Christian The Apprentice

Long past due updates...Whole Hogs, Sausage and More...

2008-01-28T08:04:00.000-08:00

Well, yes it's been a long time since update, but I'm finally able to stomach being out of the lovely porcelain palace for more then an hour.

Wow though, lots to update, lets see if I remember it all. I'll keep it as short as possible. It started last weekend when Bob the Master was harboring the horrible Incubus bug as it's come to be known. We had 2 whole hogs to break down, but these were no ordinary hogs, these hogs were ginormo hogs, weighing in at probably 150lbs a side. Lugging them back and forth from the walk in, made each successive side feel heavier and heavier, but that's what the Apprentice is for, to save the old feeble guys, aka The Master, from hurting themselves.

As we cranked through the hogs, roasts were made, tenderloins saved and remaining trim cut up and saved for future grinding. We were planning on making some various sausages, soppersata, pancetta and anything else that we could find some use for. Beaten down, tired but overall satisfied with work, we went home for the day and I crossed my fingers The Master would recover.

Fast forward to Monday, yes not a farm day, but this is when the incubus took full hold in me, topping out at a 103 fever and amazing stomach pains. Who knows what the cause was, but seems to be gone and out of the body as of today, Monday the 28th.

I arrived on Thursday, still not feeling great, but ready to work. We cranked through tons of sausage cranking, making some country breakfast sausage (Salt, Pepper and Brown Sugar), and then some fresh sausage as well. Nothing all that exciting this day, but happy to make it through and headed to real "work" at the office.

Saturday came and still the incubus is hanging on, but I'm managing to beat him off mostly. I arrived to some beautiful soppersata made by Bob on the day before, and they looked great. Fermenting nicely and drying out as expected. We hung those to start drying and quickly went to work on the usual tortes, and also made a nice yeast risen german apple cake called Kukken(sp). The pancetta was looking great, and can't wait to see that on Thursday this week.

The highlight for me was making the ginger leek sausage which seemed to be uninteresting to me at first, but after tasting it, my faith in The Master grew. Definitely an interesting combination and one I will definitely make again, this I'm sure of.

Finally, we have some neat experiments going with making whey vinegar, as well as some ideas for great uses of Lardo and soft boiled eggs. I'll keep you posted on those as I can...

Again, this is through the eyes of the apprentice.

Day 2 on the Farm

2008-01-13T06:00:00.000-08:00

So Day 2 started at 5:00 am and I made my way to the farm again. This time was a bit different as I was thinking about what we'd be doing instead of imagining like the first time. As I was driving through the rural landscape in darkness it was kind of like driving into a black hole. You can't make out much around you, but you know you're going to somewhere exciting.

I arrived at the farm and it was quiet as usual. You can hear the sound of the hoses in the back of the farm, spraying down the stalls, and the occasional rooster saying hello.

Bob arrives and we waste no time and get right to work on my pancetta. One of my favorite parts about the farm thus far is the banter that exists between Bob, Trent and myself. I don't know that you can put a value on laughter, but if you could, I'd be rich.

Bob, on his blog, refers to me as "Christian the Apprentice" which is kind of a compliment, as I hardly have earned my "Apprentice Wings", but I'll take it. The amount of information to absorb during these days is plentiful and sometimes overwhelming, but I'm such a knowledge junkie, I'd have it no other way. Today we ended up making the following:

Pancetta (for me)
Pulling down bressola and other charcuterie
Straining and packing chicken and beef stock
Apple Tarts
Rib Roast and Caramelized Onions for lunch sandwiches
Prepared 33lbs of Bressola to start curing

I'm not nearly as witty as Bob and suffer from "Straightforwardism" far too often, but in the kitchen I find myself listening and watching as much as possible. That is until I mentioned I attended the "Emril Live" show and appeared on TV back about 10 years ago when it was still "cool" to watch Emril. The look on Bob's face was one of shame, embarrassment and a visual "Smack upside the head". I've not attended a Food Network show since, and if I had, I wouldn't let it slip out.

You realize how far away from good knife skills you are when you stand across from someone like "The Master" as you both trim silver skin off of the rounds. While mine appear to have the texture of corduroy, his are as smooth as a baby's ass. I'm learning though, and on my second loin, I made some great long cuts and wanted to do a dance, but in the interest of safety, I decided not to. We didn't need Bob throwing up in the food.

To wrap up this great american novel here, the second day was better the first. I feel incredibly excited about where things are going and how much I will continue to learn. After the year I had in 2007, I couldn't think of a better way to start out 2008.

Until Day 3...

My Food

2008-01-11T08:06:00.001-08:00

I figured I might as well post some of my workings, so here is some of my food:

First Day on The Farm

2008-01-10T10:19:00.000-08:00

As this is a new blog, I am guessing many don't know much about me, let alone what I'm doing this blog for. Well, I just started working part time at Hendricks Farm with Bob Del Grosso and Trent Hendricks learning the ropes of making all kinds of charcuterie, as well as anything else related to food and farming I can pick up. It's truly a unique and fortunate experience.

Well today was the first day on the farm, and I have to say, it was better than expected. Working with Bob directly, and having Trent bust my balls every time he got a chance is therapeutic in it's own way. There is something refreshing about chopping pecans by hand, and not rough chop, but actually slicing up the pecans into uniform pieces. Working around people who appreciate the idea and concept of doing by hand, and relying less on machines is incredibly refreshing.

Today we made about 65lbs of fresh Turkey Sausage with prunes, pecans, sage and cider. I'll have to pick some up when I'm at the farm again on Saturday morning, as I didn't have an opportunity to store the fresh sausage today.

I'm going to be doing a minimum of 2 days a week at the farm, hopefully 3, and still working my full time job. It really is something I think will change my life for the better, and give me some nice balance and perspective.