smoked bbq yummy
So I smoked yesterday. No, not tobacco, and I'm not talking about inhaling smoke. I'm talking about making really delicious food! It's a shitty little smoker bbq and doesn't get hot enough so I'm always worried the stuff may be going toxic but all the same, nobody's ever gotten ill that I know of. I worry a lot about these things. I think, though, that the acid marinade and thick humid smoke during cooking inhibit the bacteria in place of the high heat. It really never breaks 150f in there but I'm not dead certain. I think the included thermometer can't be trusted. Yesterday it didn't move at all! Sure, you can't touch the smoker, but the thermo reads cool? Well I don't know but the meat is tasty and we've been eating it without anyone falling ill.
So I did up a half dozen chicken breasts, the boneless skinless kind, and two turkey breasts with skin and bone on. The turkey was still not done when I wanted to take out the chicken. Having let out all that heat and smoke, I didn't think those crappy coals would reheat it fast enough so I put the turkey right on top of the coals and finished it bbq style. Perfect!!! Even better because it introduced some lovely char around the edges.
All that meat got sliced. I sliced it as thin as I could, about .5cm or so and bagged the sliced meat into the freezer. I'm always buying sliced smoked meat, it's always too thin and the ingredients dodgy, so yeah, good stuff. Everything that didn't slice was cut into bite sized pieces for meals and the bones and skin went into my soup bag. In fact, it's cool enough to make soup! I think it's time to get out the stock pot! yummy.
I boil the meat and bones and skin and cartilage. In short, all the bits we don't eat, in a huge pot of water for 3 days. (I may need to find a small cafe to cook in just so I can still do that when we move.) The last couple hours I toss in some flavouring veggies and a few nutrition veggies. The solids are strained out and packaged as dog food. I find they prefer it as is. In the blender you get a horrible slurry that has no texture. The bones by now are so soft you can chew them with your tongue. The veggies are so good for the dogs and they love the stuff. Cheap dog food I used to throw out!
The stock is boiled down to a near glacé state then frozen as ice cubes. One ice cube can flavour a quick stir fry. three makes a rich bowl of broth. They can be used to make gravy, sauce, soup, or consome. If I worked in a kitchen while living on a boat I could keep making this kind of food even though a galley kitchen is about good for a quick fry or reheat and little else. The propane cost of making soups and stews would quickly discourage one. I suppose a hotplate in the cockpit under shelter with shore power might do but it would be hard to "fire safety" that. I won't say the usual "fire proof" because it seems like a dare to the spirit of fire to prove something. But yeah, who runs a hot plate for three days? Even a regular stew that cooks four hours? And who does that on propane either? A beach fire on a secluded cove might be possible, with a kettle, but highly impractical.
Why am I worrying about it? Well it'd be a shame to just give up all these cooking skills, I guess. I'm just starting to hit my stride. I also feel frustrated that I don't get more praise for it. Dan is appreciative enough when I pull out the stops but a cook has an ego that needs a group of well fed humans! Cooks have egos like any artist, I suppose, and it's the anticipation of the audience reaction that drives an artist to create. Necessity for self pleasure is such a small part because after you've decorated your home to please your eyes, it's done, right? Who makes boullion cubes strictly to flavour one's solitary meal? Of course you don't. So yeah, I've been thinking it would be cool to figure out a way to work in a kitchen in Victoria or area. But not some high-pressure career job. Not so minimum wage peon on the line either. Yes, I want a dream job. I'm dreaming it up at this point so why dream up anything less? I won't be working because I have to, but because I want to. I just need to find a place that needs my special skills, or someone who wants to run a restaurant but doesn't cook. Heh. Hey, maybe a B&B and I can use the bathtub once a week too. I'd even do cleaning at a B&B in return for bath use.
Ugh, real life is trying to phone me. I don't know what the credit bureau wants with me but I'm not answering.
So I did up a half dozen chicken breasts, the boneless skinless kind, and two turkey breasts with skin and bone on. The turkey was still not done when I wanted to take out the chicken. Having let out all that heat and smoke, I didn't think those crappy coals would reheat it fast enough so I put the turkey right on top of the coals and finished it bbq style. Perfect!!! Even better because it introduced some lovely char around the edges.
All that meat got sliced. I sliced it as thin as I could, about .5cm or so and bagged the sliced meat into the freezer. I'm always buying sliced smoked meat, it's always too thin and the ingredients dodgy, so yeah, good stuff. Everything that didn't slice was cut into bite sized pieces for meals and the bones and skin went into my soup bag. In fact, it's cool enough to make soup! I think it's time to get out the stock pot! yummy.
I boil the meat and bones and skin and cartilage. In short, all the bits we don't eat, in a huge pot of water for 3 days. (I may need to find a small cafe to cook in just so I can still do that when we move.) The last couple hours I toss in some flavouring veggies and a few nutrition veggies. The solids are strained out and packaged as dog food. I find they prefer it as is. In the blender you get a horrible slurry that has no texture. The bones by now are so soft you can chew them with your tongue. The veggies are so good for the dogs and they love the stuff. Cheap dog food I used to throw out!
The stock is boiled down to a near glacé state then frozen as ice cubes. One ice cube can flavour a quick stir fry. three makes a rich bowl of broth. They can be used to make gravy, sauce, soup, or consome. If I worked in a kitchen while living on a boat I could keep making this kind of food even though a galley kitchen is about good for a quick fry or reheat and little else. The propane cost of making soups and stews would quickly discourage one. I suppose a hotplate in the cockpit under shelter with shore power might do but it would be hard to "fire safety" that. I won't say the usual "fire proof" because it seems like a dare to the spirit of fire to prove something. But yeah, who runs a hot plate for three days? Even a regular stew that cooks four hours? And who does that on propane either? A beach fire on a secluded cove might be possible, with a kettle, but highly impractical.
Why am I worrying about it? Well it'd be a shame to just give up all these cooking skills, I guess. I'm just starting to hit my stride. I also feel frustrated that I don't get more praise for it. Dan is appreciative enough when I pull out the stops but a cook has an ego that needs a group of well fed humans! Cooks have egos like any artist, I suppose, and it's the anticipation of the audience reaction that drives an artist to create. Necessity for self pleasure is such a small part because after you've decorated your home to please your eyes, it's done, right? Who makes boullion cubes strictly to flavour one's solitary meal? Of course you don't. So yeah, I've been thinking it would be cool to figure out a way to work in a kitchen in Victoria or area. But not some high-pressure career job. Not so minimum wage peon on the line either. Yes, I want a dream job. I'm dreaming it up at this point so why dream up anything less? I won't be working because I have to, but because I want to. I just need to find a place that needs my special skills, or someone who wants to run a restaurant but doesn't cook. Heh. Hey, maybe a B&B and I can use the bathtub once a week too. I'd even do cleaning at a B&B in return for bath use.
Ugh, real life is trying to phone me. I don't know what the credit bureau wants with me but I'm not answering.