Text 6615, 90 rader
Skriven 2008-05-06 11:18:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av JIM WELLER
Ärende: bacon 266
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 -=> Jim Weller said to All re: Recent tastes <=-

 JW> Recently I've been recycling my brines instead of discarding them
 JW> with some interesting outcomes. After brining a hunk of meat, I boil
 JW> the brine which sterilizes it and coagulates any blood so that it
 JW> rises to the top where it can be skimmed off. Then I filter it,

I first thought, salt must be more expensive up there than
it is down here; then I thought, well, maybe he's doing his
part to save the environment. Then I just wondered.

 JW> bottle it and refrigerate it until next time. I did a large chicken
 JW> first, then a batch of pork chops which ended up with a mild chicken
 JW> flavour, which was actually quite nice. Next was sirloin steak
 JW> which came out pork flavoured; weird but also good. Then turkey
 JW> wings and the back...yep, beef flavoured turkey. Weirder yet, good
 JW> for a novelty only. At the very end I used small amounts of the

Then the possibilities began to sound interesting. Pork-flavored
zucchini, anyone?

 JW> leftover brine for boiling vegetables, rice and potatoes and soup
 JW> seasoning.

Then back to theory #1.

 JW> I also tried burning a cup of nut shells in the grill while doing
 JW> those pork chops and again with the sirloins.  I had the shells
 JW> smouldering right on the lava rock on one side of the grill and the
 JW> meat on the lower rack on the other side. The broken shells last
 JW> about 10 minutes and impart just a hint of smokiness, very subtle.
 JW> This turned out well enough that I will be saving shells in a bucket
 JW> from now on as a matter of course.

Pecan shells make a delicious smoke.

 JW> As well I made a small batch of bacon infused rye whisky using 3 tb
 JW> fat rendered from 1/3 pound of bacon and 6 oz of rye. The flavour
 JW> transfer from the oil phase to the alcohol phase was minimal and the
 JW> end result subtle. I find that even after freezing for 24 hours
 JW> that there were little globules of fat in the rye and an oily film
 JW> left behind so I filtered it through a coffee filter which cleared
 JW> it up nicely. There was just a tiny amount of bacon flavour in the
 JW> rye; it tasted fine, not oily but I doubt if I shall bother trying
 JW> this again.

What about using a less full-flavored (flavoured) liquor?
Blended whisky or light rum or something. 

 JW> Neekha came across an old fashioned style hand cranked ice cream
 JW> maker for just $14. So we HAD to get it! It is plastic, bright pink
 JW> and festooned with pictures of Barbie but it actually works. Tonight
 JW> we made a 375 ml batch of chocolate ice cream together using 125 ml
 JW> each of cream, milk and chocolate syrup. I can see this little
 JW> gizmo getting a lot of action for a week or so when her little
 JW> cousins discover it until it breaks, which it will, being a cheap
 JW> little piece of Chinese crap. But it will be fun while it lasts.

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05

      Title: Pork With Onions In Soy Sauce
 Categories: Chinese, Portuguese
      Yield: 3 Servings

      1 lb Fresh ham or ribs
    1/2 lb Pork belly
      2 lg Onions, sliced thin
    1/2 c  Soy sauce
    1/2 c  White Port
      2 cl Garlic
    1/2 lb Chestnuts, shelled, opt.*

  * OR, 2 md carrots or other root veg, chunked, opt.

  Cut meats into bite-size pieces; cut off extra fat.

  Render extra fat, eating or discarding cracklings. Wilt onions in the fat.
  Add meat and brown lightly. Add soy sauce, wine, and garlic. I'd have used
  sherry, but the Port is what was there. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to
  low, and cook 2 hrs. Add chestnuts or carrots, if using, and cook 1/2-1 hr
  or until everything is the right texture. Correct seasoning with soy sauce
  or salt. Serve with rice. I thickened the sauce, but normally this would
  not be done.

  Source: Michael Loo, The Dinner Table

MMMMM
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