Food Crafting

Where has October gone?  I feel like it was just September yesterday.  Two weeks ago I made what was probably my best batch of cured bacon.  I threw together an experimental rub of sugar, white pepper and black salt in ziplock bag with a 1/4 lb of pork belly (with skin).  It was delicious.  Of course, I forgot to take pictures of the finished product and all I have is a picture of the rub.

Last weekend, I went with our friend Darik to a cheese making class.  I had dabbled in a little cheese making before, easy stuff like ricotta, cream cheese and mozzarella, but no hard cheeses.  We got to take a shot at making parmesan and feta.  The feta was good.  I think mine needed a little more salt but the texture was perfect and the flavor nice.  The 2lb parmesan wheel is currently aging in the crisper box of our fridge nestled among some fresh fall fruit.  We won’t be able to eat the parmesan for about 64 days but it will be worth the wait. 

In a few weeks it will start to turn yellow and have the tough, parmesan exterior.  Next weekend Darik is coming over for some food crafting.  I think we will be smoking some salmon, trying our hand at few other cheeses and curing more bacon.  I’m excited about the salmon.  We’ve done it a couple times before and it was scrumptious.  I think we will also be making some pear and apple chips. What have you been food crafting?