What’s that floating around in the pool at Casa de la Pav? It’s a short story that needs to be told. And the end is a fabulous tip which is a solution to defrosting meat fast!
A few summers back, I was bemoaning the fact that once again I “had” to start dinner after 7pm on a weeknight. By the way, my husband, Mike, is a pretty good cook too and he doesn’t mind cooking but I have a little guilt about that. That’s another story. Anyway, there are any number of reasons for why we eat later, Mike’s work schedule, the evening Jazzercise classes I teach, poor planning etc, etc etc…. Mike and I may chat during the day about dinner but we’re not apt to make a decision. Sound familiar? Some may say just go out. However, it’s important to us to eat healthful and delicious meals. But trying to do this after we get home from our daily endeavors really sucks! For me the real challenge is getting to the point of actual cooking; getting through the prep. And a big part of this is defrosting anything especially meat. Obviously, because of our inadequate planning, we haven’t taken meat out of the freezer the night before or morning of to defrost; either in the fridge or on the counter (like my mom taught me). Last minute I really dislike putting it into the microwave since it never comes out without edge browning, an uneven thawing or some such thing. It’s a dissatisfying cunundrum for me.
So on this particular night the bemoaning turned into hissing and bitching (I know, hard to believe) about defrosting the meat. I guess my dear husband had had his fill (imagine that) when I heard him say, “Just throw it in the pool!” “What?” I responded. “Just throw the damn meat in the pool!” he exclaimed. “Noooooooo! That’s unsanitary, it’s gross, how’s that going to work?” I loudly mumbled. He just looked at me, took the meat, walked out the door down to edge of the pool and threw it in. I was aghast! I’m a professional. I knew better. I mean I didn’t pay for the privledge these last 14 years for my food handler & kitchen permitting for nothing. I recieved a glowing health inspection every year. What’s this throw the meat in the pool technique? I can tell you that it’s not on the list of approved defrosting methods by the health department not to mention the approved by mom method!
But guess what? It worked. Not only did it work but the meat defrosted quickly and evenly; in half the time of the microwave. I’m a believer. Thank you my patient, practical and sweet husband Mike.
While I’m a believer I’m not neccessarily going to promote this technique; just write about it. It’s not for everyone and certainly not for a professional. However, if you have some curiosity and need quick meat defrost fix - IT WORKS!
Now, if you’ll excuse me I need to go find some frozen meat so I can “just throw it in the pool”!