Pancetta, Bacon, and 2 Sausages

Pancetta (no pictures here, but read our follow-up post on this)

One 5-lb slab pork belly, skin removed

The Dry Cure
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp pink salt
2 oz kosher salt
2 T dark brown sugar
4 T coarsely ground black pepper
2 T juniper berries, crushed with the bottom of a small saute pan
4 bay leaves, crumbled
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
4 - 5 sprigs fresh thyme

1. Trim the belly so the edges are neat and square.
2. Combine the ingredients for the cure in a bowl, reserving half of the black pepper, and mix thoroughly so that the pink salt is evenly distributed. Rub the mixture all over the belly to give it a uniform coating over the entire surface.
3. Place the belly in a large Ziploc bag and refrigerate for 7 days. Without removing the belly from the bag, rub the belly to redistribute seasonings and flip it every other day.
4. After 7 days, check the belly for firmness. If it feels firm at its thickest point, it's cured. If it's still squishy, refrigerate it on the cure for 1 - 2 more days.
5. Remove the belly from the bag, rinse thoroughly and pat dry. Sprinkle the meat side with the cracked pepper.
   Note: At this point the authors roll the pancetta into a tight log to dry it. We chose not to roll it because Chef Gabriel suggested there was a higher likelihood of getting mold on the inside rim of the pancetta, and it would mold from the inside. Yuck.
6. Wrap the pancetta in a cheesecloth and hang it to dry for 2 weeks. It should be in a cool, humid place, ideally 50 - 60 degrees with 60 percent humidity, but a cool basement should work fine (or anywhere out of the sun).

There are plenty of other notes and instructions in this recipe - so if you're interested, look it up!

Breakfast Sausage with Fresh Ginger and Sage (and blueberries!)

We made this same recipe last year before we'd bought our pig, but this time it turned out much better. Chalk it up to experience, a little more know-how with our ingredients and equipment, or just a plain desire to get it right. This time we added frozen blueberries to the recipe (they were from our bushes!), and we piped everything into breakfast sausage links (Whole Food accidentally sold me the wrong kind of casing).

This recipe comes from the same Charcuterie book, and we used some of the chubs of pre-ground pork to make these.

5 lbs boneless pork shoulder butt, diced
1 1/2 oz kosher salt
5 T peeled and finely grated fresh ginger
5 T tightly packed finely chopped fresh sage
1 T minced garlic
2 tsp ground black or white pepper
1 c ice water
20 feet of sheep casings

1. Combine all the ingredients except the water and toss to distribute the seasonings. Chill until ready to grind.
2. Grind the mixture through the small die into a bowl set in ice.
   Note: We added the blueberries at this point - after the meat was ground but before the mixture was paddled. The blueberries were frozen, but had to be chopped in order to fit into the casings.
3. Add the water to the meat mixture and mix with the paddle attachment until the liquid is incorporated and the mixture has developed a uniform, sticky appearance, about 1 minute on medium speed.
4. Saute a small portion, taste, and adjust seasonings.
5. Stuff the sausage into the casings and twist off or shape into patties. Freeze until ready to cook.

Classic Fresh Bratwurst

When we picked up the pig in Olympia, we bought a pound of ground veal to use with this recipe.

When we first started to make this sausage, we referred to the recipe in Charcuterie (as usual). However, the brats we'd made in our Charcuterie class were so much better, we switched to that recipe. We thought they were the same but upon closer inspection they turned out to be a little different - and this one having been tested recently, we chose to go with the Chef Gabe version.

We cut this recipe in half.

6 lb pork butt, diced
2 lb pork back fat,
2 lb lean veal shoulder, diced
3 oz kosher salt
2 c nonfat dry milk powder
4 tsp white pepper, ground
1 T ground ginger
1 T ground nutmeg
4 large cold eggs, lightly beaten
2 c ice cold heavy cream
20 ft hog casings

1. Toss all ingredients, except the eggs and cream, with the combined seasonings. Chill well. Grind through the fine plate (1/8") of a meat grinder into a mixing bowl over an ice bath.
   Note: Because our meats were already ground (and frozen), we chopped the chubs and put them through the fine plate as well - they ground perfectly because they were frozen hard.
2. Mix on low speed for 1 minute, and gradually add the eggs and cream. Mix on medium speed for 15 - 20 seconds, or until the sausage mixture is sticky to the touch.
3. Pan-fry a test patty. Adjust seasonings and consistency before filling the prepared casings.

Note: It's a good practice to parboil brats before throwing them into a pan or on the grill. With the high amount of liquid inside, if you don't cook them a little first, they will explode and catch fire (if on the grill). We had this happen - lovely fun, but a little dangerous!