It is the Thanksgiving weekend here up North. I've been here years, am now a Canadian citizen and remain unsure if there is a specific day to actually eat turkey or if the meal can take place anytime during the weekend. It appears the latter is more correct than the former, but perhaps a native can let me know so I stop wondering about it. At any rate it is a three day weekend, and I've taken advantage of that extra day for knitting and other fun. This post is about the other fun, knitting will follow.
While there I made about a pound of bacon which needs to cure an additional 7 days, a pound of sausage (we ground and seasoned it to our own tastes) that I chose to not put in casing, and a pound of pancetta that will cure for 21 days before it can be used. I got some great recipes to play with and came home inspired to start curing small amounts of my own meat. BTW I also came home smelling mighty good as far as Mike, the cat, was concerned. He was very happy to lick my fingers; seasoned raw fresh meat, baby, even Mike was inspired.
This morning I portioned the sausage into small patties using a cookie scoop and then flattening out the mound. I also fried one up for breakfast, and even if I do sound like I'm bragging I have to say it was mighty fine. I have been attempting to make sausage on my own for a few months using recipes I've found online. My pork apple/fennel, pork sun dried tomato/feta and chicken and Italian spiced sausages were each great, but the onion sausage, uhmmmm. It is best used in stuffing or mixed into scrambled eggs meaning it shouldn't been eaten on its own.
My grandmother is probably smiling down on me. Grandma Mielke (nee Schultz; do we know where the German came from?) surely knew how to do all of this in her day. She lived on a farm, butchered much of her own meat with relatives who lived in the area, and smoked all sorts of meat in the day. By the time I came along grocery stores carried all sorts of meats so I didn't think to ask her about this part of her many great food preparation skills. So Grandma this one's for you; I sensed you're with me on the adventure.
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| Save On Meat, 43 W. Hastings, Vancouver
Last night I drove downtown to Save On Meats to take a three+ hour class on how to make bacon, pancetta and sausage. (I know what a shock, the German girl is interested in making sausage!) Save On Meats is on W. Hastings next to Pigeon Park (for you out-of-towners, it is in the midst of some of the seediest part of Vancouver) The shop includes both a meat market and diner both locally owned. (If you click on the link above you're see Mark Brand, one of the co-owners talking about the impact his renewed venture has had in this area. It is part of a Vancity promotion but still well worth a look.) The owners have purchased the space to help insure the meat market and diner continue to offer a positive impact on the neighborhood. Apparently the remodeling process was documented on OWN in a series called "Gastown Gamble." In the end I feel good about patronizing a business that is so seriously attempting to be socially conscientious.
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| Starting at 11 o'clock, bacon, pancetta, recipes and sausage. |
Today I'm sourcing pink salt and dried juniper berries two of the key ingredients used in my Save On Meat products. I'm also drying some blueberries I have in the freezer so I can make my own chicken sausage with blueberries and maple syrup.
My grandmother is probably smiling down on me. Grandma Mielke (nee Schultz; do we know where the German came from?) surely knew how to do all of this in her day. She lived on a farm, butchered much of her own meat with relatives who lived in the area, and smoked all sorts of meat in the day. By the time I came along grocery stores carried all sorts of meats so I didn't think to ask her about this part of her many great food preparation skills. So Grandma this one's for you; I sensed you're with me on the adventure.
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