Seafood Stock

 

Stock. A staple in any kitchen pantry. Whether you buy chicken, beef, pork, vegetable, mushroom or whatever other host of stocks are out there, they are the lifeblood of any dish that calls for liquid. You use them to deglaze, you use them with a thickening agent, you use them as a starter for your dish.

I recently got a pressure canner/cooker. I'm all about making it from scratch, using fresh ingredients and low sodium. Even reduced sodium stocks found at the store contain too much sodium in my opinion. You want to live longer, start making everything yourself and regain control of what you put in your body.

For Mother's Day we had lobster. I told my Mom I would cook her whatever she wanted and she told me to pick something. I know lobster is her favorite, so lobster it was, coupled with mussels (Dad doesn't like lobster and I like to keep everyone happy). Usually after the first lobster cook of the season I like to make seafood stock. Normally I stick it in a container and we freeze it until the fall when we start making chowder. The stock always has that little bit of freezer burn on it. That always bugged me. Hence the pressure canner/cooker.

For the stock I took all the leftover lobster bits and the shells from the mussels and put them in a stock pot. I added the usual suspects, celery, carrots, onions, bay leaves, old bay seasoning and pepper. Throw in 30 cups of water to cover everything and let it boil for an hour or so. Once done I strained it twice to remove as much sediment etc. as possible.

I prepared the jars and lids according to the manufacturer's instructions. For my canner it called for 10 pounds of pressure for 25 minutes. Once cooled I took them out and let them sit on the counter over night. This was my first attempt at canning stock and I'm wicked excited at how it turned out.

You may not need seafood stock. We make a lot of fish chowder and there is not substitute for seafood stock. You can still can chicken, beef, vegetable, whatever stock you want. Frees up freezer space and when you need it either with a planned meal or in a pinch you have it.    

 

Surf and Turf

Last night we did a take on surf and turf. Normally we do lobster and steak tips; however Mahi Mahi was on sale at the supermarket. I'm a sucker for a sale. The steak was a sirloin, seasoned with my favorite, Chicago steak house and grilled medium heat 5 minutes on each side until medium rare. I cut the Mahi Mahi into approximately 4 oz pieces, seasoned with salt pepper. I pan fried it in some canola oil until the bottom half was cooked through. I added a slice of tomato on top. The sauce, was a yellow and orange pepper puree mixed with lemon juice and a Japanese mayo I picked up in an Asian market in Portland Maine. I had made this ahead of time and had it in the fridge. I broiled the top of the fish until almost cooked through, then added the pepper/mayo puree and put it under the broiler again to finish cooking, about another minute or so. The asparagus was coated with a little olive oil and sea salt then roasted at 425 until tender. Another successful dinner!



 

No Frills Brisket

We had brisket last weekend with spaghetti squash and in a change of pace for this meat and potatoes family, creamed cauliflower.
It was my first attempt at cooking the almighty brisket (because it's so bloody expensive). To be honest I didn't do anything fancy to it other than add some chicago steak house seasoning and make sure the internal temp was around 190 degrees. That meant in a casserole dish with about a cup of beef broth, covered with aluminum foil and roasting at 350 for about 3 hours (based on the 3 & 1/2 lbs of brisket I had). The spaghetti squash, now a huge favorite of my parents, I again roasted, scooped out of the shell once tender and heated it through in a saute pan with some rendered tomatoes and garlic. Then I sprinkled with grated parmesan. For the cauliflower I boiled the heck out of it until tender. Then I pureed, adding a tablespoon of butter and a little milk (I eye balled the milk as I didn't want the whole thing to come out runny, roughly a couple of tablespoons). Salt and peppered both the squash and cauliflower. Served with the brisket and some au jus on the cauliflower. The cauliflower was creamy and light, the squash, flavorful and sweet, the brisket tender and moist. All and all a successful first go at this elusive cut of beef. I'm looking forward to exploring and experimenting with all the different ways of preparing brisket in the future.