No 56k: The_Finns Odyssey of foooooooooood.....

The_Finn

The_Finn

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Worcestersheshershire MA
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Right then this food section has been around for what a year now and i still haven't gotten around to making my own thread so here goes.

This is a place holder and will be used as an index post if this bad larry ever breaks one page...

So far i have 2 recipes in my thread... so i might as well start the Index

Barbecue Braised Moroccan Lamb Shanks

Bacon Part 1 Part 2

Lox

more to come as i add to my thread... thanks for visiting
 
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Barbecue-Braised Moroccan Lamb Shanks with Honey-Mint Glaze
as a side dish i will be doing Toasted Israeli Couscous Salad with Mint, Cucumber, and Feta which was made yesterday because while good freshly made it becomes godly if you let it sit overnight (or even for a few days). Anyway i didn't have my camera so i didn't get any pics of the process although i will do a shot of the bowl later since it looks pretty nice

Right then so lets get it on.....


http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/1ingredients_(Large).JPG
here is a group shot of the ingredients... now that i look at it i left out my salt pig with the kosher salt in it... but whatever you all know what kosher salt looks like so who cars


http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/2spicerubpremixed_(Large).JPG
this is a sexy shot (notice my use of white bowl to contrast against the dark spices) of the spice rub premixed with all the parts arrayed around it


http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/3lambshanks_(Large).JPG
Check out those shanks... so fucking awesome... these came to me from whole foods which as much as i hate to admit it has a pretty fucking boss butcher shop i would much rather support mom and pop but around me mom and pop only seem to do steaks so fuck those guys. I was also able to find some pork belly while at whole foods so yeah look for that showing up in an upcoming post... probably next week maybe Monday or Tuesday...


http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/4lamblayedout_(Large).JPG
more shank sexyness... this time arrayed nicely on my bamboo cutting board... this is just a plug but if you do a lot of chopping and cutting of meat get a bamboo board these things are so fucking awesome it has replaced my old butcher block board which i never thought would happen

http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/5lambrubbed2_(Large).JPG
These are the shanks all rubbed up with the rub... i used the air filled plastic bag method for this which worked great until a piece of bone popped a hole in the bag... Just a reminder kids anything in your eye sucks.... ground cayenne in your eye fucking sucks dick in the worst kinda crack whore too much teeth way...

thats it for now the shanks have to sit for about 2 hours (overnight would be better) in the meantime i am gonna go get the stuff i need for the braising liquid...

PART2

http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/6brasingliquidstuff.JPG
another ingredient shot... this is all the stuff for the braising liquid... if you didn't read the recipe then here is how it works... we grill the meat to get some char and bring out the flavors then we braise it which means we cook in liquid which is not quite boiling but not just warm like right below a simmer. then we grill it one last time to get some crispyness as well as a final glaze.

http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/7Onions.JPG
oh look onions and a knife guess whats gonna happen....

http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/8choppedonions.JPG
you guessed right the fumes from the onions turned the fluid in my eyes into acid which made them burn..... shit that sucked... also they became chopped

http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/9Garlic.JPG
Hey look garlic and a knife guess whats gonna happen

http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/10choppedGarlic.JPG
bet you didn't see that comming

http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/11lemon.JPG
Hey look.... you get it at this point....

http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/12Lemonjuice.JPG
oh man... it turned into lemon juice how cool is that... not that you care but that juicer is older than my mother...

http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/13DutchOven.JPG
This is what we will be doing the braising in it's a 6.5qt enameled castiron dutch oven this one if from target and is definitely worth the $63 i paid for it. If you are making anything the requires long periods of cooking you should get one it's invaluable for things like stew and chili and you can do pot roast... i fucking love it...

http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/14Lemononiontomcilangarlic.JPG
thats the onion garlic cilantro and tomatoes plus lemon juice in the dutch oven

http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/15addspiceandwater.JPG
add some water as well as the rest of the spice rub and thats what we will be braising in

http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/16grillstuff.JPG
my grill setup weber kettle lump hardwood charcoal (fuck briquettes) and my charcoal start

http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/17charcoalchimney.JPG
fill chimney with coal stuff newpaper under it light newspaper and voila

http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/17smokeandfire.JPG
oh shit fire... wait... nevermind

http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/18precookedlamb.JPG
the lamb has been sitting for a while so the rub is nice and pastey


http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/19dumpedcoal.JPG
i separated the charcoal into two piles so that the dutch oven will get indirect heat

http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/20lambonthegrill.JPG
the lamb is first grilled at high heat so that it gets some nice color and flavor before it goes into the dutch oven

http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/21cookinglamb.JPG
looking mighty good it took nearly all my will to not just grill and eat the lamb

http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/22cookedlamb.JPG
thats the lamb after the grilling

http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/23trussedlamb.JPG
we tie it with butcher twine to keep it together while braising

http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/24LambintheDutchOven.JPG
into the bath my pretties

http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/25Turnipcarrotchickpea.JPG
after an hour of cooking we add the chickpeas carrots and turnips to the pot if we added them now they would be sludge by the time the lamb was done

http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/26inthepot.JPG
its been an hour at this point so i am adding the other veggies... lamb looks good but not amazing..

http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/27glaze.JPG
this is the honey lemon mint harissa glaze... it's fucking awesome i think harissa may have displaced siracha as my favorite hot sauce

http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/28twohoursofbraising.JPG
and after two hours of cooking slowly in the juice nets us this fantastic beautiful sight

http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/30veggies.JPG
pulled the veggies out of the liquid to stay warm while i crisped up the shanks

http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/31juice.JPG
this is the juice we will cook down into sauce

http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/32morecoalonthefire.JPG
more charcoal on the fire so it gets hotter for the second grilling part of this recipe

http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/31morecrispy.JPG
crisping up the the shanks

http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/32gettingcrispy.JPG
god that looks so good i took two pictures

http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/33allcrispedup.JPG
all done... fuck

http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/34sauce.JPG
this is the sauce all nice and cooked down... not quite as syrupy as i like but whatever it's still awesome

http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/35couscous.JPG
this is the picture of the couscous salad... it's fucking fantastic as well

so yeah thats how i spent my afternoon i am thinking i am gonna give the Barbecue-Braised Vietnamese Short Ribs with Sweet Vinegar Glaze a shot

also i have 5lb of pork belly that i have some serious plans for but that will be covered next time...
 
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I'd suggest editing this one...that way, you won't have recipes that span two pages...will make indexing easier.
 
updated the post with the rest of my pictures....
 
Fuck me, that looks good.
 
^you didn't get the joke.

I was agreeing that the food looked good, but was reiterating my resistance to an engagement of the carnal activities that Twerp was requesting, even if merely rhetorically.

In other words. He said "Fuck me." I said "No." He said "[The food] looks good." I said, yes, but felt the "no," to the "Fuck me," needed to be repeated.
 
OOOOOHHHHH SHIT!!!! I am at it again... this is actually kind of a hack job i really wasn't planning on doing this until next week but it turns out i had to get it going on tonight so here you go.....

first off it started with a book
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/19/Book.JPG
specifically that book

so first off you need some pork belly
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/19/PorkBelly.JPG
oh look what i have right there
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/19/Bellyskinsideup.JPG
and the other side

next up we need to make the cure... oh yeah just in case you haven't figured it out by now i am making some maple cured bacon... our cure is actually 4 things.. Sugar, Salt, Maple Syrup and Sodium Nitrite
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/19/SugarandSalt.JPG
Sugar (brown sugar) and Salt
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/19/PinkSalt.JPG
pink salt
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/19/MapleSyrup.JPG
syrup... we don't fuck around with that fake shit here...
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/19/Cure.JPG
here it is all mixed up

now we trim our pork belly so it is roughly square
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/19/Trimmed.JPG
isn't that pretty
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/19/Cureonit.JPG
divide it into two parts for easy storage and spread the cure all over the pieces
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/19/inbags.JPG
now we put it into bags....

so this is gonna sit in my fridge for 7 days to cure up... there are more steps after that but i will take pics and make a new post at that point
 
Are there things you can use to replace the sodium nitrate?
 
in theory the salt should be enough the sodium nitrate is to make sure nothing funky grows.. you can get it really really cheap online... i got mine for free from a local sausage maker...
 
Price isn't the issue...I've got several relatives that LOVE pork, but have to limit nitrates...most sausages and bacon have it.
 
ah... yeah in that case you should do fine with just salt... there are nitrate free cures out there check out THIS site... i don't know how i like the idea of the brine cure vs the rub cure but it might be able to help you out
 
Bacon is currently on the smoker... i will take pics once it comes off and maybe i will fry some up

EDIT: i didn't take any pictures until today... so yeah here you go

Basically after the belly has sat in the brine/cure for a week you need to cook it till you have an internal temp of 140. Now you can use pretty much any method of cooking hear like an oven but i decided to use my new to me electric smoker and some hickory chips... it turned out GREAT and i have to say homemade bacon is a revelation it makes me sad that i have spent 28 years of my life not making bacon at home... It's super easy and well worth trying...

My Smoker... i got this one for free from and uncle but you can buy it via the net for around $70
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/31/Smoker.JPG

and here is a picture of the finished product...
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/31/Done.JPG
 
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what has two thumbs and loves curing meats?

This guy...


anyway as my second curing project after the bacon (which i am quickly running out of) i decided to make some Fennel Cured Salmon lox

now i didn't really do any real process shots since there wasn't much to it.. all i have pictures of is the grand unveiling...

here is what it looks like in the cure.
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/06/02/In_the_cure.jpg

and now a shot of the cured fish....
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/06/02/out_of_the_cure.JPG

and another...
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/06/02/side_shot.JPG

The fish is gonna sit overnight in the fridge to form a pellicle and dry up just a bit... Unlike my bacon this will not be smoked.

Looks like if the weather holds out i will be doing ribs on thursday which i will document and add to this thread...

also here is the recipe since it is super fucking easy

1/2c sugar
1c packed light brown sugar (or 2/3 dark brown and 1/3 sugar)
3/4c kosher salt
2-3lb salmon fillet with all bones removed (one piece no thicker then 1.5 inches)
1/4c pernod (anise liquor from france)
1 fennel bulb thinly sliced (i shot for 1/8 inch but got closer to 1/4)
1/2c fennel seeds toasted
2tbs white pepper toasted and cracked (i just used untoasted black pepper)

mix sugars and salt.
put half of mixture in bottom of non reactive baking dish. Try to get your dish to be about the size of your fillet since cure becomes what is basically a very strong flavored brine the more of your fish in contact with the brine the better.
sprinkle pernod over both sides of fish
put fish skin side down into baking dish
cover with the rest of the salt/sugar mix
layer fennel slices then seeds then finally black pepper
cover dish loosely with plastic wrap (pushing it down so it fully contacts the top surface of your cure pile
put another smaller dish ontop of plastic weigh this down with anywhere from 4lb to 8lb (i used a bunch of cans of soup)
put everything into the fridge
after 24 hours carfully pull off all the layers of fennel/seeds/pepper and flip fish over reapply fennel/seed/pepper mixuture to top as well as weight
wait 24 more hours
remove fish from cure. rinse fish off with cold water being sure to get off any seeds of stuff stuck to the salmon. pat fish dry
let sit open to the air on a rack (food all over air circulation) over night in fridge
congrats you are done... slice thinly for bagels or sammiches or whatever...

if anyone has any questions feel free to ask
 
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OHMYGOD all this is making me hungry!

Damnit I want you to marry me now!
 
Now that's sloooooooow food.
 
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