I've Got the Cure For You

For the November Charcutepalooza challenge we got to cure some sausages or whole cuts of meat. We got to choose from soppresata, saucisson sec, Spanish chorizo, salami, coppa, lonzino,bresaola, jambon de Camont, or lardo. Can I just tell you how excited I was? If you were in the room with me when I read the challenge I would have coaxed you into doing a little happy dance with me. Seriously, it would have happened. This was the challenge I was most excited about when I started into this whole meaty adventure almost a year ago.

The first hard part for me with this challenge was limiting what I was going to make. I wanted to make it all. I knew I was going to make salami, that was a no-brainer. Salami is Naiya's favorite meat, and believe me, I owed it to her after all the livers and casings I've snuck into her food this past year. Next, I decided on chorizo. I love chorizo and have had a hankering to make up a recipe using it. Finally I asked Cathy which her favorite was from the challenge. She said it was the jambon de Camont. That was the one I was looking at anyway, so I decided to go with that.

I ordered my meat along with a few other cuts for some other charcuterie I was making and went to pick it all up that Friday. I also received all of the cultures I needed to make the salami and the chorizo. On Saturday I watched videos on how to cut the meat for the jambon de Camont. When I felt ready, I headed into the kitchen. This is when I ran into problem #1. I didn't check the meat order when I picked it up. I had gotten a lot of meat. Besides, my butcher is awesome and has never ever messed up an order.

Until then.

There was no ham. I was sort of in disbelief and checked around the fridge a few more times. In my head I knew there was no way that I had missed it but I had to check again. It still hadn't apparated. At that point I became... "unhappy". Brian suggested I move on to prep the sausages and then quickly realized that I was done for the night. Did I mention that afternoon was also when I had failed miserably at being able to make the cape for my daughters' Halloween costume? I was having an awesome day. By "awesome" I really mean a terribly awful no good very bad day.

I regrouped before bed and sat down to plan out how I was going to do things the next day. This is when I ran into problem #2. I had ordered the bactoferm culture that I needed to make my salami and my chorizo. Unfortunately, I did not get enough. There was no way I could have predicted this. In Ruhlman and Polcyn's book, the recipes for the salami and the chorizo call for 1/4 cup of the bactoferm for each recipe. What I had ordered had given me about 1/3 of a cup of bactoferm total. That meant I couldn't do the full recipe for either of the sausages. This is one of the really good things that I have learned in doing Charcutepalooza: I can have a problem and figure out a way around it. So instead of a full recipe of salami and a half recipe of chorizo I did a half recipe of each and then a half recipe for bratwurst to use up the extra meat and casings. At least I had a plan in place and could sleep that night.

The next day I prepped the meat and made the sausages. There was a lot less snickering and off color jokes than the first time, I guess that sort of thing gets old after awhile. The amazing part for me was how smoothly it all went. Brian and I had done this before so we just sort of fell into the swing of it. There was a flow to it all. When we were done I weighed the sausages and marked the start weight as well as the goal weight on a piece of card stock and attached it to each link.

The next step was hanging the chorizo and incubating the salami. I rigged a way to hang the chorizo in the upstairs bathroom using a room divider and a piece of bamboo. Since that room isn't insulated the temperature was right where I needed it to be and the humidity was spot on too. For incubating the salami I needed a dark place that would stick between 80-85 degrees for 24 hours. During the winter I will proof my bread and culture my yogurt in the  oven with the light on. That will hold the temperature at about 70 degrees and has the added advantage of keeping out the pets and the kids. I opted to put a heating pad on the bottom shelf of the oven with the salami on the shelf above. I shoved the probe thermometer next to the salami on the shelf and smiled when the temperature rose to 80-85 degrees and stayed there. The book said to incubate for 12 hours and the manufacturer said 48 so I decided a compromise was in order; I settled with 24 hours.

When the time was up, I transferred the salami upstairs with the chorizo, marked my calender for the finish date, and began to pace and twiddle my thumbs. This is when I realized the true challenge this month. It wasn't the making of the charcuterie; we've made sausages before. The real challenge this time was the ability to control the elements. Not just the temperature and the humidity, but things we couldn't even see, like spores that could attach themselves onto our sausages and render them dangerous to eat. To stay on top of things I may have checked on my charcuterie 2-3 times a day. Who's counting, right?

After 17 days the chorizo and the salami had both lost more than 30% of their original weight. I breathed a very audible sigh of relief (you may have heard it) and returned the bathroom back to its original state. The payoff was well worth all the anxiety. Homemade chorizo and salami is incredible. I love how the casings have transformed into a papery substance that peels away from the charcuterie. The meat itself is dense and aromatic.

We have been enjoying slices of it with cheese and crackers. It's a decadent snack for these cooler fall days. The salami and the chorizo will also be making an appearance for my final challenge meal as well as on Thanksgiving. But the real reason I wanted to make these particular cured sausages was to finally get back to creating some recipes. Let's face it, these past few months have been tasty from terrines to pates but there is really only a handful of ways to serve those things. The good thing with those challenges was I had a real chance to focus on the photography. While I have enjoyed that, it's nice to get my gears rolling for some hearty charcuterie meals again.

Onto the inspiration...There is a bakery in our area called the Pennsylvania Bakery. They are well known in this area for their spaghetti bread. It's a secret recipe they have and people go to that bakery specifically for that bread. For years I've wanted to take a shot recreating it here at home. I thought I'd play with that idea and involve a little of my homemade salami.

The Pennsylvania Bakery's spaghetti bread tastes like an onion bread and it has cream cheese folded into it. I don't know why that makes it a "spaghetti" bread. I'm also not sure that matters. I decided to flavor my bread with shallots, oregano, cream cheese and salami.

Salami Swirl Bread 

Inspired by Peg's White Amish Bread on allrecipes.com

(makes one loaf but can easily be doubled)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of warm water (about 115°)
• 2 1/2 Tablespoons of sugar
• 3/4 tablespoon of yeast (Or 1 packet)
• 1 large shallot; minced
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil; divided (Plus enough to grease a bowl. Maybe a teaspoonful more)
• 3/4 teaspoons of salt
• 2-3 cups of bread flour (As needed) 
• 1 tablespoon of fresh oregano; finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons of cream cheese; softened
• 3 oz. of salami; diced small

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl combine the water the sugar and the yeast. Stir until dissolved. Let the yeast proof in the water for 10 minutes until the yeast is foamy.
2. While the yeast is proofing saute the shallot in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil until it is soft and translucent. Set aside.
3. Once the yeast has proofed add in the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the sauteed shallot, and the salt. Then start adding the flour one cupful at a time, mixing with a wooden spoon after each addition. When the dough is clumping together and it has become really hard to stir it in the bowl dust a surface with some more flour and dump the dough out of the bowl. (I soak the bowl with some warm water at this point to re-use it for letting the dough rise. I just hate lots of dishes.) At this point I have usually used close to 2 cups of the flour but the humidity levels in the air are what really end up determining how much flour you use. Once The dough is on the floured surface knead it for 8 minutes until it feels homogeneous and springs back when you poke it lightly with your finger. Add in extra flour if the dough gets sticky when you are kneading it. 
4. Once the dough is done kneading set it aside. Rinse and dry the bowl you used for mixing. Then put a small glug (about a teaspoonful) of olive oil in the bowl and spread it all over the bowl using a paper towel. Put the dough into the bowl turning it around to coat the dough completely with a little of the olive oil. Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel or some plastic wrap and set it in a warm, draft free place to rise for 1 hour. During the summer I just leave my bowel on the counter but in the winter I put it in the oven with the light on.
5. While the dough is rising combine the oregano and the salami in a bowl and let the cream cheese come to room temperature. Grease an 8" x4" x 2" loaf pan. I use a Pam spray for this. Even though I don't like the aerosols in them I find the the bread never sticks to the pan when I use it. You can do what you want.
6. In an hour the dough will have doubled in size. If it needs a little more time to double then check it in another 15 minutes. If it has doubled then punch it down with your fist and knead it on a clean surface for a minute to get out any large air bubbles. 
7. Roll the dough out into a large rectangle (about 10"-12"x 18"). Spread the softened cream cheese over the dough leaving an inch space around the perimeter of the dough. Then sprinkle the cream cheese with the salami, oregano mixture.
8. Roll the dough up lengthwise  and then fold the sides under. Put it in the greased pan. Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and set it on top of the oven. Allow the dough to have a second rise for 30 minutes. Pre-heat the oven to 350°.
9. When the second rise is over put the dough into the oven and bake it for 30 minutes. The bread is done when it's golden brown and sounds hollow when you tap it. Let the bread rest in the pan for 10 minutes and then turn the bread out onto a rack to cool completely. Wait at least 30 minutes before eating it.

*Get a printable version of this recipe here*

Are you still reading this? I know it's a long one. It always is when I make two things and give out recipes for both in the same post. It is what it is though. I'll try to keep this short and just get to the point. The bread was really good and disappeared quickly. The real test of a recipe is, "would I make it again?". Yes, I will make the bread again. Honestly, I thought it was better then the spaghetti bread. The only thing I'd do differently is make the loaf a free form round loaf and bake it on my stone.

For the chorizo I really wanted to make tamales. Unfortunately here in the middle of Pennsylvania you can't just go out to your local bodega and pick up some tamale wrappers. I found a place to order them online but the shipping cost as much as the wrappers did, and I have a real problem justifying a purchase like that. So another time for the tamales. Instead I used the filling in a recipe for chicken empanadas that I had adapted from Food for My Family.

Chorizo Empanadas

Adapted from Food for My Family's Chicken Empanadas

(Makes about 20 small or 10 large empanadas)

Ingredients:

• 1 recipe of Food for My Family's empanada dough (I added in 2 teaspoons of dried oregano when I was mixing the dough together)
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion; diced
• 2 chilies in adobo; diced
• 1/2 tablespoon of smoked Spanish paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon of cumin
• 2 tablespoons of honey
• 1/3 cup of tequila
• 1 cup of chorizo sausage; diced
• 1 medium sweet potato; peeled & diced
• Water as needed
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 egg yolk beaten

Directions:

1. Prepare the empanada dough. Wrap it in plastic wrap and set aside for 30 minutes to rest.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add in the onions, chilies in adobo,  paprika, cumin, and honey. Saute until the onions are soft and translucent.
3. Deglaze with the tequila scraping up any bits from the bottom of the pan.
4. Once the tequila is mostly evaporated add in the chorizo and the sweet potato. Turn the heat down to low and saute the mixture, stirring occasionally, until the sweet potato is soft, about 15 minutes. Add in water 1 tablespoon at a time if the sweet potato begins to stick to the bottom. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Allow chorizo mixture to cool for 30 minutes before assembling the empanadas.
6. Preheat the oven to 400°. Roll out the dough and cut out circles for empanadas to desired size. Fill with 2-3 tablespoons of chorizo filling for a small empanada or 1/4 cup for a larger empanada. Fold the dough in half over the filling and pinch or crimp the seams (I find that moistening one edge of the dough with a little water on my finger helps to hold the empanadas together when I go to seal the seams). Roll the seams over a little and press them with a fork to seal. Poke small holes in the top with a fork to allow steam to escape.
7. Place the empanadas on a parchment lined baking sheet spacing them apart so that they are not touching. Brush the tops of the empanadas with the beaten egg yolk. Bake at 400° for 20-25 minutes until they are golden brown.
8. Serve with some good salsa on the side.

*Get a printable version of this recipe here*

The empanadas were really good. Just the right amount of sweet and spicy to make me a happy girl. I still think the filling would be amazing tucked into a homemade tamale. I will put that on my "to do" list for a future date.

I have to say that as much as I love the flavor of my home cured salami and chorizo the making of them left me the most unnerved of any challenge. I thoroughly check each new link before I peel off the casing to make sure there isn't anything harmful lurking on the surface. I sniff them to make sure they don't smell "off". Perhaps the unsettling feeling I get when making them will disappear over time but for now they get a "10" on the "Ways to Make Amanda Nervous in the Kitchen" scale.