Balanced whole meal bowls
Welcome to our mini-course on Crafting Balanced Whole-Meal Bowls. This session will equip you with the knowledge and skills to create nutritionally complete,
visually appealing, and delicious meal bowls, including soup-based options, that can be easily implemented in your kitchen.
There are a few important reasons to include this type of meal in your repertoire:
- Packaging a whole balanced meal in one bowl allows for easy portion control, both for planning and for nutritional reasons.
- When preparing for an off-schedule meal, having a single bowl waiting for each diner, including a full meal is much easier. If the bowl is designed in an appealing way, and delicious obviously, the crew eating off schedule will appreciate the additional effort.
- When planning for a meal that can be executed in less time, it makes sense to prepare items in advance and serve easily. Think big soup bowls with noodles, protein and parboiled veggies all prepared in advance, just waiting for steaming broth to be poured above for service.
Let’s start by covering three key aspects of whole-meal bowl creation:
What kind of tableware will we use for soaking?
Any vessel made of a non-reactive material and its contents are sufficient to contain the meat completely immersed in the liquid: glass bowls, plastic (intended for storing food), ceramics, stainless steel. Do not use aluminum and copper utensils
How long to soak?
Depends on the type of meat.
Beef and lamb: at least 24 hours. Recommended 3 days for chunks
of 2 kg or more.
Chicken: 12 hours
Whole turkey: 24 hours
Turkey breast and chunks of venison: 12 hours
Pork ribs: 12 hours
All soaking times are the minimum for a significant change, it is also possible to double the time for a better result
After removing the meat from the BRINE, rinse it well with cold water to remove most of the salts left in the external layer.
Any spice or liquid that is added to the BRINE will actually make it a combination of brine and marinade and will mainly affect the flavor in the outer layer.
I like to add: bay leaf, whole black pepper and coriander seeds, You can put whatever you want and each spice will add an extra flavor.
Tip for Chicken:
After I finish the BRINE process I transfer to a marinade whose base is yogurt, spices and a little fresh lemon juice for another 12 hours
Any other marinade you like will work great as well.
Try and you will get the most delicious and juicy meat you have
prepared
And even more so if you are making chicken.
A BRINE basic recipe:
1 liter of water
30 grams of salt
10 grams of sugar
