Some homemade Tasso heavily seasoned. Gots to sit in the fridge for 3 days, then 1 hour in front of the fan and then 1 hour of smoke and some heat. Going to be good in some red beans and rice. Like RR says----------yummo
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o290/stlthy1/PICT0238.jpg)
nepas
Looks nice! ;) Forgive my ignorance, but what is Tasso? ???
Quote from: Wildcat on January 27, 2007, 12:44:21 PM
Looks nice! ;) Forgive my ignorance, but what is Tasso? ???
Tasso, a highly seasoned, intensely flavored smoked pork, adds a wonderful flavor to a variety of dishes, from soups to jambalaya to pastas and seafood dishes. Easily obtainable in Louisiana or by making it yourself.
nepas
Sounds delicious! ;)
Here is an another way to make Tasso.
1 7-10 pound cured picnic ham
DRY SEASONINGS MIXTURE:
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon white pepper
2 tablespoons cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons Spanish paprika
3 tablespoons granulated garlic
2 tablespoons onion powder
3 tablespoons brown sugar
Cut strips of meat 3 - 4 inches long by 2 - 3 inches wide and 3/4 inch thick. Coat the strips of pork generously with the dry seasonings mix. Skewer meat with a metal smoking rod and arrange so that a good flow of smoke can reach all sides evenly Hang tasso in the smoker or place on racks and smoke at 150F for 5 - 6 hours. Meat should be slightly moist and completely smoked throughout. Alternate Method Shoulder bone can also be smoked along with the tasso. These bones can be used in Red Beans, White Beans, Gumbo and other dishes. Tasso is probably the most important smoked meat seasoning used in a Cajun cooking. Tasso is a highly seasoned slice of smoked pork shoulder (along with any extra scraps and pieces of pork). It is used as the primary smoked flavor for many traditional Cajun dishes. The best tasso is slightly dryer than a regular smoked ham however, not as dry as a jerky. It also has a lite sweet taste and is about twice as hot (Cayenne or Tabasco Pepper Seasoned) as regular smoked sausage.
And all this from a yankie lol
Hey I been around
nepas
Thanks. Sounds like it might be just a little too spicey for me. I may give it a try since what ever you put it in may help to tame it somewhat. ;D
Nepa;
Good sounding. Throw in a Pig knuckle or two seasoned with the same spice. Mom always did that for red beans on Sunday. Man it added flavor. I've got some old time sausage recipes if your interested from down in Dem Parts of the country. Brings back good memories when ever we make them. Glad to hear someone else likes LA. food. ;D Just got done with a batch of Boudin last week.
Quote from: iceman on January 27, 2007, 04:39:39 PM
Just got done with a batch of Boudin last week.
Man, oh man. We gotta talk. Haven't had that in forever. I'm headin' Louisiana way come April, though.
Quote from: PetersCreek on January 27, 2007, 06:54:27 PM
Quote from: iceman on January 27, 2007, 04:39:39 PM
Just got done with a batch of Boudin last week.
Man, oh man. We gotta talk. Haven't had that in forever. I'm headin' Louisiana way come April, though.
Any time my man. Vampyr and I have been playing with the Caputto flour in pizza lately too. Home made Italian sausage, home made sauces, it don't get any better. Anytime you want to make sausage let me know.
Looks like I am going to have to get into the sausage making gig now. I have used it in a few LA recipes I brought back from my 3 days at the New Orleans Cooking Experience.
Wildcat, usually Tasso is the mildest ingrediant in the disk when it comes to CAJUN.
Iceman, you'll have to post your Boudin recipe. I had a friend that I worked with many years ago. She would make an almost yearly trip to LA to visit family. Knowing how much I like sausage and spicy things, she would always bring me back some andoullie and boudin.
There is a place in LaPlace (Jacobs) that sells great sausages and are well known for their Andouille but the shipping costs about as much as the product does. I haven't tried to order from them for several years so maybe they have been able to negotiate better shipping costs by now. It would be fun to try to make some and have the LA crowd around here give it a taste test.
I have eaten a lot of Cajun and have been to New Orleans many times. It is only a little over 3 hours from where I live. I just never learned all the names of the Cajun food. I pay attention to what is in it. Most of what I have tried has been spicy but not always hot and on all but about 3 occassions has been very good. I do like things warm but not enough to put blisters in the mouth. :)
Ok today is the 3rd day of Tasso being in the fridge. Tonite I take out and put it in front of the fan for an hour or so till it dries some, then hitting the BS. I will post some pics later.
I frequent New Orleins often and when there I like this place and their items http://www.savoiesfoods.com/
NEPAS
From my brief history lesson/story while in New Orleans, I learned I had the same misconception about Cajun and Creole food as most. That misconception being their food is spicey hot. What I found out is that traditional is spicey but not necessarily hot. The cultures were big in the use of spices to add flavor and variation. This was more evident when back before refrigeration, a lot of the meat the plantation workers were given to eat (which was not often, or they were able to salvage from the wealthy) was not fresh, other wise known as rotten or ill flavored. Heavy spices were common to mask the ill flavors. The heat spice was more modern variations from the comercialization of Cajun food and that is what is now more known. Hopefully my memory is not further propegating ill knowledge and I have done justice to the traditional Cajun and Creoles with their fine gift of spice and flavorings.
The non-hot or mild-hot cajun food is very good and is what you find in LA the most. At least in the better places. Some are very hot. True cajun food is exceptionally good in my opinion. ;D
Being I have some spanish in my (roots) I grew up eating alot of mexican food. The spice is different among foods. Cajun is diff from Creole and both diff from mexican and then even there is tex-mex spice. Ahhh listen to me jabberin. Just my $0.2 worth.
nepas
Quote from: iceman on January 28, 2007, 12:49:34 PM
Any time my man. Vampyr and I have been playing with the Caputto flour in pizza lately too. Home made Italian sausage, home made sauces, it don't get any better. Anytime you want to make sausage let me know.
Did you get that Caputo flour locally or by mail? I've been curious about it, myself.
I just finished my first Canadian bacon this past weekend and I'm definitely interested in sausage making. I've even been eyeballin' a stuffer at Cabela's.
I definitely want to get together once the weather's a bit warmer.
We've been getting it through Melano's disributor up here in Anchorage. Barb and Steve at Teddy's Tasty Meats puts in an order about every six weeks with them. We order the 2 lb. bags (10 to a box) instead of the 50 lb. bag. They carry the Caputo Pizzarea flour and a few others like the pasta flour. Malano won't ship direct to us even with my food manufacturing license so we use Teddy's. I have a bag I can give you if you want to try it. :)
I am not worthy
I am a mere smoker of meat from the suburbs of Cleveland, occasional brewer of beer, maker of wine, stuffer of sausage............
What is Caputo flour? Contextually, it is specialty flour for pizza's. Sing me the praises please? High protein, glutinous, etc.?
mld
OOOGLY-MOOOGLY...that sounds great.
Quote from: winemakers on February 06, 2007, 04:36:39 PM
I am not worthy
I am a mere smoker of meat from the suburbs of Cleveland, occasional brewer of beer, maker of wine, stuffer of sausage............
What is Caputo flour? Contextually, it is specialty flour for pizza's. Sing me the praises please? High protein, glutinous, etc.?
mld
Copied from the pizza making forum;
I'm not quite sure I fully understand your question. If you are thinking of what flours are best from a protein content standpoint for particular pizza styles, it is hard to generalize but I do think that there are some useful guides. For example, for a NY style (e.g., a NY street style), I think that a high-gluten flour with a protein content of around 14% is the best choice, followed by bread flour with a protein content of around 12.5-13%. For a Chicago deep-dish style, all-purpose flour with a protein content of around 11-11.7% is a good choice, although it is also possible to use a bread flour based on recipes I have seen. For a Neapolitan style, the only flour I would use would be an imported 00 flour with a protein content of around 9-12.5%, with a preference for one with a protein content of around 11.5-12.5% (such as the Caputo 00 Pizzeria flour). For a cracker-type pizza, I have seen everything from all-purpose flour, to bread flour to high-gluten flour. For an American style, high-gluten flour and bread flour appear to be the most common choices. It is also possible to blend different flours with different protein contents to achieve a desired final protein content or other characteristics. A good example of this is DiFara's, in Brooklyn, where high-gluten flour and 00 flours are combined.
If you stay within the general ranges of protein mentioned, brand names are not so important in my opinion. I happen to like the King Arthur flours because they are unbleached, non-bromated, and generally have a slightly higher protein content than used by competitive products, but there are many other good brands of flours out there. If a particular flour you have found is unbranded, then I would want to know what its protein content is, as well as any other details and specs for the flour that may be available because many unbranded flours can be of poorer quality than the branded flours. Also, most unbranded flours come in very large bags (usually 25-50 lbs.), so it is a good idea to know what you are getting since you will be living with that flour for quite a while.
To get a better feel for different flours, you might also take a look at the Pizza Glossary at the forum, at http://www.pizzamaking.com/pizza_glossary.html.
Hope this helps. Pat ;)
Wow! Iceman you obviously know your stuff! This is way beyond my simple abilities.
thanks, and thanks for the link
mld