Why Do You Brown Meat?

A frequent question I am asked: Why is it important to brown meat?



Answer: Developing richness of flavor is the ultimate goal. Browning the meat is a very important step to this process. A nice dark brown is ideal for beef and game meat when making a braise or a stew. This takes about 10 minutes per side. Chicken and pork are best with a medium colored browning, which is about 5 to 7 minutes per side. That being said, when I plan on a pulled pork dish I will take that pork to the darkest brown I can. If you have ever wondered why “Aunt Sally’s” roast beef is so much better than yours, even though it is the same recipe, it just might be the quality of the browning of the meat.

What is needed to brown meat?

A good heavy pot is essential.

Fat. I tend to shave off extra fat from the edges of the meat if it has good marbling (the appearance of thin lines of white fat) through-out the meat. Pork tends to have plenty of marbling, whereas game generally does not. Get rid of all the fat and skin on bone in chicken. Be aware that bone-in chicken will be more moist than deboned chicken.

Olive Oil. Just oil enough to cover the bottom of the pot. Add more if needed, especially with game meat. Remember, olive oil is the good fat and actually dissolves the nasty fat that accumulates on our organs.

Here is a recipe to try out your browning techniques. I saw this recently on one of the blog sites I frequent…sorry whoever, I don’t recall where I pulled it. I did alter it significantly.

Shredded Pork Shoulder

4 to 5 pound pork shoulder, bone-in

1 spring fresh tarragon
2 Tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons cumin
1 Tablespoon smoked paprika
1/2 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 Tablespoon olive oil (estimate)
1 medium sweet onion, peeled and cut into small pieces
5-6 medium carrots, peeled and cut into quarters, lengthwise
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 12-ounce beer such as Altitudes Chili Beer

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Trim the pork shoulder of any thick layers of fat. Combine the brown sugar, cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Rub the pork with the spice mixture, getting into crevices and on the sides. Allow the pork to sit for about 30 minutes.

Heat the olive oil in a large dutch oven over medium high heat. Brown the pork on all sides. Remove the meat from the pot. Add the onions and saute on medium low heat for 2 minutes then drop the heat to low then continue to caramelize the onions for at least 10 more minutes. Add the garlic, carrots and tomatoes and bring to a simmer, scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to bring up any browned bits. (why wooden? It just feels better than metal which grates on the pan or silicon that may miss some of the good stuff.)

Return the pork to the pot with the tarragon. Cover and put in the oven for 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Add the beer after 1 hour. Cook until the meat is extremely tender and pulls away from the bone easily. Shred the pork in the pot. Discard the bone or set aside for another use.

Enjoy!

Save Your Vegetables!

Fruits and vegetables are abundant at the moment. The grocery store shelves are a temptation to the taste buds and a stroll through the Farmer’s Market can make my head spin. There are so many flavors and colors to pick from. It is easy to overindulge and then up funding a very expensive compost heap.

Did you know that pairing fruits and vegetables together in the refrigerator will cause your produce to expedite their trip to the compost? The two bins in the bottom of our refrigerator are labeled “fruits” and “vegetables” for a reason. When the vast majority of families lived on a farm or at least had a functional garden it was common knowledge that fruits and vegetable should not be stored together. We have lost that knowledge along the way as we make room in our heads for cell phones, apps and searches. Here is a refresher course.

Ethylene is a naturally occurring gas in produce. However, it is also the gas that distributors use to make non-ripe fruits ripe. This additional exposure of ethylene to fruit (a normal producer of ethylene) is toxic to your vegetables. Ripe fruits “exhale” ethylene, whereas, vegetables “inhale” ethylene. Keep them separated!

Tomatoes are a fruit and are high “exhalers” of ethylene naturally. Cantaloupes, tomatoes, bananas, pears, etc. should be separate from lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, broccoli, etc. The cooler temperature of your refrigerator will help minimize ethylene’s effects and separation is key, but don’t expect these tips to keep your produce fresh for ages. Eat that produce quickly. Buy less than you think you will use. Or, get a couple of composts going.

BPA-free and why I should care

What is BPA-Free and why should I care?
BPA stands for Bisphenol A (the A stands for acetone) and is a filler that is found in many plastic products. It is a know endocrine disruptor. An endocrine disruptor means that any bodily system that is controlled by hormones is susceptible to mayhem. Many functions in the body are hormone controlled and have reported BPA interference; such as weight maintenance, prostrate function, fetus development, insulin control and cancer. Not a small list. New reports issued by the EPA disclose 90% of Americans have high quantities of BPA circulating through their bodies. Not a small number.
BPA is obviously found in plastics, like water bottles, and water pipes, but also in the lining of canned food, store receipts, packaged food containers, and compact discs. The primary form of exposure is through consumption of drinks or food that was packaged in polycarbonate plastic containers.
Can we purge our system of BPA? Yes, studies have shown that a diet high in fresh vegetables (the greener the better) can reduce the BPA in our system. However, the trick is to eliminate BPA from entering our bodies.
In effort to help reduce our BPA quantities in our bodies, we, at The Copper Kettle, have BPA-free, double-walled, cups with straws and silicone seals and also stainless steel water bottles with dual lids. Our cups with straws have a silicone seal around the lid. I really didn’t think the seal was a big deal being there is a non-sealed hole where the straw comes through. Then I took a sip from a non-sealed rimmed cup. Water dripped all down my shirt! That little seal made all the difference. When we take a sip we automatically angle the cup towards us, and I learned if that seal is not there we end up with a wet shirt. The double walled feature not only keeps the drink cold, but the condensation that normally occurs on glasses does not occur. Once again this cup leads us to a dry vs. wet shirt. We also look to improving our ecological footprint by use of re-usable cups. Each cup we reuse cuts down on the number of plastic bottles in our landfills. Grab one of these cool cups or steel water bottles to make our bodies and our world a bit healthier.

Selecting Ripe Fruits

The subject of how to pick the best fruit and vegetables came to the surface last week as I watched a gentleman pick up a cantaloupe at the grocery store, smell it and put it back down and left the cantaloupes complaining that they weren’t ripe. Sounds fair, right? It is a valid remark until we look at the chemistry. A grocery store is kept cold. There are many reasons they do this, but look no further than the produce isle to understand the logic. Cold or cool produce last longer. But cold produce lack aromas. The chemicals that produce the intoxicating aromas of fresh fruit are inhibited when cold. Smell your fruit when warm such as at a farmers market, or picked directly from the plant.

So what to do? The curious person that I am caused my feet to move to the cantaloupe that was just returned to the pile. The gentleman had a good eye. The fruit was tan all over with an under lacing of light green. I picked it up. Good, it felt heavy for its size. I picked up a neighboring fruit of similar size with my other hand. It too had a nice color, it too was heavy; but not quite as heavy as the first, this fruit was discarded and another was picked up. The original cantaloupe never left my hand. I stood there as I normally do with one good fruit in one hand weighing other candidates in the other. A human scale. After just a few selections I decided on the original cantaloupe. Curiosity got me again and I sniffed. Nope. No aroma. Course I wasn’t expecting any. Confident in my decision the cantaloupe was purchased and taken home to my hungry children. Once home we slice that cantaloupe open and enjoyed on of the best fruits I ever had.

Weight works for most fruit. But weighing them does not. Confused? A metal scale will only tell us the weight of the fruit. We are actually comparing relative weight to size. If we ask for a heavy cantaloupe for instance. We could end up with just a big tasteless orb. First look for color correctness. For the cantaloupe this would mean no excessive dark green coloring at the stem or flower end. Now shape, this is a lesser trait, but still helpful. Cantaloupes are to be round to slightly oblong. If there is an oblong cantaloupe it may be fine, but I tend to see it as an unfilled balloon, not a deflated balloon as that would suggest it was once filled, just a balloon with more potential. Now pick up the selected fruit, gently bounce it in your hand. Get a good feel for the weight. Put it down if needed and pick it up again. Now pick up another cantaloupe very close in size and color. How do they compare? If needed now weigh the fruit on a scale. A baseline has been set, similar traits are now being weighed, not just two random pieces of fruit. The best reaction you can get when you pick up a fruit is “Wow! That’s heavy.”
Fruit that this technique works well on: cantaloupe, peaches, nectarines, bunches of grapes, mangos, pears, tomatoes, papaya.

Watermelon is too darned heavy to use this technique on efficiently. Thumping is best. Some folks flick it with the fingernail side of their fingers. That just hurts. Use the padded side of your strong middle finger and thump. Envision a doctor gently tapping a child’s belly. He is listening for resonance. A nice deep thump is the best noise a doctor or watermelon picker can hear. Water slows down the transmission of sound. Lots of water means a deeper sound, less water means a brighter, higher sound.

Play with your fruit! Touch them, pick them up weigh them, thump them. When you get them home WASH them!
Quick fruit and veggie wash: to one gallon of water add the juice of one lemon and 1 t. salt. Stir until the salt is dissolved add the produce. Let sit for about 10 minutes, rinse the produce. This concoction is a mild acidic acid which will kill many germs.

Let's Grill!

O.K. here is some ideas for this week’s savings at our local grocery stores. If you are not in Laramie, Wy, watch for similar savings in your area. Generally, similar sales occur nationwide within a short period of time.

Let’s get cooking! Or grilling as the case might be. Here at The Copper Kettle a shipment of grilling rubs have just arrived. I have been waiting, not so patiently, for it to arrive. These rubs are fantastic! I received a healthy sample of rubs two weeks ago and had some friends (guinea pigs) join me to test these rubs out on the cheapest steaks I could find. We tried to hold back and be polite as we took the first few bites, but in the end we were more like a pack of hungry wolverines. We have 6 wonderful flavors of rubs for your creative juices to try on beef, pork, chicken, fish and vegetables! Original Hickory, Roasted Garlic Peppercorn, Ginger Teriyaki, All American Barbecue, Smoky Spicy Southwest and Hickory & Molasses.
Albertsons have London broil steaks on sale at $1.99/lb. perfect timing! Grab some steaks and get your rub on! While you are there take advantage of their other sales and pick up some zucchini for grillin’ and some Doritos for muchin’. Over yonder at Safeway grab some sliced mushrooms, red and orange bell peppers, cantaloupe, mangos and romaine lettuce (all on sale.) We are going to be grilling some veggies right along with our rubbed steaks. In a large bowl combine sliced and seeded red and orange bell peppers, a package of sliced mushrooms, bias cut zucchinis and onion. In a separate small bowl mix together the juice of one lime, 2 Tablespoons olive oil, ¼ teaspoon salt. Drizzle over the bowl of veggies and mix to coat. Heat the grill to high. Place a grill wok (of course we have these in stock at this moment) on the hot grill, close the lid and let the wok heat for just a minute. Open the grill and spoon the vegetables into the wok. Keep flare ups at a minimum by draining the dressing from the vegetables. Stir often. Drizzle the remaining dressing over the veggies once they are done being grilled.

Till next time, Enjoy!
Cyndi

Snow in May

Can you believe it? Snow is falling right now! Grumble. I want summer. Actually I want my lilacs to bloom! Their fresh smell is intoxicating! I think I will make some lilac fizzy bath bombs and take a long hot bath…trick myself into thinking it is at least spring!
Fizzy Bath Bombs are easy to make, find your favorite scent and make some!
1 ½ cups baking soda
½ cup citric acid (try a specialty grocery store-if you are here in Laramie go to Whole Earth Grainery or the Food Co-op.
Mix these 2 ingredients together then take 1/3 cup of the mixture and put it into a separate smaller bowl.
In a small glass mix together 1 Tablespoon of olive oil and 3-4 drops essential oil (in your favorite scent) and a drop of food coloring.
Now add about half of the liquid mixture to the dry mixture in the small bowl. It should be fairly “flaky” in appearances. Now gather the mixture into your hands and make a ball in the same manner that you would make a snow ball, pack it tight. If it falls apart at the slightest touch add a bit more of the liquid mixture. Once the ball comes together, set it upon a cooling rack to dry overnight. Store in a baggie, or another air tight container.
You are now set to sink into a hot, fragrant bath to await the Spring/Summer!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Happy Cinco de Mayo! & Happy Birthday Dori! My children and I have been talking for the last few days about what we want to eat tonight for dinner. I have a pork shoulder roast slowly cooking in a 275 degree oven with about a cup of orange juice, ½ of a white onion roughly chopped, ½ teaspoon oregano, ¼ teaspoon cumin, one ancho chili in adobe sauce. I am using my smallest French oven. I have found that when I slow roast meat, it is more tender when everything fits tightly in the pot. The meat will roast for about 3 hours till it falls off the bone. Using the orange juice and chili together gives the pork a wonderful flavor, slightly sweet with a small hint of spice. My daughters do not care for spicy meat, however, my son and I like to try to burn our tongues out with spice. Therefore, just a little spice is a happy medium. Once the meat is done, I let it sit in the oven while the oven cools and we prepare the feast. We will have, diced tomatoes, avocado, and finely sliced lettuce, salsa (green and red) sour cream, beans, rice and hot peppers. The kids and I will have the choice of building a burrito or a tostada. They will have a mango smoothie, I will have a margarita!