meet the meat

My camera has been officially sent off to repair, the problem was not the battery so I am still borrowing a camera and I am subject to the schedule of said camera - what does this mean? Gone is my flexibility and freewheeling je ne sais quoi. Enough about my malady lets talk beef. The 'beef its whats for dinner' people had a little lunch gathering to impress upon us the value of beef, as if that was something that needed to be done. I can see if we were a bunch of vegans and vegetarians and they were trying to pull us back into the coven but dang I can eat that stuff raw so you dont need to tell me twice.



Middle of a rainy day in midtown at the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) we put our name tags on and got down to the business of beef.



We learned how to cut steaks from a whole tenderloin, and I dont know about you but that is some valuable information, as it turns out I was doing it right all along.



Giff from Constables Larder volunteered to show off and he did a stellar job. It may look easy but dont let his panache fool you there is a definite technique - push down, pull back.



The grumbling stomachs made it difficult to hear Dave, the fantastic beef chef, give us any more pointers so it was time to nosh. First up came a pistachio-herb cheese & carmelized onion topped beef tenderloin crostini, and if I could possibly add more words on to this I would. It was a'ight, no seriously it was pretty tasty.



It then got uncomfortably quiet as we were standing around so they said we could sit down and enjoy the next dish and this one got ripped off in the description department - steak and tomato salad - told you nothing verbose going on with that one. This one was nice - the steak was cooked exactly to my liking and the dressing on the arugula added just the right bite.



Eat some 'beef its whats for dinner' - everyone is on the grass fed tip and its not just a marketing thing or natural thing its a 'makes sense' thing. Grass and pastures require little to no maintenance making them a very cost effective way to raise cattle - the cattle graze longer before they are brought in to fatten up on grains and corn resulting in leaner beef. So there you go.

writing 101

Get used to tons of talk since my cameras broken. Alligator stew is turning out ok. Golf is working itself out and all in all we are fine - picture it. Anyway where was I? Oh yeah, the pictures paint such a pretty picture but fat is fat and this stew stinks! Words bite harder than a pretty picture - any day - dont they? I made some messed up food right before my camera broke. Do you think this is the problem? Karma tastes like rotten aspirin.

no bull

If I say I am going to make gator hand then by golly I am going to make gator hand. If I say I am going to braise that gator hand then I braise it.



No bull around here when it come to gator hands.



Now this isnt entirely true because what I am going to braise is going to be the gator arm or more 'pc' to call it the shank. We will be braising a gator shank - not the hand, or will we?



Yet still this is not entirely true because pork belly is in the house. Nice and fat yet lean, filled with contradiction -pork belly.



Why pork belly you may ask - because what if the gator shank is unsavory?



Its called 'back-up' and when mouths want to be fed its good to have something to feed them and besides not everyone is clammoring to have gator shank.



A little pork belly, a little gator, a little pico, a little coconut rice, oh and in case you are wondering - they both took quite a while to cook, almost longer than a confit...



A little blackberry balsamic and it smooths out the wrinkles.



...and so did the hand - did you ever read that monkey paw story - this is so like that!

one trick pony

Ever feel like a one trick pony? You know - all you know how to do is butter toast - kind of thing? Thats how I feel about eggs except this pony can trick these bad boys all the way to Sunday. I am of the belief that if you cant cook eggs then you probably cant cook much since eggs, either as is or included, are the foundation for most dishes.



To pass the test you need to cook eggs and they need to pass muster, not some dry, mealy old scramble or some too brown omelete will do.



These little poachers are on a nicely seasoned crab cake surrounded by a toasted corn pico de gallo blanketed by a warm hollandaise and chile drizzle. Say that three times with a mouthful!



I borrowed bananas older version of my camera and hers is way better. Mine is the EX-S10 at 10 mega pixels and hers is the EX-Z60 at 6 but it blows mine out of the water in its optical capablities.


I did order a new battery (these cameras take a special little square rechargeable) and it should be here in a couple of days, if this isnt the solution I will be so upset.

dying camera

The never ending saga of my life. I beat hell out of my cameras. As you recall, this happened, and then a year later this happened and now its happening again. These are good cameras I just use the heck out of them and I used the heck out of another one. This time I am thinking and hoping its only the battery so a battery is on order and the waiting begins. The dilemna here is I am on this never ending treadmill of warranties because ironically enough it happens before a year is up - go figure!