Summer Sausage

I made this once before and remember it being pretty good. The only modification that I made to the recipe was to actually use Fermento since I have some now instead of dried milk. I also forgot to dissolve the Fermento in water and just added dried with the spices. So much for reading the recipe a few times a day this week.

I started by cutting up a rump roast. This beef is from steers raised in my in-law's back yard (it's a pretty big yard)

To the beef, I added a pork butt that I had picked up earlier in the week. The recipe calls for half as much pork as beef. I went a little over that ratio because there wasn't enough pork but left over to make sausage.  It would have make just under 100 grams (little less than a quarter pound) so I just kept in in the summer sausage.

\

All the meat went through the coarse plate of the Kitchen Aid grinder attachment. Et voila - ground meat.

I put the meat in the fridge and put weighed out all the spices. It's nerdy, but I use a spreadsheet to adjust the original recipe spice weights to the weight of meat I am currently using. Here are the spices getting weighed out - salt, pink cure#1, dextrose, Fermento, Coleman's, granulated garlic and ground coriander.

Got the spice combination and some diced fat back here.

I didn't add any water to the spice mixture turning it into a paste before adding it to the meat. Forgot that step. I just mixed everything together and it smelled good.

The seasoned meat goes into the fridge for 2 days. On Sunday, I'll run it though the grinder again and then stuff it into casings. Maybe I can smoke it on Monday.

I've been lazy

Been reading more instead of posting. Plus I've been listing to a few books on an MP3 player. It is strange because the guy reading the book is doing more of a performance than just a read. I'm almost through listening to my second Jonathan Kellerman novel. The novel in the background helps pass the time making spreadsheet charts. There have been a lot of charts lately. I can't read and listen to the story. No problem mindlessly formatting charts and listening though. I'm not sure how you return an audio download to the library. I guess I'll find out when one of them is due next week.

But hopefully the laziness will slowly pass. I took out some beef to thaw, picked up some pork butt and I think I'm going to have another go at Summer Sausage. That's one that takes a few nights to put together. And at some point, I have to tile the kitchen. That is getting to be embarrassingly delayed.

And my oldest has just started playing softball. She might even be a pitcher. It sure would be nice if I could live my failed gold medal Olympic dreams vicariously through her...no pressure though.

Ballot Stuffing

Every year the Times Union does a "Best Of" poll. And just about every year the results are offensive. Subway does not make the best sandwiches. People seem to like 5 Guys burgers, I ate there once a few years ago and never went back. A long time ago, I specifically made a trip to Smith's Tavern because their pizza was voted to be the best around. It's not good.

Daniel B. over at the Fussylittleblog has been trying to change this. Over the past few weeks, he has been seeking input some up with a consensus of places to select in food related categories. I don't agree with every selection on the list (such as preferring Empire to All Star) and there are others that I am without an informed opinion (like Cafe Vero). But I agree with the premise that the places populating the list are better than the places that typically end up winning the title "Best Of."

So go out there and rock the vote. Here's the list of places to enter on the ballot and here is a link to the ballot itself.

Lucky Peach #3

I've been slowly reading the third issue of Lucky Peach. My favorite quote so far is from David McMillan and his thoughts on Sysco:

"Only a fucking idiot would order fish and beef from the same place he orders bleach and mop heads."

So simple, so blunt and so true.

My Father

I wasn't going to write anything about this here. I'm not sure what changed my mind. After I got off the phone with my brother yesterday afternoon (the topic was my father and hospice),  I went to my room, crawled onto the bed and stared at the ceiling for an hour or two.

I often daydream about building a brick oven. A few months ago, I had a discussion with some people at work. That "what would you do if you were suddenly rich" conversation. My response was to quit my job and work on the brick oven full time. I've got plans, drawings, some of the needed tools, local material suppliers lined up, and brick prices. This daydream is probably bordering on unhealthy obsession. While staring at the ceiling through watery eyes I realized that no matter which design I ended up building, what the outside of the oven looked like, where the oven was, or any other detail - every single oven dream includes me serving a pizza to my dad.

It can never happen. And realizing that made me even sadder.

I spent the day with my father. His eyes were closed most of the day. Not really sleeping but not awake either. Not in pain but clearly uncomfortable. As I listened to the hum of the oxygen machine and my father's labored breathing, anger was combined with my sadness.

Fuck you, cancer. He deserves better than this.

Shuffled off to Buffalo

Work has brought me to Buffalo this week. I'm typing this is the lobby of a Holiday Inn listening to the smooth sounds of the Backstreet Boys. I have to write something about the Modernist Bacon when I get home. We've had it twice so far. Spoiler Alert: freakin' awesome bacon. The kitchen is stull under construction. The granite backsplash is supposed to get installed tomorrow. Then we just have to pick tile and install it. And I think I'm going to change out all the outlets too. Piece of cake...

Time Flies

Six years old...

but going on 23.