Texas Choucroute Garnie

Welcome to first post of my new blog.  I hope to keep this updated with information about the food I am preparing and eating. I hope you will join me on the diverse journey that is my diet.  

So without further ado..........

I am a big fan of house made or home made food of all kinds.  Making cured and fermented foods is especially enjoyable for me.  The plate below is a prime example.

Except for growing the vegetables and animals used in this meal, I made all of the items on the plate and in the meal.  When I control what goes into the food I consume, I feel better about it.  

The Sauerkraut in this photo was raw before it was cooked for this meal.  It is made up of two ingredients:  Green cabbage and salt.  Sauerkraut is produced through lacto-fermetation. 

The bacon was dry cured using the EQ curing process and cold smoked with apple wood pellets for 24 hours and then aged before it is was sliced.

The "Ham" and Canadian bacon both used the same formula and cooking process.  They were both cured using an EQ brine cure and hot smoked with pecan and mesquite pellets.  I use the term "Ham" because this is made from the front shoulder of the pig instead of the rear leg.  

Shown on the plate are two halves of an oven roasted red potato.  These were seasoned with O'Food Gochujang seasoning.  I have really been enjoying using Gochujang in non-traditional ways.

Not shown is the accompanying beet salad and some house made mustard.  The mustard was made from black mustard seed and in this case superflous.

I don't eat this way everyday.  But, when I do I feel good about it because I know the ingredients and processes that went into the food.

If I can answer any questions about the food or processes used to produce please feel free to reach out.

Please feel free to comment.

Until next time:

Bon Appetit Y'all 

Chef Leslie Bartosh