Comments on: Real Food by the Well Done Chef

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 18:33:14 +0000

A few more tips on making stock. As mentioned before add a bit of vinegar to the mix and let it sit for 30-60 mins before cooking. This allows more of the nutrients in the bones to leach out into the stock.

One thing I like to do is to take my strained stock then pour it into muffin pans and/or ice cube trays. then freeze this. Pop them out and put them in a zipplock and into your freezer. You can then use smaller amounts in different recipes. 1 muffin tin size is about 1/4 to 1/3 cup.

By: Gerard Pinzone

Gerard Pinzone — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 23:50:26 +0000

You mentioned MSG coming from seaweed, which is true. However, that’s not the whole story. Glutamate is found in most living things, but when they die, when organic matter breaks down, the glutamate molecule breaks apart. This can happen on a stove when you cook meat, over time when you age a parmesan cheese, by fermentation as in soy sauce or under the sun as a tomato ripens. When glutamate becomes L-glutamate, that’s when things get “delicious.” Also, you said that “there have been so many reports railing against the evils of this [MSG] additive.” From a paleo-diet perspective, I wonder what to make of this since it’s been discovered that the human tongue does have separate receptors for L-glutamate. In other words, we seem to have evolved to appreciate the naturally occurring MSG in most of our foods.

Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15819485

By: Anne

Anne — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 21:24:36 +0000

I use lemon juice instead of vinegar to help get the minerals into the broth.

By: Heather

Heather — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:51:41 +0000

Thank you, Mr. Sandeman, that sounds great — I never thought of adding veggies or spices to the cooking stock. Duh. One thing I do is toss it all into the pan without water and fry everything a little while first, not only does it seem to give it a richer flavor but there is lots of nice rendered fat to pour off and use in other dishes. Thanks again!

By: TonyNZ

TonyNZ — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 23:29:52 +0000

Re: Derrick. I would take some strips of beef and brown with the peppers, tomatoes and beans (+ some onion and fresh chili if available + salt and oregano or cilantro). Hell, if the squash was there I’d probably cube some of that and put it in. Then add a bottle of beer and boil down until sauce is thick consistancy. Serve with avocado and sour cream next to strips of the cucumber.

I’m hungry now.

By: Derrick

Derrick — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 05:46:59 +0000

Ok double post, I know, but I think it’s so sad that something like this used to be commonplace and now hardly anyone does it anymore. Instead, we are eating frozen, microwavable crap with 57 ingredients.

I’ve got a garden going right now. I have a bowl full of fresh vegetables sitting on the kitchen counter; way more than I can consume before they go bad. I told my roommate to eat all he wanted because of that.

Guess what I saw him do yesterday? With GARDEN FRESH 6 bell peppers, 2 tomatoes, 3 squash, a few cups of green beans and a cucumber, you know what he did? Anyone?

HE OPENED A CAN OF F’ING CORN!

I guess the corn farmers will love him for it, but his liver won’t.

By: Derrick

Derrick — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 05:34:58 +0000

mrfreddy, don’t bother with cutting the thing up. Just grab a whole chicken, or a carcass and throw it in the pot. Once the meat is don, pull it out, strip it off the bones, and throw the bones back in until the stock is done. It’s a lot easier that way.

In this past year I’ve really taken to keeping stock in the freezer, and the ice cube tray thing someone else mentioned is the key to it. You don’t have to defrost a quart if you want to use some. Sometimes I’ll grab a cube to toss in some veggies I am cooking.

During the winter I eat more soups so I tend to make stock with whole chickens and save the meat for soup or whatever else. When the weather is warmer, I de-bone the whole thing to grill and save the bones for making stock.

By: Jason Sandeman

Jason Sandeman — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 15:51:41 +0000

@Ellen – My pleasure, and thank you everyone for sharing as well!

By: Jason Sandeman

Jason Sandeman — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 13:23:41 +0000

@AnnieNZ – Saving that “liquid” gold is a must! It seems like we spend so much time adding different products to our dishes to enhance the flavor, when the addition of red wine or stock, scraping the brown bits from the bottom, and gentle reduction more than make up a good flavor base. Plus, the dishes are easier to clean afterwords!

By: AnnieNZ

AnnieNZ — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 03:08:40 +0000

Thanks Jason. I’ll make some next week. It’s something I’ve been meaning to do for a while.
Something else I do is to save the remaining sauce from cooking a casserole or stew, strain it and freeze it to use as a base for time. You just need to add more stock or red wine from time-to-time.
Look forward to your next guest ‘spot’ here.