While not technically cured, this trotter terrine is my first foray into terrine making. Making a dish that, up until now, I thought was purely restaurant food was really satisfying.

I simmered trotters, pork belly, onions, leeks, carrots, celery, thyme, bay, coriander seeds, black pepper, fennel seeds, and brown mustard seeds in white wine and water for three hours. Then I strained the entire pot, reduced the liquid and poured some of it over the belly and deboned trotters. The gelatin in the trotters allowed the entire mix to set up overnight.



The terrine sliced easily and had a diverse texture. The skin, fat, and meat all had different textures. The pork flavor was very intense.

Except for the fact that you used no head-parts, what you have is basically a head cheese! Lovely! Looks great, and I bet that the texture is most excellent.

Bien fait!

Geo

msmre wrote:While not technically cured, this trotter terrine is my first foray into terrine making. Making a dish that, up until now, I thought was purely restaurant food was really satisfying.

Stunning and it looks absolutely delicious, too.

=R=

msmre,

Bravo!

Thanks Ronnies and Geo. The terrine was a warm up to doing the Testa in a few weeks. As for now, sitting on the deck while drinking wine and eating slices or the terrine is alright.

You impressed me!

I’ve been reading this thread with a lot of interest. Many great stories and pictures.

I’ve recently made my first attempt at nitrate/nitrite-free bacon. I was pleased with the taste: Much more pork tasting than commercial bacon, yet not overbearing. The color was more grayish than commercial bacon and was a little bit of a turn-off. I understand that one of the effects of nitrite is that it gives meat that nice pink/red color.

I was thinking of adding (red) beet juice powder during the cure and see whether this enhances the color. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Also, I am looking for a local source for beet juice powder. Any suggestions?

Thanks, Duppie

The Spice House may have some. I'd give a call over that way.

msmre wrote:The Spice House may have some. I'd give a call over that way.

I ended up getting some red beet juice at WF. And cured the bacon using a wet brining method. I don't think the red beet juice contributed anything to the look of the bacon.
However I found the wet-brining to work better than the dry curing that I tried before: 4-5 day days instead of 8-9 and the bacon tasted better too. The pork flavor was a little less pronounced. I really couldn't tell that the bacon contained no nitrite

How long can rillettes be stored in the frig. before going funky?

razbry wrote:How long can rillettes be stored in the frig. before going funky?

It depends on how they were prepped. If you have salted the meat overnight and capped the rillettes with fat, they keep for awhile. I have eaten some after a few months with no ill effects. Once the cap is broken, the clock has started to tick.

The photos in this thread are beautiful! I'm inspired to take some pics when I do my next batch of bacon, likely in February. I've also had pancetta on my mind, so maybe I'll get two pork bellies at the market and do one of each.

This thread and Mike G's guancialleblogissimo (or something like that) have inspired me to try my hand at guanciale.

Here are the jowls (from Butcher & Larder) pre-cure. The glandular tissue I removed is between the jowls. I hope I didn't cut off too much. It was a little hard to tell exactly what was gland and what was fat.


Mid-cure:


Post-cure (removed and rinsed after 6 days)


Hanging in my basement (59 degrees, 50% humidity with a cool air humidifier running on low)


Not food-related but the previous owner of my house had little jars of nuts and bolts and things hanging from the ceiling in jars. I never looked that close until I was hanging up the jowls today and found these:


I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure they're taps (for shoes). Any tap dancing LTHers, please shoot me a PM--they're up for grabs.

I am in the process of making guanciale based on the recipe in Ruhlman's book. He says to let it hang until it is fairly firm to the touch but not hard. I currently have the cured jowl hanging in my den in our old, drafty apartment (we live on the top floor of a 2 story old house in lakeview). I know the temperature hovers around 60-65, but I'm not too sure exactly what the humidity is, I know it's fairly dry in here for the most part.

Here is my question - I've had the guanciale hanging for about a week now and when I squeeze it, the fat portions are still fairly soft. However, when I touch the exposed meat/muscle portions of the jowl, it feels fairly hard. Does this sound normal? I'm a little worried that the air is too dry and the meat is drying out too quickly. Like I said though, the fat is still fairly soft. Anyone have any thoughts?

BigT wrote:I am in the process of making guanciale based on the recipe in Ruhlman's book. He says to let it hang until it is fairly firm to the touch but not hard. I currently have the cured jowl hanging in my den in our old, drafty apartment (we live on the top floor of a 2 story old house in lakeview). I know the temperature hovers around 60-65, but I'm not too sure exactly what the humidity is, I know it's fairly dry in here for the most part.

Here is my question - I've had the guanciale hanging for about a week now and when I squeeze it, the fat portions are still fairly soft. However, when I touch the exposed meat/muscle portions of the jowl, it feels fairly hard. Does this sound normal? I'm a little worried that the air is too dry and the meat is drying out too quickly. Like I said though, the fat is still fairly soft. Anyone have any thoughts?

Update: I let the guanciale hang for another week or so as the fat still felt fairly soft throughout this past week. Last night, after letting the jowls hang for about 2 weeks, I decided to pull one down and slice into it. Everything looked fine, the fat was nice and glossy and the meat looked pink and edible and smelled nice and porky. I sliced a few slices off and fried them up - delicious. I'm still alive typing this today so I think everything worked out. I have some pics on my computer but I don't know where to upload them to host them.

As long as you cook it first, you aren't going to do any damage. You could cook it after curing it, but drying it intensifies the flavor and gives it a different texture. If you are slicing some and eating raw, I'd be a little more worried.

In general, the first few times hanging meat to dry, I'd weigh it before hanging it and when the weight is 70% of the original weight, it should be in the right spot.

here are a few pics from my guanciale making adventure:




after a week curing in the fridge


after 2 weeks drying in my den.


pizza topped with guanciale, braised fennel, fresh mozz and anissette cream

veal breast for corned beef, out of the 7 day cure:

after 4 hours slow simmer, then cooled on the fridge, I was able to remove the cap which has a thin layer of meat under it, the rest of the meat pulled from the bone, full cure penetration, magnificently fatty and flavorfull.





cap portion:



got some hash in mind for the pulled chunks, tbd if I can slice some fo the cap.

I am sold on Pink Salt # 1 after this batch, too much caluculating in using TQ for me, I like how I can really control the sugar and salt with PS # 1.

Next up for me is to purchase a brisket and do a 2 week cure for my St. Patty's corned beef, and perhaps a pastrami.

this was as good as the turkey breast I cured for pastrami back in November.

a wet cured pastrami(8.5 days) I am currently working on(should be done Sunday for lunch/dinner):


bottom:


cap:


fixin to smoke this Saturday, then cool and refridgerate then steam Sunday for sandwiches.

Wow Jim, how do you get your spices to stick so densely? It's like you glued them on.

Pretty, pretty, pretty!

Geo

Thanks, I coated the cured brisket in olive oil, then pressed in the spice rub Really wanted a crust on this. It sits on a plate in the fridge covered in plastic wrap waiting for tomorow.

Rub is:
Brown sugar
Corriander seed
Mustard seed
Black peppercorns
White pepper
Paprika
Garlic powder

Ran the seeds and peppercorns through the spice grinder.

10+ day wet cure for for the flat, gonna simmer this for corned beef and cabbage:



wet cured pastrami on the smoker this a.m.:

pastrami after a rest and before pressing and steaming:

Jim,

This is looking real good. You're making me hungry (again).

stevez wrote:Jim,

This is looking real good. You're making me hungry (again).

Thanks steve, Really worth the effort. Corned beef was great as well, some pics to follow.

jimswside wrote:pastrami after a rest and before pressing and steaming:

Looks terrific, very nice!

I also made pastrami over the weekend! Here is my lunch, a sandwich made of my homemade pastrami, some chicken liver pate I made, pickles & mustard on rye



My rub was black pepper, white pepper, coriander, garlic powder, and some HOT chili powder from the spice house. Turned out great.

You two Jims are just killing us, slaying us mightily !

Geo

patrami pre steam::



rachel: