sometimes, it's the little things...

...or, the not so little things that bring me joy.

Like this, a four-pound pork roast looking so much at home on my counter. At $1.98 a pound from the happy butcher man at Marconda's, I couldn't resist.
I hacked it up into twelve beautiful 1/3 pound steaks; now they wait patiently, Ziplocked, labeled, and neatly tucked away in the freezer.
In case you're doing the math, that's six (substantial!) meaty meals for two for $7.92.
Plus tax, of course.
But I'll let you add that on yourself.

cheap steaks and thoughts on butchery.

Just a quick little tip from the LA Times on cheap cuts of beef... Nothing too profound, but there are some good tips. And I must say, I had a fabulous top sirloin steak a few nights ago. (Yes, the one that made me stinky for ballet...) The advice for cooking and slicing it properly made a huge difference in the texture of the meat.

But what else is new in this lady's meat land? I've been trying to prepare myself mentally for my butchery class coming up on Sunday. The man and I are hopping in the Green Dragon on Saturday morning and heading up to SF for quick trip to return promptly after the class with our giant red camping cooler filled with fresh cuts of pork and lamb. I have to admit I'm not sure what I've gotten myself in to!

From the start of my meat journey, I have confidently stated that perhaps every one who eats meat regularly should, at some point, have the experience of seeing the animal in pre-vacuum wrapped state to understand and accept what we eat and demand humane treatment of animals and quality products. Now that I'm actually going to experience it, (or at least part of it, won't be going to a slaughterhouse this time around!) I'm a little squeamish. I keep replaying the guy on the phone telling me that it probably goes without saying, but remember to wear something that you don't mind getting.... He tapered off. Does he say "bloody"? Would that be offensive? Disrespectful? I got the picture. Still don't know what I'll be wearing though. Debating on a clean white t-shirt for an interesting splatter-paint fashion statement, but don't think I'll follow through with it. Suggestions?

daily burger, number eighteen.

Picked Pepper Pork Patty. Parsley; pluot.

My kitchen, DTLA, CA., 10:02AM, May 17, 2009.

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

daily burger, number eleven.

Breakfast pork burger, sweet and spicy with garlic and green onions. Strawberries; 1/2 banana.
Some may call this sausage. I just call it meat.
My kitchen, DTLA, CA., 8:32AM, May 10, 2009.

daily burger, number seven.

So, call me out on a technicality if you want, but here's my seventh "burger."

Ground pork burger, Asian-inspired with mushrooms, garlic, vinegar, and spicy-spices, topped with green onions, red peppers, and cilantro. Purple lettuce; yellow squash.

My kitchen, DTLA, CA., 7:11PM, May 6, 2009.

cashing in on the chaos

Last night, the man and I ventured to the giant Whole Foods in Pasadena (pretty much my favorite store...) to see if pig flu panic had caused pork prices to drop. Unfortunately, no such luck. Either we were a day late, or a week early.
I'll deal with the media hype if it will get me cheap ribs and tenderloin! I know it won't make me sick, so, why not?

set your tivos...

don't miss the HBO documentary Death on a Factory Farm...

it originally aired on monday (did anyone catch it?), but has been repeating throughout the week.
i haven't seen it yet, but the kicker allegedly is that nothing that is captured is illegal. i'd imagine it will give you something to think about next time you eye the discount pork chops at the supermarket.
don't get me wrong, i'm not asking you to forgo your ham sandwich, merely consider thinking about where it may have come from and purchase from trustworthy sources!

koreans know their meats!

a real korean barbeque experience was something i always felt left out of during my vegetarian days. whenever we would go, my man's korean cousin had to talk the confused waitstaff into bringing me something that was meat-free. this usually was a plate of broccoli, onions, and garlic and a $40 bill. always a fun group dining event, but a huge let-down for my stomach and my wallet!

over the weekend, i was able to participate in a meat-filled barbeque at parks in koreatown. we got lots of heaping plates of good quality meat and i felt very satisfied with the experience, especially with my newfound meat knowledge.

here's our first cut of beef:


thinly sliced, nicely marbled kobe! i happily munched on this, savoring the flavor of the fattiness i have learned to enjoy.

and pork. super tasty with toasty onions and garlic!

an excellent meal for the carnivorous and those with food allergies/intolerances. they kindly switched out the grill between every cut of meat so i could feel comfortable and opt out of the marinated plates. and also, this was much better than my korean barbeque experience in seoul, perhaps a story for a different time or a different blog...

recession-friendly steaks.

this is a must-try-- a simple way to turn a "choice" steak into a "prime" cut.

a birdie sent this along to me today after trying the recipe with pork. i tried a few samples of the pork and it was excellent! very flavorful and nicely (but not overly) salted. looking forward to preparing it with some cheap beef soon!

just spreading the word...

oh gosh, really liking this blog.




i really need to try this. now.
yes, these are homemade pork "scratchings."
and best of all, the recipe claims a friendly butcher will give you pork skins for free.
(yeah, yeah, besides the whole heart attack factor. whatever.)

here's the recipe:
part one.
part two.

wow-e-wow.

stick your pig!

so it appears to be true-- boar hunting is the thing to do in southern california!

who knew? i guess boar is coming close to overtaking deer as the top game animal in the area. and you know what? i think i'm for boar hunting on several levels.

• i sure don't want wild boar taking over los angeles. they are mean creatures and seem kind of dirty (perhaps that's a misconception, but any omnivorous animal lacking in a moral foundation has the potential to be kind of gross-- i.e. eating their young)... and i'm having horrible thoughts of a "hollywood swine: invasion of the boar" screenplay.
• seems like a good thing for a hesitant hunter to start with. boars are actually quicker and more clever than i imagined, but they sure aren't pretty (see below)
• wild boar will be completely happy and free of nasty chemicals
• wild pig "weighs about 50 pounds, yet is compact enough to fit into the trunk of a mid-’80s Camaro" (see this article)
• there are only minor restrictions on hunting wild boar, and no seasons or daily limits
• wild bacons, need i say more? i'm in!

here's a great article about boar hunting.

but here's a real kicker-- find out exactly how to exactly stalk, take, prepare, and dine upon your own wild pig from some bay area "swinologists." really. it is a definite must-read. along with exploring practical aspects of the hunt and the idea of hunters having, well, a conscious, it ends in a fabulous description of the resulting meal--

"...once you decide to cook your boar, quickly alert a team of gastronomes who are willing to eat a hog on short notice...[then] watch the expressions on the faces of your dinner guests when they first see the beast, turning on the spit, atop a roaring blaze... as guests feed, an odd silence will wash over the spectacle, interrupted only by an occasional mewl or groan...a certain barbaric poetry emerges from the ritual of slaying a beast and feeding it to friends..."

still feeling hesitant? check out these reads.

The Whole Beast: Nose to Toe Eating by Fergus Henderson



Unmentionable Cuisine by Calvin W. Schwabe

cotton candy?

(image source: www.slashfood.com)

nope, no candy here! that's pork floss! way more tempting to me than vegan bacon salt. think they make it in pink?

farmers' market finds

yesterday, we visited the santa monica farmers' market to check out the fresh-from-the-farm meats. we arrived right before closing time so things were winding down, but i did get the chance to briefly talk to a couple of the meat-vendors.

the first vendor we came across was a farmer for rocky canyon. he had a pretty wide selection of grass-fed beef and humanely raised pork, along with fresh eggs, homemade sausages, juice, sweet potatoes, pomegranates, apples, eggplant, onions, melons, tomatoes, and cucumbers (in season, of course).

my excitement came from kathy lindner of lindner bison. she is incredibly warm and helpful; you could tell she really had a passion for bringing her customers top-notch, tasty products. their story is great-- kathy tried bison meat and loved it so much that her and her husband decided they had to leave their jobs and dedicate their lives to raising bison! their backgrounds helped out of course, him having a lifelong passions for farming and her being a descendant of margaret carlston, the "cattle queen of montana," but now they commute between their southern california home (and farmers' markets!) and the ranch in northern california. how inspiring! i'd like a 20-lb. assortment please, with bison tenderloin, some burgers, meaty soup bones, and jerky... and toss in a few bones for the pooch, please!

here's a picture from their ranch--

also, i learned a new buffalo (or should i say "bison bison") fact from their website:

"Is bison the same as buffalo? It should be. When America's pioneers saw bison for the very first time, they had no name for it. Because it looked similar to a European animal called "buffalo", that's the original term that stuck. For years the word "buffalo" has been used interchangeably with the species name, "bison bison". But when it comes to food labeling, it's another story.As it turns out, labeling laws are so loose in our country, if we were to label our meat "buffalo" we could be selling water buffalo, cape buffalo or North American buffalo. Even if it were North American buffalo, we legally can add up to 49% beef to the ground meat product, still call it buffalo, and not tell you. It's all perfectly legal. Because of this, Lindner Bison from the beginning decided to label our meat by the species name (bison bison). That way, our customers will never have to wonder what they are actually getting from us."

recession-proof your meats

a relevent discussion for today may be how to maintain a realistic food budget and still eat good-quality products... here's my eating/cooking/shopping tips of the moment:

eat in! why go out for a steak dinner when you can make a great one at home? even if you buy the best cuts of meat you can find, i guarantee it will be cheaper than paying for a mid-quality restaurant steak. steak cooking is so easy with just a few tools. i usually just marinate it for a few hours in red wine (or 100% cranberry or cherry juice), olive oil, garlic and onions, then sear it in my fabulous cast iron skillet while the oven preheats to 400ish, transfer to a baking dish and cook until the internal temperature reaches about 135 on your trusty meat thermometer for medium rare. while your steak is in the oven, reduce your marinade juices with the meat juices in the skillet for a tasty sauce. don't forget to let your meat rest before slicing! you'll have a perfect steak every time with almost no effort. (and look here! slashfood finally confirms that my dad did teach me the best way to season cast iron.)

stock up on stocks! not the store-bought ones- make your own. much cheaper if you do it frequently, and so much tastier! i buy cheap hunks of meat and boil them to death with onions, garlic, lemon, and whatever fresh herbs i have around. then, i freeze the stock in small containers and use it in soups for weeks-- and you also have lots of low-fat cooked meat to shread on salads or fill sandwiches for days! my favorites are the turkey thighs from whole foods-- huge hunks or organic turkey for less than $3 a pound (or 99-cents a pound if the butcher mischarges you like he did me this week)= yummy food for days. one more plug for whole foods: they also sell additive-free bacon. no nitrates for this lady!

don't disregard "big box" or discount stores completely! costco's meat sells for about a third of the price of grocery store meat- and often is higher in quality. not for the faint of heart- unless you're feeding multitudes of people or shop with meat-loving friends- dividing and freezing that ten-pound pork loin will be necessary. fresh and easy also has decent meats for cheap if you have one in your area-- just make sure to read the labels carefully. their sell-by dates can be tricky, and not all of their meats are happy.

simply eat smaller portions of meat! in meal prep, i try to fill half of our plates with fresh fruits and veggies and cheap, healthy staples like brown rice or sweet potatoes. then, we can be satisfied with little bits of the good stuff without breaking the budget. remember, meat portions need only be about four ounces, or the size of your palm or a deck of cards.

that's all for now! happy (cheap) eating!

pork cookers

just in case you were wondering, this is what 54 pounds of pork loin from costco looks like:



not bad, 'specially for $1.99 per pound. i wanted to take a moment to talk to the heavily tattooed and pierced butcher-dude, but he wasn't having any of it.

and here's what it looks like when crock-potted:

book of the week:

(image source: http://www.chroniclebooks.com/)
Okay, stick with me here.
This is actually a really great book. I would go so far to say it may be useful for all genders! Don't be fooled buy the cutesy design elements (I actually think they're pretty great, but I'm a sucker with anything with stitching), there is quite a bit of substance inside. Essentially divided up into three categories, beef, pork, and lamb (no poultry or fish!), each section explains the different cuts of meats with instruction on purchasing, cooking, and serving, with a separate chapter on marinades.
Just a happy surprise to add to your meat library.

this week's cut:

pork!

(image source: www.90meat.com)
kosher? nah, but hey! bacon is worth it!
betcha didn't know this fun fact: pork is the most widely eaten meat in the world, providing about 38 percent of daily meat protein intake worldwide. thanks, wikipedia!
a co-worker suggested crumbling crispy bacon on oatmeal for breakfast. i opt for cream of rice and wow, is it tasty.