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Thursday, March 10, 2011

Bresaola

 

Now that this has become quite the habit, it seems as though I start to have withdrawals when I don’t have some sort of meaty concoction curing, drying, or smoking.  So, onto my next challenge Bresaola.

Hailing from the Alpine region of northern Italy, Bresaola is a dry-cured log of beefy goodness with a beautiful deep red (almost purple) color and an aromatic headiness that makes my mouth water just thinking about it.  In my preparation I used an eye of the round roast picked up from one of our local farms.  Next I trimmed it of all visible fat and silver skin.

Bresaola (1 of 10)

Bresaola (2 of 10)

I did leave a few bits of silver skin on I didn’t want to mangle the meat that bad.

Bresaola (3 of 10)

Next the cure:

Eye of the Round Roast 1,233 grams  
Salt 25 grams 2%
Sugar 29 grams 2.3%
Cure #2 4 grams .3%
Fresh Ground Black Pepper 5 grams .4%
Fresh Rosemary 6 grams .46%
Fresh Thyme 6 grams .46%
Cloves 6 whole  

Remove the woody stems from the rosemary, then combine all of the cure ingredients into a grinder and, well, grind them up.  The resins in the rosemary will make the cure kind of sticky, but the smell is awesome.  Next coat the roast thoroughly with the cure.  Then into a zip top bag, removing as much air as possible, and onto to the fridge to cure for seven days.  Be sure to turn the meat every other day giving it a rub  down to make sure everything stays coated with the cure.

 

Bresaola (4 of 10)

After the seventh day remove the cured roast from the fridge and rinse it completely.  The meat should be quite firm now and much darker in color.  After you rinse the roast off, allow it to dry thoroughly for about three hours.

Bresaola (6 of 10)

Now, this could be where it all goes wrong, and if it does I will have no one but myself to blame.  To case, or not to case?  That is the question.  I answered not to case, just because I only had 100 mm collagen casings on hand and to get the proper size casing from Butcher & Packer would have taken days (#planbetter).  So I went sans case. I also tried for the first time to make a mold starter using Brie mold and dextrose, and after about three days it seems to be taking hold.  So without casing I tied the roast and of to the curing chamber.  I will keep you posted as to the progress.

Bresaola (10 of 10)

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