CharcutePalooza Final: Tapas

CharcutePalooza has been quite the experience.  Twelve months of brining, curing, grinding, stuffing, and smoking have come and gone.  With each challenge came a new technique or a refinement of a previous one.  These techniques opened up the door to new dishes and new flavors, though admittedly most of the composed dishes were rooted in something from my past.

Beyond the obvious things like sausage making, CharcutePalooza has drilled into me something I can utilize in and out of the kitchen: organization.  Organization doesn’t just apply to mise en place but starts the moment conceptualization begins on a new dish.  Corralling disparate ideas, flavors, and experiences and focusing them into a cohesive composed dish around a single charcuterie item each month was an exciting test of my organizational skills.  So to say I was ecstatic that the final challenge required the use of four distinct charcuterie items was an understatement.

The moment the final challenge was announced I knew wanted to do four separate Spanish-inspired tapas-sized dishes to be served as an entire meal.  After much deliberation I chose to make bacalao al pil pil, a rillettes and tortilla bocadillo, chickpeas with botifarra negra, and violet-lavender ice cream with bacon.  This selection was a result the experiences I had in Spain and the confluence and osmosis between shared ingredients as seen in the above scribbling.

The first tapa was a rillettes and tortilla bocadillo.  Tortillas (Spanish omelettes) and bocadillos (baguette-like sandwiches) are popular in Spain.  When combined, they make one of Spain's most beloved sandwiches.  One regret I have was not seeking out a quality bocadillo as the ones I had were pretty dry and bland.  To make sure I wouldn’t have that problem, I decided to lubricate my bocadillo with a nice spread of rillettes.

The fat and meat from the rillettes also added richness to the bocadillo which would normally be provided by the egg yolks in the tortilla.  However, this was an egg white tortilla.  Early in the planning stages I realized I would have a lot of unused egg whites as a result of making the ice cream.  At that point, I decided to make my tortilla an egg white tortilla from the orphaned egg whites.

Having imagined my rillettes potentially turning about to be no more than glorified pulled pork, I was a bit skeptical at first.  However, the rillettes came out surprisingly spreadable and not stringy at all.  Cooking the pork in a veal-pork stock contributed a lot to the flavor.  From that stock, I was able to use the cooked meat from the veal bones and pork necks in the rillettes itself.

Due to a lack of Spanish bakeries in my vicinity and also due to my unconditional love for shoti, I chose to use a toasted piece of shoti for the bread.  It’s crispy exterior and chewy interior made it a great great vessel for the rillettes and tortilla.

The second tapa was bacalao al pil pil: salt cod pil pil style.  Bacalao is king in Spain, and one of the most traditional preparations is the Basque pil pil style.

Salting the cod to make the bacalao was step one.  My fridge was quickly taken over by the smell of dried fish despite putting two boxes of baking soda next to it.

After rehydrating the bacalao, it’s placed in a pan with olive oil, garlic, and parsley.  As the bacalao cooks, it releases water and proteins into the oil.  Once the fish has been cooked, the pan is swirled to create an emulsion between the oil, water, and proteins.  This is what makes the dish “al pil pil.”

The third tapa was chickpeas with botifarra negra (blood sausage).  Legumes are very common in Catalan cuisine, and the legendary Bar Pinotxo in Barcelona’s La Boqueria serves up their signature chickpeas with botifarra negra for breakfast and lunch.  Thankfully, finding fresh pork blood wasn’t very hard as my local Vietnamese market always seems to have it in stock.

Ruhlman was right about blood sausage being one of the easiest sausages to make.  Once the blood was liquefied,  all that was required was to mix in some pork fat, onions, and seasoning and shove the mixture into the casing through a funnel.  Not being able to find any recipes for botifarra negra, I simply took the blood sausage recipe from Charcuterie but seasoned it with salt and pimenton de La Vera (Spanish smoked paprika).

From what I recall, Pinotxo’s version of the dish had the botifarra crumbled and distributed throughout the chickpeas.  I preferred to keep it in casing so I could control the amount of botifarra eaten with each bite and also reap the rewards of the Maillard reaction.  A balsamic vinegar reduction and raisins added the perfect amount of acidity and sweetness to cut through the botifarra’s fat.

The last tapa was a serving of violet-lavender ice cream with bacon.  After having a violet ice cream at DiverXO, I learned that violet confections are very traditional in Madrid.  In fact, there’s a shop called La Violeta that specializes in such candies.  Having grown up on Vietnamese desserts, which tend to have some element of salt, my palette is tuned to crave a little bit of salt with my sweets to balance thing out.  In this case, the bacon not only added salt to the ice cream but texture.

The reason for not making a pure violet ice cream was because I found it fairly difficult to source violet extract.  I was able to get a hold of some violet syrup, but it ended up tasting like cough syrup.  If I were to make this ice cream again, I’d probably wait until violets were in season and use fresh petals.

Of all the dishes, the ice cream unfortunately reminded me the least of Spain.  There wasn’t much violet flavor because I held back on the syrup, and putting too much lavender extract made the ice cream taste citrusy with floral and minty notes; the flavor was much like Fruit Loops.  That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the ice cream.  In fact, it tasted like one of my favorite ice creams: blue moon.  Because I opted not to add food coloring, I dubbed the accidental ice cream “yellow moon.”

And so CharcutePalooza has come to an end.  It was a fun and wild ride, and I’m very glad I participated.  I learned a lot, I cooked a lot, and I ate a lot.

 

Egg White Tortilla De Patatas Y Cebolla

Mise En Place

1. 300 g potatoes, sliced 2-3 mm thick
2. 480 g egg whites (about 12 egg whites)
3. 150 g caramelized onions
4. An 8” nonstick pan

Method

1. Whisk egg whisk until combined and add caramelized onions
2. Shallow fry the potatoes over medium heat until tender, about 5-10 minutes
3. Add hot potatoes to egg mixture and season with salt
4. Drain the pan of the oil but leave some for the egg mixture
5. Pour egg mixture into the pan and reduce heat to medium-low
6. After about a minute, gently work the pan by swirling it and tucking the edges in
7. Once the bottom is set (about 5 minutes), place a cover of plate over the top of the pan and flip the egg mixture onto the plate so the runny side is on the top side of the plate
8. Slide the egg mixture onto the pan, runny side down, and cook for another 2-3 minutes

 

Bacalao Al Pil Pil (adapter from here)

Mise En Place

1. 225 g bacalao (dried mass), rehydrated and cut into 1” cubes
2. 1 clove of garlic, minced
3. 5 g parsley, minced
4. Extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. Place bacalao in a pan such that they do not touch each other
2. Fill the pan with enough oil such that it covers half of the bacalao
3. Heat the pan over medium heat until the oil starts to simmer
4. Lower the heat to medium-low and cook for 5 minutes
5. Flip the bacalao and cook for another 5 minutes
6. Pour off about half the oil
7. Swirl the the pan to start the emulsion and swirl until thickened

 

Chickpeas With Botifarra Negra

Mise En Place

1. 225 g dried chickpeas
2. 30 g sofrito
3. 1.5-2 feet of botifarra negra
4. 15 g raisins
5. Parsley, minced
6. Balsamic vinegar reduction

Method

1. Cook chickpeas in a pressure cooker at full pressure for 35 minutes.  Release pressure naturally and drain
2. Brown botifarra under the broiler on in a pan and portion as you wish
3. Heat the sofrito through in a pan over medium-high heat and add the chickpeas and raisins
4. Top the chickpeas with the botifarra, parsley, and balsamic vinegar reduction

Yellow Moon Ice Cream Base (adapted from Ratio)

Mise En Place

1. 650 g heavy cream
2. 240 g milk
3. 170 g sugar
4. 225 g egg yolks (about 12 extra large egg yolks)
5. 75 g violet syrup
6. 5 g lavender extract

Method

1. Whisk sugar and yolks together
2. Bring cream and milk to a simmer over medium heat
3. Slowly pour the cream and milk into the sugar and yolks while whisking continuously
4. Pour the mixture back into the pan and stir continuously until nappe
5. Pour the mixture into a bowl set over ice water and stir until chilled
6. Stir in violet syrup and lavender extract

Goi Ga (Vietnamese Chicken & Cabbage Salad) Sandwich

This month’s CharcutePalooza challenge had the least specific parameters thus far.  The task was to simply create an encased poultry sausage.  Initially, I thought the lack of strict parameters would be nice as I’d be able to be more creative than usual.  However, I quickly realized I hadn’t eaten many poultry sausages and lacked interesting ideas for what to make.  The only poultry sausage that came to mind was the duck sausage topped with foie gras served at Hot Doug’s.  Since I copied another Chicago sausage eatery’s menu item last month, I felt obligated to create something original this time around.

With only one poultry sausage to work off of as inspiration, I turned to poultry dishes I liked to eat.  A few came to mind, but the one that stuck was goi ga: Vietnamese chicken and cabbage salad. The bright and refreshing nature of the dish would be a welcome treat in the sweltering summer heat.

Typically, goi ga consists of shredded cabbage, shredded carrot, shredded chicken, pickled onion, Thai basil, mint, cilantro, and lime & fish sauce vinaigrette.  I tend to prefer regular basil over Thai basil and only a small amount of mint for this dish.

I decided to make the sausage consist of marinated chicken, pork fat, basil, cilantro, mint, and garlic.  The sausage would then be nestled between a bun lubricated with mayo and topped with a Vietnamese cabbage slaw taken directly from the source dish.

Stuffing the sausages was pretty easy since I had experience stuffing merguez last month.  This time around, though, I used salt-packed hog casings rather than fresh lamb casings.  According to Michael Ruhlman, this type of casing provides the best snap-factor.  However, the brand I bought must not have been the best quality.  The snap-factor wasn’t there at all and in fact the texture was slightly chewy and tough.

Aside from the disappointing casings, I was happy with the sausage and sandwich as a whole.  It definitely reminded me of traditional goi ga, but it was different enough to taste like something new.  Until I can find quality hog casings, though, I think I’d rather have this sausage cooked as freeform patties or links.

 

Marinade

Mise En Place (for 900 g / 2 lbs chicken)

1. 42 g (2 Tbsp.) honey
2. 45 g (3 Tbsp.) fish sauce
3. 40 g (~2 limes) lime juice

Method

1. Combine all ingredients and mix until homogenized

Goi Ga Sausage

Mise En Place

1. 900 g (~ 2 lbs) dark meat chicken, cut into strips for grinding
2. 300 g (~ 2/3 lbs) pork fat, cut into strips for grinding
3. 127 g marinade
4. 9 g garlic, minced
5. 16 g basil, chopped
6. 16 g cilantro, chopped
7. 5 g mint, chopped

Method

1. Combine chicken, herbs, garlic, and marinade and marinate overnight
2. Drain marinade
3. Follow standard sausage grinding and stuffing procedures

Lime & Fish Sauce Vinaigrette

Mise En Place

1. 105 g oil
2. 10 g (~1/2 lime) lime juice
3. 15 g (1 Tbsp.) fish sauce
4. 21 g (1 Tbsp.) honey

Method

1. Combine lime juice, fish sauce, and honey
2. Slowly whisk in oil until incorporated

Goi Ga Slaw

Mise En Place

1. 250 g (~1/2 lbs) cabbage, shredded
2. 100 g (~1/5 lbs) carrot, shredded
3. Pickled shallots
4. Fresh basil
5. Fresh cilantro
6. Fresh mint
7. Lime & fish sauce vinaigrette

Method

1. Combine cabbage and carrot
2. Add pickled shallots, herbs, and vinaigrette to taste

Heart, Spleen, & Kidney Merguez

Truth be told, I don’t have much experience with North African cuisine only having eaten such food on two occasions: once at the 1-star Michelin Aziza and once at a small place in Monterey, California.  Both places were Moroccan and came recommended by my cousin’s Moroccan husband.  The impression that was left on me was a positive one as I’m a huge fan of cuisines that heavily rely on spices.

Since this would be my first time making an encased meat and Moroccan food, I decided to play it safe and replicate the merguez offering currently featured on the menu at Franks ‘N' Dawgs and devised by Bob Zrenner of Hubbard Inn.  The item is a merguez sausage nestled between a lobster roll topped with pear chutney, Stilton cheese, black pepper Greek yogurt, sumac, toasted pistachios, and mint.  I wanted to avoid alterations, but chose to add roasted red bell peppers to the chutney because I had some left over from making the merguez.  I also used an Assyrian roll that I’ve recently fallen in love with instead of a lobster roll.

Initially, I was honestly not as excited as I usually am for Charcuteaplooza challenges because I’d simply be recreating something ingredient for ingredient rather than cooking something that required some sort of creativity or originality on my part.  This lack of enthusiasm quickly came to an end when I visited Marketplace On Oakton.

Luckily for me, they were selling and butchering a lot of whole lambs in preparation for Easter.  As a result, they had a bountiful stock of fresh lamb casings (still with traces of poop and hay in them), lamb fat, and lamb offal.  Upon laying my eyes on these offerings, I got really excited.  Lamb heart and lamb fat would become the backbone of my merguez with lamb spleen and lamb kidney sprinkled in for character.  I arbitrarily decided on a balance of two-thirds heart, one-sixth spleen, and one-sixth kidney.

When it came to grinding the meat, I knew the tricks of the trade as I’ve ground meat many times before.  The spleen and kidneys were a little tricky, though.  I had to freeze the two well beyond the typical “stiff yet pliable” state because they were so delicate and I didn’t want them to completely liquefy in the grinder.

The fresh lamb casings were a lot narrower than I expected.  Before this challenge, I’d never worked with any type of casing but for some reason I expected them to be wider.  Cleaning the casings proved to be interesting and time consuming.  Being paranoid that the traces of poop lining the casings might make me sick, I flushed the casings 4 times and put them in a salt water brine for a day.

Although grinding the meat was easy, stuffing the casings was a little more challenging.  After realizing there was no way I could stuff the casings by hand, I turned to the Kitchen Aid casing stuffer attachment.  Generally speaking, it did a decent job, but I ended up having to start over a couple times due to my inexperience.  For example, on my first attempt, the casings filled up with air like a balloon because the meat wasn’t primed and staged at the tip of the extruder.  Interestingly, the meat went from a deep red to brown while being held in the fridge overnight.

With extra lamb fat on hand, I rendered it down and sauteed the sausage.  The fresh lamb casings turned out to be very delicate and unfortunately did not provide much snap.  Thankfully the pistachios provided texture to each bite.  In terms of flavor balance, things came together well.  There was sweet and spicy from the chutney, salty and spicy from the merguez, salty from the cheese, sweet from pistachios, sour from the yogurt and sumac, and herby from the mint.

Overall, the Franks ‘N’ Dawgs recreation turned out well.  More importantly, I learned how to stuff sausages in the process and made something Moroccan for the first time.  However, next time I make a sausage, I think I’ll use salt-packed pork casings to see if they provide more of that all-important snap to each bite.

 

Pear and Roasted Red Pepper Chutney

Mise En Place

1. 400 g pears, diced
2. 200 g roasted red bell peppers, diced
3. 15 g ginger, minced
4. 100 g (~2/5 cup) sugar
5. 8 g (~2 Tbsp) paprika
6. 8 g (~2 Tbsp) sumac
7. 120 g (~1/2 cup) cider vinegar
8. 2 Tbsp butter
9. Salt
10. Sriracha

Method

1. Melt butter over medium-high heat
2. Cook pears, about 2 minutes
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer gently until thickened, about 30 minutes
4. Add salt and Sriracha to taste

Bob Zrenner’s “Le Merguez” Featured At Franks ‘N’ Dawgs

Mise En Place

1. Merguez
2. Your favorite roll or bun
3. Your favorite chutney
4. Your favorite bleu cheese
5. Greek yogurt
6. Black pepper
7. Sumac
8. Toasted Pistachios
9. Fresh mint

Method

1. Place the everything in the bun using a ratio of ingredients to your liking

Joong/Zong: Chinese Sticky Rice with Red Snapper

Me being a blogging noob, I didn’t realize that one had to authenticate in order to post comments.  This should now be resolved, so I expect to see a huge influx of comments that’ll bump the average comments per post from 0.45 to a solid 0.5!    Another telltale sign of my blogging noobiness is the recent lack of updates.  My bad.  Anyway…

Sticky rice is one of those magical things that when stuffed with a variety of sweet (Vietnamese sticky rice with banana) or savory fillings, wrapped in some sort of leaf, and steamed will always turn out delightful to eat even if it does look rather sloppy as is the case here.  Joong, or zong, is a typical Chinese rendition of tried and true sticky rice, filling, and leaf combination commonly found at dim sum places, Chinese bakeries, and Chinese markets.  I swear my dad calls it “dung,” which makes me laugh.  It’s almost as good as “tit.”

Nine times out of ten, when going out for dim sum with my family, we’ll grab a couple orders of sticky rice.  One to eat at the restaurant, and one to take home and eat later.  Chinese sticky rice is so comforting (and conveniently packaged) that many times when I was at home during for break during college, I’d make sure to order a couple extra to take back to campus.

Lotus leaves are traditionally used to wrap the rice and give the little package of goodness a subtle tea-like aroma and flavor.  I thought it was pretty cool how the water beaded on one side of the leaf.  It was like the entire side was waterproof.

Chinese sausage gives the package some fatty goodness and is essential to any respectable package of Chinese sticky rice.  I typically prefer the sweet variety of Chinese sausage as I find it has more depth of flavor and the balance between salty and sweet is quite nice.

 

Another typical ingredient for Chinese sticky rice are tiny dried shrimp.  These add a salty brininess to the rice and help bring out the flavors of the other components of the rice.

The sausage and dried shrimp are stir fried with the Chinese trinity of ginger, scallion, and garlic along with mushrooms, oyster sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce, and Chinese wine.  Traditionally, ground pork or chicken is used as the main protein in the rice with an accompanying egg, but I opted for some fresh red snapper just to mix things up.

The filling and fish are then sandwiched between the steamed sticky rice.  You may notice that the sticky rice doesn’t look as glutinous as it should be.  I’ve made many forms of sticky rice many, many times with no issues, but something went wrong this time and I’m not too sure what.  I’m pretty sure I soaked the rice for long enough before steaming.

 

Parceling up sticky rice is way easier than filling and wrapping tamales.  I think the next time I make tamales, I won’t be so exacting with the spreading of the masa.  The parcels then go for a steam to cook the fish and finish off the rice.  I’ve seen some recipes actually bundle the already-wrapped sticky rice in some foil and boil the package rather than steam it.  I’d like to try this technique some time since it seems like less of a hassle than dealing with my huge Chinese steamer.

I didn’t really follow a recipe for this sticky rice and did things mostly by taste, but this recipe seems decent for a non-steamed/wrapped version.  Using red snapper turned out pretty good, but I must admit that I prefer the traditional ground pork with egg for the main protein.  Even with the sausage, there just wasn’t enough fat in the parcel for my tastes.

Perhaps next time I’ll try using Chilean sea bass instead since is nice and fatty.  Imagining those flavors actually reminds me of a Chilean sea bass dish that my mom makes every time we visit one of my aunts.  It’s steamed Chilean sea bass topped with a Vietnamese ground pork topping of ginger, scallion, glass noodles, fish sauce, and oyster sauce.  There’s probably a little more to the topping, but those are the main flavors that I can recall.