Bacon... it's more than just an internet meme.

So, as all of my food obsessions begin... I couldn't find good butcher's bacon a few years ago, so I started making it myself. These days, most butchers have the good stuff (nitrate free -- which looks a bit more grey than pink due to it being... nitrate free*), but I still enjoy the process of curing and smoking it at home.

*Sometimes I'll use curing salts (see below), but if they're used... they're used EXTREMELY sparingly. Eg. 1 cup of kosher salt to about 1/4 tsp (or less) of the curing salt. NOTE: The main thing that I use "pink" salt for is corned beef... Growing up in the NorthEast, corned beef just doesn't look right to me, unless it's got a pinkish hue.

Before I get into the curing method I use, what chips to use to smoke it (if you desire to smoke it), and what tools to use... I will say that with any charcuterie project you're fiddling with; you'll always want to start with the best ingredients possible. So, make friends with your local butcher, and let them know what you're doing with the pork belly, so that you get the best possible cut for slab bacon. (Also, I use a dry-cure method, but there are wet cure methods that are just as valid. In the end, it's about what it tastes like...)

Ok. The tools:

Base tools:

Pork belly (duh)

Kosher salt

Molasses / Honey

(Optional) Pink salt / Morton's Tender Quick (curing salt)

Plastic bag

For smoking:

Smoker / Grill with indirect heat trays (or a movable vent)

Peppercorns (butcher pepper -- I just run whole peppers that I buy in bulk through a grinder)

Apple or cherry wood (ideally -- but you can certainly use hickory for pork... I'd stay clear of mesquite or other woods for this application)

I could, from here, get into exact amounts and yadda ya... but I'm just going to give you the overall method, and let you play around with amounts a little bit (other than the curing salts which should ALWAYS be used sparingly, if at all).

Step 1 - Aye, that's the rub:

-Rub your belly (the pork belly, unless you want your belly to be sticky too) with the molasses (or honey) very lightly. We're just trying to get to Step 2, which is...

Step 2 - I told you, it's the rub:

-Rub your molasses (or honey) covered belly thoroughly with kosher salt (and if you're using curing salt, mix these together prior to the rub)

Step 3 - Bag it, tag it:

Once the belly is thoroughly coated with sticky, salty goodness... bag it and put it in your refer for about a week.

NOTES:
-Turn the bag once a day, so that the cure is evenly distributed
-Once the belly feels a little tougher (after a week), it's good to move on to Step 4... if not, give it another day or two until the cure holds

Step 4 - Rinse, don't lather, no need to repeat:

Rinse the cure off the bacon completely (otherwise it'll be far too salty for human consumption)

NOTES:
-At this point, it's bacon and can be sliced, fried, baked, wrapped around a seasonal veggie, steak, etc... It's bacon
-If you enjoy the flavor of smoked bacon, proceed to Step 5

Step 5 - Smoke em if you've got em:

a.) For smoking my bellies, I usually cut the slab into sections (to fit inside my rib rack, or whatever utensil will hold them in your smoking device -- for me, it's a Weber grill if I'm only smoking one belly)

b.) After the slab is cut into sections... since I love peppered bacon, I'll rub it again with molasses (or honey) and sprinkle peppercorns all over the top, and let that set for about 30 minutes (while you get the coals going, and the wood is soaking)


c.) Smoke the slabs at 200-220 (and NO hotter) until it reaches an internal temp of 145-150 or so (but no more... you don't want to render the fat off, you just want to add some smokey flavoring to it). Typically, for one belly in my Weber, this process takes about 3-4 hours at the most -- depending on weather.




d.) Remove the bacon from the smoking device, let it rest... move on to Step 6

Step 6 - Aww yeah:
Cook it, eat it, enjoy it... or package it up for your freezer and friends... or your friends' freezers.



Really, it's a simple process, and to do this at home will save you not only money, but will net a far superior product to most of the bacon you can buy in stores. Granted, it doesn't hurt to have friends with deli slicers (as they can run at least $550 on places like Craigslist), but if you get it cold enough, it can be done fairly simply with a sharp chef's knife.

...

Coming soon: Pancetta.

Pizza (extra notes)

I get asked all the time what 00 (dopio zero) flour is, and why it's good for pizza dough, so I thought I'd expand on that a little bit (and I do mean a little bit -- there are plenty of resources on the internet that can explain this far better than myself*).

*http://www.practicallyedible.com/edible.nsf/pages/italianflours

The short of it is that 00 flour (from soft wheat) is not very glutinous (and very much the texture of a fine cake flour), which makes for a great pizza dough.

Tasty pizza from scratch at home.

Nothing beats a good home made pizza... as far as pizzas go... other than maybe one with a similar dough made in a real pizza or wood burning, brick oven. Below is simply a guide line that I use for homemade pizzas, but you can certainly put whatever you want on top, to taste. Theoretically, you don't want to overload a pizza like this (as in a home oven, it'll only go as high as 500 degrees -- if that, and if the ingredients don't bake with the dough... then it won't be fun to eat).

The dough:

Hardware (beyond measuring items and an oven):
Bowl, Food Processor (or large enough of a surface to make dough on), pizza stone (or *unglazed* terra cotta pot base, turned upside down like AB... or whatever you have if not - but it won't come out nearly as good), and a pizza paddle (or an overturned wooden cutting board might do the trick, at least to get it in the oven).

Ingredients
2 - 2 1/2 cups* Caputo Type 00 Flour**
2 tsp Granulated Sugar (can omit this***)
1 tsp Salt
1 packet (2 1/2 tsp) instant yeast
1-2**** tbsp (Extra Virgin, or Virgin) Olive Oil
1 c 110 deg water

(Yeilds: 2 dough balls for 2 pizzas)


(And some semolina... or in a pinch, corn meal. NOTE: NOT TO BE INCLUDED WITH DRY INGREDIENTS. The point of the semolina is so that the pizza slides off of your peel nicely and doesn't get stuck and rip, and become a pain the mess.)

*the extra half cup is for the board you're going to knead the dough on, and to add 1tsp at a time to help your dough if it's too sticky
**if you can't get this (tipo 00) locally (just look it up online and your location and usually local stores will pop up), I'd suggest going with a pizza blend of some sort that Cash and Carry usually has in stock. If you can get it... it'll make your pizza go from decent tasting to amazing. Seriously.
***I prefer the dough with the sugar, as you're only adding about 1tsp / pie, but you *can* omit it. More traditional Italian doughs probably won't have any.
****1-2 depending on how much you need, depending on your flour type - just eyeball this

Directions
1.) Mix all dry ingredients (flour, yeast, sugar, salt) in a food processor with the dough blade, or in a bowl by hand
2.) Add the water (and oil) to the food processor and mix until it cleans itself off the sides of the bowl, or if by hand, until it's soft, pliable, and not sticky

3.) Let rise in a warm spot, covered with a towel for roughly 1hr (or until doubles)
4.) Once risen, cut the dough in half (will make 2 10" pizzas) and set one half aside (or store, wrapped in the fridge for later)
5.) Roll out the dough, moving the dough 90 degrees or so between rolls until it's about a 10" disc (or do this by hand if you're confident enough and have been to enough NE pizzerias.)
6.) see "Making the Pizza" below


Notes
Another way to create the dough would be to start with the dry ingredients on your board, making a bowl in the center (much like you'd do for fresh pasta) and put the wet ingredients in that bowl shape in the middle of your flour mixture. From there, you'd work the wet into the dry with a spatula (or hands) until it forms dough you can knead by hand the rest of the way (much like pasta). But if your kitchen is running out of counter space like mine, and you're just making this small yield... then the food processor with a dough blade is fine to get it started. Less to clean, easier to do quickly... win/win.

On the other hand (if I were making pies for a living), the yield would be too large for a food pro and a traditional method would be far easier.



The sauce (marinara):

Ingredients
14.5 oz whole peeled tomatoes in basil (1 large can)
1 tbsp (or so, to taste) extra concentrated tomato paste
1/3 c (or so) finely chopped onion
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/2 c of white wine
6 tbsp Olive Oil
Fresh basil, parsley, and dried oregano to taste


Directions
1.) In a food processor, add the tomatoes, tomato paste, and spices/fresh herbs and chop it up until it's smooth
2.) In a decently sized sauce pan on medium heat, add the olive oil and sauté the finely chopped onion for 1-2 minutes
3.) Add the tomato blend, and white wine to the sauce pan
4.) Simmer for 30 or so minutes, stirring every so often to prevent burning
5.) Run ingredients through a sieve, and return to the pan
6.) Simmer until it reduces slightly


The pizza:

Ingredients
Your dough, marinara, cheese(s) of choice*, and toppings of your choice.

Directions
1.) Preheat your stone/oven to 425-500, depending on your oven/elevation.
2.) Transfer your rolled out dough to either an upside down cutting board, or wooden paddle (my paddle is metal, making the sliding off while uncooked, nigh-impossible for thin doughs like pizza)
3.) Sauce it, starting from the center, using a circular motion until you're about 1" from the edge... using enough of the sauce to cover it, but don't over load it as it'll make your dough harder to cook evenly with the rest of the ingredients.
4.) For a pizza margherita (as seen below), add enough fresh mozzarella to not overwhelm the pie (I use mozzarella from cow's milk, but you can use bufala and it'll be tasty too - just a lot more expensive... and there's better things to do with bufala) and rip up a leaf of basil and sprinkle it on the pie over the cheese.
5.) Transfer to the oven, check every 10 mins or so to see how it looks (I try not to get into specific times, as your ovens will be different than mine... which I hate).
6.) When done, let cool on a rack for 5 mins or so

7.) Slice and eat... AFKBRB.

Notes:
If you notice the dough cooking slower than the toppings, or your toppings are cooking too fast; try turning down the heat to 375-400 and placing a piece of tin foil over the pie (to prevent burning). This is a pie trick (for... pies) that a baker friend showed me a while back that works well in mediocre electric ovens like mine.


To make a calzone:



Instead of placing your dough on the transfer device of your choice directly... while it's flat, draw an imaginary line down the middle with your eyes and place your ingredients of choice on one side of the line. Fold over and press shut. From there (starting on one side), crimp the edges over each other until you reach the other end. Make some slits on top to prevent leakage/ingredient explosion out of a side, and bake like you would the pizza.

Lorem ipsum sit dolor amet. (Pork belly stuff to come...)