Text 15985, 154 rader
Skriven 2007-05-27 19:05:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av DALE SHIPP
Ärende: Picnic stuff 575
========================
 -=> Dale Shipp said to Dave Sacerdote <=-

 DSh> We freeze almost all meats.  
 DSac> Interesting.  I seldom buy meat that isn't for consumption
 DSac> within a few days, so it never sees the inside of the freezer.

My mother used to claim that beef should never be frozen, but
pork froze well. At the time, the books generally said that
pork should never be frozen, but beef froze well. I imagine
that given low enough water content and a quick enough freeze,
any meat probably freezes okay. But I do prefer fresh meat
when it's practical for me to get it.

On our way back from the hospital yesterday, we found the new
Texas Roadhouse in Glenn Dale; made a big U-turn to get there.

The famous peanuts (you throw the shells on the floor) were seconds,
and Carol's order of jalapeno poppers (aka Armadillo Eggs) didn't
come until after dinner (and as such were free). Let's see. A cup
of chili was acceptable, in fact much spicier and less beany than
the stuff I had with the Sacerdotes a couple years ago. Carol
didn't complain about her Caesar salad. Her main course was
chicken-fried steak with white gravy (pretty good, the gravy made
with ham or bacon fat) sided with mashed taters with brown gravy
(okay). I had - surprisingly - the rib and sirloin combo, the same
thing that I had before and that I swore I'd forgo for a big steak
next time: worse, in the case out front there was a pound sirloin
strip that was twice as marbled as any of the other steaks and
that I certainly should have rescued. The steak part came cooked
as I like it - instead of giving one a thin 6-oz cut, one gets
a third of an about 18-20 ozer, making rare other than a pipe dream.
The beef was excellent - as good as Cite and better than Outback,
Smith and Wollensky, Ruth's Chris, Fleming's, or Gallagher's. The
ribs were lean and a bit dry, same as in Springfield. This time I
speculated that they must have found a streamlined breed of fatless
pig, either that or they had liposuctioned animals. I ate them with
modest pleasure, but there was a guy at the next table with a cutish
date and a 20-ish-oz strip, and my eyes kept wandering toward his
steak (don't think I glanced twice at his date). My side of seasoned
rice was strongly bouillon-scented and had either ground glass or
sand in it - they must have taken the term "dirty rice" too literally.
A 22-oz Sam Adams cost $5; Carol's coconut margarita was maybe a buck
or two more. The reason I bring this meal up in this context is that
the beef was obviously never frozen, whereas the pork probably had
been, and there is a difference, but not a dispositive one.

 DS> I think that a 15 pound shoulder would last us for a lot longer than
 DS> a few days.   I'd eat part, and freeze the rest in meal sized
 DS> portions for later use.

I admit that's a lot of meat for two. Usually I see chunks of
about 1/3 that size in the stores, much more manageable.

 DSac> I also seldom buy meat at full price, though:  I cruise the
 DSac> markdown (used meat) section every couple of days and plan our
 DSac> menus accordingly.
 DS> You seem to have better luck at that than we do.   I rarely see
 DS> markdown meat at our primary stores (Giant and Safeway).  Nor do we
 DS> buy meat every couple of days.

I wonder what the stores do in the DC area with about-to-expire meat.
The Safeway down in Arlington where my sister used to live had a
wonderful green meat bin, but I seldom see one in Maryland. Do they
grind the stuff up when it's about to go off?

 DSac> Have you ever tried making a meatloaf with a combination of
 DSac> beef, pork, and veal?  That's the way my family always did
 DSac> it (so of course, that's the way I still do [g])  It's
 DSac> marvelous.

The veal makes for a lighter texture, and it's high in gelatins,
which is nice. But you can get almost as nice an effect by
using 60/40 pork to beef. Me, I use just beef, because I like
the firmer texture and frankly beefy flavor.

 DS> I think that Mother did that.   When we make our Cajun meatloaf, it
 DS> is a mix of ground beef and ground pork.   Ground pork is not easy
 DS> to find.  Ground veal is even more rare.  We do occasionaly see
 DS> "meatloaf mixes" which have ground beef, veal and pork in one
 DS> package.
 DS> I once overheard a conversation between a gentleman and the butcher
 DS> which boiled down to the man saying something like "but she told me
 DS> not to come home without ground pork.   What can I do if you don't
 DS> have any?"   Our markets carry it, but not reliably.  We did get
 DS> some recently for a recipe, but it is not always there.

Just tell them to grind some for you. What they should do, of
course, is run some scraps through afterward to clean the machine
to avoid pork-beef contamination, but they probably won't do that,
but that's not your problem.

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05

      Title: Cambodian Eggplant with Pork and Shrimp
 Categories: Cambodian, Fish, Pork, Chicken, Chilies
      Yield: 1 Servings

      1 md Eggplant
      1 tb Oil
      1    Garlic clove, chopped
    1/2 c  Finely ground pork
      1    Fresh red chile, seeds and
           -veins removed, minced
      1 tb Soy sauce
    1/2 ts Fish sauce
    1/2 ts Mild chili powder
      1 tb Sugar
    1/2 c  Chicken stock
    1/2 c  Water
      2 tb Spicy Lime Sauce
    1/2 c  Raw shrimp, peeled and
           -chopped
           Salt, pepper
           Garnishes: fresh coriander,
           -sliced green onions
           SPICY LIME SAUCE:
      2    Garlic cloves, peeled
      1    Or 2 red chiles, stems,
           -seeds and veins removed
    1/2 c  Water
      2 tb Fish sauce
           Juice of 1 medium lime
      3 tb Sugar
           Shredded carrot, for garnish

  Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Puncture eggplant in a few places with
  a fork or skewer. Bake on a sheet pan until soft, about 15 minutes.
  Set aside and let cool slightly, then peel and split lengthwise into
  strips about 1 inch thick.'

  Heat oil in a wok or saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook
  until lightly browned. Add pork, chile, soy sauce, fish sauce, chili
  powder and sugar; cook, stirring, until meat loses its raw color. Add
  stock and water and bring to a boil. Add lime sauce, shrimp and
  eggplant; simmer until shrimp are done. Season with salt and pepper.
  Transfer eggplant pieces to a serving dish and top with pork mixture.
  Garnish with coriander and green onions.

  Spicy Lime Sauce: Combine garlic, chiles and the water in a blender
  or food processor and liquefy. Combine fish sauce, lime juice, sugar
  and chile-garlic mixture in a small bowl. Stir to dissolve sugar. If
  using sauce by itself, add a bit of shredded carrot for garnish.
  Makes 1 scant cup.

  From Jay Harlow's "Southeast Asian Cooking." From an article by Joyce
  Jue in The San Francisco Chronicle, 9/4/91.

  Stephen Ceideburg

MMMMM

___ Blue Wave/386 v2.30
--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
 * Origin: Doc's Place BBS Fido Since 1991 docsplace.tzo.com (1:123/140)