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Sunday, November 03, 2002

The MVP appliance this weekend wasn't the canner, wasn't the smoker or the stuffer, it was the dishwasher - now on its 4th and final load. Some bowls used to hold pre-measured ingredients were in there every wash. I know someone who cooks very seriously, sometimes catering, who has only one oven but two dishwashers. Its liberating value is underestimated. If you have enough bowls and a dishwasher, it's a real visual treat to place all the ingredients in bowls ready to go. Good mental checklist too, all the ingredients are sure to make it into the dish if you're keepin' an eye on 'em. Last project for the weekend was a cream puff pastry variation in this month's Cuisine At Home called Blue Cheese And Bacon Puffs. Stir blue cheese, parmesan cheese, sauteed bacon, and sliced scallions into the dough, put on a baking sheet with an ice cream scoop and bake. 3:11:29 PM    comment []

Duck Sausage   In the beginning:               1 5-6 pound duckling.   Remove and discard skin and fat. Quarter and remove meat from legs, thighs, and breasts. Grind this meat through a quarter-inch plate. Ziplock the ground duck and refrigerate. This should yield about 1½ pounds of ground duck.   Put the giblets, bones, neck and tail into a stockpot, Cover with:               3-4 cups water   Add:               1 bay leaf             1 teaspoon kosher salt             1 teaspoon ground pepper             2 ribs celery             2 large carrots   Bring to a boil, then simmer over low heat for 4-6 hours. Drain, reserving stock. Discard bay leaf, celery, and carrots. Glean meat from bones. This will yield about 12 ounces of boiled duck meat. Combine this with:               1 cup sun-dried tomatoes             1 cup dried apricots   Grind this meat mixture through a quarter inch plate . Melt:   1 tablespoon butter   Saute over low heat:               ¾ cup pignolia nuts   Stir often, they’re done when lightly golden. Combine these, the raw ground duck, and the simmered duck/tomato/apricot mixture. Then add:               10 ounces thick-sliced bacon, cut into short 1/8-inch wide strips   Mix everything thoroughly, then add:               ¼ cup Jose Cuervo™ Especial tequila             1 cup of the duck stock   Now the seasonings. Combine:               1 tablespoon kosher salt             1 teaspoon finely-ground white pepper             1 teaspoon summer savory             ½ teaspoon nutmeg             ½ teaspoon curing salt (Prague Powder #1)   Mix these into the sausage. Cover and refrigerate overnight. If the mixture is too firm the next morning, add:               1 (more) cup of the duck stock   Stuff the sausage into 20-22mm lamb casing, tied off at 3-inch intervals. Prepare the sausage by keeping it in a 120F smoker for 6-8 hours, then smoke with hickory for 1-2 hours at 150F. Raise the smoker temperature to 170F and keep it there for one hour or until the sausage reaches 155F internal. Air cool the links for at least 6 hours to bloom, then separate and refrigerate overnight.       11:37:54 AM    comment []

There was no frost this morning, even though it got down to 34F. I started the duck sausage smoking about 8:00am and it's finishing up now. On to conserve, which is in the simmering stage. Here's the basic Blue Book recipe: APPLE-CINNAMON CONSERVE 4 cups unsweetened applesauce  3/4 cup raisins 1 (20-ounce) can unsweetened, crushed pineapple, drained 1  cup chopped dried apples 1/2  teaspoon cinnamon 2  tablespoons lemon juice Combine all ingredients in a large saucepot. Simmer until thick, about 30 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Ladle hot conserve into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner. Yield: about 6 half-pints. I used the rest of the dried apricots instead of raisins and didn't add cinnamon since the applesauce I made last week already had it. After the simmer, I'll add one cup of macadamia nuts. With pineapple and macadamias, this could be called Hawaiian Ambrosia, maybe with a picture of Gabby Pahinui on the label... 11:02:27 AM    comment []

A thought that has been rattling through my brain all this year: All oppresors view themselves as victims An embarrassingly simple thought to rattle around that long, no? 3:50:59 AM    comment []

Tonight is the perfect night for smoking the duck sausage. The fingerling links are all meticulously tied off, 8 segments of 4 links each on two trays of the Bradley Smoker, warming up to prepare for smoke around dawn. If the foresacters are right, we'll have our first frost of the season about the same time. That's what makes the night perfect. A dousing of Jose Cuervo on the sausage made it perk up a bit. Not much, a quarter cup. It took about two cups of the duck stock to limber it up enough to stuff easily. Initially, one cup seemed to do the trick but, after 6 hours of resting, the mixture stiffened up. The dried apricots and tomatoes preobably soaked up the liquid. One more cup just before stuffing and it flowed easily. Since stripping a worm gear in the stuffer about 5 years ago, I make sure the forcemeat doesn't need forcing in the stuffer. What a mess that was, 10 pounds of venison sausage ready to go and the stuffer was gimped. Since then, wet sausage - it will dry out in the smoker. Oh, the stuffer was easily repaired, but it took a few days to get a replacement set of gears from The Sausagemaker and they cost $25. The sausage survived and was smoked after a freezer hiatus. 3:29:13 AM    comment []