Good, Better, Best

Have you ever taken a bite of food and thought, “This is AMAZING!!!”? But upon appearance, it’s just a regular plate of spaghetti, or a bowl of salsa, or mac & cheese. Have you ever wondered the difference between good food and AMAZING food? Sure, it’s in the chef/cook’s personal talent to some degree. But I want to give you something to chew on (pun intended).. 

People ask us all the time what makes our food stand out. I know it sounds like the simplest of answers, but quality ingredients can take your food from good food to AMAZING food. I learned a few years back, and have learned even more lately, that if I buy the freshest and best quality ingredients that I can get my hands on, my food tastes incredibly better. If you subscribed to my emails, I sent you a beginner’s pantry checklist, where I made notes of specific brands I use on a few items, and here’s why. I read an issue of “Food and Wine” magazine several years ago and they raved about Muir Glen brand tomatoes and more specifically San Marzano tomatoes. Coming from a small town on a small budget, I’d never seen these brands or types of tomatoes before, but could NOT imagine they could be that much better. Well, after locating these tomatoes in a larger town, I can assure you that these are MUCH better quality and taste so much better than the generic brands or even other name brands I had been buying. But as the saying goes, the proof is in the pudding. Of course I noticed that my salsa tasted 10x better, but random people, including kids and teenagers, could taste the difference. They started asking what I had done differently to my salsa because it tasted so fresh. I simply upgraded to a better brand of diced tomatoes and “rotel”. And that alone made the difference. Since then, the only brands of tomatoes you’ll find in my pantry are the better ones. 

One of the easiest and least expensive ways I’ve found to enhance flavor is using fresh herbs. And not the kind you grab in the little plastic containers in the produce aisle (although that’s ok in a pinch), but herbs you grow yourself. This can be easily done even in small spaces and even if you don’t have a green thumb. For example, basil is one of the easiest herbs to grow and it packs a ton of flavor. You can chop it up and throw it into some Kerrygold with some fresh minced garlic and make your own garlic bread. Or if you're feeling more adventurous, gather a few more ingredients and make a batch of pesto. Fresh herbs offer so much versatility and make every dish even better. I love fresh rosemary with chicken or pork, obviously basil for all things Italian, thyme is great for chicken dishes, dill makes anything taste more fresh, cilantro for your salsa, chives for baked potatoes, and parsley can elevate any dish, even as a garnish. And once you've started your herb garden and realize how easy and fun it is, you’ll be ready to learn how to dry your herbs and store for later use. More on that another day….

One last item I’ll share for now is an upgrade to your chicken and beef broth. All of my life I used the cheapest of canned chicken and beef broths for all of my cooking needs, and always had bouillon cubes on hand for the extra boost of flavor. Since beginning my health journey in 2019, I no longer buy bouillon cubes, but that is a whole post on its own so we’ll leave that for another day. Just suffice to say, those are not great for your body. After reading and learning new things, I realized that bone broths have so many more benefits to your body than just broth or stock. So I bought a box of each, organic beef bone broth and organic chicken bone broth, for my next cooking experiments. The flavor they provide is vastly deeper and richer than regular broth or stock, and well worth the investment. And most recently, I made my own beef bone broth from bones I got from our cattle raising friends at https://www.facebook.com/t.n.t.cattle.farm in Jena, Louisiana. So I’ve now gone from good, to better, to the BEST. If you're interested in making your own bone broth, it’s a really simple, albeit time-consuming, process which I’ll share here: 

You’ll need beef bones–a mix of bones (marrow bones, short ribs, soup bones, shank), onions, carrots, celery, garlic cloves, bay leaves and peppercorns. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. I used 3 sheet pans and spread my beef bones across them, then added my organic veggies. I used 3 onions–quartered, 1 bunch of celery–cut into 4-5” pieces, 3 garlic bulbs–tops cut off, and 6 carrots–cut into 3-4” pieces, Split these among the 3 trays and drizzle with olive oil and roast for 30 minutes, then toss, and roast another 20-30 minutes. Divide the bones and veggies amongst 2 large stockpots, being sure to scrape up any little brown bits (of flavor) from the pan, add filtered water to cover the bones, then add salt, peppercorns(2 Tbsp to each pot) and bay leaves(2 to each pot). Cover each with a lid and bring to a low boil. Then reduce heat to a simmer and let it go for about 8-10 hours. At this point let it cool slightly, then strain through a fine mesh strainer. If you want your broth extra clear, you can strain a second time using cheesecloth. I placed mine in the fridge overnight and skimmed the fat the next morning, Then placed back into the stock pots and brought back to boil to can the following day. This needs to be pressure canned, unless you prefer to freeze it. Follow the directions on your pressure canner at this point. And you’ll have homemade beef bone broth for all of your cooking needs.

**Alternatively, you can use your slow cooker instead of stock pots on the stovetop, but use less ingredients, depending on the size of your slow cooker. 

So tell me in the comments what fresh, or upgraded ingredients you're buying to elevate your dishes this week! I look forward to hearing from you!

All my love, 

Angie