Text 11740, 142 rader
Skriven 2014-04-03 06:05:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av JIM WELLER
Ärende: A story of two tails 431
================================
 JW> I suppose they could be collaborating but so far they are treating
 JW> both the the customers and the staff very well, so they deserve the
 JW> premium prices they're charging.

Sort of Wegmansish, then?

 ML> I wonder why a smaller, poorer store shouldn't have a butcher
 ML> shop.
 JW> Simply because the store is just too small.

That's pretty small. The groceries I've seen that don't
have an onsite butcher seem to be that way because of
laziness or parsimoniousness.

 JW> The big news nationally this week is that the federal Competition
 JW> Bureau gave their blessing for Loblaws, the largest grocer, to
 JW> purchase Shoppers Drug Mart, the largest pharmacy chain.

Very interesting.

 JW> Now that Loblaws can
 JW> access Shoppers suppliers and vice versa prices could come down at
 JW> both places.

I'd have thought that the brands were big enough already
so that economies of scale were already optimized.

 FWIW the Competition people have promised to watch the
 JW> new super large corporation for predatory supplier tactics.

And whose government actually allows the Competition people
to foster competition?

 JW> An amusing article that reminded me of us trying to make seal meat
 JW> edible (also a slightly poignant observation of an Asian foodie in
 JW> the redneck American South) ...

Might seem southern to you, but that's less than 40 miles south
of me or the Shipps. The rednecity I don't doubt so much.

 JW> http://modernfarmer.com/2014/03/art-science-muskrat-cooking/

An amusing article, but if the author had actually been able to
cook, he might have put up a good fight. Changing the water once
or twice overnight during the first soaking stage might have helped,
also the baking soda trick he cites but apparently did not use.

The main reason for the following is to justify the
altered thread title:

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.02

      Title: Choosing Beef
 Categories: Beef, Info
      Yield: 1 text file

  First, look at the cut of the beef.  Meat from the part of the animal
  that works the least, i.e. the tenderloin, short loin, top portions
  of the rump, is gonna be more tender than meat from the parts of the
  animal that work a lot, such as the chuck (front shoulder), brisket,
  bottom rump, etc. If you're planning on cooking the meat using a dry
  heat method (broiling or roasting), go for cuts from the tender
  section of the cow. For moist heat methods (braising and stewing),
  meat from the less tender sections is fine, and may be preferable
  because of the additional flavor found in these cuts.

  Next look at color.  The nice, red meat you associate with a good
  piece of cow is NOT gonna be particularly good eating.  Ideally, the
  meat should be a darker, less appetizing color, which means that the
  enzymes in the meat have been working a bit, and some aging has taken
  place.

  Now, look at the cut of meat itself.  If it looks nice and lean, with
  no fat marbling in the meat itself, forget it.  If you broil meat
  like that, it's gonna be tough as the proverbial boot.  Instead,
  choose the piece that everyone else is rejecting 'cause it has some
  streaks of fat in the middle of the meat, maybe a little more outside
  fat coating than is politically correct.

  Also look at the texture of the meat.  All muscle contains two kinds
  of connective fibers, called collagen and elastin.  These fibers
  bundle the individual strands of muscle together, and allow the
  muscle bundles to function.  When exposed to heat, they contract,
  toughen, and make the end product tough.  In dry heat cooking, look
  for a piece of meat with a velvety surface, indicating that these
  bundles are not overly developed.

  In moist heat cooking, collagen softens and dissolves, and becomes
  gelatin. Elastin, unfortunately, doesn't do much of anything except
  transform itself into gristle.

  Finally, if in any doubt whatsoever as to the overall tenderness of
  the meat, you can resort to treating meat to be broiled with a
  commercial meat tenderizer containing papin.  If you follow the
  directions exactly (more/longer exposure to this enzyme is NOT
  better, and will result in a flabby, disgusting mouthfeel), you can
  get a pretty decent steak out of some fairly unpromising hunks of
  meat.

  Another hint, which your nephew Wes learned the hard way the other
  night, is to avoid steaks with strange, butcher-generated names like
  the plague. He dragged home a couple of little beauties with the
  colorful name of "Ranch Steaks" the other night. (I tried to tell him
  not to buy 'em cause they were gonna be tough, but he didn't seem to
  hear me :-)  He tossed his on the grill, chewed, cussed and chewed
  his way through as much of it as he could manage before consigning
  the remainder to the cat.  I treated mine with papin, cooked it very
  rare, and got something that was marginally edible.

  Moral to the story:  If the butcher doesn't thing it will sell under
  its REAL name (in this case Sirloin Tip, which is a polite way of
  saying Heel of Round), he's gonna give it a fancy handle and mark the
  price up 50 cents a pound, just to see who's gullible enough to buy
  it.

  Have to agree with Jeff, though.  The quality of beef has gone WAY
  down recently.  Guess its the move toward leaner, lighter beef that's
  the culprit.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again -- there's
  NO WAY lean, unmarbled beef is going to even begin to approach the
  succulence and tenderness of the old-fashioned, un-heart healthy
  stuff we grew up on. Personally, I'd rather feast on the real thing a
  couple of times a year than gnaw my way through my regular portion of
  the tasteless, tough junk we're being subjected to these days.

  I realize that in a changing world, the production of old-fashioned,
  grain fed beef is ecologically unsound.  In a world with limited
  resources, we just can't devote that much time/grain to feeding a cow
  for my pleasure. But there must be some sort of compromise.
  Personally, I'd rather have a little bit of something REALLY good
  occasionally, than a lot of something mediocre on a regular basis.

  I yield the soapbox to the Gentleman from Maryland (or whoever else
  wants to climb on).

  Kathy in Bryan, TX

MMMMM


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