Tag: mortadella

RGE RD Bread & Meat Off Sales

Posted on by Sharman

Still have people to buy for on your Christmas list? Why not give the gift of meat?

Since January 2016, Chef Blair Lebsack and his culinary team at RGE RD in Edmonton have been letting customers take a piece of the restaurant home each month during their Butchery Off-Sales. The multi-day event features a variety of meat delights for sale including Nature’s Green Acres finest Alberta Pork transformed into rillettes, country style terrines, sausages, pate, mortadella and even pork fat (ideal for roasting veggies or making a flaky pastry crust).

Off-sales were always part of the plan when the restaurant first opened. Holding a monthly event gives chef Lebsack and his team an opportunity to get creative with off-cuts and pieces of pork that may not make it on their regular menu. RGE RD receives their whole Nature’s Green Acres black Tamworth and Berkshire hogs just one day after they are slaughtered, giving the kitchen the control to age, cut, and create a variety of dishes that have regular customers stocking up each month.

Rillette, which Lebsack believes is served best at room temperature with a baguette and a glass of wine, was on the original menu when RGE RD first opened. Lebsack isn’t surprised by the popularity of the Butchery items, but he has been surprised by the increase in quantity they make each month.

When they first started his team was making just 10 kg of sausages; today, the RGE RD Butchery often sells out of 60 kg of sausage at their monthly sales events.

Friday, December 22, from 12pm to 6pm is RGE RD‘s final Bread & Meat Off Sale of the year. The last time I stopped in for a RGE RD off sale they were already sold out of several items, so if you want your choice RGE RD Butchery offerings, be sure to get there early or call 780-447-4577 to preorder.

The assortment of meats from the butchery is an ideal hostess gift and perfect for any charcuterie plate, which pairs beautifully with a French baguette or loaf of mountain bread baked in their wood-burning oven.

If you are looking for suggestions, I’m a big fan of RGE RD’s rillette. Pork shoulder cooked confit style, low and slow in stock and fat is hand-pressed in a mortar and pestle until velvety smooth. And if you are lucky – the mortadella!

RGE RD
10643 123 Street
Edmonton, AB T5N 1P2
(780) 447-4577

4 Kinds Of Pork Charcuterie You Can Make At Home

Posted on by Dan Clapson

Who doesn’t love good quality charcuterie as a dinner-precursor when you’re out at restaurant? Well, next time you’re having some friends over for dinner, why not try whipping up a homemade charcuterie board. Pickles and preserves are easy enough, so try venturing a little further and curing some pork to make some of these aged meat classics.

You don’t have to be a full-blown chef at home to successfully pull off this cooking venture for the first time. All you need is a splash of ambition and the virtue of patience! Patience is key to curing meats and we all have enough of that, right? 😉

Here are 4 different ways you can utilize cuts of pork to make charcuterie in your own home!

1. Pancetta

This cured pork belly is like a sweeter (and unsmoked) bacon. It’s perfect in carbonara, great with sautéed greens or with scrambled eggs in the morning. Out of all of the types of cured meats here, it’s probably the easiest. So, why not start your foray into the world of charcuterie with this recipe for pancetta.

2. Prosciutto

Ah, prosciutto! This melt-in-your-mouth cut of pork, coming from the leg, has long been a sought-after slice of heaven. Amazing when wrapped around grilled asparagus, with fresh figs, or in a simple sandwich with some pesto and soft mozzarella. Yes, it’s hard to go wrong with prosciutto. Here’s a how-to for whipping up some prosciutto at home, make this your next do-it-yourself edible project!

3. Mortadella

Arguably a ‘fancy’ bologna, mortadella is a tender meat cooked in a similar style to sausage, then sliced. Calgary’s CHARCUT dishes out some beautiful pig’s head mortadella, studded with pistachios. Serve at home with some crackers and grainy mustard and you’ll definitely have some happy guests! Here’s how you can make some of your own mortadella.

4. Coppa

Utilizing some pork shoulder and some simple curing will leave you with coppa, a salty slice of pork that’s similar in taste to prosciutto, but with a bit more bite to it. Out of all of the types of pork charcuterie mentioned here, it’s almost as easy to cure as the pancetta, so why not give it a shot with these simple instructions?