Mole Snack Sticks with Raisins
There are several mole salamis on the market; the one from Armandino Batali I believe to be the first. Mole sauces in Mexico can easily be 20 or more ingredients and there at least eight major variants, I brought this down to a basic profile using the chili combo of ancho, mulato, and pasilla along with chocolate powder. These were recommended by Rick Bayless to develop a depth of flavor. I added raisins to emphasize these flavors and add a sweet note. Because raisins have naturally occurring yeasts, it was important to sterilize the raisins with high proof alcohol. This step can't be skipped! In fermented snack sticks the bacteria in the culture did not have time to work on the natural sugars in the ground raisins, I'm not certain this would be the case in a traditional salami. Both natural and synthetic casings were used on these with similar drying times. The taste is fantastic.
Lean pork shoulder. 890 g
Fat back. 110 g
Raisins soaked in tequila. 100 g
(Made by soaking raisins 75 g with tequila 75 g
covered overnight then drained)
Grind meat and raisins once through a course plate.
Mix with the following spice blend until uniform.
Cocoa powder (not Dutched). 3 g
Dried mulato chili powder. 8 g
Dried ancho chili powder. 4 g
Dried pasilla chili powder. 4 g
Garlic powder. 2.2 g
Cinnamon. 1 g
Salt. 23 g
Pepper. 3 g
Cure # 1. 2.5 g
Dextrose. 3 g
Sugar. 3 g
Safepro F-LC. 0.55 g
Filled lamb casings 646 g
Filled synthetic casings 326 g
Cold smoked (50-60 F) overnight
Fermented at room temp. and high humidity gave
pH 5.5 at 24 hrs.
pH 5.0 at 48 hrs.
192 hrs. 437 g. 32.4 %
192 hrs. 212 g. 35 %
264 hrs. (11 days). 367 g. 43.2 %
264 hrs. (11 days). 188 g. 42.3 %
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Fashionably late will be stylishly hungry.