Stocks, Sauces or whatever: Giving food a second life.

Working has a butcher (and exposing myself to head-to-tail philosophy) has exposed me lots of cool things, but also some vital lessons on thrift.  When I say ‘thrift’, I’m referring to maximizing the potential of an animal.  Example: if you buy a whole chicken save the bones (heads and feet, too, if they come with the bird) for stock.  Additionally, if you have a duck, save the skin and render the fat and make the best potatoes ever.  I’m pretty sure at one point half of my fridge held jars of random animal fats.  I’m sorry, but when you got some top-notch bacon on hand, you’d be an idiot to just throw away the grease.  It’s rendered fat.  Fat is a natural preservative.  Think about confit.

           

It’s really easy to be short sighted with food.  A lot of people don’t have time to babysit a pot of bones simmering in broth; or they lack to fridge space.  You can buy premade stock pretty much anywhere.  Your butcher and other specialty food shops are likely to sell house made stocks and will even go as far as making bones available to customers interested in making their own.  Even if you are too lazy to make your own, seeking out the later option will taste much better.  Flavor country.

           

The buck doesn’t stop at stock bones.  Depending on what’s for dinner, you can give a second life to what some might just throw away.

           

One of my more recent epiphanies came when I first began braising.  You’re cooking tough, flavorful meat over a low heat for hours.  You’re concentrating all these flavors that really benefit more than just the meat.   I hinted at this in my last post about pork cheeks.   Once you’ve removed the meat, you keep reducing the leftover sauce, or just stop reducing and pack up what’s left.  Bottom line: SAVE THE LEFTOVER SAUCE.  It’s magic! 

           

This isn’t exclusive to braising.  If you’re searing some meat, there’s going be some leftover magic in the pan.  Deglaze it with some wine, garlic and shallots and you got yourself a sauce for your steak, or whatever.  This concept is really about making food work harder for you.

           

Most recently I made some pulled pork.  It’s not uncommon for people to save the dripping from slow roasted meats.  They’re perfect for BBQ sauces.  They add meaty, smoky and other rich flavors.  Here’s a quick recipe for y’all to enjoy:

Pork Shoulder

Coca Cola

Ancho Chiles in Adobo

Brown Sugar

Salt n Pepper

Garlic

Paprika

Yellow Onion (Cut into tick slices then halved)

White Wine Vinegar

Let it all simmer in a crock-pot for 6-8 hours until the pork is fork tender.   Take the meat out, make a sandwich with it or rub yourself with it, you’re going to smell real good.

           

Once you’ve removed the meat, strain the leftover liquid into a colander.  At this point you can either pack up the magic; toss it into your fridge or freezer, or you can transfer it into a pot and let it simmer until you’ve reached a desired concentration or thickness.  Save it for BBQ sauces, sloppy joes, whatever.