Duluth and Charcuterie

We’ve managed to once again make the trek across the Midwest and are now firmly ensconced in Northern Minnesota. Sure, the calendar says late June, but summer such as it is can be hard to find here; as it feels closer to spring than summer. Fortunately, a few days ago was a “warm” summer day in Duluth (low 70s), so we took advantage to take a swim in Lake Superior. Although this picture is visual proof that I made it all the way in, I think my brain froze and I have no memory of the event itself (probably why I'm grinning like an idiot):

This was the first time I’d ever experienced my survival instinct kicking in, and it was saying, loud and clear, “if you don’t get out of this water immediately, you will lose some extremities.”

I was proud of the kids, they both made it in as well, but we were all bested by my dad, who stayed in the longest.

Afterwards, we explored Canal Park, a quaint little spot on the lake in Duluth with lots of cool little shops. It was here that I experienced what may end up being the highpoint of the entire trip. Northern Waters Smokehaus is a little charcuterie shop in Canal Park; I’ve been in it before, but never really looked around too much. I decided to pick up lunch there (along with their cured meats and fishes, they have a nice variety of sandwiches) and by some lucky coincidence I struck up a conversation with the owner, Eric Geordt.

After talking for a few minutes, Eric graciously offered to show me his curing and smoking set up, which is all done in-house. The Smokehaus makes a variety of cured meats and fishes, and a range of Southern European style dried sausages, including chorizo and sauscion sec. It didn’t need to talk to Eric for long to realize that he is both very knowledgeable and very passionate about his craft. He described in detail the process of fermentation and drying process, showed me his curing room, and gave me some really useful pointers for home curing (I didn’t have a camera, so no shots of beautiful lengths of sausages slowly curing). Not suprisingly, Eric also is into sustainable food, he sources all of his pork (Berkshires) from local farmers in Minnesota.

After seeing all those cured sausages, I was ready for a sandwich, and the Smokehaus’s liver pate with cornichorns and mustard on a baguette didn’t disappoint:

If you happen to find yourself in Duluth, stop by the Smokehaus, you won’t be disappointed. Thanks again Eric!

Blog Redux: BBQ Pork Tacos

I'm not the most original guy; I see something bright and shiny on the Internet, and I have to give it a try. Such was the case of Saucisson MAC's recent BBQ pork post for carnitas pibil. The timing of this post couldn't have been better; I'd been a bit bored with the smoker lately and didn't feel like doing the same old pulled pork again.

The procedure couldn't be easier; hit the shoulder up with a rub of spices, the most important of which is achiote powder (I found mine in a local Latino grocery store), wrap in banana leaves, and smoke until delicious:

I was too covered in pork grease (that's a whole other story) for a shot of the taco itself, but with some black beans (also smoked), hot sauce, and some pickled red onions, it was a meal to enjoy.

Bones, delicious bones!

Sometimes the simplest ingredients are the most decadent. Marrow is a case in point: roast some bones, spread on good bread (homemade sourdough in this case), top with some fresh herbs and salt, and you've got one of life's simple pleasures:

I've never actually made marrow before, but people speak about it with such reverency that I had to try it (and it's basically pure fat, so what's not to like?). Fortunately, Mark Bittman, he of simple cooking, has a great recipe courtesy of Fergus Henderson, one of the original advocates of offal.

Unfortunately, I couldn't procure any 3-4 inch long marrow bones, but I did get some cut up femur bones, which roasted up very nice:

The verdict is in and this stuff is gold-it doesn't have a real strong flavor, but with the parsley, shallots, and sea salt, it is just good!

Lucky we had the marrow, because I doubt we could have made a meal out of our most recent fishing outing: