Don't tell Cortis that I said that. I called earlier and they said they would sell me (or possibly just give me) chicken livers. And I just called back to ask about buying some chicken skins for schmaltz and they're going to hook me up! And their website says they have started selling framani stuff (hopefully the sausage and not just the salami) and Old Soul coffee.
looking at the schmaltz recipes, I am learning about gribenes, which are kinda like chips made from chicken skins. When you cook the skin and fat and onions down for the shmaltz the leftover skin is then called gribenes! Leave it to the jews.
ReplyDeleteAlton Brown did an episode where he made a good-looking chicken liver mousse:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_20355,00.html
last night i tried chicken skin yakitori. its basically chicken skin folded up and with a stick through it and then grilled. awesome!
ReplyDeletegribenes sound delicious.
ReplyDeleteSo does schmaltz.
There was an article a while back in the NY Times (now behind their stupid paywall) about making pie crust with lard. The not-so-news was that good leaf lard makes great pie crust, but is nowhere to be found. The news to me was that beef suet made a pretty great crust too and is easy to find: Ask a butcher and they're likely to just give you some. I think the author cut the suet right in without rendering it. That sounds a little nuts (wouldn't you have little beef-gribenes/cracklins in your crust?) but it would be cool if true.
I'm pretty into the idea of making delicious things from shit that butchers will give you for free.
beckler,
ReplyDeleteCurrently we do only carry the salami but I just pre-ordered Framani sausage, the classic type. It will get to market on 12/28. Do you prefer the spicy one?
Anna
I cut out that nytimes article on pie crust because I was planning on making the pumkin pie with cognac and creme de marron. I love that Corti bros had the creme de marron in this really pretty little can even though I had to hunt all over the store for it with the help of a worker. And Cortis has leaf lard, too!
ReplyDeleteThat's rad that Taylor's is getting the framani sausage. I think I've only had the regular, not the spicy.
Jake,
ReplyDeleteI looked up "Christmas" in Larousse Gastronomique last night and ended up reading about suet. This info might have been in the Times article, but I guess suet is the fat from around the kidneys, which I guess doesn't have the tissue structure that skin fat has. So it just sort of melts in the pastry, creating a texture Larousse describes as spongy. It's also a key ingredient in Christmas pudding (combine a pound of chopped suet, a few pounds of dried/candied fruits, a pound of breadcrumbs, and some milk; wrap it in a floured cloth and steam it; store it a few weeks to a year; steam it again, douse it in brandy, and light it on fire). I've got to try to get my hands on some suet. I think I remember it being horse suet that Steingarten used to fry his fries.
Ben
that's what leaf lard is in pigs, the stuff from over the kidneys. i really should make that pie. the problem with baking over the holidays is that everyone is so inundated with food and i tend to greet extra sweets with dread rather than excitement. i made the honey apple thyme pie, but i substituted chopped ginger for thyme, and the recipe came out pretty weird. it had tapioca, which is unusual for an apple pie, and the tapioca and honey fell to the bottom and formed a rubbery layer. it was still good, but it was weird.
ReplyDelete