Home Made Cold Smoker
So, yeah… Lately I took on a new habit. Smoking… meat, you silly! The need came as I was prepping some Hungarian Gyulai Sausage (post will follow soon) that needed about 8 hours of cold smoke, at 90 F degrees maximum. I needed a simple device that would house the meat, and where smoke went in then smoke went out. Here’s how I did it!
Popularity: 11% [?]
Home Cured Pancetta
Pancetta or pork belly (aka bacon for us in the West), is the easiest meat that can be cured at home even without the need of a curing chamber. Inspired by Jason Molinari’s Cured Meats blog, I mustered enough courage to get this project running along with the others ones that are still sitting in the curing chamber.
Popularity: 40% [?]
Bacon Explosion
Had to do it. I knew it was going to come. The notorious creation of the BBQ Addicts, The Bacon Explosion a scandalous arteries clogging log of sausage, with crispy bacon bits, wrapped in … you guessed a layer of thick bacon! No trace of a vegetable in sight! None.
Popularity: 40% [?]
Bacon Wrapped Dates
First I’d like to thank all of you for the messages of concern you sent regarding my mysterious disappearance that left some of you wondering what is going on with me. It is good to know that I have friends out there in the Blogosphere! Thank you!
It was all because of an intense period of preparation and practice for a Broadway musical called The Wedding Singer, where I was hired to play (loud) guitars in the orchestra (band) pit. Although it was a fun experience, sounded extremely well, it was a strenuous time for me because I had to learn about 23 songs by sight reading which proved me to be a little rusty since I am more of a guitar player that plays ‘by ear’ than after a score, etc. But hey, I pulled it off, and here I am ready to do some cooking!
This brings me to my second point and more relevant for this blog:
Blanket For Dates!
Remember last year’s 40st B-Day present from my wife, the class for Irresistible Hors d’ oeuvres at Chicago’s Chopping Block cooking school? Well it turned out to be a blast. It was a nice night, we prepared interesting Hors d’ Oeuvres, but one of them really irresistible me. They were the bacon wrapped dates.
A delicious finger food appetizer that’s very easy to prepare. Here is the recipe with simple tips.
Popularity: 30% [?]
On the event of turning the first digit in my age on Nov 25 to (4)0, and still not knowing what I want to be when I grow up, my sweet wife Steph got me a surprise gift of attending one of the cooking classes at the Chicago Chopping Block cooking school. How cool is that! Or maybe she meant that my cooking sucks so bad that I am in desperate need of some classes. Heh!
The place has a vast schedule of classes from learning how to bake bread and pastries, prepare sauces, knife skillz, to making the well known Chicago style pizza, pasta workshop, hands on sushi, wine tasting, French Bistro, and so on. I’m still unsure which classes to attend. The “Irresistible Hors d’Oeuvres” looks interesting so far. They will teach you (me) some interesting appetizers like:
I debated between the Italian Comfort food and the Hors d’Oeuvres class and I feel myself drawn more to the latest since we have plenty of authentic Italian cooking going on in our family that I could learn from without paying the $75/class tuition.
I am curious to know if any of you attended any of these classes and if you have a strong opinion what to take and what not, etc.
It looks like a nice downtown experience, specially for my, the suburb boy who only needs to take the commuter train from the Northwest suburbs into Chicago where the class takes place (Merchandise Mart building). And if they taste good I’ll post the recipes and techniques! Might even smack some pics!
Popularity: 6% [?]
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