Makin' Bacon

Living in what I lovingly call Pig World (Pigs are revered in Hawaii and were once the food of royalty) many cuts of pork are more abundant and affordable here. Pork Bellies are one of those. I just made two pounds of some of the best bacon I have ever tasted for less than $4. Bacon, always imported the mainland here sells for $6-7 a pound when not on sale. This however was not at all a decision based on money, but instead on flavor and the kind of satisfaction brought about by making things from scratch whenever possible. I roast my own coffee beans, bake my own bread, why not make my own bacon?

I have a Bradley digital smoker which enables me to smoke at any temperature or even to cold smoke. Bacon, as you can imagine needs to be smoked at a cooler temperature than say a Turkey, which I actually slow cook in the smoker. My smoker also allows me to smoke with most any kind of wood, as it requires pressed wood chips. Every 20 minutes a disc of wood is pushed onto the smoker element and the ashes of the remaining disc are then pushed into a bowl of water, making this also a smoker that you do not have to tend to or check frequently. 

Maple is one of my favorite smoking woods, as it has a sweeter and less bitter element than say... mesquite. However sometimes I use apple or cherry for delicate smoking too. Pecan is another favorite. There are times though that the intense flavor of mesquite is best. It all depends on what I am smoking. In this batch of bacon, I used maple. 

Here are the simple step by step instructions to making your own bacon at home. I have to say, it is one of the most delicious things I have ever made, as simple as it is. 

The Cure

If you have ever cured salmon, this is basically the same process. Another great reason to make your own bacon is that you can make it nitrate free! A simple cure of a spice rub is all that you need. I used one made with my smoked Hawaiian Salt, a bit of Maui Raw Sugar and some spices.  I had two slabs, so I did one adding lots of cracked pepper corns (A mix of 6 different kinds of pepper) and the other with maple sugar and California chiles ground up.  As you can imagine there are a multitude of combinations you can try. For a good  cure though, some salt is needed. All you do is rub the spices onto the flesh of the pork belly and then put it in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. In the end, the cure is rinsed off of the slabs and then you can add more aromatics for the final smoking process. The bacon can stay in the bags for up to a week, but need at least 3 days for curing. Turn every day and it is also helpful to have a weight on the bags. After the first day you will notice that the salt is drawing moisture from the meat. 

When you are ready to smoke, rinse the slabs and pat dry. Using a sharp knife (I use a boning knife for this) slide the knife just beneath the skin of the pork belly and essentially filet it, removing just the skin (not the fat beneath it) from the meat. Next, add whatever aromatics you want for the final product. These flavors will be present at the edge of the bacon. In this case I used the crushed peppercorns on one and some maple sugar & crushed rosemary from the garden on the other. 

Smoking

You will need to have a smoker that does not have a fire under the meat. One with a smoke box on the side is good, or one like mine which you can digitally set the heating element. A stovetop smoker will not work for bacon. You do not want to heat the slabs higher than 125 degrees or you will be roasting them. I place the slabs on a rack above a drip pan. I do this whenever I am smoking meats, as it just keeps the whole smoker cleaner and eliminates chances of flare ups.  

If you have a large smoker like I do, you can experiment imparting smoke flavors to other things while you are doing the bacon. I figure if I have empty shelves, I am "wasting" smoking space. I often do salt, rice, polenta, garlic and other items that taste good with a bit of smoke flavoring. 

Smoke for 8-10 hours with the vent nearly closed. 

Remove, cool and put in to zip lock bags. 

When ready to slice, use a very sharp knife if you do not own a meat slicer (I do not) and slice it. I found after a little experimenting that cutting the slab in half lengthwise enabled me to make thinner slices. Since I was using the bacon for a BLT anyway, it made the bacon just the right size for sandwiches. 

And so for a valentine's brunch today, I had home cured Bacon, garden fresh tomato, fresh genoa basil and arugula on home made sprouted whole wheat with home made mayonnaise. I also had local coffee beans roasted here at home! Life is good on the BIG ISLAND! 

Wordless Wednesday :Backyard Pineapples

Tamale Time!

As promised, I am giving you the recipe for tamales. The masa or dough is my basic and most favorite masa, made with fresh corn. I also rendered my own lard. You can see step by step instructions for rendering lard here. The fillings and wrappings can vary greatly in style as well as ingredients. I used dried corn husks that had been soaked for a few hours in hot water. You can also use fresh or frozen banana leaves or Ti leaves but they will need to be softened briefly on a grill so that they will bend but not break. I used lengths of cotton cooking string and strips of the corn husks to tie the tamales, but there are versions that are made folded and not tied at all.

A variety of condiments or sauces can be served with tamales. In this case I opted for a New Mexico style chile sauce which is extremely simple to make. All you have to do is take dried New Mexico Chiles or California Chiles (these are the Anaheim or simular varieties, mild in flavor). Remove the stems, then the seeds and toast slightly on a griddle. Soak in boiling water for 1 hour. Remove from the water and place in a blender with just about 1/4 cup of the liquid or chicken stock and puree completely. Then strain with a food mill or sieve. This sauce will keep for up to two weeks in the refrigerator and also freezes well.

For this session of tamale making, I wanted finger food, so I made the tamales as small as I could. That is not an easy task if you are using a filling. Some tamales such as Cuban tamales are made with all the ingredients included in the masa, therefore they would be much easier to make small.

Basic Fresh Corn Masa

• Fresh corn cut from 10 ears of corn or good quality frozen corn either way you need about 4 cups of corn. 
• 4 cups of Masa para Tamales this is a dry masa available in the flour section of most any grocery store. Do not get masa para tortillas, which is an instant tortilla masa. 
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups of fresh rendered lard. If you do not want to make your own lard, you may be able to find it at the butcher counter of most Hispanic markets ask for manteca. DO NOT buy packaged hydrogenated lard in the baking section. We don't have Hispanic markets in Hawaii, so making our own is pretty much the only option. Read the article on rendering lard for more information about lard vs shortening. For those of you that are lard-phobic or on very restricted diets, there are other options of course butter being the next best and after that any vegetable shortening that has not been hydrogenated. Do not use oil as it will change the texture completely. 
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup of chicken stock. I made stock when I cooked the chicken thighs for the filling. But if you don't make stock, boxed stock is fine, just look for organic lower sodium stock. 

*I also added some chile powder to one of my masa recipes just to add some variety in color. 

Method: 

• Place the corn kernels in a food processor w/steel blade and pulse till it is roughly chopped up. This should only take 4-5 pulses. Add the masa, the baking soda, salt and sugar and just pulse a few more times to mix. 
• In a mixing bowl or a clean food processor bowl beat the lard till it is light and fluffy. 
• Mix both batches of ingredients together in a large bowl. If your food processor is large enough, that is fine, otherwise stir very well until the masa is well incorporated. Add as much stock as it takes to make a very moist but firm dough. You should be able to roll it into a soft ball. Make it as moist as you can while still being able to roll into a ball, This is crucial for having moist tamales. Cover and let rest at least 30 minutes before using.
• The masa can be made ahead and refrigerated, but allow it to come back to room temperature before using. 

Fillings: 

I made two filings and there are endless combinations. 

Queso Blanco and Green Chile Filling

• Roast 6 large green chiles (poblano or anaheim) on a grill, place in plastic bag to steam for 15 minutes and then remove the skin, stems and seeds. Cut into 2-3 inch slices about 1/2 inch wide. If you cannot find fresh chiles, you can use canned chiles (not jalapenos) .
• Queso Blanco or Jack cheese cut into small fingers 2-3 inches long and about 1/2 inch wide

Chicken and Cheddar with Caramelized Onions Filling

• About 1-2 cups of cooked chicken
• Caramelized Onions: 2 whole onions rough chopped cooked down in olive oil till caramelized 
• Sharp Cheddar Cheese cut into 2-3 inch fingers 

Assembly: 

• Take about 2 tablespoons of masa and put into the center of a wet corn husk. Using wet hands (the dough will not stick) pat it down about 1/4 of an inch thick, making a rectangle at least 3 inches wide and about 5 inches tall. Put the filling in the center. 
• Using the side of the corn husk nearest you pull the husk up and over the filling to the edge of where the filling ends and pull in as you would do in making sushi maki, to complete the roll. The dough should not be sticking to the corn husk.and it should be covering the filling. You can then roll or fold the corn husk around the tamal and secure with string or husk ties.  

Cooking:

In a steamer or large pot with a folding steam basket, add enough water to cover the bottom but not too much so that the tamales are not sitting in water. Add tamales and cover. Heat water to a gentle boil and maintain the boil (and water level) for about an hour. I use about two or three layers of tamales, small batches are best. Since this is a labor intensive endeavor, I tend to make extra tamales and freeze them. Just pop them from the freezer to the microwave  or thaw and steam later. 

If you liked this post, you might also like these recent posts on Mexican Cooking in Hawaii: 

Chiles en Nogada   Turkey with Rich Dark Mole Sauce

Superbowl Sunrise

This post is mostly pictures because I am busy cooking up a storm for our Super Bowl party. The game starts at 1:30 here. This morning as I was stirring the red chile sauce that is going with the mini tamales I could not resist taking some shots of the spectacular sunrise with a cruise ship coming in. The whales were playing too, but I could not catch them in a good shot today. I will post tomorrow with the recipes and pictures for the mini tamales. I am making two kinds, green chile w/queso blanco and a chicken w/caramelized onions and cheddar. I am also serving a maple smoked pork but in the form of pulled pork sliders with pickles and cole slaw. No Super Bowl is complete without Buffalo Wings. I do mine in the traditional way, except I use saracha sauce instead of Tom's hot sauce. All of the guests are bringing food, so it should be fun to see what else arrives at Hali Pali. 

Check back for tamale post tomorrow!

This surfer girl was paddling out to see the whales! 

Coconut Boy!

We have several very large coconut trees on our property, as well as some king palms and royal palms. As beautiful as palms are, they need to be trimmed to maintain their attractiveness. And of course... there is a harvest of many big coconuts just lustily hanging from the tops of the trees. While I see this as a culinary opportunity, Wes sees them as a liability. He is worried that they may fall and knock out our gardener some day. So, along comes Coconut Boy! He has been trimming these very trees for several years. He knocked on the door today just when I was about to call someone to come out and trim the trees. Hawaiian Kismet!

He spent the better part of the day climbing and trimming and harvesting coconuts from just one of our trees. He will be back tomorrow to do the other five. And... while I let him take a lot of the coconuts to sell, we are keeping some too. So, expect some fresh coconut ideas coming out of my kitchen on the pacific!

Wordless Wednesday Roasted Eggplant-Parmesan Custard Timbale

Best thing I ate all week!