AIR CURED MEAT RECIPES

Steps:

• Place the pork belly in a large Ziploc bag. Add the salt (and pink salt if using) and the cure additions. Rub the cure into the pork belly, turning the bag over and over and pressing the cure into the flesh. Close the bag, squeezing out all the air and refrigerate for seven days. Each day, flip the bag over. Some liquid will begin to gather in the bag.
• After seven days, wash the cure off the meat, rinsing thoroughly. Pat the bacon dry with paper towels and set it on a rack over a baking sheet. Allow the bacon to air-dry in the refrigerator for 6 to 24 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 225 degrees. Roast the pork belly in the oven to an internal temperature of 150 degrees for about 90 minutes. Chill the bacon well, then slice thick or thin, to preference. Any bacon that doesn't easily slice may be cut into chunks, for starting a pot of beans or soup. Wrapped in parchment paper, then wrapped in plastic wrap or foil and placed in a Ziploc bag, the bacon will keep for three weeks in the refrigerator and three months in the freezer.

Steps:

• Place a 1/2 inch thick layer of salt in the bottom of a non-reactive container such as a glass baking pan or Tupperware.
• Use the back of a spoon to create divots for each egg yolk. They can be relatively close together, but the egg yolks should be at least 1/4 inch apart at the sides.
• Separate eggs, being careful not to puncture the yolk. Remove as much egg white as possible and place the yolks in the divots.
• Cover the eggs completely with salt so that you can no longer see any yellow.
• Place the salt covered yolks in the refrigerator to cure for 1 week.
• Remove the yolks, dust off the salt and wrap the yolks in cheesecloth.
• Hang the yolks to dry, in the refrigerator or in a cool dark place (under 50 degrees). Dry for 7 to 10 days.
• Once the yolks are firm and easy to grate, store them tightly covered in the refrigerator.