Extreme DIY

I'm not cooking.

Well, I am. Last night we grilled crooknecks, reduced some wine, added butter, and tossed it all with pasta, chicken breast, basil, and cheese. Tonight, pork filling for tacos. I do like pork in tacos.

I also made date muffins again (turns out the recipe actually works and wasn't a total fluke), and sauteed chard to go into biscuit pastry for lunchy spanikopita-type things.

But I didn't take a single picture.

But I did take pics of food. It's just that it's food in a somewhat less familiar format.

The garden.

Yes, food comes from dirt.

And while Taneasha and I are fans of DIY cooking, Recipe Guy has gone one step further and is DIYing his own food.

I've had gardens in the past, but right now I'm trapped in my student apartment without even a balcony on which to grill things. Man, I love food cooked on fire.

So, as I said, we grilled crooknecks last night. But first we had to harvest them. Squashes are fuzzy, and the fuzz is sharp and sticks in your fingers like fibreglass.

Tasty things always have ways of protecting themselves. Note that the broccoli has no thorns, no fuzz, no dangerous parts to navigate around. That's because it's not edible. Contrary to what his housemates seem to think.

Behind the broccoli is the remnants of the iceburg lettuces. There was romaine too. There's red leaf on the way. There's also chard.

A lot of chard. I'd already taken 2-4 leaves off each of those plants. That got me about 4 grocery store sized bundles of chard. Sautee that shit in bacon fat with a bit of browned onion... goes perfectly with fried chicken. Holy yum.

I need to make fried chicken.

Some would recommend frying these little green tomatoes,

but I think I'll wait until the sun turns them red (better them than me) and then eat them warm off the vine.

TIP: As soon as your tomato plant starts fruiting, defoliate it. Pervert, it means take the leaves off. If you remove the leaves around the fruits, the sun will ripen them faster and the plant will put more energy into fruiting since it no longer has leaves to feed.

And, if you let your cilantro go to seed, you'll attract all kinds of flying insects that will help pollinate the rest of the garden,

and those little green burrs in the bottom left are actually corriander seed, a component of garum masala. Let them dry, harvest them by putting a paper bag over the seed head, turn it upside down and shake; all the seeds fall into the bag. This works for dill seed too.

If you're lucky, you'll have a neighbour with honey bees

(can you see the bee butt in the flower?) who shares the hibiscus scented honey that results from his bees spending all their time in your bushes.

Of course, if you have a garden you need a compost heap.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04Zz-GRPAzA

(still don't know how to embed vids)

Now, you may not end up with a blues-singing, advice-giving heap, but what you might get are a few volunteers. I don't think I've ever seen a compost heap that didn't have things growing in it.

We're pretty sure this is a butternut squash.

There are onions just to the left out of the frame too. Which is good because Mowing Man keeps mowing down the wild onions in the horse pature.

Speaking of wild things, remember the wild beans that appeared last year during the drought? Well, if you let wild beans go to seed in your garden, they will happily come back and demand trellises the next year.

How does your garden grow?

6 Tips for Making Your Meat Irresistible

Whew!  I survived yet another big move.  That being said, I just barely got my internet turned on last night (thank you Comcast for finally sending someone competent.  Third time’s the charm, I guess) and I haven’t had time yet to do my big restock the pantry and fridge shopping trip.  Between that and the fact that we’re long overdue for a tip, rather than doing a proper post this week, I’ll be giving advice on how best to handle your meat.  I don’t know that I’m an expert on the subject, but I’ve had plenty of experience handling meats of all sizes and varieties.  Today’s tips are going to apply mostly to big ones.  Roasts basically. 

Tip #1: 

Buy good meat.  As with anything else, your final result can only be as good as the product you start with.  Now, when I say good, I don’t mean buy an expensive cut of meat.  I mean, get meat as close to the farm as possible.  I guarantee a piece of meat from some mega mart is not going to taste as good as something more natural, no matter what they say on their commercials.  If you don’t have a farm or market nearby to get your meat, at the very least try to find beef that is grass fed.  If you can find pastured beef, even better.  The cows will thank you too. 

Tip #2:

Don’t be afraid of the salt.  No one will enjoy your meat if it doesn’t taste good.  A big piece of meat needs plenty of salt, and since it’s basically a rock, you don’t have to worry about it burning during the cooking process like pepper and other spices can. 

Tip #3:

Sear your meat.  I always hear people say you need to sear meat to lock in the juices.  Well, I don’t really know if that’s true or not.  I’ll tell you how to keep your meat from losing its juices in tip #5.  As for searing, the truth of that matter is it brings an immense amount of flavor to your meat, not to mention the flavor it gives to anything that’s cooked with it, and any gravy or pan sauce made from the drippings.  High heat, a little oil, set the meat in and don’t move it around.  When it’s ready, it will release itself from the pan and you can easily flip it.  This piece of meat isn’t burned.  It’s perfectly seared and will be absolutely delicious when it’s finished. 

Tip #4:

Low and slow.  I know you’ve heard that phrase a million times, but when cooking a roast it is essential.  After the searing process, I add plenty of liquid and usually cook my roasts between 225° and 250° for a good three hours or so.  Trust me, your patience will be rewarded.   

Tip #5:

As I said before, this is where your meat's juices come into play.  When your meat is done (if it’s not super tender, it’s not done) remove it from the pan, set it aside, and cover it with foil to rest.  Ten minutes is the absolute minimum and 20 or 30 is even better.  I like to cook my carrots and potatoes in the beef broth while the meat is resting.  If you cut the meat right away, all of its juices will run out.  Those are important, especially in a roast.  Who knew a simple piece of meat would require so much patience, huh? 

Tip #6:

For the most tender pieces of meat, always cut across the grain.  With something like a chuck roast, you’ll probably end up with chunks rather than slices, and that’s totally fine.  But if it’s a bottom round or a rump roast, definitely slice against the grain.  Melt in your mouth tender, moist, and delicious. 

So there you have it, 6 tips on how to handle your meat that will make you and anyone else eating it happy.