Thought you all might be interested in Charcutepalooza. They are using the Ruhlman book, so probably covering some things many of us have already done. Still, could be fun to follow along and/or participate occasionally. I posted our website to the comments.

Basic Homemade Granola

makes 4-5 cups

3 cups of rolled oats (Not quick cook or instant)

1 cup slivered almonds, sesame seeds, walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds, cashews, and/or toasted pumpkin seeds (one, none, or any combination of these)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup maple syrup or honey

1/2 cup raisins, currants, dried cranberries, dried cherries, dried & chopped figs, and/or dried and chopped apricots (one, none, or any combination of these)

pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 300F.

Toast oats in a dry skillet over medium-low heat for 5 minutes, stirring or tossing regularly. Add nuts and continue to toast for 2 additional minutes. 

Remove from heat and add cinnamon, syrup or honey, and a pinch of salt. Mix well and spread the mixture on a cookie sheet. 

Cook for 10 minutes. Stir. Cook for 10 minutes more. 

Remove from oven. Stir in fruit. Allow to cool to room temperature. Keep in a sealed container. 

Some good combinations would be vanilla & almond, cranberry orange with nuts, super nutty, cherry (coconut) pecan, apricot and currants with sesame and sunflower seeds. 

I decided to make the duck sausage with lentils tonight. I also made a simple fresh spinach salad and some melitzanasalata to serve alongside the sausages and lentils.

The lentil recipe is one of my very favorites. I use it all the time. Here is my quick adaptation of Anne Willan's recipe in her gorgeous and wonderful The Country Cooking of France: Sort through 1-1/2 cups green french lentils (the beautiful little greenish-bluish speckely ones) and add them to a small stockpot. Also add to the pot 1/2 a large yellow onion, cut in half and studded with two whole cloves, two large smashed garlic cloves, the top leafy bit of a celery stalk, a bay leaf, a couple of sprigs of thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. Cover all generously with water. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Meanwhile mince a couple of shallots. Measure roughly 1/4 red wine vinegar into a small bowl, add a couple of teaspoons of dijon mustard, salt and pepper, and the shallots. Slowly whisk 1/3 cup hazelnut or walnut oil into the vinegar/shallot/mustard mix. This is your dressing. When the lentils are done, drain them and remove the bay leaf, onion, garlic, celery sprig, and thyme branches. Dress the lentils. Garnish with chopped parsley if you can be bothered. 

Personally, I just stand over the bowl and eat this. Why dirty a plate?

A great many things have been cooked in my kitchen over the past few days. I bought three ducks last week and spent about three days getting them broken down, prepped, and cooked in various ways. I rendered fat, made stock, made duck proscuitto, confited the gizzards and four legs, and--a first for me--made duck sausage (I also made merguez and short rib ravioli last week! phew!). 

I have wanted to try making duck sausage for a long time. I looked through my cookbooks for a recipe, hoping that Paul Bertolli or Judy Rodgers would have something fabulous I could steal. I was out of luck. What I ended up finding were a couple of recipes in Home Sausage Making that were not particularly inspiring. Consequently, I made something up. We were delighted with the results (if I do say so...). 

Here's the rough recipe (I wasn't particularly exact during the process, so some measurements are approximations):

Homemade Duck Sausage with Orange and Shallot

4 lbs. duck meat and skin (approx. 1 1/2 large ducks, boned with skin on the breast and legs/thighs), cut into roughly 1" pieces

4 tsp kosher salt (1 tsp per lb)

1-1/2 to 2 tsp pepper

pinch of ground clove 

1 TBS fresh thyme, stemmed and coarsely chopped

grated zest of one large navel orange

3 TBS shallot, minced

1-2 tsp minced fresh ginger

1/4 cup pinot noir, chilled

sheep casing (I'm not sure how much I actually used--8ft+?)

Season the duck meat and skin with the salt, pepper, clove, and thyme. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours. 

Add the minced shallot, ginger, and orange zest to the seasoned meat. Mix to distribute the seasonings.

Using chilled implements, grind the chilled, seasoned meat through a small dye (Kitchen Aid small dye--I can't find the exact measurement at this moment of course!) and into a bowl set in ice water. (It's helpful to grind into the Kitchen Aid mixing bowl, if you are using a Kitchen Aid grinder. Then you can use it for the mixing step as well.) 

Add the chilled wine and mix in a stand mixer on a low setting for 1-2 minutes, or until the wine is distributed and the meat mixture just becomes sticky.  

Make a test patty and taste for seasoning and adjust if needed.

Stuff meat into casings and twist off at desired length, or form into patties. 

Gently sauté or grill to an internal temperature of 165F. 

NOTE: Duck fat melts pretty quickly so keep everything as cold as possible while you are working. 

Last night we enjoyed a vegetarian feast. The centerpiece was my take on Deborah Madison's New Potato Gratin with Tomatoes and Olives. I had made a similar dish from the Greens cookbook years ago and have always wanted to try it again. This preparation seems a little less fussy than the original Greens recipe. It is fantastic and relatively simple. We made a grilled summer squash, herb, and feta salad and some wonderful grilled bok choi as sides. 

Potato Gratin with Tomatoes and Olives

--adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison

2-1/2 lbs fingerling potatoes (or any small thin-skinned potato)

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1/4 cup olive oil plus some for the bottom of the dish

1 large red onion, thinly sliced

1 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp fennel seeds, crushed

1/2 cup olives (whatever you have on hand: nicoise, kalamata, picholine, assorted), pitted and roughly chopped

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1/2 lemon, sliced and halved

1 TBS capers, rinsed

Salt and pepper to taste

Oil a gratin dish and preheat the oven to 400F. 

Thinly slice the potatoes and plunge them into boiling, well salted water for approx 4 minutes. Remove the potato slices and rinse them immediately in cold water and set aside. 

Warm 2 TBS of the olive oil in a small skillet over high heat and add the onion slices, 1/4 tsp dried thyme, the crushed fennel, a pinch of salt and a grinding of pepper. Cook until the onions are lightly browned and wilted. Put them in the bottom of the oiled gratin dish.

Cover with foil and cook for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to cook for another 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. 

Pre-caffeinated Mommy wants just leeetle more sleep. Please.

"NO! We're starving! Listen to our bellies rumbling." 

Grumble. grumble.

This scene gets played out at our house, oh, every weekend morning. Yesterday I just growled, "You're getting toast with jam and some fruit and you're gonna like it." Something like that. Then they danced around me like savages wildly chanting, "Puffy pancake! Puffy pancake! Chocolate Chip Pancakes! Puffy Pancake! Puffy Pancake! Blueberry Pancakes!!!!"

"Toast." 

I felt a little guilty today when the breakfast cry rang out. So I threw some blueberries in the pan and boiled up a little blueberry syrup to go with fluffy little lemon ricotta pancakes. The breakfast beasts were appeased and happy.

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Syrup

--adapted from The Breakfast Book by Marion Cunningham

3 eggs, separated

1/4 cup flour

3/4 cup ricotta 

1/4 cup butter, melted

2 TBS sugar

pinch of salt

1TBS grated lemon zest

3/4 cup fresh blueberries

2-3 TBS sugar

1/2 cup water

squeeze of lemon juice

Put the blueberries, 2-3 TBS sugar, water and lemon juice in a small pan over medium-high heat. Let this cook and get syrupy while you make the pancakes. Make sure the liquid doesn't boil away. Add more water if you need to. 

Put the egg white in a large bowl.

With a hand mixer (or a rotary egg beater or a whisk) beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. Then use your mixer in the other bowl, mixing the egg yolks, etc. until well combined.

Heat your skillet over medium heat. Use roughly 2 TBS of batter per pancake. Be sure not to make them too big because they are heavier than regular pancakes and can be difficult to flip if you make them too large. Cook the pancakes for about 2 minutes or so on the first side and about a minute on the second side. Top with blueberry syrup. 

Basically, I decided I wasn't up for braving the supermarket, so I had leftovers and pantry staples to work with.  I ended up with a lentil, spinach, and roasted potato salad. I'm happy to say that it turned out to be a "keeper." It was, in fact, all gone before I had a chance to have more than the compulsory "cook's taste." 

Lentil, Spinach, and Roasted Potato Salad

About a dozen small (new or fingerling) roasted potatoes, quartered

1 cup uncooked french green lentils, sorted through and rinsed

1 small yellow onion, cut in 1/4" slices

1-1/2 TBS butter

1/2 bunch fresh spinach, cleaned and torn into bit sized pieces

1 hard-cooked egg, peeled and finely chopped

1/2 lemon

1/4 olive oil

1 TBS red wine vinegar

fresh rosemary, thyme and parsley

salt & pepper

Boil the lentils in water to cover with salt & pepper, a couple of springs of fresh rosemary, and 1/2 a lemon. Cook for about 30 minutes. Drain, remove lemon and rosemary, and set aside. 

Meanwhile, caramelize the onion in the butter with a pinch of salt and a couple of small sprigs of fresh rosemary. When the onion is fairly well caramelized, add the potatoes so they are just heated through. 

Mix the lentils, onion, potatoes, spinach, and egg together. The spinach will wilt a little bit. Add the olive oil, vinegar, chopped fresh herbs along with salt and pepper to taste. Mix well & serve slightly warm or at room temperature. 

Before I get started, I just wanted to note that this is my 100th post! Thanks to all of you who read JustPigs and keep up with what is going on in my kitchen!

A simple pasta salad should be in everyone's repertoire. I made this one the other day when the weather was in the 90s and I couldn't face working over a hot stove for an hour. You can, of course, use any fresh veggies that are in season. This time of year is my favorite for veggies. I used corn (boiled on the cob in salted water for 7 minutes, then cut off the cob), cherry tomatoes, basil, thyme, and scallions. I added a little bit of goat's cheese and tossed everything in olive oil, a splash of red wine vinegar, and a healthy dose of salt and pepper. Voilà! 

I haven't cured any meats in a while, but I'm going to start ramping back up again. I am hoping to get 1/2 a pig soon, and I have a lot planned for the porker. In the meantime, I'm taking a shot at Bresaola (Northern Italian air-dried beef). It's my first time making it so I'm sticking to the basic recipe in Charcuterie, the Ruhlman and Polcyn book. 

Today, I trimmed the eye of round and applied half the spice mixture. The meat will cure in a bag in the fridge for about 7 days. Then I will take it out, empty the liquid from the bag, apply the second half of the spice mixture, and let it cure in the refrigerator for an additional 7 days. Finally, I will air dry it in my "curing chamber" for 3 weeks.

I'll keep you posted on the progress.

PS If you very interested in charcuterie, check out our Meat Club blog at www.meatclub.org. There's a whole lot of fun stuff going on over there.