Hot Dogs Meet the Big O
How did I miss this? The New York Times made a video about organic hot dogs months ago. Months! So it's not breaking news, but these Times video extras kind of suck, anyway. Just goes to show how much talent it takes to turn out a minute-and-a-half bit of news fluff--more than you think!
Dogmatic's sausages are not organic, per se, but they do come from animals who live in rainbow-spanned green meadows that they share with dwarf technicolor ponies who have sparkle tattoos of stars and seashells on their asses.
And, like this "new" crop of organic weenies, our sausages are nitrate and nitrite free. Nitrates and nitrites supposedly can lead to cancer--and for a weenie/cock-lovin' gal like me, that's a bit scary. But cured meats made without the dual Ns have a dismal brown look that's about as appealing as a dirty gym sock. I have a tiny packet of this scary stuff called TCM (tinted curing mix) at home. TCM looks like salt or sugar, but it's highly toxic, so they dye it bright pink to avoid confusion with more common granulated products. TCM contains the dual Ns, and it only takes a fraction of a quarter teaspoon to turn pounds of meat pink-red. I got my TCM from the local slaughterhouse in Marietta, Ohio for a sausage-making jag I was on at the time (I also got my pork casings from them). Anyhow, TCM is pretty creepy because it can kill you, but it's nearly essential for the proper sausage/bacon/ham appearance.
When I was in cooking school, my charcuterie instructor (yes, the CIA taught charcuterie back then) told my class that back in the old days, meats were cured with sea salt, and sea salt has naturally occurring dual Ns--so meats cured with sea salt had that happy rosy blush. I'm not sure how organic franks get the pink in their weenies (the Times video alluded to sea salt and celery juice), but I'd like to lean more. Maybe it's time for a field trip to the organic sausage factory.
Yesterday's Sausage Index: One turkey sausage with sun-dried tomato feta sauce, plus one toasted baguette with sun-dried tomato feta sauce but no sausage.
Dogmatic's sausages are not organic, per se, but they do come from animals who live in rainbow-spanned green meadows that they share with dwarf technicolor ponies who have sparkle tattoos of stars and seashells on their asses.
And, like this "new" crop of organic weenies, our sausages are nitrate and nitrite free. Nitrates and nitrites supposedly can lead to cancer--and for a weenie/cock-lovin' gal like me, that's a bit scary. But cured meats made without the dual Ns have a dismal brown look that's about as appealing as a dirty gym sock. I have a tiny packet of this scary stuff called TCM (tinted curing mix) at home. TCM looks like salt or sugar, but it's highly toxic, so they dye it bright pink to avoid confusion with more common granulated products. TCM contains the dual Ns, and it only takes a fraction of a quarter teaspoon to turn pounds of meat pink-red. I got my TCM from the local slaughterhouse in Marietta, Ohio for a sausage-making jag I was on at the time (I also got my pork casings from them). Anyhow, TCM is pretty creepy because it can kill you, but it's nearly essential for the proper sausage/bacon/ham appearance.
When I was in cooking school, my charcuterie instructor (yes, the CIA taught charcuterie back then) told my class that back in the old days, meats were cured with sea salt, and sea salt has naturally occurring dual Ns--so meats cured with sea salt had that happy rosy blush. I'm not sure how organic franks get the pink in their weenies (the Times video alluded to sea salt and celery juice), but I'd like to lean more. Maybe it's time for a field trip to the organic sausage factory.
Yesterday's Sausage Index: One turkey sausage with sun-dried tomato feta sauce, plus one toasted baguette with sun-dried tomato feta sauce but no sausage.
posted by Lefty at 5:52 AM
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