Photo of the Day
Spring is always crazy with flower and veggie gardening, but I took a break today to finally capture this shot: These are the flower buds on my cayenne pepper plant. Gorgeous, don’t you think?
Recent Posts
A Brine in Time…Saves Dinner
Grrrr! Don’t you hate it when you have this easy, quick dinner of pork chops planned, but then they end up dry as a bone? I’ve totally done this and been so disappointed that I just want to throw the whole meal in the garbage …
Primitive Basics – How to Make Homemade Beef Marrow Stock
There is really nothing so darkly primitive and luscious as roasted beef marrow bones. Add in some vegetables and cloves of garlic and the beauty and fragrance is simply divine.
I’ve made homemade stock for many, many moons because I don’t like things to go to waste and I really like knowing that the stock I use is full of a bunch of good stuff. I use roasted chicken or turkey carcasses, ham bones, beef and lamb shanks, tough asparagus or broccoli bottoms, onion skins and roots, carrot tops, celery bases, herb stems, you name it. When I make stock, I try and use just about everything I can.
I prefer to use roasted bones and carcasses, as they have a much richer, more intense flavor. There’s nothing like the caramelization that happens when something is roasted…the layers of flavor truly intensify. So, if you have them and are wondering what to do with beef marrow bones, my answer to you is to make bone broth.
This isn’t to say I don’t keep the canned or boxed stuff around because I do, just in case I run out of my homemade stock. I always need to have stock on hand, as it’s a necessity in a lot of dishes. I just highly prefer my own homemade stock over the store-bought variety.
Behold, roasted beef marrow bones with vegetables:
That, my non-vegetarian friends, is a beautiful sight.
Homemade Beef Marrow Stock Recipe Using Roasted Beef Marrow Bones
Preheat oven to 425°
- 2.5 to 3 pounds beef marrow bones, with some meat still attached
- 2 whole carrots, scrubbed & cut into 2-inch pieces
- 2 celery stalks, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1/2 leek, white and tender green section, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 head of garlic, gently crushed
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
For the stockpot:
- 1-2 bay leaves
- 1 few sprigs of fresh thyme or a tablespoon of dried
- 1 small bunch fresh parsley (I use the stems)
- 1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
Place beef bones in a large roasting pan, sprinkle everything with salt, and roast for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, turn bones over, add veggies and garlic. Return to oven and roast for 30 minutes more. The beef bones and vegetables should just be caramelized, without being burnt.
Place the bones and veggies in a large pot and add enough water to cover everything, plus a few more inches. Add your bay leaves, thyme, and parsley. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer on low heat, with the lid only partially on, for about 4 hours.
Let cool and refrigerate overnight. The next day, scrape off most of the solidified fat and discard. Strain through a colander and discard all solids. Strain stock again through a cheesecloth-lined colander.
You now have beautiful, clear, flavorful homemade beef stock. This freezes really well for a few months, and I like to divvy mine up into cup-sized containers before freezing, so I can use just what I need. You can also freeze some of your stock in ice cube trays, for even smaller amounts.
Depending on how you use your stock, you can add a variety of herbs and veggies to this, to amp up the flavor and vitamin content. Don’t be afraid to play with your food; I’ll bet you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the results.
Enjoy!
If you’re just finding me now at my old WordPress site, I hope you’ll join me in my latest posts at lolarugula.com
Creamy Clam Chowder
This is a born-from-necessity soup that I made a few weeks back. Necessary because I needed to use up a couple of packs of frozen clams that I had purchased over the holidays, for an entirely different recipe that never got made. Our spring, so far, …
Chocolate Bark
Need an easy chocolate dessert recipe? Chocolate bark is a delicious yet still decadent treat that you can make with any number of nuts, seeds or other inclusions. Don’t believe that it’s easy? Here’s the general idea: You melt some chocolate jussssst to where it’s almost …
Mediterranean Quinoa Salad
Quinoa is one of those foods that became super trendy, for a while. Super trendy until a lot of people actually tried it and decided they didn’t like it. The first way I ever made it was as a savory side dish, with mushrooms, veggie stock, and fresh thyme and it was love at first bite.
Luckily, most of the quinoa you can buy nowadays is pre-rinsed but there wasn’t such a thing at the time I first started making it so I’ll admit I still rinse it briefly, mostly out of habit, I guess. If quinoa isn’t rinsed thoroughly enough, it tends to have a soapy taste to it. This is what I’ve heard, at least. I’ve always been a big rinser so I’ve never experienced this.
Secondly, for the love of all that’s holy, do not overcook quinoa. This one I have done and, trust me, it’s better to under-cook it just a tad, then to overcook it. This point is especially important when you’re going to make a salad out of it, because the quinoa is going to continue to soak up any liquid as it sits. If this happens with overcooked quinoa, you’re just going to end up with mush within a day or so.
Now that I’ve got all that out of the way, this really is just a basic Mediterranean salad with a quinoa base. You can make this with pasta as the base, lentils as the base, rice as the base, beans as the base, barley as the base…you get the idea.
Mediterranean Quinoa and Veggie Salad Recipe
- 1 cup of quinoa, rinsed
- 1 3/4 cup water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup black beans (if using canned beans, rinse them well and drain)
- 3 scallions, sliced
- 1 cup diced, de-seeded cucumber (slice the cuke in half and then run a spoon down its center, to remove the bulk of the seeds)
- 1/2 cup diced yellow pepper
- 1 cup shredded red cabbage
- 1 large carrot, diced
- 1 1/2 cups halved or quartered cherry tomatoes
- 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- Juice from one lemon (about 1 tablespoon)
In a small saucepan, bring water and salt to a boil. Add quinoa. Stir well and return to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes. Remove lid and remove the pan from heat. Fluff with a fork and let sit for 30 minutes.
In the meantime, cut up the veggies and parsley and place in a large bowl. Add olive oil and lemon juice and toss well. Add cooled quinoa and toss well, again.
Easy, right? Oh, and it’s truly delicious. So delicious that I’m loathed to tell you, in case you weren’t aware of it, that quinoa is super good for you. Just a one cup serving has almost 50% of your RDA of protein and fiber. Quinoa is actually a complete protein, meaning it contains all of your essential amino acids. That’s a pretty rare trait in the plant world. It’s also loaded with iron, magnesium, and potassium. Not bad for a little seed, right?
Here’s the part where I encourage you to play with your food: I love to mix up the veggies and beans in this. Add steamed asparagus or broccoli, garbanzo beans, snow peas, roasted red peppers, black olives….it’s so easy and versatile.
Have fun with this and enjoy!
Preparing for the Summer Garden
Well, the tomatoes and peppers for my summer garden are on their way. I started my seeds about 2 weeks ago and just thinned them down to 2 plants per pot. I like to start mine in 3 to 4-inch pots because, in my personal …