Let's make bacon!

I can't help it, the Simpson phenomenon has entered my mind and set up shop as references involving Homer Simpson abound.

(Lisa) “I’m going to become a vegetarian”
(Homer) “Does that mean you’re not going to eat any pork?”
(Lisa) “Yes”
(Homer) “Bacon?”
(Lisa) “Yes Dad”
(Homer) "Ham?”
(Lisa) “Dad all those meats come from the same animal”
(Homer) “Right Lisa, some wonderful, magical animal!”"

Homer is right though, the idea that bacon, ham, and so many other parts come from the same animal not only dances on the line of a mythical and magical animal but also shows the state of human ingenuity as we can eat just about every part of the animal (more-so if you are Andrew Zimmern).

My favorite part of pork, is in fact bacon.  I thought I would try making some.  After being inspired by Chef Robert Sills, I thought I would get some pork belly and try it out.  So, I spontaneously stopped into Matekers Meats, near Tesson Ferry Road, and asked if they had any bacon that was nitrite free.  They didn't have any but suggested to me that I get pork belly.  So, they gave me a good deal and I went home with 1 &1/2 pounds of pork belly.  But, what should I do with it?  Well...

So, the first one was for a maple brown sugar type of bacon: http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/maple-cured-bacon.html .

I went ahead and did the marinate, where I didn't have any pink curing salt and instead just used regular Kosher salt.  After 7 days in the refrigerator, 250 degrees and 2 hours later, I then put them back in the oven at 350 degrees and cooked them up nice and good. Also, of note: I sprinkled some pure, unbleached, sugar on them before they finished cooking.

Next, what was I doing with the other side?  Korean style: http://seoulfuladventures.wordpress.com/2009/10/23/makin-bacon/ 

I will say that after I followed pretty much the same steps as the first batch of bacon, I noticed that it didn't really have a taste of anything other than the soy sauce. I wanted it to have a really bold Korean chili powder flavor, like the Korean chili powder that my brother-in-law's wife brought me, from Korea.  Unfortunately, as mentioned earlier, it really didn't have as good as a flavor as the maple one did.

 I think if I do it again, the maple ones will cure in salty maple syrup and brown sugar; large amounts of both.  As for the Korean one, a lot more chili powder.  I did like that it didn't taste like store-bought bacon.  My made at home bacon still tasted like pork, which is something so unusual, because store-bought bacon tastes nothing like pork.  Anyhow, if you are looking to make your own bacon, give it a try on either of those links.

 

Have we gone lazy?

I was thinking about this the other day when I was making my own ice cream.  But, have we become so lazy of a society that we don't make anything ourselves anymore?  People know that bad things like artificial colors, artificial flavors and sugar substitutes can be found in all sorts of store bought items but is it really so difficult to make something at home?  People are willing to go and shell out $10 for a quart of freshly made ice cream but yet with about $5 of ingredients, you can make this all at home. 

I even thought about the work that goes into getting some fresh corn to eat.  I bought a selection of white and yellow corn for 50 cents each at Dierburgs.  I then shucked them, which means to remove the stalk and the silk, and then trimmed them and boiled them in water for 10 minutes.

 

After I cooked them, I let them cool off and then held them on their ends and trimmed the corn off of them.  The corn will get mixed up in some fake butter and salt and taste like sweet, sweet corn.

I also planned on making some chili and any chili you make your own, is better than canned.  So, the hardest part of chili is perhaps the soaking of the beans.  These beans soaked for almost 24 hours.

I took this, added some chopped up steak pieces that were marinating in some Budweiser, and then cooked it up with some garlic, onions, tomatoes and other goodies.

Also, I know that most people can't do this, but a good ice cream machine is totally worth it.