This week, two enthusiastic cook-bloggers, Cathy Barrow, of Washington, DC, and Kim Foster, of New York City, put a name to their joint efforts in curing duck breasts for duck prosciutto, hashtagging it on Twitter #charcutepalooza. Their aim, one Charcuterie challenge per month. A splendid idea, I thought. The more cooking and curing that people do, the better the world is. And the duck prosciutto is a perfect way to begin, an all but foolproof form of dry curing. They've asked me to weigh in when needed and I will. To their amazement, and my delight, 54 bloggers at last count have embraced the charcutepalooza challenge. MrsWheelBarrow has the how what where on her site. Join them in their monthly charcuterie quests! May the body of charcuterie be with you.
OpenSky: A New Internet Commerce Concept
I loved the OpenSky concept—bring passionate people together to recommend tools and products they love and care about—the moment I heard it. Though I didn't realize it when I joined them, this company would also give me a way to make my own kitchen tools available, something I would have been hard pressed to do on my own.
In order to spread the word about OpenSky and to encourage more people to check it out, they're creating special deals for those people who follow me on OpenSky (email addresses for OpenSky use only, they will not be sold or given away—lord knows there's enough junk mail crap out there as it is, the bane of my inbox). The first special offer goes out on Monday to those who do, and it comes with the possibility of winning 5 of my favorite tools for one lucky follower, randomly chosen by the folks at OpenSky on Wednesday 1/12. So follow me on OpenSky if you want to know about the special deals the new products I'll be introducing, and let me know what you think of the site and the products.
January is Bread Baking Month
Here at ruhlman.com ... Stay tuned for tomorrow's guest post on a simple ciabatta from a talented baker in Alaska. This is an especially good bread for novice bakers and a tasty casual rustic bread for all.
In your bread baking adventures, please don't forget those of us who cannot have yeast or gluten. I would love to read about your efforts with that.
Yes.... Gluten free posts are in the works for bread month. We are thinking about you.
Can you believe I actually want to do the Charcuterie and yet I am so afraid; it seems so daunting and I fear contamination cause I wouldn't know what contamination would actually look like.....
I say..... If we all work at it.... we can "Cure meat in our lifetime"!
yes we can! say it people!
Also, please don't leave out peanut allergies, vegetarians, lactose intolerance, shellfish, egg allergy, and sulfites. I am allergic to all listed.
I'm excited about Charcutepalooza; Cathy is a friend and web client of mine so I've been a bit vested in seeing this process come to fruition on her site; now to see if I can do the same with a duck! The truth is...the process seemed much more overwhelming than the reality; although I'm not sure I see myself participating in the summer months unless I take Cathy's lead and get a used wine refrigerator! But meat hanging in the garage? Sure!
i live in hawaii where it is pretty humid. is it possible to still hang the duck prociutto in this weather?
MR, your post is right on time, i started curing duck breast for prosciutto yesterday. Charcuterie in Bourdains words is truely doing gods work!
I read about opensky but haven't joined... will definitely check it out!
Made a modified version of the multi grain boule from the 1/5 post to accompany ham/bean soup tonight - delicious! New camera will equal better photos shortly - but thank you for the recipe.
we made bacon for the 1st time out of your book. I got the pork from a class at PMC @ a visit in Portland, OR
Thanks for the inspiration! the bacon is fantastic.
We have six pounds of pork belly curing in the fridge for our first try at homemade bacon, and we're making a sourdough bread recipe tomorrow. A month ago we would never have even considered either of these culinary endeavors. Thank you for the inspiration!
Quick question about the salt cures for the Charcutepalooza challenge - can you reuse the kosher salt for the duck prosciutto, or should it be disposed of? Thanks, and its been such fun reading the Charctuerie book!