Good News

N'duja can now be made by all! After a brief conversation with the Italian importers, Coluccio's, from whom I buy , I was given a green light to carry their products online. They have a great line of imported Italian food products. Almost everything you can think of. I need to know what readers would be most interested in me carrying. I can get just about anything you can think of, from saba and vin cotto to farro perlato and lentils from Castellucio. All types of oils, vinegars, olives, tuna in oil, pasta, coffee, spices and confections. Right now, I have a standing order for hot pepper paste, hot pepper powder(for N'duja, of course) and wild mountain fennel seed and probably some whole dried oregano(little bushes), dried rosemary branches and dried parsley. I won't have it until Friday, so, I have 2 days to come up with any products that would be in demand. Bear with me early on, as this is a fledgeling operation. Anyone who would like to order any of these three products, please drop me an email through the profile link on this page. I am in the process of quickly throwing together an ebay storefront to get started. Please make suggestions in the comment section. Forgot to add, I can get estratto(sicilian sun dried tomato paste), and wild fennel pollen(pricey).

Cotechino time!

This is traditional Italian New year's fare. Typical from Emilia-Romagna, specifically Modena. This sausage is a bit of an enigma, well, in this country anyway. I was never able to find it consistently. One salumeria had it one year, then, not the next. Another was out of stock when I was looking there. Long story short, last year was when I first received the grinder attachment for the Kitchen Aid stand mixer. I performed an internet search for Cotechino in an effort to see if I could get some mail ordered by New year's. The search also turned up a recipe from a book on how to make it at home. The light bulb went on. It has been on ever since and spiraled out of control into what you're reading right now. Anyway, this was the first sausage I ever made. It was just last year and it was atrocious. I had no idea what I was doing, but at least they looked ok. So, with a year under my belt, I was confident I could pull it off. Over at Jason Molinari's blog, a Cotechino discussion was started with Al Verona. Al suggested the use of jowls as opposed to backfat. For my ratios I went 50% pork shoulder, 25% pig skin, 25% jowls. For spices, I used cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, coriander, and a touch of hot pepper, along with black pepper and cure #1. The ratios of these spices are all relatively small, all were based on Paul Bertolli's cotechino. I did, however, use a touch more cinnamon than what his calls for.

The meat and fat were ground through the course die. The pig skin, boiled for 40 minutes, was ground through the fine die. I did not do a second grinding through the course die, as I've seen suggested. I don't think my jowl was cold enough and feared it would start to smear. It already was looking pretty soft. They were stuffed in beef middles and hung in my curing chamber. I took 2 down and cooked them yesterday. I'm afraid I have to add that there was one huge, glaring error in making this sausage. I forgot to add SALT! This bothered me for two days. But, I wasn't about to cut them down and start over again. I figured I would aggressively salt the poaching liquid and season each slice as it was still really hot and would absorb a good bit of salt. I poached them in barely boiling, or "smiling" water for about 2 hours. They were then left in the water for another 20-30 minutes. I prepared a nice bed of marinated lentils for the slices of cotechino to rest upon. I got lucky, I sliced the cotechino and salted each slice on both sides. I've only had a handful of cotechini, so, I don't have a wide frame of reference. But, from what I've had, this was better than the others. The lack of salt wasn't an issue. It tasted very good, perhaps a bit, just a bit, heavy on the cinnamon. Other than that, I thought they tasted and looked just like they should.

Christmas salami/salumi

The title infers some sort of special salame. I assure you there is no such thing. I had to cater an affair for Christmas eve. So, I was instructed by the "boss" to have a salame ready for Christmas. This should have been ready in time. Usually, I pull my salami at about 45%. This measured in at 41%. It felt a touch soft for me, but, it was crunchtime. For this salame, a finocchiona, I used the same ratios and same ingredients I use for my dry rub. 3.5% salt, 1.75% hot Calabrian pepper powder, .8% "wild mountains" fennel seed. This was my first attempt at using natural casings(besides N'duja). due to it's slight softness and color, there was an abhorrent comparison to pepperoni. In DE-fense of the OFF-ender. It does resemble the deplorable American pizzeria topping. It tastes great. Good heat, and a pleasant fennel backdrop. I can't wait until it hardens a bit more. One thing I noticed using large beef middles as opposed to collagen casings. With the collagen, the forcemeat always seems to have gaps in it. What I mean is, when sliced thinly, it has holes in it. Now, there has never been any mold issues with any of these gaps or holes in the forcemeat. It's just a slight imperfection affecting it's appearance. Well, first glance at this salame in the beef middle, and not a single gap in any of the forcemeat. If anything, I can say these were under stuffed, in anything. Needless to say, I may have stuffed my last salame in collagen. Anyone else had similar issues?

As for the Christmas "salumi." As I mentioned above, I was responsible for catering a soiree for roughly 30 people. As if that weren't enough, I was given instructions, again, by the "boss," to make some "interesting" meat to hang in the fridge. The quotes are used to illustrate an interesting point. This is the same lady who wanted to throw me out of the house for the unsightly second full size refrigerator in "her" kitchen. Apparently, it was now a conversation piece. I had just become a freak show. Don't think for one second I'm bothered by the implication............I filled it, gladly. But, on such short notice, my options were limited. As you can see in the pictures, nothing new or out of the ordinary. Luckily, I had a bresaola curing for 2 weeks, so, that was ready in time to hang. Pretty straightforward. Cured for 2 weeks, hung in a 90mm collagen casing. You also see the 2 jowls provided by my local butcher. Salt, sugar, pepper and thyme. Finally, you see the pancetta arrotolata. While walking past the same meat display I've walked past nearly 3 times a week for the past 2 years at a local gourmet store, I was struck by a glowing white beacon. That of a beautiful piece of pork belly. Half became ginger and sage bacon, the other half was rolled into arrotolata. Bear in mind, I almost exclusively go tesa these days. Particularly because it makes no difference taste wise. It also tears the shit out of my hands trying to tie it so goddamn tightly. However, The "boss" suggested that it would make for a better presentation. Arrotolata it would become. How convenient. There you have it..........the Christmas salumi freak show.

N'duja sneak peek

I pulled one down last week, but, mowed through it before I was able to snap off a picture. So, without further ado, here it is. Yes, it IS as hot as it looks. It may be just a touch firmer than I would like. I didn't use a starter culture, but I did use cure #2. I went with .25% as the default percentage for #2. Perhaps next time I'll use a touch less. It's only been hanging for about 3 months. I say only because, traditionally it is dried for about a year. It tastes wonderfully. I upped Larbo's ante, over at This Little Piggy: N'duja and pushed to 25% total weight in pepper(both paste and dried), and it sure feels like it. I takes a couple seconds to ignite, but when it does, it doesn't disappoint. The funny thing about this salame is the more you eat the hotter it gets, while at the same time it tastes better and better. By the time I got through just a half of a small chub, I was red faced and trying not to breath through my mouth, as the air hitting the inside of my mouth was excruciating. May seem like a fool's errand..............so call me foolish. I' ve never had an authentic N'duja, but, these ingredients are as authentic as they come, and I have to imagine that tastewise, it's pretty close.

Salame Pepato result

This thing took forever to dry. Hung this up on September 3. Only took it down last week. This long delay is what led me to believe my starter had gone bad. Alas, it has not. While still a touch soft in the middle, it is delicious and perfectly fine. Has anyone else come across this issue? I'd call it a problem, but, with the salame being fine, it could only be described as an unexpected delay. A delay worth waiting for, I might add. I was finally able to get a salame with the heat I've been looking for. It is not overwhelming either, as you may think. I used four different types or pepper for this guy. The Calabrian dried chile powder, crushed red pepper flakes, black pepper and white pepper. I think it made a difference, because you can really taste the different heats, as they occur in different parts of your palate. One of them does resound a bit and stick around for awhile. I suspect it is the Calabrian dried powder, as this usually hits late. Another fine salame destined for the holiday table.

Finished Coppa

There really isn't much to say about this that you can't tell from the picture. Yes, this is my first Coppa. But, I don't think I could have done any better. I pulled it down on 11/7. It was hung on 8/21, so, a bit longer than anticipated to dry out. I pulled it at 35% loss. It was perfect all the way through. No case hardening whatsoever. As far as taste, the same goes, fantastic. I think most of it has to do with the quality of the meat. If you read the Coppa post back in August, you'll see where I mentioned this is Berkshire pork, butchered for me as I watched. Sliced super thinly on a slicer, it literally melted in my mouth. Salty, soft, unctuous and porky. I can say without hesitation this is the best tasting salumi I've made to date. Only thing I'm bummed about is that I've already eaten half of it. This is to be repeated as soon as possible. I have to give credit and say thanks to Tom the butcher for such a wonderful piece of meat. You can find him at:

http://tomthebutcher.blogspot.com/

N'duja neurosis

Yep, time to give N'duja another go. Again, I went pretty straightforward. I had enough trouble last time with plain old meat and fat, never mind throwing in offal. Well, Larbo beat me to the punch this time, using ingredients I planned on using. http://www.thislittlepiggy.us/2009/10/02/the-red-nutella/ (Please someone tell me how to make those nice little links, instead of these bush league links I keep posting.)

So, I ground up some pork shoulder along with some backfat through the course die. Then back through the fine die. One thing I have to mention, and I have to give credit where credit is due. I saw Chris Cosentino on "Chefs vs. City," making fresh sausage. He advocated the use of thin "strips" of the raw meat, as it will sort of thread through the grinder. I figured if a guy who pays his rent with salame does it that way, I have to at least give it a shot. I'll be god damned, worked wonderfully. For the strips that weren't overly frozen, I didn't even need the plunger. Once they grabbed in the grinder, they got dragged right through.............perfect.

N'Duja

1658 grams pork shoulder

414 grams backfat

62 grams kosher salt(3%)

5.2 grams cure #2(.25%)

4 grams dextrose

310 grams hot pepper paste

207 grams Calabrian dried hot chili powder

Not one to leave well enough alone, I had to do something different than Larbo, otherwise it would have been the exact same salame. I went above and beyond his big chili numbers. The 25% number is good benchmark for N'duja from what I've read. I went with 15% of the Calabrian hot pepper paste and 10% of the Calabrian dried chili powder. While measuring out the powder, I really did think it was overkill, but, whatever, that was my first instinct, so, 10% it was. I mixed it in the mixing bowl of the kitchen aid, it was little full, so some got spit out. A little aside regarding the paste, that shit stains, and stains everything....skin, counter tops, utensils, etc. I took out a little piece to saute up. No sooner did that thing hit the pan and I was coughing my ass off. I was a little apprehensive to taste it. But, my fears were allayed when I bit into it. Don't get me wrong, it's friggin hot, but delicious. I'll take better pictures once it's been fermented, which I'm thinking on the order of 3 days.