Author: Nick-LaDieu

Check out “The Open Pit Podcast” where I pretend I have a clue about BBQ!

This is the first part in what will be a multi-part podcast about how to cook. Cooking is the center of any homestead and also the key to your own health and well being. A home cooked family dinner is, I believe, the best thing you can do for your family.

An episode about Vinaigrettes and mayo. Two seemingly completely different condiments, however the process of making them is exactly the same. They both require a process called emulsification. This is where two “un-blendable” liquids are incorporated in such a way that they will not separate where normally they would separate.

Isn’t it annoying when you get a salad and put some dressing on it and if you aren’t speedy about eating getting it all down you end up with this bland mix on the top of the salad and an unpleasantly strong pool of vinegar at the bottom of plate or bowl. This is what you avoid when you make a true vinaigrette. Another advantage of making a real vinaigrette is that you can use much less salad dressing to properly coat a salad.

Your dressing should serve to accent the natural flavors of the salad, just as sauce in barbecue should not be added mask the flavor of meat.

Ingredients

A vinaigrette requires 3 parts oil to 1 part acid. This is not a 100% rule, but a guideline. You should adjust your recipes based upon taste.

Your acid component would generally be lemon or lime juice or vinegar of any sort. If you wanted to make a balsamic vinaigrette you would generally use balsamic vinegar (duh!)

Oils: Generally recipes you will find advise you to use garbage commodity oils such as canola oil, and certainly almost all store bought oils will use these types of oil. I generally ALWAY use extra virgin olive oil, however I want to experiment with avocado oil and walnut oil next.

It’s a good idea to read up and research your brand of olive oil. I was pretty shocked to learn how low quality control is with olive oil these days. Check out this study.

• Only 5 brands, of brands tested, actually cut the mustard as actual extra virgin olive oil when tested.
• 65% of imported oils were found to be cut w/ cheaper oils
• 10% of California oils were found to be cut w/ cheaper oils

Basic Viniagrette
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vingar
A pinch or 2 of sea salt
Fresh ground black pepper

Optional: I enjoy a sweet element and prefer to add a tablespoon of raw honey

From this basic recipe you can add fresh herbs from the garden, dijon mustard, curry powder, whatever. Have fun with it. Here are a few ideas:

Creamy Vinaigrette
Make your vinaigrette in a blender/food processor

Beat together an egg yolk with 4 tablespoons of heavy cream, add mixture to the blender/food processor and blend. Optionally add 2 or 3 tablespoons of fresh herbs and a few squirts from a lemon

MAYO
Making mayo is the same as making a vinaigrette, however the ratios are a bit different.
Here is your basic recipe. I have doubled it so that you can make enough to store in a small pickle jar in the fridge

2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (or other acid)
2 full eggs (some use just the yolks, but I don’t find it improves the recipe and is more work)
1 tsp of salt
2 cups of extra virgin olive oil
fresh ground black pepper

Add everything to a food processor except the oil. Turn on food processor and very very slowly pour in the oil. After you have completely poured in the oil let it run for about 30 seconds to ensure full emulsification.

From this basic template you can add garlic to make aioli (just a fancy word for mayo + garlic generally) I prefer to add my garlic in diced by hand fresh when I am serving it as opposed to incorporating it in via the food processor. I find the garlic flavor is better maintained by a hand dice due to the larger pieces you will end up with.

I generally add 1 tablespoon of dijon mustard, 1 teaspoon of ginger powder.

You can add fresh herbs or any dried spices.

{EAV:04d187af8fa83245}
Hello, my name is Nick LaDieu and I’m a beefaholic. I just can’t get enough of 3.80 cents a pound grass fed pasture raised Angus beef. I just love it and the fever is spreading. I’ve already spread the addiction to many of my friends here in Pittsburgh and I want to share it with you now.

Excuse #1:
I don’t have time to cook.

You’re not going to the grocery store to shop for meat anymore and I bet that consumes a lot more time than you realize. Guess what? You can still eat fast food. That’s right! I eat fast food 5 or 6 times a week. In fact just yesterday I had 2 burritos from McLaDieu’s freezer section. One grass fed bean and beef burrito and one pasture raised pork sausage and free range egg burrito. It even featured some jalapeno peppers grown right in my backyard! I got home from work late (9:30pm!!) and threw them right in a microwave just like the ones from the gas station.

McLaDieu’s also features beef and barley soup, grass fed Angus and venison stew. Ham, sausage and egg casserole and a bunch of other nifty meals ready to go. The chef (Nick LaDieu) told me it took him about 3 hours on a Saturday to make 40 bean and beef burritos. To make beef stew was just about 40 minutes of prep (chopping vegetables mainly) and throw it in a crock pot or cast iron dutch oven. McLaDieu’s sources his grains from his local food co-op who can order them in bulk for him. So convenient!

Excuse #2:
I don’t have a chest freezer. This one is easy. Go get one! What the hell… you’re not even trying to come up with a valid excuse here. You can even get small chest freezers that could easily fit in an apartment. Let’s be a bit more creative with the excuses people. You will not regret this decision.

Excuse #3
I can’t afford to buy groceries so I have to eat all fast food.

Ok, this is a tricky one and I’ll drop the jokey tone to address this one. I truly feel for people who don’t have means to get good healthy food for their families, however for the vast majority of people there are a few other factors going on. One factor is lack of knowledge, I’d like to believe this is the major factor and that if people knew how much money they could save by eating something like grass fed beef that they would switch over immediately. I think most people are stuck in the “buy as you go” model of consuming and look at a place like whole foods and say “I can’t afford that stuff”… hell most people can’t!!

The “elephant in the room” is most people are too lazy to cook and their mindset and priorities are too mainstream to even process the idea of buying 150 pounds of cow. Sorry, I have to call it like I see it! This doesn’t have to be you though, you can get yourself some grass fed beef.

OK, so you are cash strapped and want to get yourself some grass fed beef. Here are some ideas I have:

1) Look for work share programs that farmers offer
2) Talk to the farmer! Work something out, these people want to sell you their beef and they are wonderful people.
3) Go in with people. Rally the troups and get as much as you can. I tried this year to find people in Pittsburgh to get in on an entire cow but failed. I ended up getting a side again this year, however I’m going to try again next year so I can pay a cheaper price per pound. The more you buy the more you save.
4) Respect the saying “Pay the grocer or pay the doctor” Get your mindset right, learn how to cook, and get yourself some meat!

Look at these beef prices from the local giant eagle grocery store:

I pay $3.25 hanging (or about $3.80 a pound) for my beef. The only thing I could find in the grocery store that cheap was the 92% lean ground beef and that weird beef “stuff” that comes in the tube. You know, the kind with the ammonia washed pink slime mixed in (YUM!!)

Excuse #4
Bla Bla Bla…. I don’t want to hear it. Get yourself some meat.

Resources to get er’ done:

What you need

* A chest freezer. This is the one I have: http://tinyurl.com/7l73wsz
* 1 KW minimum generator
* Rotate 15 gallons of gas (You’re going to use it anyway so this doesn’t cost you anything other than buying the containers and stabilizer)

Open your own fast food restaurant

(Fix it, Freeze it, Feast)
My review of this book: 5 stars. I’m a bit of a cooking enthusiast so I always like to add my own twists. For example for my bean and beef burritos I make my own re-fried beans from scratch, but to make it easy I do it in a slow cooker (crock pot). No soaking required!

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/refried-beans-without-the-refry/detail.aspx

Also toss in whatever peppers you happen to have also. You don’t need to stay in their sandbox but it is a great book to get good ideas and also get a handle on the volumes you need to deal with to make lots and lots of great bulk meals. Saves time and money.

Most importantly… Get the meat:

http://www.eatwild.com– I’m sure there are other worthy sites, but this is the one I used and it worked out great for me!

Meet my farmers (so far)

Don and Becky

Audrene

Where I might be getting my next pig after I determine if the bacon is up to snuff:
Millgate Farm

This episode is all about my experience hunting deer. It is the viewpoint of an absolute beginner and it is just my experience and is very personal to me. You may experience better, different, or worse results.

One thing I forgot to mention:
I got to see this tool used: Butt Out and all I can say is it is going into my kit. Wow that thing just took the intestine out with such ease I could not believe what I was seeing. Worth every penny of the about $10 you will spend on it.

Links:
Beginner’s Guide to hunting deer for food

Mora Swedish Knife

Gut it, Cut it, Cook it (A MUST OWN!!)

Russian Mosin Nagant

Mosin Soft Point Hunting Ammo

Backyard Pioneer

Website: The Backyard Pioneer

https://www.facebook.com/TheBackyardPioneer

Skills

• Sauerkraut
• Ice Box Pickles
• Dutch Oven
• Lacto Fermented Radishes
• Sourdough Biscuits