Basturma is an air-cured dried beef which is very popular in Armenia. It is like a spicier version of the Italian bresaola or the Spanish cecina. I spotted recipes for how to make it in Saveur.com and in the cookbook Lavash, and decided to make a batch. It was relatively easy and fun to make. Read More …
This is something I spotted in our local newspaper, The Chesterfield Observer. I have used it as a sandwich filling, as suggested in the article, and chopped as an ingredient in salads. 10 slices thick cut bacon ½ cup pecans 2 Tbs. maple syrup 3 Tbs. packed brown sugar ¼ tsp. salt ¼ tsp. black Read More …
An easy way to make a smoked sausage is to start with a fresh sausage and simply smoke it. Kroger had a sale on mild Italian sausage, and I smoked 2 lbs. at 250 degrees in my MasterBuilt electric box smoker until they reached an internal temperature of 160 degrees, which took about 45 minutes. Read More …
This mixture of Mexican chorizo and chicken is something I have enjoyed on the menus of a couple of Richmond area Mexican restaurants, although I have never seen it on the menus of Mexican restaurants in Texas, and there are very few references to it on the internet. It is really a very simple Read More …
Lately, this has been my preferred way to cook bacon. A sheet tray is much larger than a skillet, so it avoids the crowding and curling which is a problem with pan frying bacon. Also, it is a slower and more even way of cooking the bacon, and does not require the constant surveillance of Read More …
Smoked Meat is Montreal’s answer to American pastrami. I had it for the first time when I was a college student and debated at McGill University. After Ben’s wedding in Albany, I went to Montreal a second time and had a smoked meat sandwich at Schwartz’s deli after waiting in a long line. A few Read More …
I like Mexican chorizo, but if you look at the package and see what is in the typical product (pork salivary glands, etc.) that puts me off a bit. Also, a lot of the commercial product is very fatty. So for both of these reasons, plus because it is fun and easy, I like Read More …
This sounds like a crazy idea, but when recommended by the Serious Eats website, I had to try it out. The basic idea is to heat an unopened package in a sous-vide device at 145 degrees between 8 and 48 hours to fully cook and tenderize the bacon, and then to briefly cook it in Read More …
Popular in the colonial era, making hams from a leg of lamb fell out of favor, so much that I had never heard of such a thing. An article in NPR discussed a revival of lamb ham, and mentioned that the well-known Edwards Smokehouse in Surrey has started making country hams from lamb. This Read More …
Tasty and very easy, although it does benefit from being made the night before so that the salt and herbs can work their magic. At its simplest, American breakfast sausage is just ground pork with salt, herbs, and pepper of some sort. This batch was made from the following: 1 lb. ground pork (in this Read More …