Prosciutto and mozzarella

It has been one month since I started the process of making prosciutto ham. Well, it's not really a 'ham', it's a fatty loin roast. I'm also not allowed to call it 'prosciutto' either because it's a PDO product, protected by the EU.

Whatever I'll call it, it is certainly starting to look like delicious prosciutto. I have been taking it out on cool windy days to hang in the open air. The white you see on the bottom is the salt crystalizing out of the curing meat. The recipe I loosely followed mentioned this would happen and to brush it off as it forms. It is a much smaller piece than a whole 25 lb. leg (which is usually used) and I am worried the whole curing time will result in too much drying. I originally dropped the estimated time from 9 months in the recipe down to 6 months (180 days), but it may still be ready before that.

I've been inspired by Brendan who recently tried 3 year old dry-cured ham, "it was butter in my mouth" *drool*. Maybe it will be worth the wait...

I also got around to making mozzarella last week. We had finally made our way to Famous Foods in east van. Kate and I had so much fun walking through every aisle. It's an old-school grocer with organic produce, bulk foods and a mean meat selection. Plus specialty goods that you can't get anywhere else; like rennet and citric acid!

After we picked up a kitchen thermometer, I followed a combination of another eHow.com recipe and a YouTube video that can make cheese in 30 minutes using the stove and microwave. It was lot's of fun and everything went as planned! I got a little out of control and overworked/stretched the cheese and it came out too firm. It was fine on homemade pizza, but will now need to be perfected!

Andrea has made it before and it came out too soft, so if we combine our skills, the ideal cheese should be created... then I'll post pictures!