I hope you have enjoyed a peaceful and trouble-free week.
Tonight, I’m cooking a simple pork dish to set up this coming week with leftover meat.
I had initially thought I might cook beef short ribs and have pulled beef, but the supermarket didn’t have any short ribs to my liking.
I’m also making a reduction sauce from marmalade and French onion soup mix to keep the meat moist and succulent.
On pork, a paper from the journal, Antibiotics made headlines this week in the media that I focus on professionally. A group looked for antimicrobial-resistant bacteria in poultry and pork in Kenya. High quantities of bacteria contaminated 98.4% of pork and 96.6% poultry from the 393 samples collected. From 611 bacterial isolates, 38.5% were multi-drug resistant. It is worrying that supermarket poultry and pork in Kenya contain bacteria resistant to antimicrobials used for humans and livestock.[1]
The selection of pork in the meat display at Coles is reasonable. I was looking for a shoulder roll but then saw porchetta.
I know there is a traditional way of cooking porchetta. I am choosing the Yummy Lummy approach. Most people would dry the rind overnight in the refrigerator and slowly cook it in a low oven.
I wasn’t interested in all that faffing about. I went with speed and power.
I confessed my food crime to a dear friend who is Italian. She has shared recipes for lasagne and eggplant parmigiana with me. She sent me a laughing emoji, so I didn’t feel bad.
Cooking pork, as I did, also reduces the risk of urinary tract infection.[2]
Recipe
Equipment
Pressure cooker
Ingredients
Porchetta
Marmalade – I elected to use Bundaberg ginger marmalade.
French onion soup mix – I chose the low-sodium product.
White peach
Navel orange
Red cabbage
Broccoli
Instructions
Put the porchetta into the pressure cooker cooking vessel.
Boil a kettle and mix the French onion soup to about 2 L.
Stir through two tablespoons of marmalade.
Pour the marmalade and soup mix over the pork.
Cook under high pressure for 1 hour.
Put the pork into a plastic container, and refrigerate.
Sieve the cooking liquor and slowly boil it to reduce it to a sweet sauce.
Par boil the cabbage and broccoli.
Quarter the peach and orange.
Cut a slice of pork and arrange all the food on a plate.
Drizzle the marmalade and French onion soup sauce over the pork.
Give thanks to the Lord.
Eat with a knife and fork.
Thoughts on the meal
I found this meal satisfactory for my purposes. It’s an adequate meal for one person.
I now have enough meat to get me through the week.
Final thoughts
Would you consider what I did to the porchetta a food crime?
Would you cook porchetta in a pressure cooker?
Photographs
PorchettaPorchettaPressure cooker porchettaPressure cooker porchettaPressure cooker porchetta with red cabbage, broccoli, white peach, and navel orange with a drizzle of marmalade and French onion soup sauce.Pressure cooker porchetta with red cabbage, broccoli, white peach, and navel orange with a drizzle of marmalade and French onion soup sauce.Pressure cooker porchetta with red cabbage, broccoli, white peach, and navel orange with a drizzle of marmalade and French onion soup sauce.Pressure cooker porchetta with red cabbage, broccoli, white peach, and navel orange with a drizzle of marmalade and French onion soup sauce.Pressure cooker porchetta with red cabbage, broccoli, white peach, and navel orange with a drizzle of marmalade and French onion soup sauce.Pressure cooker porchetta with red cabbage, broccoli, white peach, and navel orange with a drizzle of marmalade and French onion soup sauce.
References
1. Muinde, P., et al., Antimicrobial Resistant Pathogens Detected in Raw Pork and Poultry Meat in Retailing Outlets in Kenya. Antibiotics, 2023. 12(3): p. 613.
2. Liu, C.M., et al., Using source-associated mobile genetic elements to identify zoonotic extraintestinal E. coli infections. One Health, 2023: p. 100518.
I hope you have enjoyed your week. If you haven’t, I hope the coming week is better.
I had a disrupted week. A few matters developed into problems requiring more intense attention. As a result, I redirected my focus. I exercised less and got off target with my health goals. It’s the weekend, so I’m eating better and moving more.
A few weeks ago, I started listening to a new book series while exercising at night.
The book series is called “Monroe Doctrine“. It combines cyber warfare, biological warfare, and conventional war-fighting with aggression, starting with the People’s Republic of China. The scenarios involve advanced artificial intelligence, deep fakes, synthetic biology and gain of function, plus upgraded conventional weapon platforms. Without spoiling the plot, it is contemporary and takes advantage of COVID-19 as a plot device.
The Monroe Doctrine is a fundamental set of principles espoused by President James Monroe in the mid-1800s.
Canberra is experiencing a warm few days, which is odd because by the middle of March, for as long as I can remember, Autumn’s cool would have already established itself. I’m not complaining; this may be the last weekend of shorts and a T-shirt wearing.
Depending on which application I look at, tomorrow’s forecast will be either 35 or 37 °C.
Recipe
Equipment
Water heater and circulator
Water bath
Vacuum chamber
Ingredients
Duck breasts
Salt
Pepper
Garlic powder
Red cabbage
Red onion
Carrot
Spring onion
Red chilli
Sultanas
Dried cranberries
Honey
White peach
Low-fat whole egg mayonnaise
Unsalted mixed nuts
Instructions
Weigh the duck breasts to ensure each portion is <150 grams.
Season the duck breasts with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. I will use a small amount of iodised salt to minimise my sodium intake. I prefer to grind whole peppercorns with a pestle in a mortar just before using them to maximise the flavour hit.
Place the seasoned breasts into plastic vacuum bags and seal them in a vacuum chamber.
Cook the duck for 2 hours at 55 °C.
Place the bagged duck breasts into the refrigerator.
Remove a duck breast at dinner and dry the surface with an absorbent paper towel.
Sear the surfaces of the breast in a hot frying pan.
Allow the meat to rest.
Grate the cabbage and carrot using a coarse grater.
Slice the spring onion, including the green and white parts.
Slice red onion and chilli.
Dice the peach into small pieces.
Put all the salad ingredients together, stir through a teaspoon of mayonnaise, and then drizzle over a bit of honey.
Slice the duck and keep some aside for another meal.
Serve everything on a plate.
Thank the Lord.
Eat with a knife and fork.
Photographs
Thoughts on the meal
There’s nothing exceptional about this meal. It’s a bit of duck and some salad. I find blogging relaxing, and even though I’m busy, I want to write this post and get it up and out.
Final thoughts
I hope you have a great week and enjoy some good eating.
Thanks, also, to readers who commented on last week’s congee post. I wasn’t impressed, but the congee is pretty good after a few days in the refrigerator.
If you don’t want to wade through my rambling, click here to jump to the recipe.
“French” quinoa “congee” with red cabbage, spring onion, and red chilli.
Dear Reader,
I hope you are well and have enjoyed a blissful and joy-filled week. I’ve had a fabulous week and feel happy. I feel lighter from weight loss and the lifting of some other burdens. It’s been good to speak with friends this week about a few matters and have problems resolved.
Monday is a gazetted holiday in the Australian Capital Territory; it’s also a long weekend in a few other jurisdictions in Australia. I’m looking forward to a day at home on Monday.
Because it’s Autumn and Winter is approaching, I’m thinking about some recipes for the colder weather. My favourite food is congee (also known as jook).
I’ve been thinking of variations and trying to enjoy congee while I’m in the CSIRO TWD program. I’ll start with 2 L of water and ½ cup of brown rice, and ½ cup of quinoa.
I’ve posted many congee recipes here; the most recent was in November 2022.
After using a packet of low-sodium French onion soup mix to form a cooking liquor last week, I considered French onion soup a flavouring for congee rather than relying on meat and bones. I also thought I’d mix some brown rice and quinoa while at it.
Being on the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet has been eye opening. It’s not just the weight loss but my bowel movements are more satisfying and my energy levels better. pic.twitter.com/CoR1nfddoF
I’m still going well with the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet.
Rugby league
Last week I mentioned it was round one of the National Rugby League competition. It was the first game in the NRL of my new number-one team, the Dolphins. They won. All four Queensland NRL teams enjoyed victories in their round one matches, viz., the Brisbane Broncos, the North Queensland Cowboys, the Gold Coast Titans, and the Dolphins. It was joyous. I was ecstatic. My father and brothers were all happy as we texted each other during the games.
The defeated teams, though, will bounce back in round two and make for better competition. A season has victories and defeats, and it all helps build the excitement of the competition. It is, after all, just a game. That said, in the end, rugby league just gets better.
I tweeted this last week for the DolphinsNRL first-ever game in the NRL.
This week, the Dolphins are playing the Canberra Raiders. Many of my Canberra friends are fans and members of the Canberra Raiders club. I look forward to conversations about the game next week.
Wash the rice and quinoa until the water runs clear. Did you know the water draining from the bowl as you clean rice looks like the faeces of patients with cholera? Hence the description, “rice water stool.”
Add the rice, quinoa, pepper, soup mix, and water to the pressure cooker.
Cook under pressure for 30 minutes and allow 15 minutes for a natural release.
Stir the rice gruel and keep heating to the desired thickness.
Season to taste (I know I’m trying to lower my sodium intake, so do this carefully).
Add and stir through chilli to taste.
Transfer everything to a large serving bowl
Transfer congee to individual bowls
Give thanks to the Lord.
Serve with spring onions, shredded cabbage, and soy sauce (low sodium if you have it).
Thoughts on the meal
It’s not often I go meat-free, but tonight I did.
Given a choice, I’d go with the traditional congee using arborio rice and some meat, like chicken or some fatty pork. One tablespoon of red hot chilli flakes is also a bit much. The mucosa of my throat is on fire.
The mass of the food before cooking was 2200 g. The mass of the food after cooking was 1720 g. I’m figuring if I have a cup full of congee it’ll be roughly a tenth of the nutritional value (detailed table of all values) of the total.
It was a bit soupy but I’ve got heaps of time to get it right before winter really hits. I think I may reduce the ratio of quinoa because it really is quite nutty in flavour.
Because I’m lazy and do not like mathematics:
Element
Value per cup
Kilojoules
300
Protein
2.3 g
Total fat
1 g
Total carbohydrates
14 g
Sugar
Fibre
0.7 g
Sodium
17 g
Nutritional values (approximations only)
Final thoughts
I hope you have a wonderful week.
Are you doing anything exciting? Let me know in the comments.
Photographs
Brown rice and tri-colour quinoaBrown riceTri-colour quinoaSpring onion, red cabbage, and red chilli“French” quinoa “congee” with red cabbage, spring onion, and red chilli.“French” quinoa “congee” with red cabbage, spring onion, and red chilli.“French” quinoa “congee” with red cabbage, spring onion, and red chilli.“French” quinoa “congee” with red cabbage, spring onion, and red chilli.“French” quinoa “congee” with red cabbage, spring onion, and red chilli.
2. Kirabo, A., A new paradigm of sodium regulation in inflammation and hypertension. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol, 2017. 313(6): p. R706-r710.
3. Collins Anglicised ESV Bibles, Holy Bible: English Standard Version (ESV) Anglicised Edition. 2012: HarperCollins Publishers.
It’s Autumn, which means the 2023 footy season has started.
It began well with the Storm winning Thursday night and the Broncos winning a nail-biter last night.
It was so relaxing laying in bed, daydreaming about life’s pleasures and checking the NRL app for updates.
The big game of the weekend is tomorrow arvo. The Dolphins are playing against the Sydney Roosters, and it’s the Dolphin’s first official NRL game. My eldest and youngest children will be in the crowd cheering for the Dolphins. The Dolphins supporters will be screaming #phinsup
The Redcliffe Dolphins are a well-established club (founded in 1947) in Brisbane and have produced great players like Ian “Bunny” Pearce and Arthur “Arty” Beetson.
I’ve been a Broncos fan since the team’s formation and entry into the National Rugby League (1987). When the NRL announced the 2023 entry of the Dolphins as an NRL club and Wayne Bennett would be the team’s first NRL coach, I decided to make the Dolphins my number one team.
I’ve modified the recipe because I prefer a pressure cooker rather than a slow cooker. I also used shank meat rather than the whole shank. Buying shank meat means I can portion according to weight to ensure I only eat about 150 grams per serving.
The diet is going well, I’ve spent the best part of this week under my goal weight, and this morning I reached a milestone I never dreamed possible.
I’m close to the end of week 7 of CSIRO TWD. My BMI is now in the healthy range. I feel well and my clothes fit better. This week I reintroduced bread. Soon I’ll include rice. pic.twitter.com/uL8J6Q5Ham
Photographers were present and shot me during my talk on Friday morning.
A couple of photos from #PathUpdate2023 Most years I join other @PathologyRCPA colleagues in a talk encouraging medical, dental, and science students to pursue careers in pathology, oral pathology, and clinical science. Looks like I’m calling everyone to stand and sing a hymn 🙂 pic.twitter.com/dzRfaikNL3
Lamb shank meat – I bought a 550 grams packet. This weight will give me four portions of <150 grams.
Marmalade – I used some homemade whiskey and Seville orange marmalade. I also reduced the quantity of the recipe from the CSIRO TWD group.
French onion soup mix – I chose the low-sodium version.
Rosemary – foraged from the sidewalk of my street.
Orange
Peach
Pomegranate
Figs
Instructions
Boil some water in a kettle and add two teaspoons of the marmalade and some French onion soup mix to a cup of boiling water.
Mix the soup mix and marmalade until it forms a loose slurry.
Add the shank meat to the cooking vessel and pour over the soup and marmalade mixture.
Add some fresh rosemary leaves.
Cook in the pressure cooker for 45 minutes.
Allow the pressure to equilibrate naturally, and transfer the meat to the refrigerator.
Sieve the cooking liquor and reduce it in a saucepan.
The reduced cooking liquor will form a sauce.
Wash the figs and divide them to create a star shape.
Remove the arils from the pomegranate by beating it with the back of a cook’s knife.
Quarter an orange and dissect out the flesh.
Wash the peach and cut it into small pieces.
Arrange the fruit and meat on a plate and drizzle the reduced cooking liquor over the food.
Give thanks to the Lord.
Eat with a fork or chopsticks.
Final thoughts
The syrupy sauce from reduced marmalade, French onion, and rosemary was exquisite.
Cooking meat on the bone will always bear more flavour. I believe that. Life, however, is about compromises, and I am willing to compromise a bit on taste to make it easier to maintain a habit. I rely heavily on routines to optimise my mental health.
If I were cooking this and enjoying it with someone else, I would use a whole shank and pull the meat from the bone after it has cooked.
I now have some lamb meat left for this week and half a pomegranate left to enjoy on Monday night with soy-flavoured poached salmon.
I hope your week to come is peaceful, joy-filled and happy.
Fig and pomegranate with lamb shank meatClaire’s marmaladeFig and pomegranate with lamb shank meatFig and pomegranate with lamb shank meatFig and pomegranate with lamb shank meatFig and pomegranate with lamb shank meat
I don’t have a recipe to share tonight. I want to describe how I have used sodium bicarbonate to tenderise meat.
What is sodium bicarbonate?
Sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) is an odourless white crystal with a molecular mass of 84.0066 g mol–1. It’s primarily used as a rising or leavening agent to aerate foods like bread. This occurs when NaHCO3 combines with hydrogen (H+) and reacts with the acid, and carbon dioxide (CO₂) plus water (H₂O) and sodium (Na+) are formed. CO₂ is the gas that bubbles through the dough.
I also use NaHCO3 to clean my stainless-steel cooking utensils in the kitchen, like frying pans and saucepans.
This week, however, I exploited another feature of NaHCO3, its ability to tenderise meat. Watch Dan from America’s Test Kitchen (YouTube video below); he explains it well.
How have I been using sodium bicarbonate?
Most people would use sodium bicarbonate (also known as baking soda) with raw meat. I have been using it with cooked meat. Because I’m a “freestyler” in the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet, I design my own meals. This relies on cooking the meat portions on the weekend. I find using a water bath, and water heater/circulator for sous vide cooking the most convenient and time efficient. I know many people do not have this equipment. Many prefer using a frying pan and stove, a barbecue grill, or grilling in the oven. It doesn’t really matter what you use for cooking your meat. I manage my work and life around convenience.
I don’t know if I’ll stop the weekly meal planning and preparation when I retire. It seems like an excellent discipline to retain.
Meat cooked this way is always tender; however, the second cooking phase can cause the meat fibres to toughen when using this meat in a stir-fry. I’ve used sodium bicarbonate to avoid this and retain my desired suppleness. It works a treat.
Another terrific resource on sodium bicarbonate in the process known as velveting is the book, “The Wok: Recipes and Techniques” by J. Kenji López-Alt. Check out page 74, where you will find the “Basic Velveting” section.
Another blogger you can read for wisdom is Lorraine from Not Quite Nigella. Lorraine, who I think is “Better than Nigella”, has written about velveting in a few of her posts. The main one is velveting Chinese beef, chicken, and pork.
Coincidentally, America’s Test Kitchen tweeted this today.
While velveting is ubiquitous in restaurant kitchens, it is also easy to do at home. Learn more with our Senior Science Research Editor Paul. https://t.co/4Wv9qvbPNs
Why Baking Soda is the Most Useful Ingredient in Your Kitchen
While sodium bicarbonate is not specifically mentioned, I can’t help but share a YouTube video featuring Lan Lam. She is a terrific pedagogue and reminds me of my Mum.
The Secret To Mastering Burgers, Sausage, and Meatballs
On the subject of my mother, I recall, as a young child, standing next to Mum in the kitchen while she cooked. I would watch her use utensils and toss her wok. I also noted her use of sodium bicarbonate and corn flour (in North America, I think you call this corn starch).
When I left home, I would try to emulate Mum’s cooking, but I am a lazy man who takes shortcuts. When I’ve taken to using those extra techniques that seemed natural to Mum, my food has brought back some of those pleasurable memories of how soft and delicate meat can feel in my mouth.
An experiment
In Dan’s video, he also mentions that sodium bicarbonate helps enhance the browning of food.
I thought I’d see if sodium bicarbonate enhances the browning of a lamb rump steak cooked a few weeks ago and frozen.
I thawed the lamb overnight and then let it sit in a dilute solution of sodium bicarbonate and water for about ten minutes.
I washed the surface of the meat and then patted it dry with a paper towel before searing it in a hot frying pan.
Check out the result in the photograph.
I don’t think it really helped with the searing of the meat. What it did you is make the lamb rump steak noticeably more tender. It’s a bit of a faff, but worth it if you want to improve the mouthfeel of meat.
Lamb rump steak with tomato, cucumber, and cheeseLamb rump steak with tomato, cucumber, and cheese
Photographs
Here are a series of photographs and descriptions of how I’ve tenderised meat this week and enjoyed the combination of tender meats and vegetables.
You can improve the texture of beef, chicken, pork, and lamb with sodium bicarbonate. I expect it will work with any other mammalian and avian meat.
Curry zucchini noodles with NaHCO3 tenderised pork scotch steak, spinach, fennel, and red onionCurry zucchini noodles with NaHCO3 tenderised pork scotch steak, spinach, fennel, and red onionNaHCO3 tenderised steak with vegetable “rice”NaHCO3 tenderised steak with vegetable “rice”NaHCO3 tenderised steak with vegetable “rice”Chicken Cabbage Fennel OnionChicken Cabbage Fennel OnionLeftover tenderised chicken with cabbage, fennel, red onion, and a kipfler potato
You may have noticed in the photographs of my lunch at work, I’m using a new lunch box. I used to use Tupperware plastic containers that were quite good but there was always a rick the lid would detach accidentally.
I’ve now purchased a couple of Avanti stainless steel containers which have a secure fitting lid.
Gifted kipfler potatoes
A workmate grows kipfler potatoes. Potatoes aren’t a big part of the CSIRO TWD. I can’t say no to free spuds though.
I hope you found this post interesting. If you’ve never tried tenderising meat with sodium bicarbonate and you give it a go, please come back here, and leave me a comment on what you think about it. I’d be keen to know if you think it’s worth the extra effort.
A few people have been asking about how I feel while on the CSIRO TWD. I’m feeling well. I’m feeling more flexible and agile and more energetic. One downside, though, has been the change in bowel habits. It’s not as regular, and the pungency of the aroma, especially of my flatus, can be embarrassing in workplace situations.
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