For a dry cure bacon, use 22g salt, 10g sugar and 3.2g PP#1 per kilogram of pork belly. Cure 7-14 days, turning daily. Rest in a cool, dry refrigerator to desiccate for up to 48 hours before smoking. Surface should feel papery or leathery.
Ratios: 2.2% salt, 1% sugar, 0.32% PP#1 by weight.
For bulk cure, per weight of salt: 100% salt, 45% sugar, 15% PP#1. Add cure to meat at 3.52% by weight of meat.
Smoke at 180°F over hardwood to an internal temperature of 145°F, about 3 hours.
Our last attempt at curing bacon didn’t work out so well, coming out more like a country ham than bacon. The cure also gave the fat a kind of sickly, gamey flavor that I found mildly off putting. It was a combination of too much salt, too much time and blurring the line between a wet cure and a dry cure.
Back to fundamentals. This 10 pound belly is split into thirds and I’m working on three different recipes: a basic dry cure, a basic wet cure and a bourbon & black pepper wet cure.
Derived from several online sources. This is for 3.3 lbs of belly.
Combine dry ingredients and coat pork belly liberally on all sides. Seal in a zip lock bag and displace as much air as possible. Refrigerate 5 days, turning daily. After 5 days, rinse the cure from the belly, pat dry and refrigerate on a rack 4 hours or overnight, uncovered. Smoke over 225°F until internal temp reaches 150°F. Refrigerate up to 1 week, or freeze up to 2 months.
Derived from several online sources. This is for 3.3 lbs of belly.
Combine ingredients in a zip lock bag and slosh around to dissolve. Seal belly in the bag with the brine and displace as much air as possible. Refrigerate 2-3 days, turning daily. After 3 days, rinse the cure from the belly, pat dry and refrigerate in a rack 4 hours or overnight, uncovered. Smoke over 225°F until internal temp reaches 150°F. Refrigerate up to 1 week, or freeze up to 2 months.
Derived from several online sources. This is for 3.3 lbs of belly.
Combine ingredients in a zip lock bag and slosh around to dissolve. Seal belly in the bag with the brine and displace as much air as possible. Refrigerate 2-3 days, turning daily. After 3 days, rinse the cure from the belly, pat dry and refrigerate in a rack 4 hours or overnight, uncovered. Smoke over 225°F until internal temp reaches 150°F. Refrigerate up to 1 week, or freeze up to 2 months.
3 cups whole milk (do not use lowfat or nonfat)
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, cut into pieces
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup buttermilk
6 large eggs, separated
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter 8 cup souffle dish. Bring milk to boil in heavy large saucepan. Reduce heat to medium. Gradually mix in cornmeal and salt. Stir until mixture becomes very thick, about 1 minute. Add butter; stir until melted. Remove pan from heat. Stir in 1/2 cup sugar and buttermilk. Whisk yolks in large bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in cornmeal mixture. Using electric mixer, beat egg whites in medium bowl until frothy. Add remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until soft peaks form. Gently fold whites into cornmeal mixture.
Transfer mixture to prepared dish. Bake until mixture puffs and is golden brown. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve hot.
ref:1996, M.S. Milliken & S. Feniger, all rights reserved
Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sweet-cornmeal-pudding-recipe.html?PageSpeed=noscript&oc=linkback
Makes an airy, moist cake.
For a savory cornbread, optionally add:
Preheat a 10” cast iron skillet to 450°F while preparing the ingredients. Combine dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl and whisk together. Combine wet ingredients in a second bowl and whisk together. If melting butter, reserve
in a separate bowl until combined.
When the cast iron is heated, pour wet ingredients over dry and stir with a silicone spatula until just combined. Grease the hot skillet with lard or vegetable oil and pour in batter. Bake 20-25 minutes at 450°F, or until a toothpick draws clean. Turn out onto a cooling rack.
Adapted from http://www.deepsouthdish.com/2012/10/buttermilk-sour-cream-cornbread.html
Bisquik is a premix of flour, leavening, salt and fat. Substitute it 1:1 in recipes with a blend in this ratio:
Cut the shortening into the dry ingredients until the mixture is the consistency of bread crumbs.
Cold lard may be used in place of shortening if using same day.
Original recipe from TSR: https://topsecretrecipes.com/red-lobster-cheddar-bay-biscuits-copycat-recipe.html?category_id=10
Preheat oven to 425°F. Combine dry ingredients and cut in butter with a food processor until mixture is consistency of bread crumbs. Do not overwork. Add cheese and toss to distribute evenly. Add milk and stir until just combined, do not overwork. Drop ¼ cup dollops onto ungreased baking sheet and bake 15 to 17 minutes, until golden brown on top.
This is a copycat recipe for Houlihan’s Baked Potato Soup.
Directions
Preheat oven to 400F. Prick washed potatoes and bake until a fork pierces to the center easily. Remove potatoes from oven and allow to fully cool. Remove skin and cut potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes. Set aside.
Melt butter in a large saucepan, and add onions. Sauté over low heat for 10 minutes or until onions are translucent. Add flour to onions and butter and cook 4 – 5 minutes, stirring well until flour is absorbed.
In a separate container, combine water, chicken base, potato flakes and seasonings. Stir or whisk thoroughly to eliminate lumps. Add slowly to onion mixture, stirring constantly so no lumps form. Increase to medium heat and continue cooking until the soup begins to gently simmer. Add milk and cream, stirring until smooth and lightly thickened. Simmer for 15 minutes. Do not boil. Soup should just simmer lightly.
Add cubed baked potatoes and stir to combine. Remove from heat.
Top each serving with grated cheddar cheese, sliced scallions and bacon pieces.
Ingredients
Baking
Sort beans an soak 8 hours, overnight. Crisp bacon and sauté onion in rendered fat. Place beans, onions and other ingredients and bake covered at 300°F for 3 hours. Add salt & pepper to taste and bake one hour uncovered at 250°F.
Pressure cooker
Prepare ingredients as above. Place ingredients in pressure cooker and raise heat to 15psi. Hold pressure 30 to 40 minutes, use natural pressure release 20 minutes. Add salt & pepper to taste.
Variations
Some recipe variations call for mustard seed & ground mustard, tomato paste in place of ketchup or tomato sauce, or did not use ground beef. Also mentions of vinegar, smoked paprika and Cayenne pepper.
This is cribbed with tweaks from an article on TSR.
Brown ground beef in a large skillet and drain. Combine olive oil, onion, garlic, poblano pepper and celery and black pepper in a large pot or dutch oven. Sauté over medium heat until aromatic, about 4 minutes. Combine remaining ingredients and simmer uncovered 1½ to 2 hours, stirring occasionally until liquid is reduced. Serves 12.
Trying some pickled eggs today. Being lazy, I used store bought hard boiled eggs, because I hate peeling them.
First, sanitize a wide mouth, quart sized canning jar. Place the open jar and lid in a large pot and boil at least 5 minutes. Remove and empty the jar, and fill with hard boiled eggs. All 12 eggs should fit easily in the jar with plenty of room for brine. Set aside.
Next, I whipped up a quick brine.
Combine the brine ingredients in a small saucepan and simmer 5 minutes. Pour over eggs packed in the sanitized quart jar. Seal the jar and allow to cool. You may process the jar by boiling for 5 minutes of you plan to keep the eggs for more than a couple weeks. Refrigerate for 48 hours or up to 3 weeks. Flavor will improve with time.