Mottmott

I've just made my beef stock this weekend and have about 2 qts of stock reduced down from about 12 quarts. I have some questions about storage. Is this well jelled brown stock sufficiently reduced to store in the fridge instead of the freezer? Or must I reduce it further? And need I use the fat on top to protect it from air or is it enough to put a piece of plastic wrap on it? Also, how long will this keep in the fridge? In the past I've frequently made chicken stock but instead of reducing it have simply stored it in the freezer in zip lock bags. Were I to use the reduction technique would it store without freezing as well as the beef?

I have the Salton Aquatronic which has been satisfactory except for going through batteries at the wrong time. Perhaps those models with lithium batteries would have an advantage. I like Dave's suggestion to be able to remove and clean the weighing platform. Mine doesn't and I simply cover it with a piece of Saran which pretty much becomes invisible. As I didn't buy it for its looks, that's ok but if I had gotten one of those cool looking ones, I'd be annoyed. I wonder though about the glass platforms. If broken, can they be replaced?

Thanks Katherine. It looks great, though I think I'll omit the eggs as I am already going to cholesterol hell for the drippings. And yes, I did save the fat. Isn't it curious how many of the things most people throw out are the very items that help take your cooking to another level? Shrimp shells, beef, veal, and chicken bones, feet, parsley stems, the seeds from the apricot pit, etc. And I never, never throw away chicken fat. Cholesteral notwithstanding.

Double thanks to FG. I've made chicken stock many times, but this was my first venture into beef stock. Wonderful: a large tub of jelly-like reduced stock and several bags of stock in the freezer. And thanks also for the Chefmate pot recommendation. The one I've used for chicken wouldn't be large enough for the beef bones and meat. I also have a couple lbs of beef leftovers. I'm going to freeze some away to use in empanadas when I get a chance to make them, but I thought I'd use the rest in some hash. Believe it or not, I've never made hash before and the few recipes I googled up look look bland. Any suggestions for using this meat up?

Update: making beef stock these last couple days elicited the complaint, "Why are you doing that in this heat?" (Though my son was happy enough to have a plateful of the stock and its fixings in the making.) It's wonderful to be able to vent. I'm happy that my son and his family stay with me while they house hunt after moving back here. Most of my frustrations with this are in the kitchen. This outlet make them easier to bear.

You have my deepest sympathy. But get over it. The Lord of Balancing the Universe gives each of us, the food obsessed, someone in our life to bring us down in the kitchen. I presently have family living with me with young children and a vegetarian mother. I've simply turned over the kitchen to them for the most part. I don't want to eat the out-of-the-package "vegetarian cuisine" that dominates their diet. And I don't want to cook for 5 daily to insure having something I like on the table. When I do cook meat for myself, however, I must actually cook for 3 as my 3 year old grandson stands next to me (after he's already had his dinner), opening his mouth to have me feed him like a little bird) and my son finishes off the rest later. This one DIL is a vegetarian, the other is give a license to pickiness and food whininess by GURD, and now one of my sons has decided that sugar must be banished from his diet. Cooking for this family has lost its joy. When I do it, I simply suck it up and try to have something on the table for everyone to it. Life just ain't fair.

Sometimes a problem can be turned into an adventure. Check out the polenta thread. Fried polenta with maple syrup is a great breakfast. You can vary it by doing the same with grits. And if you're not a vegetarian, try some Philadelphia scrapple which is pork and cornmeal. I would think that pancakes and waffles can be made with soy or rice milk. Also, think out of the box. Many of the things we eat for other meals can serve for the first meal of the day. There is much benefit in making breakfast the main meal of the day. The principal drawback, time, can be handled with some careful planning. After all, what's wrong with soup or stew on a cold morning? Fried chicken livers are quick and a great breakfast.

NVNVGirl, until you redo your floor, try rugs. Even though my floor is wood, I have a rug in the angle between the sink and the stove peninsula where I spend the most time. I have a woven cotten that fits right into the washing machine. If the floor were ceramic or granite, I'd probably put some padding under it, too. Another alternative would be some of that rubber ringy stuff, though that looks so commercial.

Steve, maybe the eGullet Recipes would benefit by adding a category for basic foods that appear as elements in many recipes. Of course these things appear over and over in cookbooks . But there's such a comfort level when a recipe has been used by someone we know personally or whose posts we've followed on eGullet.

Thanks cmben, It's always a pleasure to have more information than I want to know so I know where to get it when I want to know it. And others might need that info now. Perhaps the eGCI might do a segment on wine and food storage.

The kitchen in my 100 year old house is 20 x 12', overall, but that's deceptive. One end has windows wrapped across one side and 4' down the other, so that's a breakfast area set apart from the rest of the room by a peninsula. It does have about 4' of bookcase shelves and a marble table useful for pastry making. The 12 x 13' working end of the kitchen is efficently laid out despite the clothes w/d that eats up a lot of space. Luckily an antique pantry from another house I renovated gives me lots of storage as do ceiling racks for pots and pans. (Plus an extra fridge and shelves in the basement for occasional items.) Originally the house had a cold (shed) pantry outside the back door that the previous owner ripped out. Sometimes I think of restoring it. I renovated the kitchen 20 years ago and am still happy with it. I've added about 10' of wall cabinets since then and replaced appliances from time to time.

I'm curious about the dining habits of those of us who live alone. What do you eat and how do you serve yourself? Do you cook dinner for yourself most of the time? How elaborately? Mostly soups, salads, sandwiches? Or...? Do you bake for yourself? How do you serve yourself? Set the dining room table? Fine china, crystal, silver? Or is is everyday kitchenware at the kitchen table? And how often do you do this? Or do you just dine out most of the time or save the intensive cooking for entertaining? I cook for myself most of the time but I'm not fond of leftovers that hang about more than a day or two or piles up in the freezer. I make the inevitable steak, chop, piece of fish, etc. that's easy to make in one serving -- and soups and salads of course. (Don't care much for sandwiches.) But often I will make braises, a small roast. a gratin, pate, empanadas etc. I do bake for myself, but tend to do those things such as scones, pastries, pound cakes, small pies, tea breads, that can be partially made, frozen, and then baked in individual servings or small versions so that they are fresh tasting. I save more elaborate cakes for entertaining or as gifts. What are your strategies for eating well when single?

Thanks Craig. You're right, I'm only buying for my immediate needs over a few months period. I'm sure I can find an optimal spot in my basement. Perhaps I'll start exploring a smallish unit for wine storage. I'm in Penna where the state's pretty much in charge of what you buy unless you buy in larger amounts than I do. So I like to go to Jersey a few times a year and stock up.

Thanks Craig. I'm sure I can find an optimal spot in my basement, even if I have to make a rack on rollers so that I can move it to a cooler spot when the heater's on.

I like to use a lemon infused olive oil on a plate of assorted tomatoes. Flavorful and pretty, but it doesn't distract from perfect tomatoes. Enhance it with a sprinkle of condiment salt.

Maggie and Matthew, could you do a quick reprise of the mint & parmesan pasta? I missed it while on vacation and have a gardenful of mint.

I know wine should be stored at 55f, optimally. What are the optimum humidity conditions? I make a point of buying my wine from a wine shop that claims to make a fetish of 55. I'm not collecting, not auctioning it off, and I usually drink it withing 6-8 or fewer months. I tend not to buy tannic, oaky types of wine and in fact stock up on whites such as Riesling, Sancerre, Moscato, and dessert wines. The reds I buy most often are less expensive and designated more for the pot than the glass. I've been using my cool basement which is humid in the summer, dry in winter. I do have a refrigerator in the basement. What would happen if I store them there? That would create the most constant environment. And what is ullage?

I recently hung two 4' Enclume racks over my stove for pots/pans, sieves, flame tamers, etc. (Love em, they're solid and the hooks don't try to escape when you hang the pots.) That emptied out most of the base of an antique kitchen hutch. But oh, it's still filled. The stuff that was left just took a deep breath. Then I added about 10' of new 42" wall cabinets this spring. Well, they're filled now: my new determination to master Thai and perhaps other Asian cooking has introduced a whole new range of condiments to help fill them. And then, too, I had room to go out and buy a slew of new mugs and some super mixing bowls at the Flemington factory store mall. How can you resist Royal Doulton mugs when they're selling them for 99 cents on the day you happen to be browsing? But you still can't throw out all the old mismatched ones can you? Or even resist large stoneware mixing bowls for a couple bucks. You can put them in the oven! How could I resist? Help me. I may have the refrigerator situation in control, though. Even though I usually live alone, it's always stuffed. So many condiments and storage items, hardly room for the food. Today my (second in 5 months) new fridge is in reasonable openness as I have just been able to move all the flours, nuts, and other long term, bulk type storage items into a second one I will keep in the basement. Not however, my usual assortment of stocks, tomato sauce, make ahead bake later items because I had to throw them all out when my fridge died the day before the 4th of July. Just get a repairman then! It took Frigidaire almost a month to replace it , so of course I had to find a middling sized used one to keep our food on the porch while following the Fridging instructions not to turn off the old one til they came and got it. (What was that about? All with the implication that the warranty would be voided!) Now the temporary replacement is happily and permanently in the basement. But best of all, I have potential: shelves line two walls of the stairwell leading to the basement. Once my family who are staying with me til their new house is ready leaves, I will be free to use them without fear of stuff tumbling as people trot up and down to the basement fridge for that's where such things as beer is now stored. And then, too, once in their new home, I can unload a lot of stuff on them.

Awesome tutorial, Chad. Especially useful for the home cook (me, for ex). After all, you pros get some training and the opportunity to watch other pros in action. An old beau taught me the beginnings of how to use a whetstone, stroking each side 10 times, moving through to 1. But no mention of the burr much less how to rid oneself of it or the other fine points that will make a big difference, Im sure... Your very well written, well organized essay will lead me through these refinements to a really sharp edge. I'm reminded of how important sharp knives are when I help cook in other people's kitchens. How can they work with them? Even those who have "good" knives have often so neglected them that they might as well have come from the supermarket! Now mine will be really, really sharp. I would like to say that I'm addicted to my old carbon steels. A couple years ago I thought I'd go stainless, bought a Wusthof chefs', and wound up giving it away to one of my kids. Knives need to acquire the patina of experience. I do admit to loving my flexible utility knife, though. Your thoroughness is, well, awesome, awesome, awe...

I have a shallow rack living on the bottom of one of the sinks permanently and find it very useful. I like to clean out pots/pans, mixing bowls, utensils, etc. as I go rather than let them pile up. Also, I don't find that the dw does a very good job on pots/pans, even stainless.

I kept a sheet of foil on my old one when not in use. Then since I got a new one, I keep the foil on all the time. Started as an accident (forgot to take off the foil before preheating once), saw no noticable difference and now I only take it off to change it when it gets too much goop on it. For the record, I'm NOT crazy clean, just lazy.

Thanks Gabe, P & P sounds just like what I need for my upcoming Thai cooking class. I'll check it out this weekend.

Don't consider the GE Profile where the burner designer built in hot spots! I needed a slide in, too. Please report back on the Amana if you get it, I can easily give away my GE (sucky, sucky, sucky).

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm going to cook-along with the eGCI Thai course. It sounds like the best place for Thai ingredients is International on Walnut in West Phila. This will save me some of the frustration of shopping for ingredients I don't already know in a language I don't know.

Matthew, I somehow missed your suggestions when I just posted. I've been thumbing through the "Guide" and "Asian Grocery", but decided to await the results of this thread before buying any more cookbooks. I try to check out "Ingredients." Pictures sound enticing. Everyone's been very generous in their suggestions. I'm running out of shelf space, so I want to get only books I can count on finding useful.