ChowderMan
Pizza Chef
all the hooha about searing in juices triggered another of my favorite 'quirky cooking interpretations' - namely "brown the meat and . . . ."'
probably preaching to the choir, but anyway:
this came to a point when my son - who is a avid cook but like so many people lacks the opportunity to devote huge chunks of time to the topic - was visiting. spaghetti with (ground beef) sauce was on the menu. his comment was "gosh how do you do that? mine never quite tastes as good."
long story short, it browning the meat. "browning" the meat does not mean just making it turn from bloody red to insipid brown. that one can do in the microwave. heat red blood, it turns brown.
"browning the meat," imho, means putting a sear on most of it. haven't written any cookbooks, don't work in a four star kitchen - just practical experience.
for "ground beef" I push up the heat and toss until about 50% of the crumbles have some notable color - past yukkie brown to dark brown & crisp outside.
as I stood fixing chili, this all came to mind so I grabbed the camera.
here's the red-turning-brown beef - diced up USDA choice top round was the cut - on sale - $2.44 for 0.98 lb. one can see the color change, but that ain't "browned" to me.
pushing it right along, here's what I consider 'dang near browned" - I'll take pix, just don't ask me to sacrifice my dinner - the pix is a bit early, I took this pan further. as I mentioned in the other post(s) - for stuff going into a 'wet cook' dish - chili in this case - dark red kidney beans + "schufft" I push the brown past "average" because most of that color&crisp is going to dissolve into the liquid "mix"
the ad-hoc chili was a hit - probably far from original but:
two ultra-generous portions - stretch to four . . .
3/4 cup dry red kidney beans - bring to a boil, simmer for 2 hrs, add water as needed
with
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup diced banana pepper (frozen garden stock)
1/2 cup corn kernels (frozen supermarket variety, sigh)
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika
salt to taste
BAM it up a notch with cayenne if you please.
sliced & cubed the meat - salted & peppered & dusted with garlic powder - rested about an hour
brown the meat with a smidge of olive oil, when nearly done toss in 1-1/2 handful diced scallion.
when the beans are tender, add meat mix to bean mix - low low simmer for 30-45 minutes.
loaf of saltines, a jug of wine, hot chili - what else I need?
probably preaching to the choir, but anyway:
this came to a point when my son - who is a avid cook but like so many people lacks the opportunity to devote huge chunks of time to the topic - was visiting. spaghetti with (ground beef) sauce was on the menu. his comment was "gosh how do you do that? mine never quite tastes as good."
long story short, it browning the meat. "browning" the meat does not mean just making it turn from bloody red to insipid brown. that one can do in the microwave. heat red blood, it turns brown.
"browning the meat," imho, means putting a sear on most of it. haven't written any cookbooks, don't work in a four star kitchen - just practical experience.
for "ground beef" I push up the heat and toss until about 50% of the crumbles have some notable color - past yukkie brown to dark brown & crisp outside.
as I stood fixing chili, this all came to mind so I grabbed the camera.
here's the red-turning-brown beef - diced up USDA choice top round was the cut - on sale - $2.44 for 0.98 lb. one can see the color change, but that ain't "browned" to me.
pushing it right along, here's what I consider 'dang near browned" - I'll take pix, just don't ask me to sacrifice my dinner - the pix is a bit early, I took this pan further. as I mentioned in the other post(s) - for stuff going into a 'wet cook' dish - chili in this case - dark red kidney beans + "schufft" I push the brown past "average" because most of that color&crisp is going to dissolve into the liquid "mix"
the ad-hoc chili was a hit - probably far from original but:
two ultra-generous portions - stretch to four . . .
3/4 cup dry red kidney beans - bring to a boil, simmer for 2 hrs, add water as needed
with
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup diced banana pepper (frozen garden stock)
1/2 cup corn kernels (frozen supermarket variety, sigh)
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika
salt to taste
BAM it up a notch with cayenne if you please.
sliced & cubed the meat - salted & peppered & dusted with garlic powder - rested about an hour
brown the meat with a smidge of olive oil, when nearly done toss in 1-1/2 handful diced scallion.
when the beans are tender, add meat mix to bean mix - low low simmer for 30-45 minutes.
loaf of saltines, a jug of wine, hot chili - what else I need?
Interesting. 
