A New Adventure - Mexican Inspired Oxtail Soup

I want a place to put my adventures. In life I've eaten many kinds of ways, and now I do my own thing. It's largely gluten free, often paleo or close to it, homemade with no cheats. But if you bitch about my food I will throw down and make a gluten filled, covered in dairy meal. I just might make my own cheese. And yes, I would be making the bread.  

Apparently Photos Count As Content. I made this meal with a friend, and the plating could have been better but we'd been at it a long time and were tired. Yay tacos!

I don't want to share with you my life history or what I like to do in the summer. I will tell you about food and how to cook it, and share my knowledge about food with you. I might talk about places to shop and things that pertain to food and my feelings about it. But I'm not telling you about my grandma or what I like to do on my perfect Sunday. I might tell you about food I've eaten. 

Apparently if you don't blather on for a while and talk about random ass shit browsers think that you have no 'content' and won't list you in the results, also how much time people spend on your site and blah, blah, blah. Also, everyone wants money for everything so all the sites are teeming with ads. Such bullshit. So, I have to have 'content'. 

I will give you a little story about my post I'll Bet Your Gluten Free Dumplings Suck. I took the recipe off. People were stealing my methods and then passing them off as their own (such is life and I'm not saying I haven't done it), I had an idea to start a business and needed to keep that a secret. It didn't happen (though I had much support from many fans, and several moms of rich children who can't eat anything but bark begging me to supply them with dumplings). I'm not giving you that recipe. I know what it is. I know how to do it, it's time consuming and a pain in the ass. Get the book Asian Dumplings by Nguyen and figure it out yourself. 

So.. Let's begin.

3 Day Mexican Inspired Oxtail Soup

I recently got a sous vide machine stick thingy mabobber. It's not the machine that holds water. It's a stick that you use a pot to make your own jerry rigged sous vide. You can buy these for a about $110-$200 online. I was very excited, the things I could cook slowly! I have been thinking 'what's the difference between this and a slow cooker?' Easily answered, slow cookers cook at one or two specific temperatures, and this can cook at any temperature I want it to. You want flavored oils? Easy (I now have like 5). You need pasteurized eggs? Done. Perfectly cooked meats, blah, blah, blah. 

I also came into possession of a pressure cooker. Between these two things, I've really upped my game. 

The one thing that apparently you can cook in your sous vide, that you might not think about is soup. I've been doing it, and it's really the way to go. Though, I've devised the slowest way to go about making soup known to man. But I'll bet my soup will blow your socks off. 

Let's get started. NOTE: There's several parts to this, you do what you want, you want to use unicorn blood instead of broth? Go ahead, but I don't want you posting comments that you changed the recipe and it didn't come out and this sucks, or that it did come out and was amazing. That's not my recipe and I don't give a rat's ass how your recipe went. I'll just delete it. 

This is a multi day recipe. It took me three days to make. 

Mexican Inspired Oxtail Soup

4-5 bowls

The Broth

Save your various veggie scraps in a gallon bag in the freezer until you have it full. Items might include:

Onion ends and skin (the skin has flavor)
Green onion ends
Carrot bits and peels
Celery bits and leaves
Pepper bits
Tomato ends
Herb stems (basil, cilantro, parsley, thyme)

Once your bag is full, pull out your pressure cooker and dump the contents in. You might add to it:

An onion
A broken up carrot
Garlic
Bay leaf

For this recipe I had processed a bunch of Hatch Chilis and saved the tops from about a pound or two of them and put those in. 

Add water (NO SALT)

Cook according to your pressure cooker's instructions. I cook mine for about 40 minutes. Strain. Put into ice cube trays and freeze and seal in freezer bags. You can also (if you are crafty about it) put it in your seal a meal and freeze flat bricks of broth. I make 2 C. bags and label them. You will need 4 C. of stock, frozen.

The Other Things

2 lbs Beef Oxtail (if you can go to the butcher and get the biggest pieces you can, about 3 of them, I don't want to digress, the little pieces = FLAVOR, but sous vide often has space constraints)
1 Onion diced
1 Carrot diced
1-2 Jalapenos (seeded, not seeded, whatever you want) diced
1 can diced tomato
2 bay leaves
1-3 tsp Mexican oregano
1-2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp Avocado oil

SCROLL DOWN THERE'S MORE INGREDIENTS!

In a pan heat the oil and add the onion and carrot. Cook for about 5 minutes over medium heat. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a pan, add a little oil and heat over medium high heat. Brown the ox tail on each side until crispy looking and golden brown. This doesn't need to be perfect, we're just adding flavor. Set aside. Deglaze the pan with a little water. 

In a bag that is going to work with your sous vide machine and hold all the ingredients (I use my seal a meal, it works fine and better than ziplock bags for long periods of time), put 4C. frozen stock (it needs to be frozen so you can seal the bag), the deglazing, veggies (all of them), spices and ox tail into the bag. Add about 1 Tbs kosher salt, more or less as you please, but about a tablespoon will be enough. Check your ingredients to make sure you put them all in the bag. Did you check? You can't just go add those things your forgot, go check again. Seal up the bag making sure there is no air in the bag (you might find as it cooks that there's some, this is ok, it's soup). At this point you can put it in the fridge overnight if you need to. 

Heat your sous vide machine up to 155 degrees F. Set the timer for 24 hours. When it's up to temp add the bag and attach it to the side of the container. I use my metal stock pot and some very strong magnets for this. Wait.

When it's done take it out and put the whole bag in a pot, sealed, and then in the fridge overnight. This GREATLY improves the flavor. 

Open the bag and scoop out all the oil and fat, this should be easy as it should be mostly solid. Remove the tail and put the rest of the soup into a pot and put over medium heat. Test for salt. Remove the meat from the bones and discard the bones (I actually kept mine, I added them to my beef stock bag, I wonder if there's more life in them. We will see). Chop up the meat, don't worry that it's not grey, it's perfectly cooked. Wait until the soup is heated up to add the meat and just warm through, or you could divide it up among bowls and just ladle the hot soup over. 

The Accouterments 

2.25 C Drained and Rinsed Pinto beans (I make my own, they're better that way)
2 Tbs Garlic oil 
2.5 oz Queso Fresco
2-3 Radishes
2 Tbs minced Cilantro

Using a mandolin and care slice the radishes and then stack up and cut into little strips. Crumble the Queso. In a pan over medium/medium high heat - heat the oil (make sure it's a big pan, and more oil won't hurt here). Fry the beans until they are crispy and set aside. 

Ladle the soup into bowls and top carefully with 1/4 C beans, .5 oz Queso Fesco, several radish slices and cilantro. 

Enjoy!

I'll bet your gluten free dumplings suck.

I looked all over the web for GF dumpling wrappers. Most people call them wonton wrappers, but I know that you can make all sorts of delightful dumplings out of them. Also I'm not looking for wonton wrappers specifically, I want the Korean-slightly chewy style that just scream home-made dumplings when you bite into them.

If you google gluten free wonton, you get some very lame discussions about how you have to make them yourself (duh), or that you can buy the tapioca ones usually used for fresh rolls, but also a lot of recipes that are the same. They all call for about a cup of flour, an egg and some xanthum gum. You make this into a stiff pasta type dough and roll it out thin. I tried this, and it's ... ok. I mean, you can make wonton skins like this and they're not bad, but really they're not that good. If you're looking for something really good, that reminds you of the dumplings of your childhood, this won't cut it.

I also noticed that they couldn't be rolled very thin and the dough kept trying to break apart and crumbled a little. It's not the best way honestly.

I would recommend this last method for people who want to fry their wontons, as it will probably work pretty good, but I like to cook mine like gyoza, fry them a bit and then steam them. I also like to put them in soup, and this means your dumpling skin has to be a bit heartier. Not thicker, but able to hold up. I'm sure you all know that gluten free items are not know for their ability to 'hold up'. Breads are crumbly, buns don't work as well as they could, let's not talk about tortillas. Though I do have a new idea for my tortillas, I was looking at the commercially made ones and they put xanthan gum in theirs. I'm going to give it a try.

Back in my wheat eating days I made dumplings all the time. I liked making them and found the project a good one for my couch and the tv with a big cutting board and my pasta roller. I made them in all flavors and cooked them different ways. I liked steaming them, frying them and dropping them into broth to make a quick soup. I also liked making bao but I will have to work on that later.

This new way to make GF dumplings I came up with from my experience and lots of Asian and Korean cookbooks. They are not GF cook books, but that doesn't make them without value.

Now, this might seem super messy when you start out, but you must persevere. You must also follow the directions and use the products listed.

I use a basic flour mix: two parts rice flour, one third part tapioca flour, two thirds part potato starch. I make this and keep it in my flour container on my counter. I add in whole meal flours, quinoa, KA Ancient grains blend, millett, whatever I need and go from there.

This next bit of information is important. I don't muck around with gritty flour. I don't like grit, and I don't like bean flavor. I buy rice powder, it's easy to get from Asian grocery stores, sold as rice flour, it's extremely fine. Don't give me your whole grain BS, I don't want to hear it. I don't get to eat wheat and I want good products. This is how you make them. Brown rice flour has bad texture. Bad. Do not use it, your dumplings will suck, and so will most of the things you make out of.

I also have a product I use for more glutenous flour applications. OrgraN Gluten Free Gluten Substitute. It's really good, and it's available from a major online distributor. You know the one. They sell lots of things. Don't worry that you have to buy so much, you'll use it once you figure out how make bread with it. It's great.

Now that you have these things you will need other things: a pasta roller, you might be able to use a tortilla press, but I don't think it would be the same. You will also need a lot of a starch. I use potato starch because I get it automatically delivered and isn't very expensive that way. Tapioca or corn starch will also work.

You can fill your dumplings with whatever you like. I used beef because that's what I have on hand. I also like to make non-Asian style ones, you could use these skins to make perogies and other recipes that call for wonton skins, like little pies or what have you. I have a basic recipe for a beef filling, but really any meat would work.

Now that we have discussed the things needed here is how to make the best gluten free dumplings there are.

Bitches I'm Beef!

Crikey I made a simply divine stew today. Remember when I said I bought 1/4 beef? I still have most of it. I have been trying to remove the ground from my small freezer so that I can get the turkeys for our Thanksgiving party, I need three of them. Anyhow, I have all this beef and thought, golly it's cold outside, perchance I shall make a hearty stew!

I like to make meals with a little bit of meat in them. I don't like to eat tons of meat all at once, and find that all I really need is about 3 oz of meat at once. Serving meat in a stew or soup makes me feel like I've gotten to eat a decadent thing, without over indulging and also keeping cost and health issues in check. So when I make a pot of soup or something, there's about six servings happening from one pound of beef. Works out well for everyone.

I had recently gotten the cutest butternut squashes from the market and was like 'ooh how adorable', because we all know that when food is small, it is much cuter. So I was looking to use those as well.

Anyhow, I found a lame recipe that I made much, much better and the stew turned out so good, I tried to take a picture of it. Turns out cameras need to be charged once in a while and wouldn't you know, my camera is out of batteries. I know there won't be any to take pictures of later. I don't think it will look as good later either. I have some ... other pictures to entertain you. I didn't take them.

But please, refer to the picture of the beef, it's informative and good to know your sides of beef.

I must tell you about this stew, I would be dis-not-loving my public if I did not.

I know my husband ate a good sized bowl, and texted me at my girls-night to let me know how good the stew was. That's how good it was. Also, you know it's a good meal when it watches after itself while you go out with your girls.

My husband almost never comments on my food, and I think this is because apart from my many, many success, I do have a lot of misadventures. But, if you don't adventure, how do you learn?

I also have another theory about cooking. If I always cook good food, the level of expectation in my home goes up, and eventually my really good meals are just the norm. So then when I fail, it's rather epic, and when I make something amazing, it's just ok. I should just make worse food, but that doesn't appeal to me either.

This episode is mostly so you can partake of the wonderment that is my stew.

Butternut Squash and Beef Stew
6 servings
7 WWPP

Ingredients:

1 tsp olive oil
1 lb. lean grass fed stew beef (chuck)
1 sweet onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 pound butternut squash, peeled and cubed*
1 Cup carrot chunks
1 Cup diced tomatoes
1 15 oz. can rinsed and drained garbanzo beans
2 Tbs Better than Bullion Beef Base
1 cup water
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
4 cardamom seeds (not the pods, the seeds)
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp red chili flake
1-2 tsp Secret Aardvark sauce
1 Tbs corn starch mixed with a few Tbs water

Salt and pepper as you see fit

Method:

Heat a dutch oven and put the olive oil in the bottom, spread around to coat and in batches brown the beef on all sides.

Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion is clear on medium heat. Add the rest of the ingredients except the corn starch and secret Aardvark. Bring to a simmer and add the corn starch slowly and stir. Cover and let simmer over low heat for, at least three hours, but probably closer to four hours. Five hours is plenty, six is right out. Stir in the Secret Aardvark to finish, makes a hearty meal all on its own.


*Use a vegetable peeler to peel the squash first, then cut in half, remove seeds and cube. This makes the squash easier to cut up.

And we're back!

It's been a while since I've posted, but I got busy, and then I forgot, and then I felt it had been so long.

However, I have been thinking about it, and making really good food, so I thought I should share. Yesterday, after several days of ripping our patio to shreds, digging it up and moving all the cement and dirt away from our house, my parents in law and we had a delightful dinner. I had thought about this before hand and realized that I might be tired. I made a simple repast of sesame green beans, a garden salad with homemade cilantro dressing and burgers.

Two things about this meal 1: the peas I've grown this year are amazing. They are so crispy sweet and good I can't imagine growing a different variety. I've been growing Super Sugar Snap peas, I get mine from Territorial Seeds. 2: I made up the recipe for the beans out of my own little brain and I cannot think of a better thing to do with them. It's so mind blowingly good that I have been eating them for lunch with rice and calling it a meal. I can snack on them and I know they're super healthy for me. When you hear of people serving beans, or you go out to eat and order beans, it seems like everyone forgets that green beans already taste good. They're all trying to drown them in butter or canned soup (mmm ... gross) and mask the taste of beans, and I'm not really sure why! The big secret is to get a refillable mister. I got one and I love it. I've got some really good olive oil in mine, and I 'enhanced' it with a little sesame oil, because I love the taste of sesame. So, it's too much .... art... and no actual measurements to actually give you a recipe. Here's what you do: blanch a bunch of beans (a minute or two, depending on how thick your beans are) the main thing is they should be bright green. When they are done and still nice and crisp and plunge into an ice water bath. Spray a large pan with your sesame oil concoction, just like a tsp is plenty of oil, I use 1/4 tsp. throw in some salt, pepper, sesame seeds and fresh garlic into the pan. Turn the heat off and toss the beans in this until you can see the pepper coating the beans. I use lots of pepper, fresh cracked of course. I think this dish is perfect, especially for cook outs because it's really good cold or room temperature, I don't have to worry about those beans being hot or cold, they're just good.

When you make beans like this, you'll need a lot of beans per person as I think you'll find people will eat more of them like this. It's because they're like crack.

Other events: I recently purchased a quarter of a beef. Fans of the blog will remember that I started out trying to purchase a lamb, and there was much woe. I am now super pleased, and we have tons of beef. When you buy around 175 pounds of beef at once, the total bill seems quite high. However I've never had such good beef, and we like to go out to nice restaurants that 'hang their own beef' and all sorts of other things. My cow, lived on a field with access to a barn, ate grass and lived a happy life until it was humanly killed on the farm (no stress from being transported) and then butched by a master butcher.

Is that a verb? Butch, to butch a cow. Well if it's a verb, it can be passed tense. Never mind! The result: THE BEST BEEF EVER! And I know where my meat came from, however I'm not telling you, you might buy up all the home grown beef.

Find your own farmer!

Pictures in this blog are of random foods I won't tell you about!