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What component (not dish) did you make from scratch (ferment, cure, pickle, spice blend) that you ar

3K views 27 replies 18 participants last post by  butzy 
#1 ·
For me recently is has been pickles. We're entering summer and in Florida that means a ton of fresh summer veges. I had a roast beef sandwich for lunch today with my dill spears and was happy to have them. They are saltier with more garlic and more acidic than store bought :)

 
#3 ·
I cleaned, salted and pickled some smelt the other day, working on making something like boquerones, but they taste more like basic pickled herring.  I like them.

I think next batch I'll go the smoked kipper route, see how that turns out.

mjb.
 
#4 · (Edited)
Home made:

english muffins

bagels

picallilli

bread and butter pickles

boiled fondant (this is actually good, not like the powdered sugar kind)

quince jelly

the first four of them are things i can't find here in any specialty store and have had to make my own.

There isn't much that i buy ready made actually.

edit: i just realized i did what annoys me when others do it - i didn't really read the post carefully. the first two aren't components, but dishes in themselves - but, i guess they're components of a nice breakfast /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif
 
#5 ·
I make all kinds of jams and jelly; from handpicked elder berries, rosebuds, quince (hard to find here), apples (with added spices). Also from bought fruit like pine apple, mango (adding orange zeste & juice), apricots, cherries,..

Once in a while I make flavored vinegars which are nothing else than handpicked herbs macerated in white vinegar. Tarragon vinegar, elderflower vinegar, rose petals vinegar...
 
#6 · (Edited)
  • Pollo.. buttermilk counts! Can you really just add vinegar to whole milk to get that? I've been wasting it in the past!
  • Tf.. pickled fish.. man I am sure it is good but I've never had such.
  • Siduri.. you are a busy bee. English muffins sounds great.. I've made pretzel rolls and it was worth the time and effort, probably not too far from your bagels.
  • CB.. I love the idea of flavored vinegars. I hadn't even thought to do that but I will now!
 
#8 ·
Great tip on the buttermilk.  I just made a tub of rub for BBQ.  Another thing I like to make is a balsamic reduction.  The last batch I made I added a cinnamon stick, some vanilla and a couple cloves to the pot.  It's great for dressing up a plating.
 
#12 · (Edited)
A friend of mine brought this spicy pepperoncino jam from Rome and challenged me to replicate it. Please click the image to see Fattoria Sila web site.



Of course, i love challenges. After a couple of fails I could mimic the jam almost exactly in texture, color, taste and aroma.

Then i did another batch adding to the jam 1 clove, 1 star anise and 1/4 stick cinnamon. And that came out just glorious. And I'm not being modest here. It's a heavenly hot&spicy pepperoni jam.

 
#14 ·
I always have several different varieties of garam masala made up in jars as well as a blend of chilis for chili powder and another jar of roasted and ground cumin. I have a couple of homemade "curry powders" for when I'm in the mood for a bit of South Asian flavor but don't feel like making an actual Indian dish.

Then there are the jars of chicken stock in my freezer.

The other component I make often and am always happy with is a chunky, simmered tomatillo salsa, loosely interpreted from an old Rick Bayliss recipe. And pickled red onions to go on fish tacos.
 
#15 ·
I forgot ketchup - i always used to make ketchup when making hamburgers for the kids.  Now i can't eat any bought one.  So easy to do.  I just would make it when i decided to have hamburgers and keep the rest in the fridge.  But i did can it once.  Now i rarely have hamburgers, and when i do i just like picallilly on them. 

I used to make the hamburger rolls too. 
 
#20 ·
For me sugar in a beef rub is wrong, a flavor profile I do not care for.
I make BBQ rubs. One of my favorites is this one:

NASA Space Shuttle Barbecue Rub

This is the BBQ rub recipe that NASA used for meals prepared for
the last Space Shuttle mission, STS-135 in July 2011.

The original NASA recipe was a formula expressed in percentage
of each ingredient used (by weight). It has been converted to volume
for home use.

By Volume Measurement

1/2 cup Table Salt (3/4 cup Kosher Salt)
1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
1/3 cup Brown sugar, lightly packed
3 Tbsp Chili powder
3 Tbsp Paprika
2 Tbsp Celery salt
1/2 cup Ground oregano
4 tsp Ground white pepper
1 Tbsp Garlic powder
1 Tbsp Ground black pepper
1 Tbsp Cumin
3/4 tsp Dry mustard
1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper

Mix well. Store in an airtight container.
Use at least 1 Tbsp of rub per 1 lb of meat.
Wrap rub coated meat in plastic wrap and allow to marinate in the fridge overnight.

Makes 1 pound = about 2 1/2 cups of BBQ rub.

=======================================

Original NASA BBQ Rub Formula (given in % of ingredients by total weight)

Percent
29.51 Salt
23.61 Sugar granulated
17.71 Brown sugar, lightly packed
5.90 Chili powder
5.90 Paprika
4.43 Celery salt
3.54 Ground oregano
2.95 Ground white pepper
2.21 Garlic powder
1.48 Ground black pepper
1.48 Cumin
0.79 Dry mustard
0.49 Cayenne pepper

NASA BBQ Rub formula/recipe converted to Grams

100.00 % = 453.592 gm = 1 pound

Grams
133.855 gm Salt
107.093 gm Sugar granulated
80.331 gm Brown sugar, lightly packed
26.762 gm Chili powder
26.762 gm Paprika
20.094 gm Celery salt
16.057 gm Ground oregano
13.381 gm Ground white pepper
10.024 gm Garlic powder
6.71 gm Ground black pepper
6.71 gm Cumin
3.583 gm Dry mustard
2.222 gm Cayenne pepper

=======================================

Original NASA press release with BBQ Rub formula:

"Beef Brisket, Barbecued, Sliced

Dry Rub
Ingredients Percent by weight
Salt 29.51
Sugar granulated 23.61
Brown sugar, lightly packed 17.71
Chili powder 5.90
Paprika 5.90
Celery salt 4.43
Ground oregano 3.54
Ground white pepper 2.95
Garlic powder 2.21
Ground black pepper 1.48
Cumin 1.48
Dry mustard 0.79
Cayenne pepper 0.49
100.00

PREPARATION PROCEDURE

Trim beef brisket of fat and rub dry rub mixture into the meat surface (Dry Rub shall be at
least 8 grams per pound of raw brisket). Wrap the brisket in plastic wrap or suitable
material and hold at 40°F (4°C) overnight.

Cook briskets in a regular oven set at 235°F (113°C), baste after 3 hours with barbecue
sauce. Cook another two hours until internal temperature is 175-180°F (79-82°C) baste with
barbecue sauce and let sit in the oven for one more hour.

The brisket shall be sliced on a meat slicer set at 1/8 inch (3.0 mm). Serve 2.8 to 3.5 oz
(80-100 g) of sliced brisket with add one ounce (30 g) of hickory smoke flavored barbecue
sauce. "

As posted on the NASA website under the title, Special American Meal Planned for Final Space Shuttle Crew
 
#21 ·
Great topic, let's see,

various spice blends for Porchetta, pastrami, smoked salt & oils,  American Espelette,

home cured and smoked bacon,

pickled Haricot Verts, rainbow char, capers and onions for beef carpaccio,

mustard and kimchee pickled medley for Porchetta, 

buratta, ricotta, mozzarella and

pasta!

Cheers!

EDG
 
#22 · (Edited)
Some spice blends, fermented pickles (making a jar right now, should be ready tomorrow), fermented beets, lots and lots of pasta, kefir, yogurt, farmer's cheese, various breads, including sourdough made with sourdough starter I had made myself too, zakwas na zurek, sweet trahana, pickled wild mushrooms (various mixes including Lactarius quietus, Boletus chrysenteron, Lepista nuda, Armillaria mellea and others, which I gathered myself, too), jams and jellies...
 
#24 ·
Definitely canned tomatoes, but also tomato sauce and all other kinds of canned salsas.

My wife's relatives have a farm. They grow all kinds of produce but they also raise cattle, so by association I "made" my own steaks the other night? :D
Oh yes, canned tomatoes. Last year, I bought fresh San Marzano at the peak of the season, about 30 kg. I blanched them, peeled them, them pushed as many in a jar as I could and finally put all of the peel on top again (to impart flavour). And sterilized and that was it. They lasted till the end of May and were just fantastic!

Gherkins are ready and they're already great, even without chilling! In case anyone might be interested, here's my recipe:

I bought just enough fresh gherkins (about 7-8 cm long) to fit into a 1,5-litre jar. I also bought some dill and the tradition is to buy a bunch that already has flowers and seeds (but that's probably more for practical reasons as these can't be used as a herb but are still good enough in a veg ferment) and some horseradish. So I put two plump peeled cloves of a pungent variety of purple garlic, cut in half, some peeled sliced of horseradish (an amount that is slightly larger than that of garlic), two dried red chilies broken in half, some black peppercorns, some coriander seeds and the dill cut into smaller pieces so that it would fit in the jar. I washed and trimmed all the cucumbers and pricked each from both sides four times with a fork and stacked them in the jar. I boiled one litre of water, chilled it again (to rid it of chlorine) and then added 50 grammes of unrefined rock salt. I poured the brine over the cucumbers and covered the jar with a smaller jar that just fits in the jar opening and fill the small jar with some water, too (just to weight the cucumbers down). This inhibits mold growth as it has practically nowhere to grow. I placed it under scorching summer sun for the whole day and in just over two days it was ready.
 
#26 ·
I made my first batch of fermented hot sauce this week.

Fresno chilis and garlic chopped in the robot coupe (I just knocked out the seeds, didnt take the time to remove them all). Add a generous helping of salt. Put in your preferred fermenting container for a week or more. Once bubbly and juicy blend in a vita prep. Put in an appropriate size sauce pot and heat gently so just to dissolve the sugar and salt you need to add. Add a splash of vinegar just to lift the flavors. I strained through a large china cap so not to take all the body out of the sauce, but to remove the big pieces of seed and skin. It needs some time to mellow out, but its pretty delish!

 
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