Crinella Family Cookbook
Our Grandparents' Favorites
Anti Pasti
Soups
Salads
Pasta
Vegetables
Fish
Poultry
Meat
Wild Game
Sweets
Brunch or Luncheon Dishes
Odds & Ends
Sour Dough
Other Breads ETC
New Italian Sauce Recipes
New Lower Fat Recipes
Slow Cooker Recipes
Entertaining Ideas
Table of Contents
People
Family Photos
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Anti Pasti
Zucchini Appetizer
Zucchini Rolls
Chicken Paté
Roasted Tomato Starter
Pop's Olives
Artichoke Pie
Zucchini Fritters
Grilled Romaine
Bread with Lemon
Baked Feta Cheese
Aunt Fanny's Crescent Rolls
Proscuitto and Figs
Sonoma Cured Salmon
Roasted Sweet Peppers
Grilled Marinated Vegetables
Broiled Stuffed Mushrooms
Artichokes with Shrimp Topping
Artichoke Fritatta
Deviled Crab
Celery Victor
Mozzarella and Tomatoes
Marinated Calamari
Veal Carpaccio
Crab with Orange
Caponatina a la Siciliana
Peperonata
Home Cured Proscuitto
Giardiniera
2005 Pinot Noir
2005 Sauvignon Blanc
2004 Sauvignon Blanc
2004 Glissando
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Home Cured Prosciutto
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In the early days in Sonoma County every Italian house had a basement
where a lot of action took place. Children played there. On rainy days
the laundry could be hung to dry. In the summer the canning could be done
where it was relatively cool (there was always a second stove in the
basement.)
Some people made wine there. The very well equipped homes also had cellars.
Cellars were little storage areas where wines were laid down, apples and
potatoes could be stored for later use and Prosciutto could be hung to
cure.
We don't have basements or cellars in our homes anymore so if you wish to
make prosciutto do it in the winter and hang it from a rafter in your
garage. You won't get arrested if you hang it in your kitchen either if
you have a place. It does need to hang someplace for six months with air
around it. After that it will keep nicely in your freezer. Modern
conveniences make the preparation of prosciutto a snap.
Ingredients
1 fresh leg of pork about 10 to 12 pounds (have the butcher remove the
ball joint leaving the rest of the leg bone in)
several large heads of garlic
1/2 pound of peppercorns
3 pounds of salt
large plastic bag big enough to hold the pork and a pan
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Directions
Grind garlic in food processor. You need enough garlic paste to spread
generously over the whole leg of pork. Grind peppercorns in food
processor. Dry leg of pork with paper towels. Spread a thick layer of
garlic paste over pork leg on all exposed surfaces. Next pat the pepper
thickly into pork leg over the garlic. Finally pat the salt the over the
pepper. Be generous with all three applications especially the salt. You
want the pork completely encased with the salt as thick as possible. Now
you will have to put your leg of pork under refrigeration while the salt
draws out the moisture for the curing process. Put the leg on a rack such
as is used to cool baked goods and put the rack into a pan. Place the pan
and pork into a plastic bag that you can close tightly and put the whole
thing into the refrigerator so that the juices drip from the pork into
the pan. Keep the pork on a slant propped against the refrigerator wall
so that all the juices drain away. Check and drain pan if necessary.
Keep the pork under refrigeration for about 32 days. Remove pork from
plastic bag. Lay pork on a counter in a pan and cover and press with a
very heavy weight for four or five days. Naturally every one who comes
into your kitchen will ask what you are doing and will be very impressed.
Don't worry about the pork spoiling as it has already been cured by the
salt. It is now an Italian ham.
After five days, wash the meat very carefully in several rinses of cold
water. Wrap in cheesecloth and hang to dry for about five days. Grind
more garlic in the food processor. Grind more peppercorns and place in a
separate dish. Cover all exposed surfaces of pork with garlic paste. Next
add a layer of pepper. Wrap meat in cheese cloth and tie or sew it neatly
so that it can be hung for about six or seven months (the longer it hangs
the better it is.)
After hanging, unwrap your prosciutto and debone it. Remove the skin and
as much of the fat as possible. It can now be cut into a couple of large
chunks be stored wrapped airtight in plastic (double bag it with aluminum
foil) in the freezer until you need it. Slice with a slicing machine or
serrated knife using a sawing motion. Incidentally do not cut it so thin
it tastes like cardboard as is the deplorable custom since the invention
of the slicing machine. Prosciuto can be used as an appetizer, not only
with figs as in our previous recipe, but with papaya, avacodo,
asparagus,melon.and sandwiches. Bring it for picnics with some home made
sour dough French bread. Use it to accent main dishes.
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