Apr 22

Italian Sausage Hoagie

Four ingredients, that is all there is in this tasty, filling, and sometimes messy creation of a meal. Whether it is called a sub, hoagie or sandwich is a point of regional preference, but the ingredients remain the same.

Italian Sausage, Marinara Sauce and Sliced Provolone Sandwich

Italian Sausage, Marinara Sauce and Sliced Provolone Sandwich

Italian Sausage (Sweet, Hot or both) cooked in a Marinara Sauce, Sliced Provolone Cheese and a Italian / Hoagie Roll or a French Baguette is all that is required.

Making the sandwich is simple. Open the bread (6 to 12 inches in length), lay down a few slices of Provolone Cheese and your Italian Sausage from the sauce and then top with the gravy in which the sausage was simmered. The result is a hot sandwich with the cheese melted from the heat of the sausage and sauce. Each time I eat this sandwich I reminisce to the East Coast of my youth. Sitting with friends at an Italian Pizza and Hoagie Shop with a cold fountain Coke when my worries and concerns with few.

The Italian Sausage Sandwich is an easy meal to make. My only word of caution is not to be wearing your best clothes. Inevitably you will drop some sauce onto your shirt, but then that is part of the experience and memories.

Apr 20

Did you know that there is a hierarchy of gastronomy?

From Schott’s Food and Drink Miscellany by Ben Schott

In order of decreasing refinement, the hierarchy of gastronomy is as follows

  • Gastronome
  • Gourmet – A connoisseur of food & drink
  • Epicure – A Friand (cultured, having good taste)
  • Gourmand – One who enjoys eating
  • Goulu – Glutton
  • Goinfre – A Greedy-guts

I’m sure that the term ‘Foodie’ should be there, but at the very bottom.

Apr 20

Homemade Sausage: Making Your Own Ground or Minced Meat

A part of the experience of making homemade sausage is the process of making your own ground or minced meat. This is not to say that you cannot purchase the ground meat at the grocery store or have the butcher grind selected meats for you, but it does take away from the experience in my opinion.

Fresh Ground Pork

Fresh Ground Pork

Personally, I would be hesitant to use purchased ground meat for two reasons. First, although the percent lean is posted, most ground meat will not have the right ratio for sausages. Second, you are not in control of the coarseness of the grind. Potentially, the packaged meat in the grocery store is too finely ground.

When I am in the grocery store I am constantly looking for whole boneless pork loin that is on sale. I prefer to purchase vacuumed packed pork loin so that I can keep the meat in the freezer until I am ready to make sausage.

Whole Pork Loin Vacuumed Packed

Whole Boneless Pork Tenderloin (8 Pounds)

Due to the heavily trimmed nature of the Boneless Pork Loin (see above picture), I also purchase on the the day of grinding, Pork Fat Trim from the local Hispanic grocery store. You can also ask your local grocery store butcher counter if they have any Pork Fat Trim available for purchase. For the majority of the sausages that I make, I use 3 pounds of Pork Loin to 1 pound of Pork Fat Trim.

I find that the meat and fat diced into cubes around one inch works best with the Kitchen Aid Meat Grinder. It is best to mix the meat and fat cubes in a bowl to begin the process of evenly distributing the meat and fat.

Diced Pork Loin and Fat

Cubed Pork Loin and Fat Trim

The grinding process is as simple as dropping the cubes of pork into the feeder chute leading towards the auger and every now and then using the push tool to push the meat towards the auger.

Pork Being Ground with the Kitchen Aid Meat Grinder

Ground Pork Exiting the Kitchen Aid Meat Grinder Attachment

Not only is the process of grinding meat for sausage in the kitchen an easy process, but there are a number of additional uses for the meat grinder. Making your own ground beef, chicken, turkey, lamb, veal and dependent on the need, being able to control the ratio of fat to lean not just for sausage but any number of recipes calling for ground meat. There are times when I am looking for ground lamb or veal and I am unable to find it in the grocery store when I am looking to make homemade Italian meatballs. I can also imagine that depending on prices, there are times when a cut of meat will be cheaper per pound then it’s ground equivalent.

The Sausage Grinder Attachment for the Kitchen Aid comes with two grinding plates and I always use the larger diameter hole plate for making sausage. Although I am not concerned with the Kitchen Aid motor failing, I did find that grinding 24 pounds of meat and fat at one time did make the mixer hot. I would suggest no more then 16 pounds of grinding at one time, not to mention 16 pounds of ground meat makes a lot of sausage (approximately 64 – 80 links).

 

Apr 19

Rhubarb Rhubarb – Homemade Rhubarb Liqueur

As anyone will know who has rhubarb in their garden, you can’t get rid of the stuff. No matter how hard you try to dig up the roots and either throw it away or give it to a friends, it keeps on coming back. Once it has a foothold in your garden then it can be a struggle to keep up with its vigorous growth. There are only so many uses you can put rhubarb to such as pies, stewed rhubarb and custard, sauces, cakes, muffins to name a few, but most people don’t know that you can make a delicious liqueur from fresh rhubarb.

Rhubarb

Rhubarb vodka liqueur is incredibly easy to make and is great for making refreshing summer drinks by mixing with sparkling wine, soda water, lemonade, making rhubarb vodka cocktails or just neat over ice.

Homemade Rhubarb Vodka Liqueur

Total time: ~6 Weeks
Ingredients

  • 1 litre (~1 quart) of vodka
  • 5 sticks of red rhubarb
  • 120ml (0.5 cup) sugar

Method
Wash and chop the rhubarb into 2.5cm (1″) pieces. Add the rhubarb to a large sterilized jar, add the sugar and the vodka. Mix to dissolve the sugar. Secure the lid and leave for 4 to 6 weeks. Strain and decant into sterilized bottles. Store the rhubarb liqueur in a cool, dark place and use within 3 months. You could use the discarded rhubarb as a delicious grown-up topping for ice-cream.

Rhubarb steeping in vodka

Rhubarb steeping in vodka

After the rhubarb has steeped in the vodka the red colour from the rhubarb will transfer to turn the vodka a blush pink and impart a unique rhubarb taste.

Rhubarb Vodka

Rhubarb Vodka (the pinkish one)

Apr 19

Subway’s Big Hot Pastrami Sandwich Review

Big Hot Pastrami from Subway

Subway's Big Hot Pastrami Sandwich (6 inch)

Why would I even consider reviewing a sandwich from Subway? There is only one reason. This sandwich contains Subway’s version of Pastrami, the seasoned cousin of Corned Beef.

After a very disappointing experience with the Arby’s Reuben Sandwich, I felt that fast food cured beef deserved another chance. Before I write anymore, let me make a few disclaimers. I only eat at Subway when the only other options are fast food and there is not a better sandwich alternative. Having been raised in Delaware, my standards for subs and hoagies is very high.

Was Big Hot Pastrami Sandwich from Subway repeatable? The answer is “Maybe”. I ordered the six inch option toasted with swiss cheese, then topped with mustard, pickles and tomatoes. The Pastrami may have been a little stringy, but then Pastrami and Corned Beef are supposed to have a little chew to them. Remember, this is not a high end New York style deli. Whether or not the Pastrami was beef is up for debate, but it did have flavor. There was too much yellow mustard but this was Subway and no spicy deli mustard was available. If I was to order this sandwich again it would be double the meat, have them lightly apply the yellow mustard and maybe have only a few pickles and onions added to the sandwich.