Yogurt

Making yogurt is easier than you think and you can make far better yogurt than you can purchase.  The first thing you will need to do is purchase a container of yogurt with active cultures in it...this will get you started the easy way.  I like the one make by The Greek Gods, plain Greek yogurt.

You will also need a container for making the yogurt in, a large casserole dish works well.  Just make sure it will hold one gallon of milk easily.  You will also need a pot large enough to heat one gallon of milk for this recipe.

So, here goes.....

On the stove in your large pot, bring one gallon of milk to 180 degrees Fahrenheit.  During the heating process, you will want to stir it pretty frequently to keep it from burning on the bottom of the pot.  Also, don't rush this.  Bringing it up to temperature slowly is not only the safe way to do it but it helps so you don't burn it in the bottom of the pot.

Once the milk has come up to temperature, remove it from the heat and let it cool to about 100 degrees.  At this time add one cup of the Greek yogurt and stir in in well.

Pour the entire pot into the casserole dish and place it in your oven.  If you have a gas oven with a pilot flame, you are done till tomorrow.  If you don't have a pilot flame or you have an electric oven simply turn on the light and close the door.  

Check in 24 hours and you will have yogurt!  Be sure to reserve one cup in a container for your next batch.  You can line a colander with good cheese cloth and place the yogurt in it to remove some of the whey.  This will produce a thicker product.  You can even leave it in the cheese cloth, tie up the corners and hang it for another 24 hours for yogurt cheese.  You can mix in chives, a bit of garlic powder and it makes a great topping on crackers.  Add ingredients that make you happy and enjoy!

Cider update

Today is day twelve on the second batch of cider.  This batch is just concentrate, water and yeast and so far it is still bubbling along.  It is sitting at about 58 degrees as I want it to go slow. 

The O.G. on this batch read out that if it goes completely dry, it should end up at 7% or just under that which is about right as far as I am concerned.  I ordered an 8 ounce bottle of apple flavoring from the Spice Barn that I plan on adding in right before bottling.  They say that 2 ounces of this will flavor a 5 gallon batch....we'll see. 

More as we go.....oh, and I just received a new batch of Bac-T from Butcher Packer Supply so a batch of Salumi is on the way in the next few weeks.

Stay tuned.....

Apple Cider

I have been toying with the idea of making some hard cider for quite some time after tasting some on a trip to Oregon a few years back.  During our visit this past September, I look high and low for some fresh pressed cider that did not contain preservatives but that seemingly is hard to find anymore.

We did find that Smileys just above Hood River is making their own hard cider and we sampled it and found it to be quite refreshing and good.  Since I couldn't lay my hands on any raw product, I did what comes natural....punt.

We decided to use all natural juice from concentrate and make some with a good ale yeast and here she is:

It is really not too bad for a first run and we learned from this adventure.  Another batch is currently in the fermentation carboy with a tweek here and a few tweeks there, we are going to get this the way "we" like it.  On the first batch, I added a cup of honey.  This boosted the "jet fuel" (sugar) ratio and made more of a apple/honey wine and I would guess the alcohol content to be about 10-12%.  The reason I say I am guessing is that I did not take a beginning gravity reading so I don't know where it ended up.  On the batch I just started, I am omitting the honey and the gravity reading says that it will end up at about 6-7% which is more in keeping with what is the norm.  I will let you know how it turns out.

A form of Head Cheese from Turkey

So check this out.....Turkey meat formed into a loaf just the same way as pork would be used to make "Head Cheese".  We used the leftover turkey and made a stock from the bones and other parts.  Added spices and some gelatin and there you go.

And by-the-way, it's some good stuff!  We deep-fried one 14 pounder and cook another one in the oven so we had plenty of leftovers.  One of our favorite dishes with the turkey is a broccoli casserole using the remaining turkey from Thanksgiving.  This year we had enough to play around this this idea and it worked great.

What we call Bologna

Last weekend was one of those weekends that we needed during the summer, rain and cool temperatures but it came late and the result was just cold and wet.  With being trapped in the house, it was time to make something not from the garden.  We have been canning veggies out of the garden and we have a 100 foot long row of beets staring at us but thank goodness they can stand a good cold snap before we need to deal with them.  So, what's a person to do when trapped in the house....make bologna!

Here it is in the ice bath after the smoking session.  Here is my the recipe:

3- lbs. Beef....I used 1.5 lbs. of skirt steak and 1.5 lbs. round steak
4- lbs. Pork....I used 1.5 lbs. boneless country ribs and 2.5 lbs. of loin meat
1.5 Ts. Kosher Salt
2 Ts. Black mustard seeds...slightly cracked
1 Ts. white pepper
1 ts. fresh ground nutmeg
1/4 ts. ascorbic acid
1.5 ts. Pink Salt
6 Garlic cloves minced very fine
1 Ts.Garlic powder
1 Ts. Garlic salt

The meat should be cut into 1" cubes, put in a large bowl, mixed with all the ingredients and partially frozen prior to grinding.  Grind through the larger plate of your grinder and then cool back down in the fridge.  Grind again through the small diameter plate and cool again.  During the cooling of the meat this time, place the paddle attachment of your stand mixer in the freezer.
Went the meet has cooled, add to your mixing bowl with the paddle out of the freezer and beat the meat until it develops a "sticky" texture.  This is best done in four batches.  Mix all the meat together and get ready to stuff your casings.

I use 80mm collagen casings that have been prepared by wetting with warm water.  Stuff the casings tight and tie with butchers twine.  At this point, I rest the meat in the fridge on a sheet tray for about 2-3 hours while preparing the smoker.  My wood of choice is peach as I have this available to me most of the time from my yard.

Smoke at 175- 200 degrees until an internal temperature of 155 is reached.  At that time, plunge into an ice bath and cool the sausages until they can be wrapped in plastic wrap and placed in the fridge. 

This is a lot leaner than the recipes you will find from other sources but it really turns out well and is very tasty.  The key to making good sausage is to read, listen, learn and experiment smartly.  If you pay attention and learn the basics of preparation including proper sanitation, you will be safe and pleased with your results.

A Different Summer Sausage

So I had cut some pork shoulder for a cured product but as I have stated before, I really don't like curing anything in the heat of summer.  I really doesn't matter as everything I have to make cured product is temperature and humidity controlled but it is just not the same to me.  So back to the topic at hand...I had 7 pounds of pork shoulder and it needed to be used.  I decided to make a cooked (smoked) product out of it.

I ground the meat, added salt, mustard seeds, white pepper, red chili flakes, black pepper, ginger powder, nutmeg, hot smoked paprika, pink salt and a couple of other simple ingredient's.  We stuffed it all in 80mm collagen casings and put them on the smoker for about 4 hours with peach wood.  After that, I put them in a 170 degree oven until the internal temperature reached 170.  They then get a dunk in ice water and into the refrigerator to rest for a day and here is the results:

This was a successful venture....this stuff is great!  Every recipe you read for summer sausage includes beef.  I really only have one thing to say about that....try pork only and make it spicy, it works and it is great.  This stuff won't last long and I will definitely do this again.  If you want the recipe, email me or send me a comment.  I can't guarantee that your will turn out like this did do to the variables with smoking and the species of the wood you may have available but it is worth the time if you are up to it and have the basic supplies needed for the simple preparation.

Scott

Something new

A couple of weeks ago I tried a great Calabrese and decided to see what I could do to make a product that in someways would be close to what I tried but have my own twist to it.

This is the product right after it was brought out of the fermentation chamber.  I stuffed them in 140mm casing (the size of bologna) and flattened them out for a few days in the fridge before putting them in the fermentation box.  They are now in the aging or maturation cooler where they will stay until they have lose 30% of their total weight which is now about three pounds each.  I also made some in smaller casings along with two and a half pounds of Genoa with extra garlic. 

Another waiting game....the hard part!

Scott

June note....these both turned out well.  It is really amazing the amount of heat (in the way of dried chili pepper) you can throw into the batch and just how mild it comes out when done.  I have yet to reach a point to where I think it is "spicy".  That demand another batch to experiment on this. 

As for the Genoa, the little extra bit of garlic was mild but nice.