South Side Irish Shepherd's Pie Sausage

Happy St. Patrick's Day. Are you looking for an authentic "Irish Bangers" recipe? Well good luck, The Irish don't have much of a sausage making tradition, unless yer up for making a Dirsheen, which is a blood sausage. For a further discussion of Irish bangers, click here.

One thing the Irish do have a lot of is sheep, and last week I was obssesed with lamb.



I went looking for a saddle (that's a cut not a ride) but I ended up with what the packer called a rear quarter; It was cheaper than a leg, but it looks like a leg to me. I chopped up the joint and made stock with the bones. I planned on making Shepherd's pie, so I fired up the search engines and got a couple of books from the library and looked for the perfect recipe. They all boiled down to this: Ground lamb, ketchup, peas, carrots and mashed potatoes. Yumm-o? I realized what I really wanted was a lamb stew, yes that's it, topped with mashed potatoes and browned in the broiler. With a nice stock, it's not too hard to make a stew.





I browned the lamb then removed it from the pot. Next I threw in some sliced onions and carrots let them saute for a few minutes then sprinkled over a bit of flour over the mixture and deglazed with beer. After the beer reduced, everything gets thrown in: Stock, tomatoes, garlic, seasonings, lamb. Set for stew.

For the topping I made what the pros call Duchesse Potatoes. They are potatoes that you mash add a little butter and some eggs. Then using a pastry bag, The potatoes are piped into whatever shape you want. So I put my stew into a casserole topped it with potato and browned it in the oven.



Stew is good but sausage is good and fun. I started thinking about all the ingredients for Shepherd's Pie in a link.



I put together the spices and I got grinding. I did a ratio of fifty percent potato to lamb and twenty-five percent onion to lamb. Also like the stew I added a wee bit of beer.


I had planned on using Guinness, but I forgot to get some, so I ended up using something even better: Home brewed pale ale, made in Beverly by me friend John. Now I have the sausage, I just have to find a party.

St Patrick's Day in Chicago.



On Saturday we went downtown so the boys could see the Chicago river change from dark green to bright Irish green.





Then Sunday we went up to Beverly for the South Side Irish parade. Corinne, John, Jack and Will hosted an open house. We had corned beef, cole slaw, shepherd's pie sausages and more basement brewed ales.



What a weekend, and nice weather to boot. I'd give you a recipe for the Shepherd's Pie Sausage, but I forgot to write it down. I'll make it again soon. In the meantime enjoy St. Patrick's Day, the green means Spring is coming.

Cheers.

Kick it to the Curb Tony: My Southside Ain't Gritty

Once again someone from the national media cannot resist the adjective "gritty" when saying the word "Southside." Anthony Bourdain braved our mean streets in a rented caddie for last week's episode of No Reservations. Apparently he made is back North with all his hubcaps in tact. But nobody told him he was parked in the dead guy's spot.

On the episode he visited Calumet Fisheries. I wrote about this place back in November, and last Saturday I had the chance to spend most of the day there taking pictures, talking to the people who work there and observing first hand the power of cable TV.

"I have no idea how they picked us, but this is great." That's Mark Kotlick, one of the owners of Calumet Fisheries. He spent the day gladly talking to inquisitive new customers, discussing the history of the place and showing off the fish that are smoked right outside. "We smoked a week's worth of fish and we might run out today."

Thank you Tony.



Oh yeah about the dead guy: The manager, Carlos, (who has worked there on and off since 1995, and has a Culinary Certificate from CHIC) told me his story: "I come in one morning and there's a car parked out front, there's usually no cars here, and I notice there's a guy in there. Sleeping. After a few minutes I decide it's time for him to move along and I tap on the window. Nothing. I beat on the window, and I yell and still nothing. Now I'm starting to get a bad feeling. I call 911. A cop shows up, I don't know his name but I recognize him, he opens the door, put his fingers on the guy's neck, then closes the door. The cop says "Yep he's dead. You got any smoked chubs?"



To the guys at Calumet, thanks for letting me spend the day with you, I'll get the photos to you soon.

A different kind of Southside, Pilsen.

If Tony had been a really lucky travelling TV personality, he would have ended up where I was on Sunday, Pilsen. This quarter at Kendall I have Cuisine of Mexico class, and Chef took us on a field trip.



We visited World Wide Produce at the Chicago International Produce Market Then we went to Cermak Produce Which is a beautiful store, not gritty at all.



Then Chef led us to El Milagro for fresh masa. We all got a turn feeding the masa machine.



Masa is used for making corn tortillas or tamales. El Milagro also offeres Chicharrones, chips and tortillas, It(1923 S Blue Island Ave, Chicago) was a fun stop.



But what Tony really missed out on was Carnerceria Don Pedro. As the name implies, they sell carnitas either to eat in or to go.



You don't really need a menu because all they serve is carnitas, or if you are not feeling porcine, barbacoa of goat.





We were served family style with sides chicharrones and jalapenoes escabeche. Chef showed us the proper taco: Some carnitas, crushed chicharrones, onion, cilantro, a squirt of sauce and a squeeze of lime. After lunch Don Pedro showed us the kitchen.





We saw huge kettles where they cook the pork in lard. That right, carnitas are pork confit. Recently I have been reading a lot about chefs getting whole hogs and breaking them down themselves, and making a menu of "nose to tail" dishes. Don Pedro said he goes though fifty whole hogs in a weekend.



He also makes head cheese and long ropes of sausage. It's nose to tail eating on the cheap. The business there is swift on the weekends with the carryout crowd jamming the front of the room, A man in behind the counter chops at the carnitas in a digit removing fashion, and packs to go orders by the pound. There are maybe ten tables for eating in. And don't show up late, at least not on Sunday. We got there at 1:15 and we got the last of the barbacoa, and they were down to their last tray of carnitas.



Carnerceria Don Pedro
1113 W 18th ST
Chicago
312-829-4757
Cash Only
Small parking lot just west of the building.

So come visit the Southside. We got more than just grit.

Cheers.

Smoked Fish in the Southland

The Accidental Foodie goes to Calumet Fisheries.

Oh boy, I love smoked fish. It's not that hard to make, get some fish, fire up the smoker (really any type of grilling device set on lo) and wait a few hours, Hey Presto, smoky love from the sea. In fact I think it's so easy, that I would never consider buying it. I suppose I have become jaded, I see those golden smoked beauties in the cold case, and I feel like someone is trying to sell me a $20-dollar-a-pound secret that I already know. Well sometimes I'm told to put down my tongs and take a spin on the merry-go-round. And man what a ride.



When someone says "fisheries" in Chicago, the person means a place that serves fried fish of some sort in a bag with fries and hot sauce. Calumet Fisheries is a little bit different in that they also offer fish smoked on the premises. We made the trip up to 95th ST, on a bright Sunday morning. We met Carlos who was working the counter and Ray who was tending to the smoker. They weren't too busy so they happily talked to Bonne Femme and me about what they do and showed us the smoker out back.







If for no other reason you should visit just to see the brick smokehouse. Perched between the store and the river, it is truly a relic of the past, no electric stainless steel chambers, just bricks, smoke and fish. The fish is hot smoked for about five hours with a mixture of hardwoods. Ray split some wood to give me an idea of the different aromas from the different woods.



Ray brines the fish before smoking, he said he would be happy to tell me the recipe if had had one, he does it all to taste.



Back inside Carlos offers a sample of the smoked shrimp. Yum. We get to talking, he reveals that he went to culinary school at CHIC, Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago. After getting his certificate he went to work at the casino down the road, but he didn't like it and came back to Calumet. All the school talk started making the boys antsy, Carlos asks me what I would like.

"I dunno what's coming out of the smoker?" Little did I know Bonne Femme was one step ahead of me, outside:







She zeroed in on a piece of trout and a piece of salmon with pepper and garlic.





We got a shrimp dinner for the boys, they ate it all. The smoked fish doesn't come as a meal, you have to take it home and make your own magic. Smoked trout rillets maybe?

When You Visit:

While this part of town is remote, it is by no means intimidating. It is more industrial than anything else, on the other side of the bridge is one of Chicago's largest boat yards, Crowley's, they have a very nice ship's store. The bridge spans the Calumet river, not the Chicago. Calumet is also the name of the geologic region that starts roughly at 95th ST and stretches around the bottom of the Lake all the way to Michigan. There's a great book by Kenneth Schoon called Calumet Beginnings, that has a history of the area.

Calumet Fisheries
3259 E 95TH ST
Chicago, IL 60617

773-933-9855

calumetfisheries.com

Parking for Calumet Fisheries is on the street, and there are no tables. They are open 7 days 10am-10pm. Check it out.

Cheers.

South Side Irish

Yeah I live on the Southside. Yeah I have an Irish last name. Ergo, this Irish Bangers recipe has got to be authentic.

Irish Banger

2 lb pork shoulder diced
3 slices (90 g) whole wheat bread dried in the oven chopped into fine crumbs
20 g salt
1/2 t (1 g) dried marjoram
1/2 t (1 g) grated nutmeg
1/4 t (1 g) powdered ginger
1/2 t (2 g) ground black pepper
1/2 t (1 g) finely grated lemon zest
100 ml milk

Combine ingredients, except milk, and rest the mixture in the fridge for at least an hour. Grind through fine plate into chilled bowl. Add milk and stir mixture until it starts to come together, about one minute. Stuff into hog casings. For that fancy pub look, twist the sausages into 4 inch lengths. Gently saute them to an internal temperature of 150F. To finish the authentic look make some grilled onions, some curry gravy and mashed potatoes.

The recipe originally appeared last year in the post St. Patrick's Day Bangers and Mash.

Cheers.

Ham Serial Part One: Aquisition and Cure

Say what you will about the Southland(I complain about it enough), but I can drive about three miles to a small abattoir where if you find no lamb in the cold case, the man behind the counter will check in the back. When he comes back from the back, he has an entire carcass slung over his shoulder. He flips on the band saw and three swipes later Bonne Femme has fixins for Rogan Josh. While we are there I decide to buy a ham.

I bought a ham today. One of the smaller ones, six kilos (14.5 pounds). I take it home. I need to trim it and start it to cure.


I first remove what I believe is the aitch bone. I haven't had my meat class yet.

It's a small flattish bone that makes the socket for the ham bone. Meanwhile I set the brine on to boil: four gallons of water, three pounds of salt, six ounces of pink salt, 2 ounces of pickling spices in a sachet. While I'm waiting for it to cool, I'm going to watch 3:10 Yuma.

Okay it's after midnight now and I am in a South Suburban basement with twenty-seven pounds of pork. The movie was real good, and the brine has chilled enough to get going.

Along with the ham I have some pork belly left over from Sausage Mania Part Deux. I'll get colonial and throw the whole lot in the pot.

A plate for weight and into the fridge. I'll check on our briny bits in a few days.

That's it for now from studio B. Stay tuned. Happy curing.

Cheers.

Pound for pound

Liver Sausage, the third time's the charm. August in Columbus.

"I've never been more ready in my entire life

To do this right now

Never

It's all been leading up to this moment

All right now right here

My whole life..

Right here"

Two Friday's ago me and the boys were rolling Northbound on Governor's Highway. At the time I was very down on the Southland, because I had been driving to all corner's of this huge sud-surbopolis looking for something I couldn't find. In the strip mall at the corner of Vollmer I was surprised to see what looked like a mini-circus set up in the lot. It was the Farmer's market in Olympia Fields. I promised the boys they could pat the pony at the petting zoo as I wheeled around to the lot. Amongst the cheese stand, the Labriola bread table and many vegetable vendors, I found the Dickman's. They raise pasture fed poultry, Bonne Femme, found them last year for our Thanksgiving turkey, but I didn't know they worked the market circuit. From their stand the Dickmans sell Chickens, eggs, and other assorted products. Mr Dickman told me they take birds to the processor about every three weeks, and that following Monday was processing day. They would have fresh Chicken all that week. At the time, I was excited, but I was heading out of town and I would not be able to go to Olympia Fields the following Friday. I went home and made mayonnaise with the eggs I bought. Then over the weekend, it hit me, so on Monday I called, and on the phone Mrs. Dickman answered: "Yeah I have chicken livers, we are just heading back from the processor now, how much are you looking for?"

On Tuesday, I went to the farmer's market in Richton Park and picked up about two pounds of fresh, grass fed, chicken livers.

Next stop le potager de saucisson.

Thyme

Fresh bay leaf

Hyssop

Garlic

I didn't use a book on this one, so feel free to adjust for taste.

MAC's Herbed Liver Sausage

921 g (about 2 lbs.) Fresh pasture fed chicken livers

580 g Pork shoulder, diced

160 g Pork fat (from shoulder), diced

32 g Salt

9 g Quatre-épices (white pepper, nutmeg, ginger, clove)

4 g White peppercorns

3 g (1 large clove) garlic, minced

1 g Fresh thyme, chopped

4 Fresh bay leaves, veins removed, minced

the leaves from 1 stem of Hyssop, chopped

2 large cold eggs

25 ml Fino (dry white wine sherry)

Hog Casings

I started out rinsing the livers, the setting them in a colander, over a bowl to drain in the fridge for an hour. I ground the peppercorns fine and combined them with the other spices (not herbs)and salt and mixed them with the cubed pork and pork fat.

Since the day was hot and I needed to keep my ingredients cold, I chilled the grinder attachment and the bowl in the freezer then set the bowl in ice while grinding. I ground the pork mixture first then the livers. I used the small grinding plate.

Using the paddle attachment, I added the herbs, the eggs, and the fino, and mixed until it all came together about two minutes. The consistency is a little runny, but it will be okay.

I stuffed them into hog casings. I suppose you could pack the mixture into a terrine (pronounced loaf pan), but I like the look and the portability of the casing.

I decided to poach the sausage in the oven. I used these really cool roasting pans I got from IKEA . I preheated the oven to 325F., then filled the pan to just under the rack with boiling water. I inserted a temp probe and inverted another pan on top and into the oven.

After about forty minutes the internal temperature read 165F., time for the ice bath.

After about 20 minutes on ice I put the sausage (Still in the rack pan) in the fridge to rest, uncovered, overnight.

The next day I put the Sausage into a Ziploc, because it was time to go to Columbus. As I have mentioned in previous posts, August is our favorite time to go to Columbus. Mom and Dad (and Buzz) have been working on the South side of the house and It has gone from spooky-no-doorbell haunted house to respectable country estate (in the middle of Clintonville).

The kids and Grandpa Bob stayed in the pool the whole time.

Mom made chicken tikka marsala from this month's Cook's Illustrated, and nan.

Once again I had to use a knife to open the sparkling wine (I would be happy to do this at your next party).

For serving the liver sausage, grab some bread, cut desired amount of pâté, squeeze from casing, spread on bread. Isle of Mull Cheddar from Katzinger's makes a nice accompaniment.

Cheers.