Pork recipe (clearer version)

I have a new food fancy... the pork belly :) The stuff just crossed my mind a week ago and I proposed a purchase to the department manager and he was like, "sure." So now we have some. i really had big ideas for the fresh and lovely, fat-laced indulgence of a muscle cut, but those expectations are proving difficult to fulfill. Regardless, it's delicious and we have some. It may shortly make its way into sausage. anyway, check out the great looking stuff in this video and tell me you're not curious....Secondly, I remade the Green Chorizo but this time around, used chicken for the meat, all natural boneless thigh meat... lovely stuff for making sausage. The thigh doesn't dry out very easily, stays juicy and has a firm but giving texture. The sausage has a fair amount cilantro, green onion, chopped jalapeno lime zest and garlic, with a bit of cumin in the background and cayenne knocking up the heat level. It's got a tingle of heat, but I would not call this an especially aggressive sausage.. perhaps a 1 out of 5 stars. Delicious and sort of refreshing in a spring-ish inspired meat dish manner.

les croissants, les croissants!!

  Yesterday I attempted the previously unachievable croissant-from-scratch.  They really are a royal pain to make, BUT WORTH EVERY BIT OF TROUBLE!!!  I got the book "Tartine" by Chad Robertson, for Christmas and was impressed by the author's approach to teaching the method for his own country loaf.  The book has really changed my understanding of the process and given me a greater appreciation for a great loaf of bread.  I've gotten close to his model a few times but I'm still a step aside.
   Regardless, the latter part of the book describes his croissant method and it really works beautifully.  This is as much a book review as a show-and-tell for my breakfast.  Check it out if you love super crunchy crusts with a springy interior... the author's method is grounded in very old fashioned methods of leavening by basing his breads on wild yeasts in a young, low-acid leaven and sometimes bolstering the rise with a "poolish" of lab grown yeast ripened for hours before innoculating them into the early dough.  The book was written for bread fanatics but is easy to follow for the novice (like me.) 

Here's my croissants from the AM.

Gameday Chili Sausage

  I have to admit off the bat that I don't watch sports.  It's just not my thing.  Don't have a problem with sports, I promise, just never got into watching.  I feel better. 
   Moving on, the news in Sausage Land it the "Gameday Chili Sausage" which was created today to appease the Super Bowl fanatic who obviously cannot throw a good party without a delicious sausage option for snacking.  This chow-dog is an all-pork link laced with the classic chili spices of... well: chili, cumin and tomato (not really a spice, I know.)  There's a touch of garlic, and liquid smoke, salt and pepper and a bundle of paprika for color and spice.  We then threw in a few good fistfuls of green pepper, yellow onion, corn and black beans.  It's authentic, delicious and satisfying.  Big "yum" factor here. 
  Don't hold back with this one... boil and broil them, or pan fry with onions, and toast a good bun.  These are aching to be topped with a pile of grated all-American Cheddar and underlaid with coarse and spicy mustard.  Make it look like a dream, then sit back and enjoy the Big Game!!

production day

Haven't been too consistent since the new year, but presently turning that around.  I hope you haven't lost interest in the sausage jargon, but if you've gone elsewhere, let me know so i can read along with you as I'm always into new information :)  Somebody was recently kind enough to pass along a tidbit about a corned beef sausage with kraut blended right into the meat.  NOW THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!!  Can we have a serious sausage dialogue?
  This week, production entailed three new varieties and it's only monday.  Look for Sauteed Mushroom Chicken Sausage which included the aforementioned mushrooms sauteed with bell peppers and garlic, deglazed with pinot grigio.  Also find a tasty Smoked-Cheddar Pork Sausage which is just what it sounds like with pounds of grated cheese intertwined.  And lastly, a fresh and Spring-inspired Green Chorizo which was my favorite of the day.  It's loaded with chopped cilantro, green onion, tomatillo, jalapeno, and lime zest with a touch of cumin, garlic and a pinch of cayenne for excitement. 
   Are you missing sunny, warm weather badly?  I do.  Sometimes sausage is the answer.  Sometimes all it takes is a crispy, meaty link, stuffed with the most delectable ingredients to whisk our minds off to a sunny beach.  Perhaps in your day dream as well as mine there is a hammock strung between two coconut trees and a table within arms reach plentifully stocked with, of course, sausage and all the fixin's.  I'd like that.  Try the chorizo... you've earned it.

Oxford Sausage in Maine

  While doing research for sausage concepts I stumbled upon writings regarding the Oxford Sausage.  This is apparently a traditional English sausage named for the county in which it originated.  Sources stated that they could be made from pork, lamb and veal though sometimes lacking one of these meats and other times including even turkey.  I liked the sound of the lamb and so today produced a version with about 50% lamb, 25% pork and the rest in veal.  Added also were traditional ingredients of bread crumb, lemon zest, fresh herbs and nutmeg.  This sausage has a flavorful meat with a light texture.  The richness of the lamb I found to be a pleasant counterpoint to the bright lemon zest.  Quite flavorful and yet mild and harmonious.  I believe there is something to learn in this exercise.  I had originally conceived of writing mellow and understated recipes with easy adaptability to many different applications and seem to have lost track of that goal in my quest for different and interesting sausages which often scream for attention.  This sausage has brought me a much needed pause.

Wild Maine Belon Oysters

  Today was an exciting day for me at the Market.  While chit-chatting with one of our seafood vendors to the store I inquired about wild oysters and recalled an article mentioning the Maine Belon oyster.  These oysters are both notoriously rare and intensely flavored.  Compared to the hundreds of thousands of oysters produced by individual farms in Maine, only a scant 5000 of these Belon oysters are harvested from Maine waters each year.  I honestly didn't expect to be able to ever see them.  Anyway, the vendor says, "We just got a sample sack from an harvester so i'll send them your way."  And so it began...

  To say that eating a Maine oyster is like kissing the ocean on the lips would be to say that eating a Maine Belon is like making out with salt marsh mud, but withholding the grit.  It was in fact the most potently flavored oyster I've ever consumed, which it not an immense sum, granted, but includes all the varieties I've been able to track down for sale in Maine.  Only one of four Belons which I opened actually had any brine remaining, which a tragic commonality as I found the brine to be utterly crucial to any slim chance of balance this oyster had.  But these, I guess, are not about balance so much as intensity.  There's a deeply embedded flavor of all things oceanic and a touch of decay... fermenting salt marsh, wet, sun baked seaweed, dried fish and a dash of cove waters.  Intensely reminiscent of place from which they are harvested.


  Admittedly, when I tried the first one at work this afternoon I nearly gagged on it but swallowed it anyway and suffered an ill stomach for a solid two hours probably just out of shock.  I was more prepared this evening and even managed to savor it for long enough to chew it a couple times before swallowing it down with a grin.  Super intense but in a romantic way and with such an explicit terroir aspect to it I couldn't be anything but fascinated.  These are a truly rare and genuine experience.

Wicked Hot Italian, Banger tweaking and Duck Sausage

  This week we made a third degree of Hot Italian Sausage we've titled the Wicked Hot Italian.  It's pretty fiery.. not hurtfully angry, but persistent, a nice amount of heat.  It's the basic Hot Italian recipe with added paprika for richness, spice and color and a good heap of cayenne.  Still thinking something violently hot is in order so we'll be looking into more intense peppers for the coming versions, keep eyes peeled.
  Next in line was a slight tweaking on the Banger recipe.  Following recommendations, more breadcrumbs were added to the existing recipe but spices and meat proportions were kept the same.  It's still very tasty but a bit more firm and thicker perhaps, very agreeable and close as I can recall to the last good banger sausage I ate, though it was made by an American producer.
  To be festive and lean into the Christmas feasting spirit we made a Duck, Cherry and Herbs Sausage.  This one is a blend of 2/3 duck meat and 1/3 boneless chicken thigh for lightness and fat, as the duck was rather lean.  This sausage got a few good fistfuls of chopped dried cherries and a balancing amount of fresh rosemary and fresh thyme.  Also dashes of the usual pepper and garlic, some salt, and a pinch of ginger.  It's pretty and I believe an adaptable sausage, suitable to accompany savory Americana-Style sides.  I think it could excel along with more interesting dishes containing toasted nuts, balsamic glazes and more eclectic spices.  The fruit really opens the doors to some fun options. 
  For some reason, all the game sausages I conceptualize tend to involve fruit and/or nuts.  Can't decide whether to humor this urge or to quench it... thoughts?