hangin tha meat

Every time a new item is hung to dry in the curing room I get ancy. Do we really have to wait that long for it to finish? What exactly will it taste like? It is a steady rotation of different cuts and kinds of meat, some of which will have finished there time in a week, others may be "hanging" around for a year or more. This photo is a picture of my duck pancetta one of my favorites. Today I've started a celeriac and black pepper cured beef tenderloin.

Seville Oranges

SEVILLE ORANGE MARMALADE 101

Ladies and Gentlemen, Gather your "heavy to hold" Seville Oranges and Brace yourself! For a Marmalade extravaganza! Slice them up! Ohh so nice...


Juice those bad boys!

Slice the peels and piths into desired size. I like mine quite small and thin.

Place them in a non reactive container and cover them with the orange juice and 2.5L of water. Leave for 24 hours. Place the whole works into your pot and cook till peel is soft. About 2 hours. You will have lost about a 3rd of the liquid.

Next, add the lemon juice and sugar and cook to the setting point has been reached. About 20-30 minutes. ( see notes for tips)

Prepare your jars and break out a red strip to celebrate, your almost done!

When setting point has been reached, let it sit off the heat for 15 minutes, then pour into sterilized jars and seal! Drink your beer and go to bed cause you cant wait for breakfast!

The Fine Print

Makes 5-6x 460g jars

1kg Seville Oranges (washed)

75ml lemon juice (about 2-3 lemons)

2kg demarara sugar (cane) (I used red paths demarara "style" sugar for this recipe and the result was a rich caramelized molasses flavored preserve)

Notes
The setting point has been reached when your boiling liquid becomes a foamy mass and your thermo reads 220f (at sea level) You can also put a plate in the freezer and spoon a little on to check the strength of the gel. Remember, "good things come to those who wait" Meaning if its not setting, keep cooking that bugger down!

on and forward

As the slow times tick along we find ourselves in other country's getting motivation to continue doing what we do. We are slaves to the stove, prisoners of the fridge, foragers of the forest. As morel season kicks off soon enough,(I know its still almost 3 months away but still!) I start to plan new stomping grounds to find my little treasures of the woods. While down in mexico, I got to sample some of my favorite cuisine. Tripas de leche, super burro's de carne, camerone al a mojo de ajo etc... Tripas de leche are marinated and pan seared bovine milk glands, which are thrown in a taco with dried beef and topped with pico de gallo (onions, cilantro, lime). mmmmmm Back to work. Valentines day coming up and some renos in the kitchen to come..