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Slowly cooked pork shoulder

Posted by Gary

Dear Reader, 

Welcome to Yummy Lummy. The blog is for people who live alone and are keen to cook meals for one. 

You can skip the introduction and jump to the recipe. 

Introduction 

I hope you’ve had a good week. Mine was great. My next week is going to be very busy with work. Doing it all from home will be challenging.

National Rugby League Grand Final 

Last Sunday evening, the Brisbane Broncos played against the Penrith Panthers in the 2023 NRL grand final. 

It was one of the most exciting games of rugby league I’ve watched. The lead changed a few times in dramatic ways. In the end — in a nail-biting finish — the Panthers scored a game-clinching try and are the premiers for 2023. 

I’m now excited for the games involving the Australian Kangaroos, who will be playing some Pacific Island Country national teams. If you’re interested in the draw, the fixture dates and times are available at the National Rugby League website. 

This has been a tremendous season for rugby league. My father won a tipping competition and remains happy in an afterglow of success. The Dolphins NRL team had a fabulous inaugural year in the NRL. Some of their players have made international sides for the Pacific Championships, including the Kangaroos. Of course, the icing was the mighty XXXX Queensland Maroons defeating the NSW Blues in the State of Origin series.

Next year looks good to be another phenomenal year of rugby league, and I hope to catch Dolphins games in person at Lang Park when visiting family in Brisbane.

Orthopædic surgeon review of my knee 

On Thursday afternoon, I visited my consultant surgeon so he could review the patella ORIF he was responsible for six weeks ago. 

Before I saw him, I had an x-ray of my knee. I asked to look at the images. The patella repair looked great to my untrained eye. 

Knee x-ray

The surgeon was impressed with the repair’s quality and my wound’s appearance. He was happy with my muscle tone and explained I should have full muscle strength again in about three to six months. He explained his registrar’s procedure in-depth when repairing and fixing the fracture and the ruptured retinaculum. This helped explain better what I was feeling and seeing.

I’m now also able to use a cane instead of crutches. Besides new shoes that won’t slip on tiles, I’m considering dressing like House when I return to work.

What have I been listening to? 

The Great Plant-based Con 

The Audible app artificial intelligence recommended this book written by Jayne Buxton. Like books I’ve been listening to recently on low-carbohydrate, healthy-fat eating, the author examines plant-based eating. She reviews much of the available literature and reminds readers that observational associative studies and meta-analyses can never prove causation. 

The introduction does an excellent job of pointing out the difference between relative and absolute risk and the problem of confounders in observational studies, which rely on participant memory for what they may have eaten. 

I have friends who are passionate about their plant-based diets, and I respect their choices. I know they have considered the risks and benefits and the ethical proposition. There is a lot of conflicting advice; everyone must consider the evidence and decide. I think it’s great that more and more catering companies and restaurants are accommodating diversity in dietary desires.

The book is neither anti-plant nor anti-vegan, and it reviews the facts about human diets and their effect on the environment. I like that Australians like Matthew Evans are featured. I met Matthew in 2015 at a Canberra blogging convention. He is a food critic who has become a farmer and restaurateur. (Evans, 2019)

It’s worth mentioning the book examines some distortions in pro-plant-based food science; however, it does not always apply the same rigour to its own biases. There are repeated references to the work of one animal-food researcher funded in part by the US livestock industry.

One fascinating feature is the exposition of the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) church’s role, the business relationship with Kellogg, and the fixation on masturbation amongst boys and young men. According to the SDA church founder Ellen G. White and Kellogg, meat causes impure thoughts in men and causes them to want to masturbate. I didn’t realise how much SDAs influence dietetic and nutrition societies and government guidance in countries where such involvement is possible. (Buxton, 2022)

What have I been reading? 

Low carbohydrate diet and Japanese men 

During the week, a reader sent me an e-mail mentioning a study from Nagoya University that reported Japanese men on a “low carbohydrate” diet had poor health outcomes. 

I searched for the study and found Dietary Carbohydrate and Fat Intakes and Risk of Mortality in the Japanese Population: the Japan Multi-Institutional Collaborative Cohort Study by Tamura, Takashi et al. (Tamura et al., 2023)

The study was observational, associative, and focused on relative risk. It contains no cause-and-effect evidence. This study cannot prove causation and strictly can’t confer anything about risk, given risk implies cause and effect. The study generated some questions for me: 

  • These studies often rely on the memory of participants to record their diet. 
  • These studies do not provide absolute “risk” information and rely on relative “risk”, which creates a perception bias. The relative risk often appears large when the absolute risk is tiny.
  • It’s not clear what is meant by high fat, e.g., what is the relationship between saturated fat, monounsaturated fat, and polyunsaturated fat in the diet eaten by the participants, and what is the source of the fats; it’s also not clear if trans fats and hydrogenated oils were part of the diet, there is a difference between high-fat and healthy-fat, how much of the fat came from processed seed oils vs cold pressed fruit oil or animal saturated fat? 
  • What other confounders exist besides the diet, e.g., smoking, exercise, pollutants, and what constitutes low carbohydrate intake? Note that <40% CHO (up to 40%) is not a low carbohydrate diet. Such a diet might contain confounding associated with insulin resistance in the participants. Insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome could explain some of the adverse health effects reported. Given that the advocates of low-carbohydrate healthy-fat (LCHF) eating have CHO ratios <10% of their diet, up to 40% is a problem for this study and doesn’t constitute low carbohydrate.

Inferences from a study like this are problematic and don’t answer the clinical questions. 

Body mass index (BMI)

I have been thinking about BMI and how the interpretation differs from country to country. I found an answer to a question I’d had since January. 

The healthy weight range BMI for men in Australia of Asian descent is 18.5 to 22.9 kg/m2. This range is lower than the healthy weight range BMI for men of European descent, which is 18.5 to 24.9 kg/m2.

People of Asian descent tend to have a higher body fat percentage and a lower muscle mass percentage than people of European descent at the same BMI. As a result, they are at increased risk of developing obesity-related chronic diseases, such as Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and heart disease, at a lower BMI. 

The lesson for me is obvious. Keep low-carbohydrate, healthy-fat eating and lose more weight. I have much to live for in life. I love life at the moment. I eat to live and enjoy what I do and how I do it. 

Cholesterol, blood clotting, and cardiovascular risk

I’ve also spent some of my leisure time reading articles on cholesterol and the role of coagulation in cardiovascular risk. (Diamond et al., 2019, 2022; Diamond & Leaverton, 2023a, 2023b; Diamond & Ravnskov, 2015; Ravnskov, De Lorgeril, Diamond, et al., 2018; Ravnskov, De Lorgeril, Kendrick, et al., 2018; Ravnskov et al., 2016, 2019, 2020a, 2020b, 2022; Targher et al., 2019)

I also discovered a chemical pathologist friend has spoken at low carbohydrate healthy-fat conferences. He’s an expert in metabolic syndrome and the biochemistry of lipids, liver function, and iron balance. He has some very informative YouTube videos.

Recipe 

I feel like my weekly recipes here are getting boring and predictable. If you get bored, you’re always welcome to stop reading. I don’t mind.

While I don’t credit my recovery from my injury to my diet, I know my diet is healthful. I’m eating nutrient-dense complete proteins and avoiding highly- and ultra-processed foods. My consumption of sugar and other carbohydrates is low, and I’m avoiding seed oils and trans fats.

Equipment 

  • Slow cooker 
  • Oven 

Ingredients 

  • Pork 
  • Iodised salt 
  • Beef, chicken, lamb, and pork broth 

Instructions 

  1. Place the pork, salt, and broth into the slow cooker and turn it on. Cook the meat for eight hours on low heat. 
  2. Remove the pork carefully and allow it to drain. 
  3. Dry the surface of the pork and place it in an air fryer for 20 minutes at 190 °C (374 °F). 
  4. Pour the cooking liquor through a sieve and refrigerate the broth. 
  5. Slice the pork and set some aside for dinner while putting the rest of the meat into refrigerator containers.
  6. Serve with vegetables of choice. For those focussed on low carbohydrate, healthy fat eating, you could enjoy some leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower, or an avocado cheek. Some potato or pumpkin mash would work well if you eat starchy plants. If you don’t fatten easily, you might want to eat this pork with stewed apple and some pickled and fermented cabbage.
  7. Give thanks to the Lord.
  8. Enjoy.

BLESS

I’m thinking of starting a trend to eat BLESS. I have been watching some YouTube influencers focusing on BBBE, viz., beef, butter, bacon, and eggs.

I don’t eat much bacon because most supermarket-delivered bacon is water-injected and processed with sugar and other carbohydrates.

BLESS represents beef, lamb, eggs, salmon, and sardines. I’m not sure if I’m the first to use this acronym. While eating pork tonight, my go-to foods are beef, lamb, eggs, salmon, and sardines.

Will I make any effort to propagate BLESS? No, this is just a random thought, and I probably won’t do anything with it. 🤣

I thought about this because I recently completed a bible study series on the beatitudes from Christ’s Sermon on the Mount.

Thoughts on the meal

The pork was tender. I have enough left over for a couple of meals later this week.

Slowly cooking a pork shoulder roll works well for my style of cooking and eating.

Photographs

Pork shoulder roast
Pork shoulder roast with gelled beef, chicken, lamb, and pork broth
Slowly cooked pork shoulder roll finished in the air fryer

Bibliography

Buxton, J. (2022). The great plant-based con: Why eating a plants-only diet won’t improve your health or save the planet. Piatkus.

Diamond, D. M., Bikman, B. T., & Mason, P. (2022). Statin therapy is not warranted for a person with high LDL-cholesterol on a low-carbohydrate diet. Current Opinion in Endocrinology, Diabetes & Obesity, 29(5), 497–511. https://doi.org/10.1097/MED.0000000000000764

Diamond, D. M., De Lorgeril, M., Kendrick, M., Ravnskov, U., & Rosch, P. J. (2019). Formal comment on “Systematic review of the predictors of statin adherence for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease.” PLOS ONE, 14(1), e0205138. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0205138

Diamond, D. M., & Leaverton, P. E. (2023a). Historical Review of the Use of Relative Risk Statistics in the Portrayal of the Purported Hazards of High LDL Cholesterol and the Benefits of Lipid-Lowering Therapy. Cureus. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.38391

Diamond, D. M., & Leaverton, P. E. (2023b). Historical Review of the Use of Relative Risk Statistics in the Portrayal of the Purported Hazards of High LDL Cholesterol and the Benefits of Lipid-Lowering Therapy. Cureus. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.c116

Diamond, D. M., & Ravnskov, U. (2015). How statistical deception created the appearance that statins are safe and effective in primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Expert Review of Clinical Pharmacology, 8(2), 201–210. https://doi.org/10.1586/17512433.2015.1012494

Evans, M. (2019). On eating meat: The truth about its production and the ethics of eating it. Murdoch Books.

Ravnskov, U., Alabdulgader, A., De Lorgeril, M., Diamond, D. M., Hama, R., Hamazaki, T., Hammarskjöld, B., Harcombe, Z., Kendrick, M., Langsjoen, P., McCully, K. S., Okuyama, H., Sultan, S., & Sundberg, R. (2020a). The new European guidelines for prevention of cardiovascular disease are misleading. Expert Review of Clinical Pharmacology, 13(12), 1289–1294. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512433.2020.1841635

Ravnskov, U., Alabdulgader, A., De Lorgeril, M., Diamond, D. M., Hama, R., Hamazaki, T., Hammarskjöld, B., Harcombe, Z., Kendrick, M., Langsjoen, P., McCully, K. S., Okuyama, H., Sultan, S., & Sundberg, R. (2020b). The new European guidelines for prevention of cardiovascular disease are misleading. Expert Review of Clinical Pharmacology, 13(12), 1289–1294. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512433.2020.1841635

Ravnskov, U., De Lorgeril, M., Diamond, D. M., Hama, R., Hamazaki, T., Hammarskjöld, B., Hynes, N., Kendrick, M., Langsjoen, P. H., Mascitelli, L., McCully, K. S., Okuyama, H., Rosch, P. J., Schersten, T., Sultan, S., & Sundberg, R. (2018). LDL-C does not cause cardiovascular disease: A comprehensive review of the current literature. Expert Review of Clinical Pharmacology, 11(10), 959–970. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512433.2018.1519391

Ravnskov, U., De Lorgeril, M., Diamond, D. M., Hama, R., Hamazaki, T., Hammarskjöld, B., Hynes, N., Kendrick, M., Langsjoen, P. H., Mascitelli, L., McCully, K. S., Okuyama, H., Rosch, P. J., Schersten, T., Sultan, S., & Sundberg, R. (2019). Response letter to ‘does high LDL-cholesterol cause cardiovascular disease?’ Expert Review of Clinical Pharmacology, 12(2), 93–94. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512433.2019.1561102

Ravnskov, U., De Lorgeril, M., Kendrick, M., & Diamond, D. M. (2018). Inborn coagulation factors are more important cardiovascular risk factors than high LDL-cholesterol in familial hypercholesterolemia. Medical Hypotheses, 121, 60–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2018.09.019

Ravnskov, U., De Lorgeril, M., Kendrick, M., & Diamond, D. M. (2022). Importance of Coagulation Factors as Critical Components of Premature Cardiovascular Disease in Familial Hypercholesterolemia. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 23(16), 9146. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23169146

Ravnskov, U., Diamond, D. M., Hama, R., Hamazaki, T., Hammarskjöld, B., Hynes, N., Kendrick, M., Langsjoen, P. H., Malhotra, A., Mascitelli, L., McCully, K. S., Ogushi, Y., Okuyama, H., Rosch, P. J., Schersten, T., Sultan, S., & Sundberg, R. (2016). Lack of an association or an inverse association between low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol and mortality in the elderly: A systematic review. BMJ Open, 6(6), e010401. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2015-010401

Tamura, T., Wakai, K., Kato, Y., Tamada, Y., Kubo, Y., Okada, R., Nagayoshi, M., Hishida, A., Imaeda, N., Goto, C., Ikezaki, H., Otonari, J., Hara, M., Tanaka, K., Nakamura, Y., Kusakabe, M., Ibusuki, R., Koriyama, C., Oze, I., … Matsuo, K. (2023). Dietary Carbohydrate and Fat Intakes and Risk of Mortality in the Japanese Population: The Japan Multi-Institutional Collaborative Cohort Study. The Journal of Nutrition, 153(8), 2352–2368. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2023.05.027

Targher, G., Bonapace, S., & Byrne, C. D. (2019). Does high LDL-cholesterol cause cardiovascular disease? Expert Review of Clinical Pharmacology, 12(2), 91–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512433.2019.1561100

Beef short ribs cooked in the oven

Posted by Gary

Hello Reader,

If you don’t want to read the story, feel free to jump to the recipe.

How has your week been? Winter in Canberra has started to bite. On Friday, we had a frosty –5.5 °C morning. As I drove to work, the windscreens of all the cars parked on the road where I live were covered in ice. For readers in the USA, Liberia, and Myanmar, that’s about 22 °F.

My week’s highlight was the football game on Wednesday night. It was game three in this year’s state of origin series. It was being played at the home of Queensland rugby league, viz., Lang Park (also known as Suncorp Stadium).

Queenslander
I used this as my videoconference background at work on Thursday morning

It was a thrilling game, with three players leaving the field in the first few minutes because of head clashes. None of them returned after their head injury assessments.

In the latter part of the second half, there was also some biff (or biffo or fisticuffs). I didn’t see it because rather than watch the game on TV, I listened to it on a smart device application. 

While the lead changed a few times, it was a tight game, and the outcome was not certain until the very end; the Queensland Maroons were victorious, which meant we won the 2022 series two games to 1.

Beef short rib with potato, pumpkin, Brussels sprouts, and mushrooms

Recipe

Equipment

  • Skillet
  • Oven

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. The night before, remove the beef from its wrapping and dry with paper towels. Season with salt and place the ribs on a rack and keep the meat uncovered in the refrigerator overnight. This is known as dry brining.
  2. A few hours before you plan to serve dinner, dice the carrot, onion, and celery. Slice the mushrooms and halve the Brussels sprouts.
  3. Heat a skillet and sear the surfaces of the meat. There’s no point trying to do this to the surface of the rib bones.
  4. While searing the meat, add two halves of a garlic bulb with the cut surfaces down to apply maximum heat to the garlic. Add the diced carrot, celery, and onion to the hot skillet.
  5. Turn the oven on to about 150 °C.
  6. When the meat is seared, and the vegetables have taken on some colour, add some red wine and bring it to a simmer.
  7. Simmer the wine for a few minutes and allow it to reduce a little.
  8. Cut a potato in half lengthwise and a small piece of pumpkin.
  9. Place the meat into a baking tray. Next to the meat, add the garlic, potato, and pumpkin. Then add the carrot, celery, and onion.
  10. Pour the cooking juices over the ribs and add some vegetable stock.
  11. Cover the baking tray with aluminium foil. Place the baking tray into a larger one which has some water in it.
  12. Place the baking trays into the oven and cook for about three hours. The internal temperature of the beef needs to get to at least 95 °C (about 200 °F).
  13. After about three hours, remove the baking trays and the aluminium foil. Add the Brussels sprouts and mushrooms to the baking tray and return the trays to the oven for another 30 minutes.
  14. Once the Brussels sprouts and mushrooms are cooked, remove and cover the meat and vegetables.
  15. Move the ribs and vegetables to a warm spot and sieve the juices.
  16. Make a roux with some butter and flour, and then thicken the cooking liquor to make a sauce.
  17. Pull off some of the meat from the bone and put the rest into vacuum bags for meals during the week.
  18. Place one half of a potato and the pumpkin onto a dinner plate. Add the Brussels sprouts and mushrooms and finally the meat.
  19. Pour the sauce over the meat.
  20. Give thanks to the Lord.
  21. Eat with a knife and fork.

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Thoughts about the meal

This is the first time I’ve cooked beef short ribs in the oven. I’ve cooked them before in a slow cooker and in a pressure cooker.

The meat was tender yet firm. It was firmer than the meat cooked in a pressure cooker or in a slow cooker.

Overall, the meat had tremendous flavour and mouthfeel.

Final thoughts

  1. Have you cooked beef short ribs in an oven before?
  2. What is your preferred way to cook beef ribs?
  3. Do you have any ideas on how I should enjoy the leftover rib meat?
  4. How do you feel about the risk of colorectal carcinoma and mammal meat? (Joshi, Kim et al. 2015)

I hope you have a wonderful week. Next week, I’m thinking of roasting a duck. (Baker and Darfler 1981, Chen, Zhao et al. 2020)

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Photographs

This is a gallery of photographs. If you click on one or select one, you can scroll through them.

Dry brining beef short rib fingers
Beef short rib fingers
Dry brined beef short ribs
Garlic, onion, celery, carrot, potato, pumpkin, and mushrooms
Seared beef short ribs
Beef short ribs, garlic, onion, celery, carrot, potato, pumpkin, and mushrooms
Beef short rib with potato, pumpkin, Brussels sprouts, and mushrooms
Beef short rib with potato, pumpkin, Brussels sprouts, and mushrooms
Beef short rib with potato, pumpkin, Brussels sprouts, and mushrooms
Beef short rib with potato, pumpkin, Brussels sprouts, and mushrooms

References

Baker, R. C. and J. M. Darfler (1981). “A comparison of fresh and frozen poultry.” J Am Diet Assoc78(4): 348-351.

            Chicken broilers, chicken roasters, turkeys, and ducks were split; then one half was stored frozen; the other half was iced. Two days later, both halves were baked and then evaluated using the triangle test. Shear values and expressible fluid values were also determined. The taste panel could not significantly distinguish between fresh and frozen thawed paired halves of roast poultry. Objective testing by shearing and expressible moisture losses also failed to show a significant difference. However, of the judges who could distinguish between the fresh and the frozen thawed samples, the greater percentage preferred the fresh samples.

 

Chen, X., et al. (2020). “Effect of modified atmosphere packaging on shelf life and bacterial community of roast duck meat.” Food Res Int 137: 109645.

            The purpose of this work was to assess the effect of different packaging methods on the shelf life and bacterial communities of roast duck meat. Samples were packaged under the following five conditions: overwrapped packaging (OWP), 100% N2 (100% N2-MAP), 30% CO2/70% N2 (30% CO2-MAP), 50% CO2/50% N2 (50% CO2-MAP), and 0.4% CO/30% CO2/69.6% N2 (CO-MAP). Physicochemical and microbiological parameters were monitored during 14 days of chilled storage (0-4 degrees C). Results showed that MAP samples obtained higher and more stable redness, better sensory scores, and lower lipid oxidation, compared with OWP, in which CO-MAP samples had the lowest TBARS values (0.13-0.22 MDA/kg) during storage. Moreover, 30% CO2-MAP, 50% CO2-MAP, and CO-MAP effectively retarded the onset of bacterial spoilage and extended shelf life by 7 days compared with 100% N2-MAP and OWP treatments. Additionally, bacterial succession was significantly affected by the gas composition used in the packages, especially the dominant biota at the end of storage, which played an important role in the spoilage of roast duck meat under specific packaging. On day 14, Pseudoalteromonas spp., Lactobacillus spp., and Pseudomonas spp. became the most predominate genera in OWP, 100% N2-MAP, and 50% CO2-MAP, respectively. Notably, Vibrio spp. was dominant in both 30% CO2-MAP and CO-MAP, indicating 0.4% CO did not exert a further inhibitory effect on this genus. Additionally, the growth inhibition of Pseudoalteromonas spp., Lactobacillus spp., and Leuconostoc spp. by high CO2 concentration might be the reason for MAP (CO2/N2) samples having lower levels of TVC. Globally, these results indicate that 30% CO2-MAP, 50% CO2-MAP, and CO-MAP are promising packaging methods to improve roast duck meat quality and achieve shelf life extension.

 

Joshi, A. D., et al. (2015). “Meat intake, cooking methods, dietary carcinogens, and colorectal cancer risk: findings from the Colorectal Cancer Family Registry.” Cancer Med 4(6): 936-952.

            Diets high in red meat and processed meats are established colorectal cancer (CRC) risk factors. However, it is still not well understood what explains this association. We conducted comprehensive analyses of CRC risk and red meat and poultry intakes, taking into account cooking methods, level of doneness, estimated intakes of heterocyclic amines (HCAs) that accumulate during meat cooking, tumor location, and tumor mismatch repair proficiency (MMR) status. We analyzed food frequency and portion size data including a meat cooking module for 3364 CRC cases, 1806 unaffected siblings, 136 unaffected spouses, and 1620 unaffected population-based controls, recruited into the CRC Family Registry. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for nutrient density variables were estimated using generalized estimating equations. We found no evidence of an association between total nonprocessed red meat or total processed meat and CRC risk. Our main finding was a positive association with CRC for pan-fried beefsteak (P(trend) < 0.001), which was stronger among MMR deficient cases (heterogeneity P = 0.059). Other worth noting associations, of borderline statistical significance after multiple testing correction, were a positive association between diets high in oven-broiled short ribs or spareribs and CRC risk (P(trend) = 0.002), which was also stronger among MMR-deficient cases, and an inverse association with grilled hamburgers (P(trend) = 0.002). Our results support the role of specific meat types and cooking practices as possible sources of human carcinogens relevant for CRC risk.

 

Soulat, J., et al. (2019). “Effect of the Rearing Managements Applied during Heifers’ Whole Life on Quality Traits of Five Muscles of the Beef Rib.” Foods 8(5).

            The aim of this work was to study the effects of four different rearing managements applied during the heifers’ whole life period (WLP) on muscles from ribs in the chuck sale section. The characteristics of meat studied were the sensory, rheological, and color of the longissimus muscle (LM) and the rheological traits of four other muscles: complexus, infraspinatus, rhomboideus, and serratus ventralis. The main results showed that WLP rearing managements did not significantly impact the tenderness (sensory or rheological analyses) of the rib muscles. The LM had high (p ≤ 0.05) typical flavor and was appreciated when heifers received a WLP rearing management characterized by a short pasture duration during the heifers’ whole life (WLP-E). The heifers’ management characterized by a long pasture duration during their life (WLP-A) or by a diet composed mainly of hay during the growth and fattening periods (WLP-F), had lower typical flavor and were less appreciated than those with WLP-E management. Moreover, the LM color was redder for heifers of WLP-E than those of the WLP-A and WLP-F groups. This study confirmed that it is possible to obtain similar meat qualities with different rearing managements.

 

Chicken tray-bake

Posted by Gary

If you don’t like reading the silly story and want the recipe, it is here.

Hello Reader,

It’s a wet Saturday in Canberra. It’s a long weekend here because Monday is Reconciliation Day. In Canberra, Reconciliation Day is on the first Monday after the twenty-seventh day of May.

In 1993, a week of prayer by some religious groups focused on reconciliation with Indigenous Australians. Reconciliation Week begins each year on the 27th of May.

The rain and the colder weather make me think I want something warm, easy, and comforting. Lorraine, aka, Not Quite Nigella, posted a traybake early in the week. While I don’t plan to replicate her recipe, I thought I’d throw some things in a tray, bung it into the oven, and hope for the best. If you don’t know of Lorraine, check out her blog. In my opinion, Lorraine is the most consistent and best food blogger in Australia. She’s scaled back a little from posting every day to every week-day. In each post, Lorraine tells a little story related to the food she’s sharing. I find the stories about her partner and her immediate family fascinating and compelling. Lorraine is of East Asian heritage, and we have a common bond through that. I often find myself commenting on her posts. I wish her blog had a setting to know if she ever responds to comments because I don’t receive a notification.

I chose chicken wings for my tray-bake because I’m a lazy slob at heart, and I plan to sit in front of the TV on my worn couch and eat dinner with my hands to lick all the fatty juices from my fingers. I have this coffee table thing in front of my dilapidated couch, and it sits between me and the TV. My girlfriend mentioned a TV show she thought I might like. It’s called Made for Love. I thought I’d watch it while enjoying dinner. If you’re in Australia, you can watch it on Stan. No spoilers, suffice to say, my girlfriend has amazing taste in everything including TV. She’s amazing.

When I say I’m lazy, I mean I’m not the greatest fan of washing dishes. I do it and happily do it because it’s hygienic; however, if I can make a meal in one vessel and eat it from that vessel and not need any tools, I’m a happy yella fella.

Recipe

Ingredients

  • Chicken wings
  • MSG
  • Brown sugar
  • Salt
  • Worcestershire sauce
  • Red wine
  • Capsicums
  • White onion
  • Red onion
  • Red Royale potato
  • Golden sweet potato
  • Kent pumpkin
  • Eggplant 🍆
  • Cream
  • Dijon mustard
  • Cheddar cheese
  • Monterey Jack cheese slices
  • Spring onion

Instructions

Chicken

  1. Remove the chicken wings from the plastic packaging. I usually wash out the plastic container, dry it, and then cut the plastic into smaller pieces and place it into a rubbish bin. I am lazy, so repeated trips to the rubbish bins outside the block of flats feel like a chore. I’d rather be warm in ugg boots and a flannelette shirt, more so in winter.
  2. Lay the chicken pieces over the bottom of the oven tray.
  3. Add brown sugar, MSG, salt, Worcestershire sauce, and red wine to a jar. Shake the bottle to mix everything. Of course, close the bottle with the lid first; otherwise, the mess will be horrendous with sugar and red wine. Mind you, licking the floor would be full of sweet, salty, umami flavours.
  4. Pour the liquid over the chicken pieces.
  5. The following steps are alternatives.
  6. You could cover the tray with some plastic wrap and refrigerate, or you can do as I did and put the chicken and liquid into plastic bags and seal them. I used two bags and will use one bag later in the week.1
  7. Allow the chicken to absorb the flavours from the liquid in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight.

Vegetables

  1. Cut all the vegetables into bite-size pieces. For me, that’s about the size of a squash ball. You may have a more petite mouth so basically, think of how many balls you can fit in your mouth and make the pieces the size you like.
  2. I like cutting vegetables. I like having a sharp knife in my hand. I like the feeling of the cold hard steel and the motion of the blade through the vegetables and enjoying the tactile pleasure. In medical school, tutors would ask about possible treatments. Rather than a physician-type answer, I answered surgically, “There’s nothing like the feel; the feel of cold hard surgical steel.” Some readers who know me know I’m a specialist microbiologist and might wonder why I don’t answer, “Antibiotics.” More often than not, I’d recommend managing any collection of pus with incision and drainage. It’s also fun to poke your finger in and have a good rummage around to get all the pus out. Don’t get me wrong, most of the time in medicine, surgery isn’t called for; but it’s what I think when it’s an option.
  3. Place the cut vegetables into a large bowl and then generously douse with a neutral oil. I know I’m not going to be using high heat for this meal, so it’s not about burning olive oil beyond its smoke point; it’s more about the wank of olive oil.
  4. With your hands, massage all the vegetables lightly with the oil.
  5. Mix some dried herbs and spices in a bowl and coat the vegetables. You can choose for yourself what you’d like to use. I’m not going to share what I used just in case I stumble across some phenomenal secret formula to a spectacular vegetable rub. 😳😆

Cooking the tray-bake

  1. Turn on the oven to moderate heat.
  2. Use a large baking tray so that all the items have a little room.
  3. Rub some oil over the inside surface of the tray.
  4. Spread the chicken and vegetables out on the tray.
  5. Put the tray into the oven.
  6. Cook until the tips, edges, and corners of the food has started to take on some colour. When this happens, pour a carton of cream into a bowl and add a few tablespoons of Dijon mustard. Whisk it gently, and then fold in some grated cheddar cheese and spring onion. I reckon leeks would have been good on thinking about this some more.
  7. Remove the tray from the oven and pour over the Dijon-flavoured cheese stiffened cream.
  8. Put the tray back into the oven and cook until the liquid has reduced and thickened.
  9. Pull the tray out and add a few slices of Monterrey Jack cheese on top, season with some freshly cracked black pepper, and return to the oven until the cheese slices melt.
  10. Remove the tray from the oven and allow it to rest until the food stops wobbling, and it feels a little more firm when you give the tray a little nudge.

Plating up

  1. On a large dinner plate, spoon out the contents of the tray.
  2. Allow the leftover food in the tray to cool a little more and then transfer it to a storage bag. If you’re like me, fill a vacuum bag, seal it, and refrigerate to enjoy this again later in the week. If you use a vacuum bag, you can freeze it and enjoy a freezer surprise meal some weeks or months into the future.2
  3. Set up your eating area with enough napkins and wet wipes. It may be best to lay an old towel over the coffee table, and if you’re like me, place a towel on the floor between the couch and coffee table.
  4. Turn on the TV.
  5. Put the plate of food on the dinner table.
  6. Grab a big glass of water.
  7. Wash your hands.
  8. Give thanks to the Lord.
  9. Enjoy the chicken and vegetables and finger-licking while watching TV.

Thoughts on the meal

For a one-pot meal, my dinner was pretty good. The chicken was moist and juicy, and the vegetables didn’t squeak on my teeth. The flavours were on point.

Adding a dinner roll and butter would have been suitable for sopping up the leftover juices in the tray rather than wiping my fingers through them and licking my fingers.

Your choice of TV viewing is up to you. Suppose this was happening on a Wednesday night in winter. In that case, I might watch the “greatest game of all” played by the best teams in the most magnificent sporting spectacle. If it was late in September on a Sunday night, I might watch the “greatest game of all” played by two teams which I may or may not care about, in the second-best sporting spectacle of all. The “greatest game of all” is rugby league football, for those who don’t know me. The best teams are the Queensland maroons (or cane toads) and the New South Wales blues (or cockroaches). State of Origin football is the greatest sporting spectacle of all time. The second best sporting spectacle of all time is the National Rugby League grand final played by the two teams which have won the most points during the season. These teams are not necessarily the best. The best teams are the ones I support, and they may not reach the grand final. 😆 If you’re interested, next year I’m switching allegiance from the Brisbane Broncos to the Dolphins.

Final thoughts

  1. Do you like eating and watching TV at the same time?
  2. Who is your favourite food blogger? If you answer Yummy Lummy, I’ll give you a hug.
  3. Do you like one-pot meals?

Footnotes

  1. You may notice in the photo that the bag is vacuum-sealed and contains the marinade; if you have a vacuum sealer, I’d be careful. Vacuum sealers are not great with liquid in the bags. You could use a zip bag and displace the air by putting the bagged food in water, gradually lowering and forcing the air out, and then zipping the bag shut. The alternative is to use a chamber sealer.
  2. The benefit of placing the leftovers into a vacuum bag is you can reheat the food in a water bath. It only takes between 30 and 45 minutes, and with little effort, you have a meal ready to eat after a busy day. I’ve been doing this during the week because work has been quite busy, and I’ve been spending about 11 hours in the office each day and coming home and working a few more hours each night.
Chicken wings sans marinade
Chicken wings with marinade
Chicken wings with marinade in a vacuum bag
Chicken and vegetables prior to the oven
Chicken traybake watching TV
Chicken traybake watching TV
Chicken traybake watching TV
Chicken traybake

Crispy pork loin and pickled cabbage

Posted by Gary

If you don’t care for my silly story, you can find the recipe here.

Crispy pork loin and pickled cabbage

Hello Reader,

How are you? I hope you’ve had an edifying week. I’ve been pondering how good life is right now.

I feel happy in all areas of life, apart perhaps from the direction of my body weight. To be fair, I talk about it too much and do very little about it apart from eating more unhealthy food.1

We’re all told to balance work and our personal lives. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt joy in so many ways. The best part of every day is chatting with my girlfriend, Katie. It’s amazing how good it feels to chat and ventilate and get to know each other better. Katie and my daughters are the best part of my life.2

Work has also been rewarding in so many ways. I love the feeling of competence that comes with being able to enjoy time in the office. The best thing about my job is the people I work with. I also like applying my training to the work at hand.

How is any of this related to what I’m cooking tonight? When I’m not chatting with Katie or working, I’ve been watching cooking YouTube videos. I saw someone do a crispy pork belly and I wondered if I could do something similar with the skin and fat on a piece of pork loin. I’ve also been watching videos on pickling vegetables.

As a kid, growing up in Brisbane, I spent much of my pre-school years with my maternal grandmother, my maternal grandfather, and my grandfather’s brothers. They all lived together in a house on Hale Street. I often dream of that house. I can smell the flour bags in one of the storerooms, I can see the firecrackers in boxes, and I almost always dream of the downstairs kitchen with three gas hobs and well-seasoned carbon steel frying pans used every morning to make the flour-based wraps for the large chicken rolls which would be sold in the Golden Pagoda3 later that day. One of the distinctive smells was the odour of pickled vegetables, Chinese pickles. As a kid I don’t think I was a fan, but as an old man now, I must be getting my Chinese on because I’m wanting to eat pickles more and more.

The other great thing about that house was being able to see and hear Lang Park. I could also see Mr Fourex atop the Castlemaine Perkins Brewery. This brewery in Milton is home to XXXX beer. Contrary to popular belief that Queenslanders cannot spell beer, the Xs denote the strength of the beer. Lang Park and XXXX beer are forever linked as the home and sponsor for the Queensland Maroons (pronounced ma rones).4

Like most things I cook, I rarely follow a recipe unless it’s something Mum tells me5. Then for the first time, I will follow what she says I should do, knowing that most of the time, Mum’s recipes are more guidance rather than instruction. She cooks with feeling and that’s how I cook too. With feeling.

So my experimenting with pickling has been about the flavours and textures I’m imagining in my head. Chinese rice vinegar, salt, sugar, cloves, and ginger form the base of the pickling juices.

It was cold enough to wear a beanie today

Recipe

Ingredients

  • Pork loin
  • Salt
  • Rice vinegar
  • Sugar
  • Cloves
  • Ginger
  • Cabbage
  • Carrot
  • Daikon
  • Brussels sprouts6
  • Bird’s-eye chillies

Instructions

Pork

  1. I bought a large slab of pork loin a week ago. It was about 30 centimetres by 20 centimetres and 5 centimetres deep. I cut it into three blocks and vacuum-packed each and then put them in the freezer.
  2. On Wednesday evening I moved one of the blocks from the freezer to the refrigerator.
  3. On Friday evening I unwrapped the meat and dried the outside surfaces with a towel. I took a sharp blade and scored the skin and fat and then rubbed salt into the skin and muscle.
  4. Place the prism of pork on a rack over a tray and place it uncovered in the refrigerator to dry brine overnight.
  5. On Saturday afternoon I removed the meat and turned the oven on to low heat, about 120 °C.
  6. I vigorously rubbed the skin while being careful not to tear the skin and fat from the meat. The objective of the vigorous rubbing was to dry the skin to prepare it for becoming crispy and crackling.
  7. To avoid drying out the meat, I wrapped aluminium foil around the muscle and left the scored fat and skin exposed.
  8. The problem with a dry brine is the amount of meat shrinkage which occurs in the cold dry environment. It suggests to me the meat was injected with water to plump it up to full tumescence prior to selling to make it look more impressive than it is. This shrinkage means I had a little trouble mounting it properly in an erect position. I wanted the skin pointing up and I didn’t want the meat at an angle while it was in the oven.
  9. I placed my prism of pork loin wrapped in aluminium foil on a rack over a tray and then into the oven for about three hours. I fashioned the aluminium so it kept my meat erect in the oven.
  10. I looked at the meat reasonably regularly in case the skin started to burn.
  11. After the oven cooking phase, I removed the meat and drained the pork fat into a stainless steel frying pan and turned on the hob to heat the fat.
  12. I placed the pork skin side down into the fat and left it there to crisp the skin.
  13. Because of the meat shrinkage, I needed to use wooden toothpicks to keep the meat upright. Nothing like a little prosthetic surgery while cooking. 🤔
  14. When the skin was crisp I moved the meat to a warm place to rest. Resting your pork is important. It’s probably more important to rest your pork than any other species of meat. I’ve heard some cooks say that pork should rest for nearly as long as it was cooking.
  15. After seeing the size of the finished product, I dissected away the skin and remaining connective tissue that used to contain the fat from the shrivelled muscle meat. I thought I’d sequester the meat for cold cuts and enjoy the crackling with the vegetables tonight.

Pickled cabbage

  1. Shred some cabbage.
  2. Shred some Brussels sprouts.
  3. Dice some peeled ginger.
  4. Slice the Bird’s-eye chillies.
  5. Julienne some carrot and daikon.
  6. Dissolve some sugar and salt into a quarter of a cup of rice vinegar.
  7. Place the vegetables plus a handful of cloves into a vacuum bag and then pour in the pickling liquid.
  8. Vacuum seal the bag in a vacuum chamber.
  9. Towards the end of the pork cooking, heat up a water bath to about 75 °C and cook the pickled vegetables for about 30 minutes.

Plating up and serving

  1. Open the bag of pickled vegetables and transfer the vegetables to a dinner plate.
  2. I know some people like drinking pickling juices. It’s not to my taste.
  3. Place the crackling on top of the vegetables.
  4. Give thanks to the Lord.
  5. Eat with a knife and fork.

Thoughts on the meal and lessons identified

  1. The crackling was good.
  2. The vegetables were good. I liked how the heat from the Bird’s-eye chillies permeated the pickling juices and every bite was hot, spicy, and sour.
  3. I will cut my pork loin into fatter chunks next time. I think this would be a better meal with a big fat lump of pork rather than a thin shrivelled remnant.

Final thoughts

  1. Do you dream about the first home you lived in?
  2. Do smells and sounds feature in your dreams?
  3. Do you like pickles?

Footnotes

  1. This morning I weighed in at 75 kilograms. I’ve been eating too much chocolate every day. I’m not sure if you’ve ever experienced salted caramel peanut slab. I buy it every week from a local shop. It’s very good. I think I have an addiction problem. I know I have an addictive personality. When I get the first taste of something good or pleasurable, if I can get more I’ll go for it.
  2. Amongst the many things we chat about, food comes up regularly. For example, the other night we were talking about shaved lamb meat and chips. The morning, I had this craving. Yes, I do eat a lamb and hot chip snack pack with metal chopsticks! 😆 The tzatziki sauce was good as it oozed over the warm tasty meat.
  3. The Golden Pagoda was a café/restaurant at the truck stop in Rocklea in Brisbane. I don’t know if the trucks still stop near the markets much. The Golden Pagoda was destroyed in the 1974 Brisbane floods. At that instant, my grandparents and my granduncles all stopped working. I remember ‘working’ there as a youngster. The chicken rolls we served were basically a cross between a spring roll and a Chiko roll. Not much chicken and lots of cabbage and deep-fried. They were about 20 cm long and quite girthy. As a little boy, I needed two hands to manage one. My most entrepreneurial grand uncle told me the makers of the Chiko roll stole his idea.
  4. This Wednesday night the first State of Origin game is played. As always, I’m hoping for a Queensland victory.
  5. Following a recipe from Mum can be hilarious. Me “Mum, you know that recipe for x? I tried it and it tasted a bit odd.” Mum “Did you use the y? That’s the essential ingredient and you need to do z with it.” Me “No, Mum, you didn’t mention y or z; no wonder x tasted odd.”
  6. Do you like Brussels sprouts? If you don’t, may I suggest the next time you cook them, don’t! Just shred them finely and add them to a salad like coleslaw. I’ve also found cooking them shredded removes the bitterness. Check out this meal I cooked last night. I mixed shredded Brussels sprouts with cheese and added it to this tray bake of pumpkin and potato towards the end of the cooking process. Melted cheese and shredded Brussels sprouts make for a wonderful combination.
Crispy pork loin and pickled cabbage
Pork loin vacuum packed
Pork loin ready for dry brining
Brined pork loin on a wire rack
Brined pork loin on a wire rack over a stainless steel frying pan
Brined pork loin on a wire rack over a stainless steel frying pan wrapped in aluminium foil
Cabbage Brussels sprouts
Cabbage Brussels sprouts Fennel Carrot Daikon Bird’s-eye chilli
Pickled Bird’s-eye chillies, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrot, daikon, and fennel.
Crispy pork loin and pickled cabbage
Crispy pork loin and pickled cabbage

Low carb chicken schnitzel

Posted by Gary

Dedicated to Rob Nixon at Nicko’s Kitchen

Keto Chicken Parmigiana

Low carb chicken schnitzel with sous vide mashed cauliflower and a side of wilted silverbeet and cabbage.

Low carb chicken schnitzel

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