Soaking Wet

Well hello there. Now that the threat of the possible hurricane is past us it's time to update! Well, we are all fine here in our sleepy little beach town, just a ton of rain. On Thursday the eye of the storm was directly over our town for most of the day. Now, just in case you're not familiar with tropical storms or hurricanes, the eye is a good thing. It means calm. For the two days before, it had been raining pretty much non-stop, and has pretty much been raining since with a few breaks here and there, but never for very long.
We were prepared for the worst. We had our food and water supplies ready, candles, propane etc. There were reports from southern part of the state that up to 30 inches of rain fell. So, I sandbagged the garage and the doors to keep possible rising water out.
Now that tropical storm Fay is gone we are still getting rain but not as bad as before and the relentless wind has finally died down to the warm breeze that we're used to. Life is slowly going back to normal.

During the thorough dousing we had this week, it got me thinking about food! What are some ways that we can soak our food? A good brine is an often overlooked and under used method that always, always yields good results. Brines are simple and can be modified as you see fit.

Here's a good start:
1 quart of water
1/2 cup salt of your choice
1/2 cup sugar
Mix all ingredients until dissolved.

Now, how long you brine is up to you. But generally speaking, red meats and poultry can stand overnight, fish a few hours.
Some people rinse the brine off and others don't. I prefer not to. This is a choice you'll have to make for yourself after some experimenting.

Another tip, never re-use your brine. Just a bad idea anyway you look at it.

Try adding some flavor to your brines, dried herbs like rosemary, juniper berries, candied ginger, anything really to add another layer of flavor and depth to your food. Have fun and experiment with it. You'll be glad you did.

Eat well,
J.G.