Carrots and Bones and Cabbage

Carrots 

I bought two big bunches of local organic carrots last weekend at Longview Produce Co., and a big local cabbage. I am always too ambitious when buying produce, but I was determined not to let these go bad on me. I finally got the carrots put up tonight: one quart of dilled carrot sticks in a wide-mouth quart jar, and about a cup of ginger carrots.

Bones

I also roasted five pounds of beef marrow bones for bone broth. I bought them at Sinnett's Marketplace -- sometimes they have them out in the freezer in front of the meat counter, but this time I had to ask the butcher for them, and he brought out a huge bone and sawed it up right in front of me and asked me how many pounds I wanted.  I got five, and divided them between two pots on the stove.  I don't have one of those huge stockpots. They have been simmering since about two. I think I will move the Dutch oven into the oven overnight, since I worry about the damage that long slow cooking does to the wall next the burner I use for it.

The wall of the pot is just inches from the drywall. Really, really stupid kitchen design.

You will probably hear me complain about it more than once.

After I prepped the carrots, I threw the peelings into the stew pot.  I will also throw in some non-organic carrots before I go to bed.

And I made short ribs -- the really short thick kind. I made my own sauce for them, which was pretty good - could have been a bit hotter.

For the rib sauce, I used a big spoon of my home-made lacto-fermented ketchup, a big spoon of molasses, two big spoons of the lacto-fermented salsa I made last week, and mixed it all with a stick blender and let it sit while the ribs cooked.  I made some white rice (I'm still using up what's in my cupboard) at the end of the two-hour cooking time for the ribs, and when they came out of the oven I pulled them off the bones, cut away the worst of the gristle and cartilage, and put the bones, gristle into the stew pot.  After we ate, I threw in the last, smallest rib that neither of us had room for. And I poured in all the fat.

Before I go to bed I'll add those carrots, and some celery and parsley too. There's already half of a big onion in each pot.

Tomorrow I'll cool it down and strain out the bones and gunk and put it in the frig for soups and gravies.  If any of the bones have marrow left in them, I'll dig it out and save it or throw it back into the broth.

Cabbage

Now the cabbage purchased at the same shopping trip is sitting on my table mocking me.

I won't be mocked by a cabbage. My cutting board and a wide mouth mason jar are going through the dishwasher now.


I'm trying to decide how much more I'm really up for tonight. Last time I made sauerkraut I went to bed at 2 a.m.


But this time I'm experienced.