Rotisserie Chicken

I know this isn't rocket science, but one of my favorite shortcuts when a recipe calls for cooked chicken is to buy a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and break it down at home.  The time saved by not cooking a whole chicken at home is worth the extra buck a pound.

Fifteen minutes of work, and I have perfectly cooked chunks of chicken and some bones and cartilage in a bag in the freezer for making stock.  But that's a different day...

Cooking Wine

Hands down the best choice for cooking wine is Franzia.  It stores perfectly at room temperature for months on end and has a convenient pour spout for measuring.  I know that every chef on TV swears that you shouldn't cook with wine that you wouldn't drink (and we won't drink Franzia), but that's just ridiculous.  The moment wine hits a hot pan for deglazing or gets stirred into a broth, it loses all the subtlety and nuance that you paid for.  Franzia has neither, so you don't lose a thing!

Buddha Hand

Buddha Hand

This has to be the most unusual citrus fruit that I've ever used.  We keep the Buddha Hand zest in our freezer, and use it instead of lemon zest when we want some extra zing in the dish.  It's not quite as tart as lemon zest and not quite as sweet as orange zest.

Pork Fat

4.5 lbs of Pork Fat

A new friend hooked me up with this Pork Fat for free.  Most of it will be used when we make sausage this weekend, but I haven't decided what to do with the leftovers...

Brine

A brine is a strong solution of water and salt used for pickling or preserving food.  Sweeteners, aromatics, spices and seasonings can also be added to impart additional flavors.  After making the brine, allow it to cool completely before immersing the meat.

Meat should be left in the brine from two to thirty-six hours, depending on the type and size of the cut.  Afterward, the brine should be discarded, and the meat dried and allowed to rest for a few hours so that the solution will equalize throughout the cut.

Meat Grinder

Meat Grinder

Our STX MEGAFORCE 3000W Meat Grinder finally arrived!  We are planning on making some sausage next weekend, and I can't wait to try this baby out.

120129 UPDATE:  We tried this thing out this weekend, and it did everything we could have asked of it.  Check out our newest homemade ingredients:

Ground Pork

Ground Chuck