Countdown to the Event

Things are winding around to where it's time for the "public" tasting of what I've been working on, which means a "private" tasting first, to make sure it's suitable for consumption.  Here's what I've got, my notes on it, and thoughts for next time:

Lountza:  I definitely want to do this one again, with "full-sized" tenderloins.  Everything seems to be just right, but with the half-thickness meat, the primary tastes are meat and smoke.  Granted, the meat will fade a little if I slice it thinner (a little care when I slice it next Saturday will help); that leaves the smoke.  For now, slicing "on the bias" will give more meat for the surface area, which will help (in addition to having another couple of days to meld).  The wine, oddly, is nowhere to be found; I'll have to try something other than Chianti next time.

Bak Kwa:  Okay, boneheaded move on my part, but I left it a minute too long under the broiler - a bit over charred.  Fortunately, this one is very quick (about an hour and a half, not counting the overnight marinade, and it's ready to eat), so I'm considering trying it again later this weekend.  Just have to pop down to get more ground pork.  Flavor-wise, I see exactly where this is going: sort of a quasi-teriyaki flavor is the best I can describe it.  It's a very familiar flavor, if you've had much in the way of Chinese or Japanese food.  Definitely worth trying again.

Bak Kwa, cooling after the broiler.

Altbier:  I'm working on balancing the tap lines; I think I've about got it.  This is good, with a nice hop aroma, well balanced taste.  Nice, fairly chewy mouthfeel, and a well-formed thick head; I'm hopeful that it'll clear up a little more as I drink it.  (I fully expect that the absolute best pint of it will be the last one before the keg is empty--that seems to be de rigueur.)  I'll have to check it against the style guidelines, but it's an easy drinker regardless of whether I hit the specifics.

Basturma:  Possibly a little case-hardened; they're awfully stiff.  Haven't decided if I want to slice a little bit of one (or try to) a day or two before the event, but it might be in order.  Still, there's not time for another batch...  I might see if I can find some commercial at the nearest Middle Eastern market, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Duck Prosciutto:  This one will be my "procedural" example; I'll have one raw, and put it in the salt.  I'll have one in the salt, and I'll take it out, wash it & wrap it.  And I'll have one ready--it's hanging right now.  Last I checked, it felt just fine (can't see it through the cheesecloth); based on my "extensive" experience with them (this will be my... third? fourth? batch), I believe they're fine.

Status check, 27 December

News on the "Salt" front:
   The basturma/pastirma is coated in its chaman, and hanging in the "bacon box".  Thoughts:

1. I should probably have made the meat pieces a little thinner.
2. I really need to press the next batch much more--boards and 'c'-clamps.
3. Puree the garlic for the chaman, next time.
4. Maybe try mixing all of the spices together, *then* the fenugreek; the stick blender didn't do as much to the fenugreek "gelatin" as I might have liked, so it's kind of lumpy.  Alternative: spend a *lot* more time working it with some forks.

   The "bacon box" has a stronger fan than I had initially installed, but that doesn't seem to be doing so much.  I also "cleaned up" the fan opening, and widened the air-intake hole.  The intake filter is catching a striking amount of dust...

   The smokehouse is built, complete with hanging hooks inside.  I need to build the "hot-box" (for starters, just a cardboard box with a hot-plate, cast-iron pan with perforated pie plate, and an inward-blowing fan for positive pressure; later, I'll probably build something a little more permanent), and to attach the smoke-hose connection to both ends, but those are minor details.

   The "lambcetta" are cured and air-drying; they'll get rolled this evening and hung in the bacon box.  I plan on reserving one of them (the "mangled" one, looks like it was, well, butchered in the butchering process) to be smoked lightly.  I may set aside one of the other three to be "tesa" (flat) rather than "arrotolata" (rolled), but we'll see.

   Tomorrow, I intend to pick up a pork tenderloin and some red wine, to start making the lountza.  Pics and recipe to follow.  Duck breasts have been ordered; pink salt #2 is on its way, and I'm planning things for a pig belly in the (hopefully) not too distant future.

News on the "Beer" front:
   The Altbier I brewed back in November is probably ready for kegging.  I may move the Decemberfest down into the cellar for a little extended aging and maturing--probably no longer than March.  I'm undecided just yet as to whether to rack it first.

News on the "Bread" front:
   Not much to report here...  I'd like to pick up a Dutch Oven and try doing a boule in that, whether I go with "fresh" bread or using my sourdough.  Which reminds me, I need to feed it...

Origins

Welcome to Bread and Salt and Beer!  Here, I'll be documenting my experimentation with charcuterie/salumi, with bread and baking, and (a bit) with modern brewing.  (My other blog - Misha's Brewing - covers the same things mostly, but with an emphasis on the historical aspects.  Since I spend much more time in the present-day lately, I hope to be able to keep this version going more consistently!

Where am I in the whole process?  Well, I'm a serious brewer (20 years or so of homebrewing; all-grain, hopefully soon moving to 10-gallon batches and an electric brewhouse; I'm in the process of growing my own grain, and hope to have enough hops to use in a batch next year).  I greatly enjoy bread and baking (and food and cooking, generally); I've got a nice sourdough culture that I "caught" from my homestead (a 130-year-old farm), and I hope to build a wood-fired oven in the next year or two, the better to 'play' more with all aspects of that.  And perhaps the driving aspect for starting this, charcuterie--I'm an almost complete novice, with a number of duck prosciuttos and a few slabs of bacon under my belt (literally, at least in part.)  I'm working on some more advanced stuff, and (as I will do) have voraciously read everything I can find on the subject.

Going right now, I have a pair of eye-of-round roasts (beef), which have been salted and pressed (about 2 weeks on the salt, one week under weights), and are currently hanging in my makeshift "bacon box" (a 2'x2'x2' 4" cube of 2" rigid foam insulation).  In about 2 weeks, if they haven't grown any sort of fuzz, I'll mix up some chaman paste (fenugreek, garlic, and paprika, mostly--I'll post my recipe when I get to that point) and cover the meat, then let it hang for another two weeks or so.  This is a mediterranean/middle-eastern cured meat called "basturma" or "pastirma," and it's an ancestor to pastrami, both linguistically and stylistically.  Photos will be forthcoming.

Upcoming other curing experiments: lountza (Cypriot/Greek cured pork loin, marinated in wine and smoked) and Bak Kwa (a type of Chinese pork jerky).  Also more duck prosciutto.  Time and space permitting, I'd like to do more bacon, and maybe a pancetta.  I'm also salivating to do a capocollo (pork shoulder), and I'd like to do an actual ham prosciutto, but that may wait until next winter.  Sausages and salumi will hopefully be forthcoming, as well.

So, that's where we're starting.  At present, aside from my "bacon box," I don't have anything built for any of this.  I hope you'll stick around for the adventures!