Cooking with big meat

Everyone's been passing around the Bacon Explosion link (sure, I'll pass it on: what's one more server melted down?), and it got me looking at my fridge. I had a chunk of ham I was waiting to use, some Canadian bacon, half a pound of double-smoked bacon ends (I picked them up at the Amish butcher at the farmer's market, figured I could add some flavor to something -- "everything tastes better with a little speck"), some bockwurst, and four German frankfurters I got at Rieker's. I also had 4 lbs. of kraut I'd bought to do a second New Year's dinner, and never got to. What's got a ton of meat and kraut? Choucroute garni!

Turns out I had everything I needed, even the juniper berries. I fried up the bacon ends with onions and carrots and two Granny Smith apples. I diced the Canadian bacon and ham, sliced the bockwurst, and left the frankfurters. Rinsed the kraut, and made up a cheesecloth bag of juniper berries, peppercorns, cloves, and bay leaves. It's all bubbling away in my Dutch oven with a bottle of Riesling/Gewürztraminer blend and some broth; after it's simmered for a couple hours, I'm going to chill it, then re-heat it for dinner tonight with parsleyed potatoes.

Beer? Oh...something dark and lagery, maybe some of that Shiner Commemorator. Hey, Alsatian's practically German, right? Ah... Eat a big dish, have a couple beers, and fast tomorrow...

I used yeast yesterday

We were all home with the wimpy-assed snow that the President made fun of yesterday, so I made a pot of hot seafood chowder. Then I got carried away and made a loaf of whole wheat "Italian" bread in the breadmaker I got Cathy about ten years ago. ("Italian" because I put olive oil, basil, oregano, and garlic powder in it.)

As you can see, it came out a bit mutant-looking, but the smell was saliva-inducing, and the hot, savory-spiced bread was just the thing on a cold windy day. Fresh bread good! I may have to do this again...and maybe try it without the bread machine. Eventually. Because as my family will tell you, I'm a pretty good cook, but baking is a disaster for me. I like the bread machine.