Sorry Guys it has been a while since I have posted. Been crazy last few weeks with DisneyWorld and catching up at work/home stuff. Anyway, this will be a simple post about website based companies that I have purchased food products from over the past 7-8 years. I can vouch for all these sites with customer service and product. Most of them are higher end sites that are ones to keep in mind for those special occasions. I will group them in categories.

Meats –

Lobel’s of New York -  www.lobels.com Votest Best Beef in Country

Allen Brothers – www.allenbrothers.com Gourmet Meats and Fish

Niman Ranch – www.nimanranch.com Superior Pork Products

Buckhead Beef – www.mysteak.com Commercial Supplier now available for consumers

Prime Cuts – www.eprimecuts.com Kobe Beef, Meats, and Fresh Fish

Snake River Farms – www.snakeriverfarms.com Kobe Beef and Kurobota Pork

Fresh Fish

Wild Edibles – www.wildedibles.com Best Fish Purveyor in Country

All Fresh Seafood – www.allfreshseafood.com

Honolulu Fish Company – www.honolulufishstore.com

Gourmet Foods

Dean & Deluca – www.deandeluca.com Sell Super High End everything

I Gourmet – www.igourmet.com Large Purveyor of Fine Cheese

D’artagnan – www.dartagnan.com All Gourmet Foods

Gourmet Appetizers/Finger Foods

Appetizers USA – www.appetizersusa.com Perfect for Cocktail Parties

Kabobs Inc. – www.kabobs.com

The Appetizer Store – www.appetizerstore.com

Confections/Pastries

Libby’s Gourmet Desserts – www.sendacakedelivery-libbys.com Cheesecake on a Stick

Sweet Street – www.sweetstreet.com

Sucre of New Orleans – www.shopsucre.com

Cooking Resources

Williams Sonoma – www.williams-sonoma.com

Sur La Table – www.surlatable.com

www.cooking.com

In today’s fast paced, busy, and cost conscious society that we live in, I thought that I would share a concept that Liz and I have practiced for years. One that saves you time and money in the long run and assists in the organization of your family meals. Some of you may be familair with this and do it regularly, but most of the people I talk to, this was foreign to them. I am referring to the buying of your regularly used meats in bulk and storing them in smaller quantities for future use. There are just a couple items that you need to begin and master this practice.

First thing you need is a grocery store that sells all there meats in bulk or large quantitites. Where we live, Sam’s is the obvious choice. If you don’t have a Sam’s membership, the $35.00 annual membership fee is well worth it. The second item that you need is a Food Saver Vacuum Seal System and bags/rolls. Sams, Bed Bath & Byond sells them or check out their site at www.foodsaver.com We own the Family Chef Model. The Food Saver is very simple to utilize and works consistently in vacuum sealing anything I attempt.

When we go to Sam’s, we buy the following items in bulk for further portioning and storing: Chicken Breasts (these alreay come in individual kryovack packages), Family Pack of Pork Chops, Ground Sirloin, Boneless Pork Loin, Rabideaux’s Smoked Pork Sausage (4lb. bag), and Tony Chachare’s Raw Frozen Shrimp (3lb. bag). When we get home, I get a cutting board, scissors, latex gloves, and my Food Saver System. The food saver rolls are cheaper than the quart or gallon size bags so we use those. All newer model food saver sytems have built in cutters on them so you can make your own size bags.

Based on the meat that I am about to cut up or portion out, I try to determine what size roll I need for the portion size I desire to divide them in. After that, I make the desired amount of bags for that meat. Starting with the Rabideaux’s Sausage, I cut open the bag and using the smaller roll, I cut the sausage into approx. 8 in. links and put 3 links in each bag and then seal it. This covers my family of 4 for most of the entree’s we use them for. Sausage can also last quite a while in the fridge. Next I portion out the ground sirloin. In the big black styrofoam pan they come in, I take a knife and draw a dividing line down the middle of the meat and then cut each one of those halfs in thirds. So I end up with pretty much 6 equal size portions of ground sirloin. One section usually gives me 3 hamburger patties. I put each portion in a smaller size bag and before I seal it, I actually smash or roll out the meat to where it is thin in size versus a big ball of meat. This helps in thawing out the meat much quicker in a sink of cool water a few hours before you want to cook. Moving onto the pork chops, you will notice that their are 3 different styles of pork chops in the family pack. The ones on top are the pretty looking ones and are center cut pork chops and are great for grillling and making smothered pork chops with. The second one is more of a blade steak and the third a funky off cut that probably has a bone near the middle of it. It is important to package each style cut of meat together since you will be using that package for the same type cooking process. I package 2 pork chops in each bag and sometimes 4 to cover a meal if we have company over one night. On the boneless pork loin, I take that long cut of meat and I cut it up to serve 4 separate cooking types: one is cutting thin slices to do quick skillet cooking (breaded pork cutlets), a thicker pork loin cut to grill, a really thick cut that can be cooked in the oven as a boneless pork loin roast, and the last I cube up some to use in a stir fry or Jambalaya. I typically get 6-7 separate meals out of an $18.00 Pork Loin. Lastly, I take the bag of frozen shrimp and break it up into 5 equal size portions which usually gives you 10 oz. of shrimp which works really well for those boxed pasta dishes.  

Continuing with the Staple Items Liz and I keep in our kitchen, I wanted to try to cover the rest of them in this post so I can move on to actual cooked foods. The first one I wanted to highlight is cooking liquids. The only times I cook with water is for boiling pasta or potatoes, and cooking rice. For everything else, I am using a stock or broth. I am sure everyone is familiar with Chicken Broth. It’s stocked in every grocery store in America. 3-4 different brands and multiple container sizes.  The broth/stock options have become more refined over the past couple of years. For those of you that haven’t ventured to cook with chicken broth on a routine basis and only use it during the holiday season for your cornbread dressing, this may be a big jump for you to take. Given all the options out there, I have resorted to purchasing and only using Swanson brand Cooking Stocks. Stocks have a much more cleaner flavor to them than Broth’s and there is alot less sodium in stocksthan Broths. Stocks are slightly more expensive than broths, but for me, it’s worth the bump. Plus, your not feeding your family all that sodium and MSG. Below is a pic of the stocks. We always have 3 boxes of chicken and beef stock in our pantry. If you only keep one of each in your pantry, you will quickly be without and may be unable to use in a larger dish that may take 2 boxes of stock. They have a resealable cap and can be stored in the fridge for 7 days after opening for reuse. There are other brands out there, like Emeril’s, generic brands, but i prefer the Swanson ones.

Preferred Cooking Stocks

Moving on to canned tomato products next, the selection of these items are endless. I have also narrowed my preferences in this category as well. There are 2 things I like about canned tomato products. One is that most of the time, the tomatoes are picked at their peek ripe times and canned soon afterwards. If you rely on fresh tomatoes from the grocery stores year round in this area for a recipe in attempts to make a recipe from scratch, you may be disappointed when you come home with hard and inner white flesh tomatoes. Secondly is the convenience of them. I can make homemade tomato sauces and fresh pico de gallos, etc… but at the end of the day, I am limited on both time and budget just like everyone else. You may find this first one surprising, but I use Hunt’s brand tomato sauce for my Italian tomato based recipes. I use it as a base and add some additional ingredients….fresh cut onions and garlic (optional) , italan seasoning, and a little garlic powder. It just produces a more vibrant flavor what I am going for versus a prego, ragu, or one of the other specialty tomato sauce brands. The other item is what you would probably call Rotel. Rotel is really just a brand of diced tomato products with other ingredients in them. So most people use rotel brand “rotel” for that reason. However, Rotel brand products is my least favorite of all canned diced tomato products. I use Red Gold Brand for all most of my canned tomato products. Tomato paste, puree, crushed tomatoes, and diced tomatoes w/chiles. Albertsons carries a full line of Red Gold products. Other stores may carry a limited supply. Below is a pic of the Hunts Tomato Sauce and a can of Red Gold Brand Diced Tomatoes w/chiles.

The next one is probably one of my better discoveries at a grocery store. They are slowly becoming more popular and getting some exposure with their marketing efforts and the fact that I probably have a conversation with someone weekly about their products. I am talking about Stubb’s BBQ products. Stubb’s originated as a BBQ Restaurant in Texas, but have started a retail line of some of their products. BBQ Sauces, Marinades, and rubs is their current product line. I have been using their marinades for years now and on the rare occasion when I BBQ, I buy one of their sauces. Keep in mind, these marinades are too be used when grilling chicken, pork, or beef products. They are not necessarily best used when intending on cooking your meats in a pot or pan. They have a sugar content in the marinade that won’t do well when exposed to direct heat like a skillet or pot. On the beef marinade, I really only use them for thin cuts of meat like skirt steak, flank steak, etc for mexican dishes…I will do a post later on in regards to cooking steaks. Stubb’s also just came out with 2 Injectable Marinades for the holiday season. I used one one this Thanksgiving on my Fried Turkey. I loved it. They don’t have that fake popcorn butter taste to them like the other brands too. I highly endorse all Stubb’s products. Below is pic of most of their marinades and a BBQ Sauce. Not pictured are a few of their BBQ Sauces and a Texas Steakhouse marinade. I prefer the Original BBQ Sauce. Any questions on any of the items on this post, feel free to email me at kyle@rusticpalate.com

BBQ Sauce and Marinades

Injectable Marinades

 I have discussions with people all the time who are frustrated with the limited items they know how or choose to cook for their families. They alway say, “I want to cook different and cool stuff for my family like you do.” I ask them a few simple questions on what are some staple items that they keep stocked in their pantry, freezer, and refrigerator. It always amounts to not much. Just a bunch of random stuff that doesn’t compliment their cooking style or techniques. If you continue to come home with the desire and intentions to cook something new, cool, and appealing to your family, but the food products you have in your house prevent you from doing so, you need to expand your horizons on what you stock in your pantry. I believe these people will constantly be let down if they don’t set themselves up for success in their kitchens.

I thought it would be beneficial to share with ya’ll some staple items I use and keep stocked in my pantry/refrigerator. Items that are vital to alot of the meals/dishes I prepare for friends and family. I tried to categorize them to make this post not drag out. Hopefully you find this beneficial and when you run across these items, you will be inticed to purchase them for future use. My next few posts will touch on the staple items we keep in our kitchen.

I think the most important ingredients in my kitchen are my seasonings and are a core ingredient for producing flavorful food. Below is a pic of some core seasonings I use in my kitchen. Keep in mind, I have plenty of herbs and spices in my spice cabinets like cumin, chili powder, dried oregano, etc…These are more items that I use frequently regardless of the dish I am preparing. Moving from left to right; first one in the big box is Kosher Salt. Kosher Salt is a small coarse salt that more brings out the flavor of the foods you are seasoning it with rather than just make things taste salty like traditional iodized salt and is available in every grocery store. I don’t even have Iodized Salt in my kitchen. I have my Kosher Salt in a little wooden bowl that I keep on the counter next to my cooktop/stove. You can use a ramekin or any cool looking container that compliments your kitchen decor. Having the Salt out and close to you speeds up the whole cooking process. Next to it is Black Pepper. I use a Restaurant Style Black Pepper that has a nice texture to it. Once again, this product is available in most grocery stores. In regards to a pepper mill, which most chefs use, I have yet to find a pepper mill that can consistently ground pepper up without breaking or malfunctioning. So I just gave up on the pepper mills. If you wanted too, you could buy whole peppercorns and grind them up in a spice grinder or coffee grinder until you reach the desired texture you want and keep it in a container on your counter next to the Kosher Salt. Next to the Pepper, I stacked 3 products called McCormick Grill Mates Spice Rubs. I have tried a tremendous amount of various rubs and seasonings for my steaks, chicken, and pork cuts, but once I tried all 3 of these for the first time, I have been using them for 2 years now. Especially the steak rub; Liz and I think it is the best steak seasoning we have ever tried and Neve eats it as a Snack sometimes… The chicken rub is a nice mild, but flavorful rub that is not too overpowering and can be used in a variety of chicken dishes even when you are incorporating the chicken into soups, stews, casseroles, etc…It will not overpower the overall flavor of the dish. The pork rub is more of a BBQ rub with a perfect blend of sweet and savory flavors. Next to the rubs is a product that I found at a store you would normally not buy seasonings from. It is a Southwestern/Mexican seasoning that has strongs hints of Smoked Chipotle, Chilis, and Paprika in it as well as a few herbs and I got it at Marshall’s! I use this in pretty much on every Mexican or Southwestern dish I cook. Ground Beef for Nachos or Tacos, chicken, Seared Tuna, etc..It goes awesome folded into Cream Cheese for Tortilla Roll Ups or Pinwheels. The next one is a McCormick Brand Smoked Pork Salt seasoning that I use in addition to my pork rub on any Pork meat that I am going to BBQ with. Next is a French Fry Seasoning that I stumbled across at Big Lots on Hwy. 14. I think the best seasonings to season French Fries are seasonings that are made for other foods like steak rubs and such. Then i finally found a seasoning strictly for my freshly fried french fries. The last one is a Blackened Redfish Seasoning produced by Chef Paul Prudhomme in New Orleans. I use this product on alot of Creole/ Cajun dishes and sauces that have cream in them. One last tip or advice on seasonings, like the ones I found at Marshall’s and Big Lots, anytime we travel, I am always on the look out for seasonings at gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants. Buc-ee’s Truck Stop is a great example of a place that I have found jackpot seasonings that I use. They are all over Texas. Click on the picture for a better close up of the seasonings. If you have any questions on the seasonings below, feel free to email me at kyle@rusticpalate.com

Core Seasonings