Homemade Salami or I need more hands!

My husband in his infinite niceness, bought me every known attachment and add on for my Kitchenaid mixer. (Except the ice cream maker...I already have one). This included a meat grinder and sausage stuffer. So of course, me being me and liking to make all kinds of things completely homemade and looking for ANY excuse to buy a new book, picked up Home Sausage Making by Susan Mahnke Peery. For several weeks, I poured through the pages on my Nook, marking this recipe and that, thinking how nice it would be to have fresh Italian sausage for lasagna with homemade sauce and pasta, and possibly cheese too if I got real squirrely. If you've been following my blog or know me personally...yeah I'm totally going to make my own cheese for lasagna one day! A lot of the sausages required smoking, or were to be used right away, either sauteed, grilled or seared. But one particular sausage caught my eye. Salami. I love salami. Nothing is tastier then some slabs of salami on buttered German bread. I glanced through the ingredients and it all seemed simple enough, and I decided to take on the challenge! Eventually. It took several months before I actually got the opportunity and the proper refrigeration, to take on this little project.

Salami, like pepperoni, is a dried and aged meat. Meaning, its cased raw with curing salt containing nitrates that help inhibit the growth of some nasties, and then left to hang out in some cool, slightly humid space for several weeks to months. Now living in Texas, its not easy to find such a place naturally. Folks up North can typically make use of their attics or garages during the cooler months and have no issue. But again, this is Texas. While we have a nice cold winter, its usually two weeks in January. Not great when you need an ideal climate of 40 degrees for two months at least. So I needed to create this kind of environment. It worked out really, as I needed that for cheese making anyways. So when the hubby was home on R&R in April, we purchased a small beverage refrigerator with wire wracks just to make sausage and cheese. I bought a thermometer and hydrometer to make sure I could reach ideal conditions and tada! Instant curing box. All that was left to do was make some cheese (DONE! And that's will be a future blog I'm sure) and sausage, which I will take ya'll through today!

The salami I chose to make is an Italian salami, as it was a bit less complicated and I figured it would be a good start. You will need:

5 pounds prefrozen pork shoulder
3 pounds lean beef
2 pounds of prefrozen pork fat
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon fine ground black pepper
2 tablespoons fine ground white pepper
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ascorbic acid
Curing salt (use the recommended amount for 10 pounds of meat)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 cup dry white wine (I used Chardonnay)
4 feet of beef casings (I used all natural collagen casings, not into the whole intestine thing thank you very much!)

Tools:
Grinder and sausage stuffer (I used my Kitchenaid naturally)
Butcher twine (Or some kind of string)
Scissors
Latex gloves
Toothpicks or skewers to prick air holes
Knives and measuring spoons and all that good stuff of course.
Someplace to hang your completed product

 

Now making the salami is a two day process. So on the first day we're going to do the grinding and mixing up of the meat. You'll want to set your grinder, whether is manual, Kitchenaid or some separate machine, to its fine grind setting. I went ahead and purchased the beef preground and for the pork I purchased two pork shoulders, and cut the fat off, which pretty much balanced out for the pork and pork fat measurements. Cut the fat and the pork up into cubes.

 

Run the pork and pork fat through the grinder. I was having issues so instead of separately like the book said...I just kind of ran them all through. I figured they were going to get mixed together anyways, so no harm.

 

I measured out my spices, salt, sugar and wine ahead of time so I could just dump them in instead of measuring and dumping. This worked out as I needed to let the mixer rest a few times before it started to smoke! For the curing salt I purchased Hi-Country Domestic Meat and Wild Game Curing Salt which was conveniently prepackaged in little pouches perfect for a batch of sausage.

 

Once all the meat is ground up, mix it, the seasonings, and wine in a large bowl. Your hands will get messy, I HIGHLY recommend gloves. Also, if like me, cold is hell on your joints and hands, this will help keep some of that discomfort down. Cover the bowl with cling film and park it in the fridge for 24 hours.

The next day, your meat mix will look a little brownish on top, this is normal. Here is where things get sticky. Literally!! I think I need more hands, but I managed to accomplish some of this monstrous task before I had to just stop. It will take some clever maneuvering, but you can do it on your own, it will be slow progress though. I highly recommend getting a pal to help you out!

 

First, cut off a length of casing, about two or three feet, and work it over the nozzle of the stuffer. Pull some over the end of the nozzle, pinching closed. Fill the hopper with small balls of meat, pushing down with the feeder slowly. Don't move too fast or you'll push air into the casing and can make it burst if you aren't carefully. You will get some air bubbles, that will be dealt with after the links are complete. Get a little bit of meat mixture into the casing, then knot it off tight against that meat.

 

Continue feeding meat into the hopper and through to the casing, moving slowly, guiding it with your hand until you reach the desired length. I kept mine a bit on the smallish side, as I wanted them to have enough room to hang and not hit the cheese aging in the fridge and I was thinking snack size honestly.

 

 

When you get your desired length, give it a bit of a twist to hold it closed and then tie off with a bit of string. Use a toothpick to prick the air holes and you may want to give the salami a quick rinse off to get any raw meat off of it. Continue this process until you are out of meat or exhausted. I did the latter! Also, I kept my links in twos for the sake of space, you can do multiple lengths beyond that if that's what you want to do.

 

 

Hang the completed links in a place that will retain a 40 degree temperature and 80% humidity. A beverage fridge with some water in a bowl at the bottom works just fine. I used S hooks to suspend my salami from the highest wire wrack, removing the center wrack. Let age for about eight weeks.

 

After about ten links, I was done. My back ached, my feet hurt, it had been three hours...I was tired. I still had a huge bowl of meat though. What do you do then if you have enough to age properly in the space you have, but more meat? Pack the meat in freezer bags and park those suckers in the freezer until you can case them. They should keep for at least six months. Make sure you mark the bags accordingly! I felt so proud of myself though for what I have done! and I have to say, they look pretty cool hanging in my fridge! It was exhausting, but I'm sure rewarding and I'll be sure to keep you posted on how they taste!

Brightest Blessings!

Recapturing the Joy of Germany

I was born in Germany and lived there for the first three years of my life. Later, when I was eight, my family moved there again for an additional three years, thanks to my father's career in the Army. I loved Germany. The smell in the air during the winter months, the feel of the snow on my face. But the food was something I can never forget. Nothing is like German food. The bratwurst, the brotchen, lebkuchen, and of course bauernbrot. I have worked hard at finding recipes to recapture the tastes of my youth when my sisters and I would catch the mini bus to downtown and wander the cobblestone streets full of the smells of crepes and pommes frites. We would stuff ourselves on the food from the vendors as we popped in and out of the shops, returning home with considerably less money in our pockets, all pink faced from the cold, showing our mother the treasures we'd found.

So far I have found the perfect recipe for brotchen and at Yuletide my friends and family adore my homemade lebkuchen. Recently I came across a recipe for bauernbrot, a brown farmer's bread made from white and rye flours. Go to any German bakery or restaurant, and most likely you'll get a basket of this bread sliced and served with butter. Its a must for the open-faced sandwiches or even better, a tasty schnitzel sandwich with lemon juice and pommes frites. So I set aside today to try out this recipe and make this tasty blast from my past!

For the bauernbrot you will need:

2 3/4 cup of warm water                                
1 (1/4 ounce) packet active dry yeast  (I use bulk packaged yeast and a kitchen scale but packets work great and are easier to measure)                                 
3 1/4 teaspoons non-iodized salt                                   
5 1/2 cups all purpose  flour                        
2 1/4 cups rye flour

First you will dissolve the yeast in the water. A little whisk works well in getting it mixed up nicely. Pour this into the bottom of a large mixing bowl. Add the salt, then the rye flour, then the all purpose flour, mixing thruroughly with a wooden spoon.

Once everything is coming together and its getting a bit tough to stir by hand, dump the mixture, scraping the bowl, into the working bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attatched. Turn on to a medium speed until the dough is combined and pulling from the sides.

Turn out onto a floured surface and knead by hand for about ten minutes. Form into a large ball and let rise in a greased bowl covered with a towel in a warm place for about twenty minutes. Meanwhile preheat your oven to 480 degrees with a baking sheet you don't mind turning funny colors down on the bottom wrack.

Punch down the dough and knead again and then divide into two loaves, shaping into rounds. Place on a greased baking sheet covered with a damp towel.  Let rise for about 30-60  minutes. You can brush the bread loaves with either buttermilk, yogurt or coffee during this rise to get a nice crust, but make sure the top of the bread does not dry out!

Once the loaves have about doubled in size, place them in the oven and pour boiling water into the heated sheet pan on the bottom wrack, quickly close the oven. This is creating steam and letting the bread get a nice interior. (This is how the sheet pan turns funny colors. Best to keep that pan specifically for that purpose in future). Drop the oven temperature to 430 degrees. Bake for 40-60 minutes or until the crust is a nice brown.

Cool your loaves on cooling wracks completely before slicing and enjoying! This bread is amazing with just some butter, or add some munster cheese, onions and a touch of paprika for an kasebrot. Its also great with butter and jam, coldcuts, liverwurst or a nice smudge of cream cheese. I hope this recipe takes you back to Germany, if you've ever been that is, just like it took me. Enjoy!

Brightest Blessings!




Beyond the Threads: Ancient Women's Mysteries

I have done a blog on knitting before, but this one is a bit different. When I first got into loom knitting I read about the elusive "Serenity Loom" which is a large loom shaped rather like the infinity symbol, or a laying down figure eight if you are unfamiliar with that symbol. I searched high and low, all over the Internet, but was unable to find one. I recently went on an excursion through Austin with my sister and our niece and nephew. We stopped in a Hobby Lobby store and of course I had to go look at the yarn! Lo and behold on an end cap was my long sought Serenity loom! I was so excited I snatched it up before I even had a chance to process the thought!

 So on the ride home, I of course was looking over my new toy and examining the box with patterns on it and the insert that came with it. And here is where I was so pleasantly shocked. You see, I have always found loom knitting incredibly therapeutic. I let my mind just kind of float and I relax. So I really should not have been surprised that someone else had figured this out. The insert for my loom went into great detail of how the loom was not just a tool for creating beautiful knit blankets, but a wonderful Meditation tool! And that of course got me thinking through mythology and history and even some of my favorite books and stories. If one were to look back through the ages they would find countless deities and heroines centered around the arts of spinning and weaving. Loom knitting is essentially a form of weaving when you get down to the mechanics of it and all weaving starts with yarn and thread made from spinning. Long ago these were known as Women's Mysteries. These arts belonged primarily to women and were known for bringing about meditative or trance like states that opened the third eye and permitted them to utilize the second sight.

Tales as old as time itself tell of how weaving made the world spin or the universe operate. The Norns and the Fates were the great weavers of destiny, spinning the thread of one's life and determining when it should be cut. Even the Valkyries of Nordic legend were great weavers, though their shuttles were arrows, their frames the guts of the fallen, and the weights severed heads, and they sang songs of carnage as they worked. In ancient Egypt the goddess Nit was the goddess of weaving, with a shuttle upon her crown. In the ancient Egyptian language the root word for being and weaving were the same: nnt. As mighty warriors were buried and depicted with their weapons, so too was a woman with her distaff, which also proved to be a weapon in itself if ever a woman encountered a brigand on the road. He soon learned not to mess with a woman when she carried one!



Arachne, the acolyte of the weaving goddess Athene learned that it is not wise to challenge your divine mistress in her own craft and was doomed to become a spider. But look how beautifully Miss Spider weaves her web, as though all the wonders of the universe were caught in her silken threads. Have you ever watched a spider spin a web? Or seen one sparkle in the rising sun, covered with dew that shines like diamonds? Creepy as our eight legged friends may be, they make beautiful webs, and watching them work is something quite serene.




Stories are told of women who weaved the very fabric of reality, or their own undoing at times. The poem The Lady of Shallot by Alfred Tennyson tells of how the gentle lady sat before her magic mirror and wove by night and day before she at last couldn't take her solitude any longer, and cast herself adrift in a boat and died. Other tales, such as the Grimm's tale of Mother Holda tell of how a girl's fate was changed by the loss of her spindle, and how her industry was rewarded with gold. Her sister didn't fare so well in her laziness, as she finished out the tale covered in pitch! And still another tragic myth tells of a woman violated and then brutalized by having her tongue removed was unable to identify her assailant and gain justice, until she took to her loom and wove the attack into a fabric, thus condemning the man for his crime. Weaving and spinning feature quite strongly in Greek myth and in the Odessy and the Ilyad.



Whenever I knit a project, especially those for someone special, I let my mind drift, but I also work with my yarn and think of all the things I want for that person. Luck, love, protection. All these things I focus on with each stitch. When something is made with love and intent, it becomes so much more than just a scarf or a blanket. It becomes almost a talisman, a charm of sorts. Think of that next time you sew, or knit or whatever craft you do. Remember the mysteries of our foremothers, the power of our own selves. Magic is in everything around us, and we can find ways to imbue all we do with it for a greater good.

Brightest Blessings!

Celebrating Personal Harvests

Blessed Lughnasadh! I do realize this is a few days late as typically this is celebrated on the first of August (or the second in some regions.) However, I had been too busy this week to post my blog on the actual holiday and the Circle I belong to, Fort Hood Open Circle, holds its rituals on the weekends, so I felt it best to wait until after that. So what is Lughnasadh exactly? It is the first of the harvest Sabbats celebrating the First Fruits and honoring the Sun God Lugh. This is where we remember all the things we have "harvested" both literally and figuratively. As my High Priestess would put it, this is the time of year for a good "Yay me!" I mean seriously, in this day and age, unless you're a total egomaniac, not many of us feel its okay to pat ourselves on the back and say "Well yeah! That was pretty awesome and I am pretty awesome for doing it!" Why? Because it is sometimes frowned upon to toot your own horn. But there is something quite healthy in acknowledging a job well done and recognizing yourself for being the wonderful person that you are!

And of course, what is a great holiday without great food right? And we all know, I love to cook so of course I love to take the time to learn what is the best thing to offer for a Lughnasadh celebration! Since this is the first harvest, pretty much anything in season is best to offer. Berries are all ripe right now, the first of the grains are being harvested and the first of the apples are ready to be picked. You can never go wrong with a nice bread, especially a cornbread, as many Native American cultures used this time of year to celebrate the Corn Grandmother. Maybe a nice fresh fruit salad? All grains are great for this time of year, so dishes of rice or even pasta served cold with some nice fresh herbs would be perfect too. Fish and lamb are the ideal meat, roasted or perhaps grilled until tender. And what celebration is complete without some nice elderberry wine, fruit meads or perhaps a refeshing herbal or fruit tea over ice with a bit of mint? Think fresh. Think earthy. Think of the things that make you happy and celebrate who you are.

I practice something known as Kitchen Witchery. I infuse all I do with energies to promote anything from love and peace to healing and prosperity. It is all in your intent behind the food you prepare. But there are specific foods with properties of their own that can aid you in this process. This being a time of personal harvest, you would want to use any food that promotes a feeling of well being, love, and joy! Apples, strawberries, lavender, tomatoes, avacado, pine nuts, fish and honey are all foods of love. Make a meal, or even a small snack of these foods to help promote a feeling of love inside yourself.  For instance: Lavender is a wonderful purification herb, as well as an herb of love. A perfect way to break your fast and keep in the spirit of Lughnasadh would be a beautiful lavender jelly spread over some fresh baked bread. Take a bite. Savor the sweet almost perfumey flavor, let it fill you. Remember all those things that have happened this past year to bring you to where you are now. Some were good, others bad. But how did you handle it? How did you make it through? You made it this far, so you did something right. Embrace that, feel that. Know that you did your best and no one could ask for more and darn it, you deserve this moment to say "Great job!"

Think of a little something for yourself and take a moment to enjoy it and have a quiet time to focus on you. Anything that makes you feel good or happy. Fresh berries are ripe this time of year, their sweetness can amplify the sweetness of a job well done. Try some fresh strawberries and cream. Add some nice bread and maybe a glass of berry mead and you have a wonderful spread for celebrating the harvest of you!

Its always good to have a moment of reflection. To remember that all you do, for yourself, your family or for others. You earned it. You worked your tushie off all year, and now you can look back and appreciate that and celebrate that you not only accomplished a lot but you made it through some tough times and that is nothing to sneeze at. Celebrate you. Because you are so totally worth it!

Brightest blessings!



Boredom, Baking and Avonlea Days

One of my most favorite things to do in the kitchen is baking. I love the feel of a good dough in my hands, the smell of spices on the air, the sound of the mixer going amidst whatever crazy music I have blaring. (Anything from musicals to metal!) And of course, that warm, delicious aroma of freshly baked bread or cookies! I love baking. The thing I love to make most is bread. Its quite stress relieving really to work a good dough with your hands, smack it around a bit and show it who's boss. And then of course, you get to eat it later! My husband loves it when I bake bread. Usually because I made some savory roasted something or another with a good gravy to sop up!

When we first got married, my husband learned very quickly that I, unemployed, and in a strange city and little else to do, would find SOMETHING to fill up the time! Usually that involved writing, needlepoint, or watching a very favorite long lost television show that I had a few precious VHS tapes of. I loved the Anne of Green Gables mini series on PBS when I was a kid. And as a teen a spin off show was on Disney and Hallmark channel called The Road to Avonlea. Something strange would come over me when I watched Avonlea. I would be overcome by this overwhelming urge to bake and do cross stitch. I don't know why. I don't question it. It just happens.

So on these days, which were later to be known as "Avonlea Days", I would pop in a VHS and play in the kitchen. The first time this happened, my husband came home to three dozen cookies, four dozen mini muffins, a dozen mini pies in two flavors, fresh bread, a pot roast and mashed potatoes, and chocolate pudding for dessert. He came to love "Avonlea Days." So much that while in Kuwait for 18 months, he ordered and had mailed to me the entire 7 season series on DVD so I could have my Avonlea and he could reap the benefits. (Lets just say the pants he wore when we got married, didn't fit a year later!)

To this day I am still seized by sudden bouts of boredom that result in an "Avonlea Day" and a pile of tasty baked goods!

Like I said, I love to bake bread! I think the best "Avonlea Day" result ever was the time I took a bottle of our homemade apple spiced mead, poured it into my roaster with a massive pork loin, some spices, some slurry, a package of IKEA Swedish meatball gravy (it has apple notes in it) and some beef broth and let it cook all day. I then threw together some Milk and Honey bread to go with it and mashed potatoes. The house was full of the tales of Gus Pike, Felicity King, and Sarah Stanley and of course the mouth watering scents from the kitchen!

 The meal was declared one of my best yet, as my hubby had at least three helpings. The gravy was sopped up with the bread, and the plates cleaned. Its kind of funny how a little boredom and a beloved television show can become an inspiration for culinary craftiness! Hmm...I think I hear the residents of P.E. Island beckoning me again. I wonder what I'll cook up this time!

Brightest Blessings!