Wednesday February 15, 2012

So the two heritage breed pork bellies are thawing out in the garage along with the commercial 5 lb chunk of belly.  There are so many reasons for making our bacon.  We control the sugar and salt, we don't use any preservatives but we immediately freeze the bacon once its been roasted and smoked.  I can make lardons which are small little rectangles for stews etc, I can cut thick slices or thin slices as and when I need it.  My husband likes thick chewy bacon while my kids like thin.

One thing I forgot to mention about the mixed breeding of these two piggies - I had mentioned Landrace and Duroc but remembered today there is some Berkshire as well.  It should make for a delicious bacon, pancetta and my first venture into lardo and guanciale -  the latter being the italian word for cured jowls and the first being cured back or belly fat.  There is a city in Italy, Carrara in the northern part of Tuscany where Lardo de Colonnata is made - its a white salume made from the back fat of pigs cured with salt, herbs and spices and placed in chiseled boxes of marble - the same marble that Michelangelo used to sculpt David  (LaCucina Italiana, October 2009, p. 40).  It is cured and stored in these marble chests for up to 6 months.  Then it is sliced thinly like proscuitto is and served simply on freshly made bread.  I dream of the day when I can visit Italy and sample some of this delicacy.

You see a lot of people have a sweet tooth but I have a fat tooth and a salty tooth  - hence my love for charcuterie - cured, roasted, smoked or dried. Pork in particular.

Now I have been told by our local italian barber/hairdresser that cured jowls or guanciale is the ultimate in cured pork meats.  I have a few jowls now in my freezer and will be using Michael Ruhlmans and Brian Polcyn's recipes from their book Charcuterie.   I will thaw some out and cure at the same time as I cure the pork bellies.  Different recipe as it will use garlic, peppercorns and thyme and unlike the bellies it will be hung to dry in our garage as its still cold enough to be like the inside of a fridge.

Tomorrow I will write about making an easy tasty soup starting with a homemade simple broth that is full of nutrients and vitamins and proteins.  And again its simple because it is made over night - the broth simmers over night in a large stockpot in order to squeeze out every flavor from the bones and veggies.  I make the broth each friday night and my son eats soup made from the broth every schools day when he comes home - so far this school year he has not been sick one day.

Anyways tomorrow or Friday depending on how long it takes the bellies to thaw I will take pictures of the process and maybe even a video if I can figure that part out (a good family friend has promised to show me how to do the YOUTUBE upload and then link the blog to the videos.