Family, Frank and Finale.

finale

By its very nature, Charcuterie is a slow food. Preparing to make it takes time, actually making it takes time and it takes time to wait until it’s ready to eat. There is nothing about the process that can be considered quick. Just think about it, even making the least time-consuming sausage takes a couple hours, lots of energy and counter space.

This past year has been a year of enlightenment and great tactile pleasure in the creation of our own Charcuterie. Even the failure of the first Duck Prosciutto taught us a great lesson on procurement and quality of the starting ingredients…after all, without a good start, the end can be no better.

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Vinegar Wars

Last fall, I started a new project. That’s not all that inspiring because I start a lot of projects…not all of them get finished. Actually, more are unfinished, than finished. Hmmm…anyway, I started a new project:  homemade vinegar.

My family had made wine the previous year and I was thinking how vinegar didn’t seem to be very far off from wine. Well, it is a bit more complicated than it looked like it would. But, I moved forward; I bought a starter and began with jug of wine, starter and water on the counter with some cheesecloth tied around the top. It sat there all winter, taking up space. And it was not pretty. Basically, it was a jar with evaporating wine inside that occasionally drew tiny little flies. But, I moved forward.

After the brunt of winter passed, it was actually beginning to smell and even taste like a lovely, although strong, flavorful vinegar. Fruity and smooth, it was showing great and genuine promise. [Read more...]