Makin' Bacon, Again...

Today I vacuum packed about 6 1/2 lbs of homemade bacon. Well actually, we started the process last week and as I labored through the process late last Saturday night, I had a few curious cats swarming the kitchen for late night snacks, checking out what I was doing.  

They had never seen anyone "make" bacon before... so I explained the process to my teenage skeptics who chuckled as they headed back upstairs with their popcorn and gummy worms, kinda used to the fact that I'm always doing something...

Last weekend we bought a 13 lb pork belly from Western Beef and cut it into quarters, skin on. 

I was feeling a bit creative and lately, I've been on a charcuterie kick, a bit fascinated by fermented meats. Most people don't realize that this is exactly what salami, salumi or prosciutto really is: lacto fermented meat. An age old practice of preserving meat that precedes refrigeration. 

I personally love charcuterie of all kinds and that is one of the many gifts my ex husband gave me... a love of what is mostly a European staple that is slowly making its way to the U.S. I see more and more farm to table chefs embracing this age old and timeless tradition, developing a deep appreciation for this art and introducing a new foodie meat culture into our American palette. 

One of the easiest ways to introduce yourself to an easy lesson in charcuterie is of course, bacon. The belly of the pork, which I find to be one of the many jewels of this creature.  I've made bacon before, which really opened my eyes and from there, I explored making fresh chorizo, which was truly fabulous. Longing for some of this culinary goodness, I decided to go a bit deeper. I am curing a lonzino, currently and intend to do a Spanish chorizo as well as a Brasseola as well, maybe a Cappocola since I love these cured meats. If you are going to try your hand, why not try your hand at something you love to eat?

This time I decided to do bacon 4 different ways. Here were my holiday flavor inspirations:

• Black peppercorn, Fennel and Cumin
• Espresso and brown sugar
• Sweet Mesquite from Costco
• Plain

First I cured it using this curing method, about 1/4 cup basic dry cure per piece of pork belly, which was freaking perfect:

Basic Dry Cure:

1 lb kosher salt

8 oz sugar

2 oz pink curing salt

Yields about 3 1/2 c of cure.  I weigh it all out using a kitchen scale, which I recommend. Pink curing salt is just that, it is a special nitrite salt that should not be mistaken for table salt. Its purpose is to consume the sugars in the meat, creating natural nitrates that preserve the meat, hence the actual fermentation process. It is NOT pink himalayan sea salt. Do your homework and research as it is a natural curing process and I won't cure anything again without it, now that I am enlightened. If it bugs you, research it and figure something else out if it still bugs you. For me, it works like a charm and I will always use it. A little goes far so it is affordable and easy to store when you need it.

Curing:

After applying the dry cure, you could see it start to weep immediately. I prepped all the other flavorings and did them one at a time, vacuum sealing each piece. I put the vacuum sealed packages in the fridge for a week, or 9 days actually. We took out the pieces, washed off the seasonings and then placed them on grated baking sheets to air dry before we smoked them.

Smoking:

Now, I should have checked my own freaking blog for the timing, but of course I didn’t and sometimes, what seems like a mistake turns out to be a masterpiece after all is said and done. I mistakenly took someone else’s blogging advice and we smoked it at 200 degrees on the egg for 3 hours 15 minutes. The erroneous blog said 4 hours which to his credit, my partner in kitchen crime balked about several times. This prompted me to finally check the temperature during the football game commercial period. 

Turns out he was right, of course, and so was I… on my own blog lol! In my first bacon post, I mentioned that we smoked our bacon for about an hour, which was probably right on the mark, without knowing what temperature we were at during the smoking phase. The charcuterie book I have also said check the internal temp after 1 1/2 hours,  at 200 degrees, which I should have done. Internal temp should be about 150 degrees. But having said that, the happy culinary "accident" that ensued was phenomenal. When we opened the egg, the site of the pork bellies was gorgeous and we both just knew... it was probably cooked. But we couldn't have cared less... the sight of them, the smell... We couldn't get it in the house fast enough.

Don't fall in love with me pulled pork, eat your heart out!! lol! If we EVER want to do a pulled pork again that is upscale and restaurant worthy, it will indeed be done with a pork belly, no lie.

When we took it off the grill, oh boy, it looked and smelled amazing. And it also looked… Cooked.   No worries. It was so freaking delicious we really didn’t care because it meant we could taste it without having to first cook it!  Remember, that even though bacon is technically "cured", it is one of those meats that must be cooked first before you eat it. However, our lucky little mishap was the exception...

Only problem was it was so freaking delicious, we practically devoured half of the plain piece (which happened to be the smallest quarter) in a matter of minutes. We had just eaten, but it was so dang good, we both kept wandering into the kitchen picking at the bark, pulling at bits and pieces...

Refrigerating and Slicing:

We left it to cool (and yes, it was hard to step away from the bacon) and then placed wax paper on the bottom of the refrigerator meat drawer to refrigerate over night. As you might have experienced, cold bacon is much easier to slice and cut and homemade bacon is no different. The colder the better and freezing for an hour or two is even better.  

Today, we took them out of the refrigerator, wrapped in wax paper and popped them into the freezer for about an hour just before we put them through the meat slicer. My cohort sliced it perfectly and layered the pieces in wax paper while I vacuum sealed it all and labeled it. We ate the plain one the first night, leaving about a half pound of it. lol! It was that good but the bits left over, we diced and put in a ziplock bag in the freezer for later this week. 

We took the skin off for cracklings before slicing it though, which I highly recommend. I refuse to even consider how bad this might be for you, but being that I grew up on pork rinds and cracklings, I just rationalize it by saying I'm preserving my heritage. lol! Turned out beautifully and really, the bacon looks perfect. We both decided that while we cooked the bacon accidentally, it will still make beautiful bacon, it just won’t take that long to cook. And the real discovery is that smoked and grilled pork belly is a true delicacy to die for, a worthy meal in and of itself.

Now that’s looking at the silver lining... any way you slice it.

Don't Fall in Love With Me Mesquite Pulled Pork

Yep, this one is a winner. Never fails if I don't cook it too long and take it out while there are still enough juices.

Made this recently for a friend who lost a loved one and again recently for myself and some Halloween misfits just for the hell of it.

Crazy things happen in life, in a long marriage and what once was a passion shared, sometimes suffocates when not properly nurtured and cherished.

They say a way to a man's heart is through his tummy and even so, sometimes keeping him takes more than love and good cooking. Found that out the hard way and in a sly play on a well known saying, one man's leftovers is another man's buffet. Oh well, his loss... these leftovers rock.

Cooking is definitely harder without a partner or loved one to share it, so sometimes that takes a backseat when going through serious shit. However, with the love of friends and family, and no doubt time and perspective, moving on gets easier and then one day in walks someone who blows your mind and makes you laugh like you are going to die from it, die without it.

So for the sweet soul who came into my life like a Southern hurricane and makes me laugh so hard I swear one day he really will make me pee my pants, I made this and a few other of my Thai favorites. Checking his temperature, essentially.  Dude's for real.

The first thing he ever gave me was a bag of honey smoked Thai chilis that he made in his smoker and even though we narrowly avoided our very first argument over whether they were serranos or thai chilis, it was a moment that stands still for me. Click. Click. Click. Lock. Aim. Fire. Those suckers rocked my world and I knew I was in for a wild freaking ride. Pretty sure he knew it too. Honey Smoked Chilis. Red Solo Cup. Fort for the Trees.

While this wasn't the best part of the first meal I ever cooked for this freak of nature that can sit on my couch and eat my hot sauce straight from the bottle like a crazy addict, it was a side bar and worth making a note of, just like everything else that has happened since the Universe answered my last letter...

I didn't ask for a crazy mutha like this but I'm so glad She answered my letter knowing more about what I needed than what I wanted. And lucky for me I got both delivered in Cat 5, Southern style. Shock and awe, baby with a pair of dimples and killer blue eyes that could probably kill ya if you look at them too long.

Shoot, I digress, so on with the pork story...The best part of this recipe is truly how easy it is.  I guess that's why I had to set it up like Gone With the Wind or something. Whatever. Don't be alarmed that there are really only two ingredients. That's what makes it a real go-to when your days start to run together and even easier than opening up Pandora's box when the Universe delivers a sudden and true gift.

The best things in life, turns out, do not have to be so hard and can be so easy, you really just have to blink like an idiot to make sure it's real. Pinch yourself if you need to know for sure. And sure as hell, hang on to the oh-shi* bar...

Ingredients:

Costco's Sweet Mesquite seasoning which will be your dry rub
10 lb pork shoulder or butt

I know. Hard right? I think the key is to unpack the pork, trim the fat, dry it off with paper towels and liberally cover it with the Sweet Mesquite seasoning which acts like a dry rub in lieu of making a dry rub from scratch.  

I put this pork in a large Creuset, lid on and let the pork come to room temperature. I do this overnight, leaving the pot covered in the oven over night. I will turn on the oven in the morning while I'm making my coffee and just let it slow cook for 4-6 hours. No juices are necessary because this pork will release it's own awesome juices during the slow baking process.

Bake:
Bake the pork at 250 degrees for at least 4 hours.

At that point, I usually remove the lid and bake for another 2 hours or so until it just falls apart. Keep an eye on the juices. The last one I did, I got busy with other things and the juices had caramelized but were not burnt. This was really good but I kinda wished I had left just a little of the juices in there. Either way it was really awesome and it had plenty of crunchy, caramelized crispy edges while still being very tender.

Just use a couple of forks to pull or shred the pork and either serve it the way I do, with large baked russet potatoes for stuffed baked potatoes or with tortillas, salsa, sour cream, guacamole and cheese. Either way, it rocks.

I also reserve bacon grease and will gently fry up some of the pulled pork, sweet onions and cilantro that I will serve with eggs for breakfast tacos in the morning.

This also makes a mean enchilada or burrito so get creative and use it for whatever floats your boat. Chile rellenos could also be in order, so I may just break out that recipe for later when my Scrabble buddy comes a-callin'.  This time I won't let him beat me so easily...