on the side of "No, and hell no!", maintaining that the dish should be complete and ready to go so as not to place undo burden on the host. Now, this is a common sense approach, and truly all I would have required was a teaspoon, and 2 minutes to complete my plating. Still, the point was a solid one. The workaround was simple enough: I simply drizzled my reduction onto the plate, filled a ramekin with the pesto and placed in the middle of the platter and arranged the skewers around the ramekin. It was both functional and decorative at the same time and did not at all distract from my original design of the dish. Consider then, the guest who has agreed to make mashed potatoes and shows up with a pot and a sack of unpeeled spuds. It happens, and we all have accounts to look back upon.

So, a kind word in closing: if you are bringing a dish to any gathering, unless you have made specific arrangements with the host, the dish had best be completed and ready to serve as is. Period. In my case, I was indeed fortunate, as this was our host's first time at throwing a Thanksgiving feast, and the task did weigh heavy on her brow. Any intrusion into her timetable was one more fly in the ointment. I can say with relief and gratitude, I was not one of those flies.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year, as with every year, I am thankful for tasty, tasty animals. That, and not being relegated to "bread boy".

Happy Halloween!

One thing that always reaffirms my believe in all that is good is to witness and take part in the passion and flat out fun that others bring to the table - both literally and metaphorically. Case in point - a Halloween gathering held on Sat. 10/29. GastroGrrrl aka Debs and I attended and while looking forward to the occasion with relish, we knew going in that we'd only know a handful of the folks attending. The names of those participating are being withheld to protect - well I'm not really sure but suffice to say a ghoulish time was had by all. The sangria was excellent, and the tequila shots delivered via syringes - inspiring.,, and naughty. Have I mentioned naughty? Everyone attending participated with gusto. One of my favorite bites of the evening was a jello mould in the form of a human brain. It's the consistency that knocks it out of the park, but the best of the night was watching Shaggy breast feed a zombie baby with the full approval of an adoring Scooby. You really, REALLY had to be there - but it did give a whole new meaning to "Scooby Snack".

The theme was Evil Carnival, as if there is any other kind, and GastroGrrrl aka Debs and I attended as Evil Carnival Fry Cook and Freakin' Scary Waitress. Word of caution, DO NOT order the Blue Plate Special - trust me.

I was prepared for the next morning knowing it would be a late night, and prepared a brunch consisting of a chorizo and egg scramble topped with salsa fresca featuring produce from my garden, paired with home "fried" potatoes. I don't actually fry them. I coarsely dice them with onion, toss with olive oil, season with sea salt, black pepper and paprika then bake at 425 degrees until golden, stirring occasionally. I find the potatoes cook much more evenly and with far less oil. The bonus is that additional stove top space is freed up should additional cooking be necessary.

The entire endeavor, including French press coffee and making the salsa took no more than 45 minutes - Iron Chef material! I believe I scored well. And no joke, the judge would have let me know if I had come up short in any regard.

The finished entry



Best Halloween Wishes from the entire Graveyard!