Taking stock...er, Making Stock

Whenever I get the least bit ambitious in the kitchen, I get an urge to make my own stock. Store-bought, canned stock (Swanson) is OK stuff. There is a brand in a 32 ounce box (can't remember the name, but relatively expensive) made from Free-range chickens that is better as long as you buy the Low Sodium kind. All store-bought stocks are loaded with sodium. However, nothing beats the flavor of home made! In fact, it really does have a completely different flavor profile than canned stuff.

Just a side note. The difference between stock and broth? Basically, broth is made from boiling raw meat. Stock is made from roasting off the bones (veal, beef, or chicken), then boiling. Both are typically boiled with a basic mirepoix (onions, carrots, and celery) and a bouquet garni of herbs (thyme, parsley and celery leaves for these purposes.

It's not difficult. Roast about 5 pounds of bones (chicken parts like wings, backs, thigh bones, breast bones, etc). Put them on a sheet pan or roasting pan after tossing with canola oil, give them about an hour at 350. Rough chop the veggies. Put roasted bones, veggies, and 3 1/2 quarts of water in large stock pot, add some peppercorns, simmer for 3 hours uncovered. Strain solids, reduce remaining liquid to about 6 cups. Cool. Skim remaining fat. Then freeze or use within 2 days. By the way...never, ever, ever use any salt or pepper on the meat or in the stock while its cooking. Save that for your soup, or sauce, or gravy you make from the stock! Yes, the stock will taste noticeably bland (lacking in salt) if you're used to canned broth or those gawd-awful boullion cubes that are almost all salt.

Stock recipes (or any other recipes for that matter) are not copyrighted. But, I stole this one from Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill cookbook. It's simply a poultry variation on how good, fine-dining, brown stock is made.

An actual plan is afoot!

So, yes, we actually have a plan again after months, if not a years, without my usual list of goals and planning lists. We've been in a sort of state of limbo since January (my little hospital visit). Really, we've been languishing in the Twilight Zone for a couple of years due to financial and professional glitches, most of which have been dealt with according. 'Nuff said about the the "whys" and "wherefores" for now.

I used to make lists with shorts term and long term goals all the time. I was taught and still subscribe to the idea that those lists and goals are not in stone. In other words, they may have to be adjusted and updated as often as needed in the real world. If one doesn't live oneself open for improvisation or "rolling with the flow", one is setting oneself up for disappointment. Things change, life takes odd turns, situations arise.

First and foremost on this new list is the move, of course. That will happen sometime between September and November. There are other very exciting things (exciting for us anyway) on the lists of goals and dreams I won't go into just yet. The list itself is a work in progress. But, just like I did about 12 years ago, with the aid of some Anthony Robbins materials, I am setting some new goals for myself and Loretta. And, I might add, every one of those goals came true...not by magic, just by planning and doing them.

As far as my health goes, I have made some relatively drastic lifestyle changes of late...not the least of which is a weight loss plan. I won't bore you with details.

Perhaps I've pulled myself out the doldrums in which I've been languishing for the last few months. Perhaps it's because I'm feeling better. Whatever the reason, I'm running with that ball!

Twenty down, fifty to go!

Back in the Summer of '10...

Just a quick personal update regarding the State of Skip. Summer is officially here. The weather in the (San Joaquin) Valley has been extraordinarily mild for June...low 90's. I'm sure there will be plenty of 100 degree days in which to swelter and bitch about later on.

So, Loretta and I started Weight Watchers a couple weeks ago. Not officially, ie, we are not paying customers. We simply resurrected the old WW materials, printed up some tracking sheets, and away we went. I actually began a diet regimen on the first of June similar to WW. I started the month at 256 pounds, an all time high for yours truly. Part of that was a lot of extra fluid from a prescription faux paux by my doctors (a new diuretic didn't work), and I swelled up like an early version of Porky Pig. So I went back to an old water pill. Now, after about 3 weeks, I'm at 235. Yes, most of it was water, but I am dropping some fat weight as well. My goal: 187. I figure three months to get down that far, maybe sooner if I start working out.

In addition to jumping on the WW wagon this month, my docs have put me on a home vital sign monitoring program (device). I have to weight myself, check blood oxygen, pulse, and blood pressure by means of a little box with a cuff and finger sensor as well as a scale. The info is transmitted to my Kaiser docs daily. Gotta do it every morning at 6:30 before breakfast. My after BP was doing well at about 115/75. Morning BP readings (before daily meds) tended to be higher, mine were running about 145/90. Now, they stay around 115/70 even right after I get out of bed. Might be the weight loss.

I'm quite sure that I won't have to take that pesky diabetes pill once the weight gets down further. Hopefully, the BP and cholesterol meds can go away as well.

I've also gone back to work, so that activity helps with losing weight and staying positive.

So how hard has it been to give up all my favorite foods, including alcohol? Not bad. When I get into the weight loss groove, it kind of becomes an obsession with me.

The pic is of steel cuts oats, something I have for breakfast at least a couple times a week. It's much more flavorful than regular oatmeal, a bit nutty!

The V Cafe - Choosing the Right Steak

You know, I am sucker for a good recipe. Whether it be from a food network show or from a well-produced cookbook. It's a challenge curtailing my curiosity about whether or not I could make it taste and look just like the photos or videos. Most areas of celebrity home cooking (or baking for that matter) rarely turn out as expected including proper preparing of a good beef steak. The reason is simple: most people don't know how to choose the right steak. So, here's the deal. If you are not sure of your steak choosing knowledge, enlist the help of a real butcher or a real chef. What do I mean by that? Let's put it this way. If you are relying on the "meat guy" who stocks the shelves at your local A&P type chain super market for meat choosing (and preparing) advice, your odds of achieving culinary success in this area are high. In other words, though you may luck out and find someone in these venues with real cooking or meat cutting expertise, chances are you won't.



With that being said, if you want a good steak every once in a while, go to a well-known, highly regarded restaurant that specializes in beef. They will more than likely have the aged beef, the right fire on which to cook it, and the knowledge of how to cook it the right way. And, speaking of that, know this...most folk's perception of Rare, Medium Rare, Medium, and Well Done is a whole "notch" off from a what a good broiler chef knows. Do not get in a debate with a chef about degrees of doneness. Chances are, as a layman in the world of meat, you will be wrong sir (or, madam)!

One incident of gross ignorance when BBQing beef happened a few years ago at a large private party. I was actually the photographer at this wing ding, not the cook. A wealthy friend of mine held a big BBQ for his mother's 80th birthday. He decided to go "all out" and grill Filet Mignons over live oak for about 60 people. The tenderloins cost him about $700, custom cut and ordered from a local butcher shop. One of his buddies supposedly knew how to BBQ for a lot of people. Actually, his claim to fame was that he owned the trailer-sized BBQ rig to be used for this outing. Beyond that, as it turned out, he wasn't much of a chef or cook for that matter. He was adept at the All Well-Done All the Time method of grilling. Anyway, I watched in horror as these guys slapped $700 of beef tenderloins on the huge oak fired grate...then commenced to stick, poke, skewer, stab, and turn each and every steak with huge pitch forks every 5 minutes during the cooking process...which, by the way, went on for a good hour or so! By the time these poor filets were "done", a scientist wouldn't be able to detect an ounce of moisture in any one of them.
There is more liquid on the surface of Mars than was left in these steaks. So why did I not say or do something to stop this horrible carnage before it got out of hand? Well...we had dinner at their house a month earlier. I cooked. I brought a whole tenderloin and cut it into Filet Mignons destined for a little pan browning, then a reduction sauce with Madera wine, garlic, fresh herbs, etc, etc, etc, Well, my eyes almost popped out of my head when I caught the guy methodically poking holes in the filets with a giant fork over and over and over again just before I was going to put them in the pan. I managed to wrestle the fork out of his hand and diplomatically explained the reasoning behind NOT poking holes in steaks before cooking. He politely deferred to my method but not before mentioning his upcoming bash where HE would cook the filets the way he wanted. Finishing our second bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, we had a decent dinner and he still invited me to document his mother's eightieth birthday with photos. That birthday BBQ was the last time I saw him. I guess he didn't like my cooking criticism or my photography! By the way, beef jerky has more flavor and juice than his BBQ Filet Mignons from that day.

For my money, a thick, thick cut of good beef (2-3 inches thick) gives the best results. Pan roasting that steak and using a meat thermometer almost assures success. Of course, the right seasoning is essential. And, of course, seasoning is a matter of taste. The following recipe is not pan-roasted, but I got great results by roasting it in the gas BBQ.

Ingredients

1 1/2 - 2 lb Boneless Rib Steak, cut 3 inches thick
Extra Virgin Olive oil or Canola oil
Dry steak seasoning of choice, ie, make it yourself (recipe follows)!


Place steak on a clean plate. Brush all four sides with olive oil and liberally apply seasoning. Refrigerate uncovered for an hour. Remove from fridge, sit and come room temperate for about an hour.

Throw away your giant BBQ meat fork. Use large, stainless steel tongs.

Preheat gas BBQ (all burners) to 350. Place steak on hot area of grill, about 2 minutes. Turn 90 degrees for another 2 minutes diamond marking the side. Turn over and do the same on the other side. Turn of 1/2 of burners, either one side or the center burners. Place steak on edge, fat side up on grate where there is no flame. Insert meat thermometer in thickest part. Close the lid and adjust the lit burners to temperature is at a steady 350 degrees. It should take about 20 minutes depending on how thick the steak is. Keep lid closed until thermometer reaches desired temperature as follows: Rare - 125, Medium Rare - 135, Medium - 145, Medium Well - 155, Well Done - 160+. Keep in mind that the meat will continue to cook for about 15 minutes after being removed from the heat source. They say the temperature will rise another 10 degrees, but I have found that to be not quite true...maybe 3 or 4 degrees. At any rate, place the steak on a clean plate, and loosely cover with foil for at least 10 minutes to let it rest. We cook to 145 here. Medium should have a nice carmelization on the outside with the inside a uniform pink (not red) all the way through. Medium Rare should have a small strip of red in the middle.

This is a traditional meat lovers steak cooking recipe. No sauce, no exotic spices, no vegetables, no nothing unless you put it on sparingly at the table, ie, Cholula, Tabasco, Pico de Gallo, A-1, and so on. We're talking baked russet potato with sour cream and butter here. Maybe some grilled veggies like asparagus or zucchini on the side. The other easy variation to this would be on a wood fired grill such as red oak. Mesquite is alright for some things, but adds strong flavors that this cut of meat doesn't really need for you to enjoy.

I love making and eating a dozen different steak recipes including Steak Diane, Steak Poivre, Santa Maria Trip Tip, Steak Oscar (a super variation on Veal Oscar), and so on. But, this one is very simple and the only skill required is the ability to find the right steak. Without that, the rest is academic.

Homemade Seasoning: Combine paprika, sea salt, granulated garlic, granulated onion, black pepper with any other combination of your favorite dry herbs and spices. A little vague? Sure. Play with it to your taste, but make sure salt is in equal portions to anything else, ie, not the main ingredient. And, yes, I do hold the actual ingredients and proportions to my seasoning mixes close to my vest. You will too with yours!

Why? The answer is more simple than one might think.

There's an old story about a philosophy professor who asked his class to write a mid-term paper simply titled, "Why?" He gave them one day in which to complete assignment.

The next day, all the students eagerly came to class and laid their completed assignments on the professor's desk and took their seats. Without saying a word, the professor took the stack of mid-terms and began handing them back to each student after writing a grade at the top of each paper. Most of the students were quite perplexed to see that they had a received an "F"...save for two. One student received a "C", and one student received an "A". All of the "F" papers were one page to five pages in length. Long dissertations quoting everyone from Plato to Bob Dylan. The "C" paper had only two words typed on it" "Why not?". The "A" paper, one word: "Because".

At times, we all tend to make things more complicated than they actually are. Sometimes things just happen. They may not always have reason. That's what I think anyway.