Blogs and Ends: Cooking Edition

FIRST

Do NOT make your own hot dogs.

How to make your own hot dogs.

Here’s Cataline’s recipe for Hot Dogs but don’t make them:

21⁄2 pounds/1.25 kilograms beef short rib meat, diced and well chilled 

1 tablespoon/15 grams kosher salt 

1 teaspoon/7 grams pink salt (curing salt, not the Himalayan stuff)

1 cup/250 milliliters ice water 

1 tablespoon/9 grams dry mustard 

2 teaspoons/6 grams Hungarian paprika 

1 teaspoon/3 grams ground coriander 

1⁄4 teaspoon/2 grams ground white pepper 

1 tablespoon/18 grams minced garlic 

2 tablespoons/30 milliliters light corn syrup 

5 feet/1.5 meters hog casings or 10 feet/3 meters sheep casings, soaked in tepid water for at least 30 minutes and rinsed.

1. Grind the meat through a small die

2. Combine the meat with the salt, pink salt, and water and mix by hand to distribute the salts. Cover and refrigerate for 24 to 48 hours. 

3. Add the remaining ingredients and mix in by hand, then spread this mixture onto a sheet tray and place it in the freezer until the meat is so cold that it’s stiff, about 30 minutes or longer, depending on the freezer. 

4. Regrind the mixture through a small die. 

5. Return mixture to the sheet tray and place it in the freezer until it is again so cold that it’s stiff. 

6. Place the mixture in a food processor and puree until it is a uniform paste, about 1 to 2 minutes (if your food processer is not strong enough to do this much meat, simply puree in two batches). It’s important not to let the mixture get warm.

7. Stuff the mixture into casings and twist into 6-inch/15-centimeter links. Hang on smoke sticks and hot-smoke to an internal temperature of 140 degrees F./60 degrees C. Transfer to an ice bath to chill thoroughly. *

NEXT

If you want Chili on your Hot Dogs, this is how you don’t make that.

NEXT

This how you don’t make Raman. Because Raman isn’t food.  

It just isn’t.

If you don’t want to make Raman (which you shouldn’t) make andouille (which you should) homemade andouille is shockingly good. 

5 pounds/2.25 kilograms boneless pork shoulder butt, diced 

3 tablespoons/40 grams kosher salt

 2 teaspoons/6 grams cayenne pepper 

1 teaspoon/7 grams pink salt (curing salt, not the Himalayan stuff)

1 teaspoon/1 gram dried thyme 

1⁄2 teaspoon/2 grams ground mace 

1⁄2 teaspoon/2 grams ground cloves 

1⁄8 teaspoon/1 gram ground allspice 

3⁄4 teaspoon/3 grams Colman’s dry mustard 

1 cup/140 grams diced onion 

1 tablespoon/18 grams minced garlic 

10 feet/3 meters hog casings, soaked in tepid water for at least 30 minutes and rinsed.

Same cooking procedures as with the Hot Dogs that you aren’t making. BUT make sure they are done to an internal of 150 degrees.

LAST

YouTube insists that I like this.  I finally gave in and decided I do.  

I have triumphed over myself. 

I love Big Brother.

Okay, I’m done here.

*Recipes stolen from Charcuterie by Michael Rhulman.  If you want to try making your own dried sausage, this is the bible.