Kitchen Sauna: 101
A Guide to The Most Underrated Cooking Technique
Greetings Friends, 🥂
Food Costs, Eating Out & Revenue Streams
Another crazy week in the Finance World is coming to a close. While this Substack specifically focuses on Food & Cooking, we are not in a vacuum and when things like inflation and food costs are running at all time highs and the financial markets plummet… it does bring into perspective the importance of being efficient and resourceful in your own kitchen.
The fact is that the vast majority of people are having to make lifestyle changes. Restaurant menu prices are soaring. Grocery bills continue to climb. Whether you are single or have a family of 4, most people are feeling a pinch… or straight up squeeze.
Before we go into the cooking content today, it made sense today to share some helpful resources for creating multiple revenue streams for yourself. Most of us grew up with the classic: College Degree, Find a Job, Work 40 Years, Retire… plan. As we are now seeing, this carries some definite risks… namely layoffs. If you’re currently receiving only one income, it makes sense to try and capture another stream or two of income to supplement and, ideally, replace your income and then-some. There’s never been an easier time to start… online income is the answer. You’ll also hear people refer to this as “WiFi Money” 👨💻 💰.
Starting WiFi Money
There are (3) Substacks that are top-notch for you to get started and cut through all the noise. These are experts in the fields of Ecommerce and Affiliate Marketing.
BowtiedOpossum (Ecommerce)
BowtiedParrotFish (Ecommerce)
BowtiedTetra (Affiliate Marketing)
Check out their substacks or twitter feeds. You don’t need to look elsewhere, all 3 of these peeps have helped me immensely. (I’m not an affiliate and wasn’t even planning on writing this out, but the events over the last week seemed timely to help put the word out).
I’ve seen a lot of success stories (incl my own as living proof) that WiFi money is key to being sovereign and financially independent. It’s not easy… but there’s equal opportunity for everyone, and if you execute consistently you can achieve an amazing ROI and unequal results. 🔥 🙌
Check the friends above out ⬆️ … you won’t be disappointed.
Lifechanging Hummus
Yesterday was International Hummus Day. Friendly reminder to any late-joiners, I did an entire substack on Life Changing Hummus at home. You really will never want to buy from the store again… you can even make a bulk batch and freeze.
This is also very cheap to make. Dried chickpeas are a few $ and will crush any store bought hummus and also 99% of restaurants…
Check it out… your taste buds and friends will thank you!
Cold Brew Coffee Season ☕️
This is officially last call for the May Octopod Premium Coffee orders… 🙌 ☕️
I’m excited for this months batches because one selection is a blend that is specifically designed for cold-brew coffee. (It’s all delicious brewed hot).
Here’s a quick TLDR on ColdBrew from my buddy BowtiedBernard’s Substack coffee guides ⬇️
Cold Brew Coffee:
Cold brew is made by soaking coarse ground coffee grounds in the fridge for 12-24 hours, then straining out the coffee into a new container. It keeps in the fridge for a week at minimum. If you’re not cutting, I love adding vanilla cold foam on top. Cold brew is friendlier than hot black coffee for first timers. It’s still acidic, but not bitter. It’s a different kind of acidic, brighter like lemon juice but not a harsh taste. The PH balance is the same, but the bitterness is gone so the acidity is more prominent.
I like Latin and South American coffees for cold brew, as they tend to taste less acidic and bright than Central East African coffees like Ethiopian and Kenyan due to the soil content. I’d recommend light or medium roasts for your cold brew. There’s no risk of boiling and burning here, so the natural flavors will come through like a pour over, so pick a bag with tasting notes you enjoy.
As Bernard put so well, cold brew is the perfect style of coffee for beginners. It’s also perfect to have on hand when temperatures start going up ☀️ 🥵 which happens to be now.
So this month, one of the (2) Octopod Coffee’s that ships out is a juicy, fruity coffee blend designed for cold brewing.
The Octopod May Blend
Made with a specific blend of Colombia 🇨🇴 , Kenya 🇰🇪 & Ethiopia 🇪🇹 Coffees. The flavor profile is juicy, concentrated and delicious: Black Currant, Grape, Molasses, Black Tea.
And for all who place their orders for May, I’ll be sending a free Cold Brew Guide so that you can be setup for success and easily making the tastiest cold brew around.
48 hour window to cutoff so get those orders in now and start enjoying the best cold brew ☕️ on the planet 🌍 🙌
Kitchen Sauna 💧 🔥
Today I’m going to breakdown what I think is the most underrated cooking technique.
With a basic understanding of this technique you will be able to cook lean proteins that are juicy, tender and flavorful. It’s a no-fat cooking process so you can get high protein and use fat judiciously in a sauce to finish.
Further, there are a ton of flavor combinations that make this a very flexible and adaptable cooking method. Useful not just for proteins, certain vegetables are delicious using this cooking method as well.
I’m talking about Steaming
For some reason it’s looked down on, and I suspect it’s due to ignorance… so lets fix that today.
Steaming Technique
Steaming has long been held as a “healthy” cooking alternative, and maybe that’s why people are immediately turned off by it. People have been programmed to think that “healthy” means “doesn’t taste good”.
To add insult to injury, the vast majority of steamed foods can be so bland, dry or boring. This is largely due to insufficient seasoning, bad technique and limited knowledge of flavors and heat transfer.
Without getting into the weeds here’s a breakdown of How-To Steam, and why you should be steaming more at home, followed by a recipe for a steamed cod that is encased with zucchini/squash. (*Note: Don’t worry, its easy, tasty and looks impressive!).
Healthy Steaming 💪
The obvious benefit of cooking by steam is that you are cooking in a fat-free environment. No oil need for pan searing or roasting.
This means you can dial in very tightly your macros and also gives you the option of adding explosive flavors strategically by finishing with a sauce or condiment.
Managing Steam Levels 🔥
This is where a lot of people get it wrong. There are levels of steaming. A slow, light steam will cook your ingredients “softer” than a rapid, rolling and face-melting steam.
There are also (2) different types of steamers that effect this.
The asian bamboo steaming baskets, with inserts, that sit on top of pots of water rolling at a boil are perfect for hot-steam items like dumplings, vegetables, whole fish, etc. Remember that you will need 1-2 baskets on top of your main steam basket to keep the steam from evaporating out quickly; which is one reason you see some towers of steaming baskets 6-8 high in dim sum joints.
The easier (IMO) option are the steaming baskets that fan out and cover the bottom of a dutch oven or sauce pan. You just use the pan lid to cover. These will require 2 inches of liquid or so, and are easier to monitor the steam level from low-high using your burner control knob.
Aromatics are Key 🔑
Ok now we get to flavor. Everyone assumes you steam with water. And this is true. But why would you only steam with water when there are 1000’s of flavors we can infuse and aromatize into that steam?
To your water, consider adding a dash of cooking wine or liquor. Think shaoxing wine (a brownish-rice wine from China) and even brandy. White wines work well for white fish too.
Once you have your liquid, think about what aromatics would enhance.
Any vegetable trimmings, or herbs that are starting to deteriorate (notice, starting, don’t use rotting herbs 🤢 ) can be used quickly and their flavors will add another dimension and permeate the ingredients you are cooking (think fish, chicken, pork, etc).
Sky really is the limit here, some popular ones would be:
Citrus peels (the zest or leftover wholes from juicing lemon, lime grapefruit, etc).
Onions, garlic, shallot, celery, carrot scraps, peels or trimmings.
Cilantro, ginger, green onion, thyme, sage, parsley,
Yes, you can use fresh ingredients you have on hand, I do that a lot, but this is the perfect medium to use for “no waste” cooking.
Don’t use cilantro stems? Throw them in your steaming liquid.
Carrots are soft from sitting in your drawer too long? Use them in steaming liquid.
Ingredients to Steam
Lean proteins are ideal candidates for steaming.
Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breast
Cod
Halibut
Salmon
Trout
Pork tenderloin
(and more)
Vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy etc all do very well with steaming.
The important factor is taking into account the thickness of the protein (or vegetable) and also the intensity of the steam you are using.
(*Note: tomorrow’s Substack will cover specific temps and timings)
Putting it all Together
To put this all together, I’m dropping tomorrow an absolutely killer preparation that I used to make BITD. It looks impressive and is delicious.
We are going to use the steaming lessons above to make a Cod wrapped in Squash/Zucchini that can be done in 10 mins for a dinner party or any weeknight meal.
With a full step by step so you can start steaming with no fear… make sure you’re subscribed as this recipe tomorrow will be dropping for Paid Subs…
Don’t miss it!