Charcutepalooza

2011 is the Year of Meat. Charcutepalooza, organized by two food bloggers – Mrs. Wheelbarrow and The Yummy Mummy, is a year long challenge to make our own cured, salted, brined, and smoked meat products. It’s a way to expand our culinary horizons, try some new things out, and in the process learn more about where our food comes from and what we can do with it. All 300+ Charcutepaloozers around the country will be using Michael Ruhlman‘s book, Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing.

I’m going to use this tab as a way to chronicle all the challenges. Every month on the 15th, I’ll put up a post about what I’ve been doing and provide a recipe. For more information, check out the main Charcutepalooza page, here. You can also follow along the conversation on Twitter, by following the hashtag: #charcutepalooza. It should be a great year of discovery, and I look forward to doing all the projects.

January Project: Salting and Air Drying – Duck Proscuitto

February Project: Curing – Homemade Bacon

*FEATURED ON FOOD52 by The Yummy Mummy as one of the best pictures. Click here to see it!

March Project: Brining – Homemade Corned Beef

*FEATURED ON FOOD52 by The Yummy Mummy as one of the best blog posts. Click here to check it out!

April Project: Hot Smoking – Canadian Bacon

May Project: Grinding – Merguez Sausage Lettuce Wraps

June Project: Stuffed Sausages – Tandoori Chicken Sausage

July Project: Emulsified Sausages – Mortadella

August Project: Binding – Shrimp and Salmon Mousseline

September Project: Packing – Indian Style Pork Pie

October Project: Stretching – Confit Pork Cheek Rillettes

November Project: Curing - Pepperoni and Whole Pig Butchering

*FEATURED ON FOOD 52 by The Yummy Mummy as one of the best blog posts. Click here to check it out!

December Project: Showing Off – The Final Supper