Beer and smoke.

Madison.



The kölsch is about as done as it's going to get. Aside from a bit of an off-flavor - a hint of stale that, I think, came from not cooling the wort quickly enough - it's pretty good. Good enough that half the batch is already gone.

A few bottles disappeared Saturday night during a viewing of Matthew Barney's Cremaster Cycle, at Seth's place. Tyler and Julie were up from Chicago, and Jared stopped in for the start of the, uh, festivities. Since we were pretty sure¹ it'd be a tough series of films to follow,² we decided that it was best to have plenty of beer to drink. And that no one should feel obligated to stick around to watch, to stay awake, or anything of that sort.

By the end of Cremaster 3 - which features, among other things: a Masonic demolition derby; traditional Irish songs accompanied by the stack effect whistling through the wedged-open elevator doors of the Chrysler building; Aimee Mullins³ slicing a roomful of potatoes with her feet; and a race through New York City's Guggenheim Museum involving dancing chorus girls, dueling hardcore bands, and Richard Serra throwing molten Vaseline at the wall - it was late, and people were starting to fade in and out. We have yet to experience the subsequent madness that is parts four and five.

But at least we had a lot of good beer.



I devoted most of last Tuesday to playing with smoke, preparing some smoked chicken breasts and a batch of smoked pork sausage. The sausage is for an upcoming cookout to celebrate Sharon's graduation, a) because I'm anxious to get the grill out of storage, weather permitting, and b) because sausages require less attention than burgers.⁴ The sausages are fairly simple, as I don't want to alienate picky eaters: pork loin flavored with sweet onion, paprika, black pepper and a little homebrew. Two hours of hickory smoke ought to give it that smoked flavor without the intensity of bacon.

Not that I don't love smoky bacon, but it does run the risk of being a bit much.

The chicken was more exciting for me, because I'd been anxious to try it for some time, especially since part of my take home pay from farm work is more than enough chickens to keep me well-fed. I'd been digging through my copy of Charcuterie, looking for something to spark my interest, when I came across a recipe for Hot-Smoked Duck Ham. Cured in a spiced brine and smoked until cooked through, it looks really fantastic.

I modified the recipe to accommodate what I had on hand: chicken instead of duck; bourbon instead of Madeira; cold-smoking instead of hot-smoking. Here's more or less⁵ the recipe I followed:

Smoked Bourbon Chicken

Ingredients

2 boneless chicken breasts

• 1 qt. water
  
• 88 g kosher salt
  
• 50 g dextrose
  
• 10 g pink salt
  
• 63 g brown sugar
  
• 1/4 c. bourbon
  
• 2 bay leaves
  
• 4 g juniper berries, smashed
  
• 4 g black peppercorns

Directions

1. Combine all of the brine ingredients in a large pot. Place over medium heat and bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the salt and sugar. Remove from the heat and chill thoroughly.
   
   
2. Place the breasts in a gallon zip-top bag with the brine, squeezing out all of the air. (You may wish to set the bag inside a pot or dish in case the bag leaks.) Refrigerate for eight to twelve hours.
   
   
3. Remove the chicken from the brine, and rinse under cold water. Pat dry with paper towels, and refrigerate on a rack set over a plate for at least four hours, or up to a full day. (If necessary, the breasts may be frozen at this stage for later smoking.)
   
   
4. Cold-smoke the breasts for two hours, then place in a 200°F oven until they reach an internal temperate of 165°F. Refrigerate until ready to serve, or wrap tightly in plastic and freeze.
   
   
5. Serve cold or a room temperature, sliced as thinly as possible. You may wish to remove the skin; it can be oddly chewy if the slices are too thick.

When finished, it's like a better version of a smoked chicken or turkey lunch meat, good for adding to a green salad or having with some pickles just before serving dinner. I can see how the duck might be superior, with its richer, meatier flavor, but I'm pleased enough to make this a semi-regular addition to my repertoire. The next steps, I think, are to tweak the flavors in the recipe, to come up with a few variations I'm happy with; then, perhaps, look into curing and cold-smoking the leg quarters, following up with a confit preparation. Smoked confit can only be a good thing.



* * * * *

¹And we were right. Oh, man, was that hunch ever right. My head is still murky with Cremaster imagery.

²Quite possibly the most obtuse films I've ever seen, with the possible exception of Stan Brakhage's Dog Star Man.

³Later on, she also appears as a cheetah, the effect of which is eerily enhanced by her prosthetic running legs. They're called Cheetahs, incidentally, and there's an article in today's New York Times that discusses some of the controversy over them.

⁴Assuming they're poached or otherwise pre-cooked, which I always do. That enables me to avoid overcooking them (using a thermometer to get them just right), so that the grill simply reheats them and puts a little color on the outside.

⁵I forgot to write down my ingredients, so this is as best I can recall.