Remember that great kielbasa? It's back.

Lancaster Farm Fresh Coop smoked kielbasa returns to the shelves this week. This is the kielbasa we loved so much we used to commit to an entire hog to obtain -- now we can get it for its own sake, and at a better price: $7.70/lb.

Fresh pork from Sweet Stem Farm, seasoned only with sea salt, black pepper, and garlic. No antibiotics, no added nitrates, no hormones, no junk. Though I hesitate to admit to prejudice, the Amish certainly know their sausage.

Larchmont Charcuterie returns, bearing frankfurters

Daniel, master sausagemaker of Westchester county, ranks #3 in the "charcuterie" section of the 50 Best Website. His beef and pork saucisson chubs disappeared from our meat case after he made a decision to cut production, leading our members to fear the wurst. But, ever the culinary experimenter, Daniel turned his talent from terrines and pates to the humble tube steak. Now his magie de saucisses returns to the Coop's shelves in the form of one of the best hot dogs we've ever tried. Break out the moutarde et cornichons.

-- Bill the Butcher

Summertime Brisket

Brisket. At holiday times, we can't keep it on the shelves. But in the August heat Coop members are likely to overlook some big, beautiful briskets of beef in search of quicker-cooking cuts. It's sad to think that we Brooklynites don't know how to eat brisket in the summertime like they do in Texas...


Okay, first you put together your dry-rub:
1/4 cup paprika
2 tblsp Kosher salt
2 tblsp sugar
2 tblsp ground chile
2 tblsp black pepper
1 tblsp granulated onion
1 tblsp granulated garlic
1 tsp cayenne

Massage the mixture into the beef, all over. Wrap in foil and let rest in the fridge overnight. Meanwhile, make your mop sauce:

12 oz. beer (any cheap brew works fine)
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, monced
2 tblsp of the dry-rub
1 tblsp Worcestershire sauce

Get a good low smoky fire going and grill the brisket, covered, for several hours, brushing every 15 minutes or so with the mop sauce. You can also roast the brisket in in the oven at 200-250 degrees for several hours. Slice the meat against the grain and serve in sandwiches with a good BBQ sauce, or just a bit of the drippings.

-- Bill the Butcher.

Tales of the Unexspeckted

You may have noticed the cured meat item next to the new prosciutto and pancetta down in the meat cases. The La Quercia brand. And you may have wondered, what the heck is Speck?

Speck is a smoked prosciutto from the Tyrol, a region on the border of Italy and Austria. After being cured in salt and spices, the ham is cold-smoked, using a hardwood like beech or (as ours is) applewood.

Okay, so what does this mean to us?

In short, it means we now have a delicious and comparatively low-fat alternative to smoked bacon, which can be used in dishes that call for prosciutto or pancetta but in which you want a hint of smoke flavor. Or in dishes that use smoked ham or bacon, but you want to strike a more subtle note.

The classic Roman pasta all'amatriciana is a fine example. This simple combination of bacon, onion, and tomato benefits enormously from the flavor of speck. The other night I sauteed 3 ounces (one package) of speck, chopped, in a tablespoon of olive oil. When it began to color I added a chopped onion and a few gratings of black pepper. When the onion went transparent, in went a half-dozen large quartered plum tomatoes. A half-hour of simmering yielded a thick and aromatic sauce to be stirred into cooked linguine and topped with grated asiago. Best all'amatriciana we ever had...and I've made in in the past with everything from deli ham to guanciale.

When we sampled the La Quercia pancetta and prosciutto, we didn't think speck was something that would become a Coop favorite. But after tasting it, everyone here agreed that it certainly deserved to be.