Making Bacon (Recipe)
I love cured meats. For what ever reason, I always been attracted to the saltly goodness of pepperoni, salami and bacon. When I was about 13 years old, I remember begging the local Harlem pizza guy to sell me just the sliced pepperoni, so I could get my next cured meat fix. Fast forward to last year, when I decided go pursue this “make food yourself” lifestyle change, making my own cured meats were the logical choice. I really wanted to make by own salami and/or pepperoni, but I am still nervous about the casings and the hanging of the meat about killing myself with contaminated meat. After some research on the internet, I discovered that I can make my own bacon without much worry about bacteria.
For a while, I used a curing mixture that I bought from Cabela’s and it worked well. It just did not give me the flexibility to create my own signature style of bacon. Then, I bought the best book on the subject, Charcuterie by Mark Ruhlman and it opened my eyes to a whole world to cured meat goodness. I will be using that book as a guide and sharing my results from it. The basic dry cure from Charcuterie seems to be a standard curing recipe for many people who make bacon.
Basic Dry Cure, from Mark Ruhlman’s Charcuterie
1 pound/450 grams kosher salt
8 ounces/225 grams sugar
2 ounces/50 grams pink salt
Ingredients:
50 grams basic dry cure for about 2.26 kg (five pounds) of pork belly
15 grams granulated garlic
10 grams dry red pepper flakes
5 grams of crushed black peppercorns
Application:
Spread the dry curing mixture all over the pork belly and rub it into the meat. Place the meat into a plastic Ziploc bag and set it in your refrigerator for about a week to ten days. Rinse and soak the pork belly in cold water for an hour. After an hour, dry the pork belly with paper towels and set it in a the refrigerator overnight. Drying the pork belly in the refrigerator allows the smoke the “stick” to the pork belly and gives bacon a better taste. Smoke in a smoker for four hours or until the internal temperature of the bacon is 145 degrees.
You will find that once you make your own bacon from scratch, you will have a hard time going back to eating store bought, commerical bacon. Enjoy!
Emerald City Fish and Chips (Review)
While Seattle is one of the best seafood cities in the world, I have never been satisfied with our fish and chips. I usually end up with an under seasoned, overly battered mess, masquerading as fish and chips. I often miss the well-seasoned, good old fashioned Southern style fried catfish or whiting that I had on Friday nights in NYC. You can imagine how excited I was to try out the food at Emerald City Fish and Chips when I learned about them via Groupon.
Two things immediately impressed me about Emerald City. The atmosphere of restaurant was fantastic. The service was friendly and the music (a mixture of classic R&B and gospel) was excellent. I instantly felt at home. The other thing was the seasoning of fish, it was well-balanced and reminiscent of my childhood. I had to remind myself to slow down and chew my food, instead of inhaling it. My taste buds were happy.
One minor quibble, while the oysters and catfish were wonderful, the halibut my friend ordered was overcooked. My guess is that because the halibut was sliced thinner than the catfish, it cooked faster than expected. Not a big deal, but I would prefer thicker filets.
Overall, I enjoyed my meal at Emerald City Fish and Chips and if you are in the mood for Southern style fish and chips in Seattle, I would encourage a visit.
