Huge kudos to local filmmaker Christian Remde, who just posted his excellent documentary on Larry and Lee Ann Kocurek, as part of his 12 Films Project. I wrote about Kocurek Family Charcuterie earlier in the Austin Chronicle. Here is the web address to Christian's film:
http://www.vimeo.com/26989733
...and here is the text of my previous review of their charcuterie:
Kocurek Family Charcuterie
www.kocurekfamilycharcuterie.com
The Fresh and the Cured
Larry Kocurek comes from a long line of Tex-Czech sausagemakers, with two generations of Bohemian relatives before him hunting deer and making sausages around Gonzales, Texas. He met his wife, Lee Ann, in culinary school. "I used to tell him he was going to turn into a sausage. That's all he ever wanted to eat," she says. Over the ensuing years, she earned pastry and sommelier degrees, he graduated with cooking school honors, and they moved around for years learning and polishing their crafts in fine-dining restaurants, eventually ending up in Austin.
Lee Ann made gorgeous pastries as an assistant to David Bull at the Driskill, and then went to the Austin Wine Merchant to consult and manage. Larry was executive chef at Roy's for years before becoming Whole Foods' senior culinary instructor. For the past seven years, he's been researching and perfecting his sausage and charcuterie recipes, refining his butchering skills, and connecting with local sources. The Kocureks personally know who produces their ingredients. All the meats are local, free-range, all-natural, and heritage breeds when possible, and all of the fresh produce is seasonal, organic, and local. "I started getting into real food when I was at Roy's, and they had a wine cellar that was perfect for curing meats," says Kocurek. "The wine guys hated it, but the temperature and humidity were ideal."
Larry and Lee Ann have been making charcuterie professionally for a year and a half, and their business continues to expand. "We decided that we wanted to have fun making a living, doing what we liked to do," says Lee Ann. They currently sell their products at the six major Austin farmers markets, and they hope to soon add the extremely popular Pearl Farmers Market in San Antonio to that list. They also present two cooking classes a month and put on a quarterly supper club. The hands-on cooking classes range from venison, pig, and duck butchering (which also cover some elements of charcuterie) to classic French sauce classes. Each class ends with a buffet centered on what's been taught that day, and they all sell out in advance. The supper club is held at Swoop House, the inviting 1924 Craftsman-era location of 2 Dine 4 Fine Catering's commissary kitchen in East Austin. "They're five- to eight-course themed dinners that can be from any region of the world," says Lee Ann. "Everything is all organic and local. Starched linens, formal wine service, interesting folks sitting at communal tables, and always some element of our charcuterie involved ... it's a lot of work, but a lot of fun as well."
In March, the Kocureks will be expanding their commercial kitchen space, gaining a large walk-in cooler. "Once we have that cooler, we can start doing cured products and concentrate a lot more on wholesale to local restaurants," says Larry. "Now we make primarily fresh products, but we constantly do small test batches of cured product so that we're ready when the time comes." Another future plan is to host three- and four-day camping and hunting excursions to game ranches around the state. "This will be the real deal, Old World style," says Lee Ann. "Sleeping in tents, incredible food around the campfire, tracking and hunting, dressing and butchering the kill. You'll be out in nature, not staying in some hotel. We're real excited about getting these trips going."
I was lucky enough to attend a weekly tasting, held for the staff so they can personally describe the offerings to the market customers each week. Larry laid out a spread of many products, and we began to taste and critique. The fresh venison sausage is superlative: coarse-textured, vibrantly spiced, moist, and not the least bit gamey. The game boudin of venison and pork with Louisiana rice has a spicy cayenne kick. The cured venison sausage is dark, deeply rich, and tangy, and absolutely wonderful when accented by the grainy mustard that's made with beer yeast.
Their Czech-style bacon is smoky and exuberantly piggy. The lean smoked-duck bacon made from the breast magically blends the worlds of duck and pork belly. The "Christmas" or "Charles Dickens" chicken sausage made with cream and brandy is moist and rich, and it's even better when combined with their amazing apple-caramelized-onion marmalade. The chicken sausage turned out to be the best I've ever had: medium-textured, spiced with balance, and surprisingly moist, accented by a dab of the Love Creek apple butter. Pork rillettes schmeared on crusty bread literally melt in your mouth. A spoonful of the velvety chicken-and-duck-liver pâté de maison on a cracker makes me instantly forget how much I hate liver. There are two flaky English-style tarts: one with silky slices of braised tongue and chard, the other made with duck, venison, and greens. We demolished the tasting board, with the group reduced to primal grunts and groans of pleasure.
"The selection changes with the seasons and our whims," says Larry. "One week it might be Southeast Asia and France, the next week, Poland and Spain. We just try to have fun and make our customers very happy." Like Larry, I have a deep culinary fondness for sausages, and after sampling a wide variety, I can honestly say the Kocureks are highly skilled in the art of making delicious charcuterie and producing bold and balanced flavors. Go to the farmers' market; you really need to try this stuff.MV - 12/24/2010
Remde also did a fabulous film on Bryce Gilmore's Odd Duck Farm to Trailer:
http://www.12filmsproject.com/may_player.html
...which I also reviewed for the Austin Chronicle (text here):
Odd Duck Farm to Trailer
1219 S. Lamar, 695-6922
Tuesday-Saturday, 5pm until sold out
www.oddduckfarmtotrailer.com
Bryce Gilmore's Odd Duck is on the east side of South Lamar at Treadwell Street, a block or so north of the big Genie Car Wash, in a culinary trailer park teamed with Austin Brevità and Gourdough's (see "Gourdough's," Jan. 15). The three food operations share a central pea-graveled dining area, with assorted chairs and tables (some with umbrellas), strings of fairy lights, and a small outbuilding for the restrooms.
Odd Duck occupies an older, wooden, burnt-orange-and-white trailer (Bryce and Jack are huge UT sports fans) with a wood-burning grill inside, along with all of the cooking amenities you'd expect in a small restaurant kitchen. You order at the window, and a charming waitress delivers your food on a cafeteria tray, artfully arranged and presented in cardboard boats and paper plates. It's BYO beer and wine, tax is included in the price, and credit cards are accepted.
Portions are small yet sharable and amazingly affordable for the quality of the ingredients, all of which are sourced from local producers and farmers' markets. The philosophy of Odd Duck is fresh, seasonal, locally sourced ingredients, use of the whole animal, and a market-based menu that changes daily. The flavors are rich, assertive, and balanced, the technique creative.
A pal and I (both of us decidedly on the husky side and blessed with big appetites) decided to order the entire menu and see if we were sated after we finished. We started with a nice, crunchy bruschetta topped with big chunks of sweet beet and a nicely balancing, tart goat's milk feta, crowned with a peppery arugula salad ($4). Next, we split a rich dish of poached duck egg topped with tiny spears of sweet asparagus, slivers of scallion and mushroom, and goat's milk ricotta ($6). It was delicious and needed only a light sprinkling of salt.
The drop-dead dish of the meal was a combination of tiny grilled brussels sprouts, capers, and lardoons of marinated, rabbit belly, all garnished with a shredded, nutty-tasting cheese ($4). Sounds simple, but it was a brilliant combination of tastes. We tried the grits, which were mixed with small kernels of sweet corn and cheddar cheese, topped with a poached farm egg, braised mushrooms, and steamed greens ($6). This was the one dish that we felt could have used an element to punch it up a bit, but it was still quite good.
A large grilled crouton accompanied cubes of slow-roasted pork leg topped with an exquisite sweet onion and kale slaw ($6). It could only be improved by shredding the pork, to mix better with the slaw. A mouthwatering, semiboneless, marinated, and grilled quail arrived next atop red potato cubes, bits of salumi, and a rich, garlicky aioli ($6). The crowning touch was the pork belly slider. Several thick slices of savory, succulent, and meaty pork belly sit between a grilled brioche bun, dressed with pickled onion and carrot ($6). It's a masterpiece rivaled only by the brussels sprouts.
We think the Odd Duck concept is a huge success, with Gilmore and crew turning out gorgeous and delicious kaiseki-like small plates bursting with flavor and freshness. We both were full and very satisfied, we felt the price point was fair, and food doesn't get any fresher. Now the brussels sprouts and the pork belly slider both compete for dish of the year on our list. MV - 5/14/2010
Also check out Remde's doc on Bryce's new operation, Barley Swine:
Bryce Gilmore's Barley Swine
http://www.vimeo.com/26168459
...and lastly, visit Remde's website here:
http://www.christianremde.com/
Great ATX food, and great ATX films re: same!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Fun!, Food!, Facts!, Tater Tots, the Tubular Spuds!
Tater tots are one of the world’s most perfect foods. They are frozen and come in big, pillow-sized bags at just about any food market, for relatively little money. They are delicious and satisfying; that is undeniable. Cylindrical, crunchy, and golden brown on the outside, with that steaming yummy grated spuddy center, they aren’t served nearly as often as they should be, either in restaurants, or by friends that invite me over to dine. After being sprinkled with salt, pepper, and a little garlic powder, they are the perfect complement to some French’s Yellow Mustard, garlicky aioli, chipotle ketchup, oniony tartar sauce, or spicy queso. And, as Napoleon Dynamite so ably demonstrates, they are durable enough to be secreted away in a pants pocket for later consumption when the urge strikes.
Its roots are firmly connected to the Jewish latke, the Irish boxty, the Belarus draniki, or the Polish placki, and in some areas of the Northeast they are called “juliennes” or “potato puffs.” In Australia, they are called “potato gems” or “potato pom-poms” (also their Kiwi name). In Britain they were called “oven crunchies”. In Canada, proprietary brands of tater tots manufactured there are “Tasti Taters” and “Spud Puppies” (the best product name of all time!). But on the border of Oregon and Idaho where they originated, the name Tater Tot was selected. Tater is slang for potato (origin: 1750–60, America; by the phonetic process of aphresis (the loss of one or more sounds from the beginning of a word, especially the loss of an unstressed vowel): tato, with a substitution of -er for the final -o, making it tater). “Tots” may have developed from the small size of the product, or because kids are so crazy about them (assuming they were tested on children). In some regions, the word “Tater” is informally dropped, and the product is simply called “Tots”. This slang was credited to the popularity of the film Napoleon Dynamite, where the term “Tots” is commonly used, but the use of the shortened term “Tots” for Tater Tots long predated the release of the film.
Tater Tots were first created in 1953 when Ore-Ida (so named because it sits on the border between Oregon and Idaho) founders/brothers F. Nephi “Neef” and Golden Grigg were trying to figure out what to do with surplus slivers of cut-up potatoes after French fries had been processed in their plant. These leftover slivers were being gathered and used as cattle feed locally, but Neef felt like there had to be a better use for them. They came up with the idea of chopping and shredding the leftover slivers, adding some flour and seasonings to them, and then extruding them through holes to form long cylinders that could be cut into small lengths and then fried. The first extrusion prototype was made from plywood. The first test marketing of the product consisted of an Ore-Ida executive traveling across the country, playing the ukulele to attract a crowd (remember, this was in the early 50’s), and then passing out samples to the music lovers.
Tater Tot’s coming-out party was held at the then recently opened Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach, at the National Potato Convention in 1954. The Fountainbleu was a fitting venue, since it was a stylish post-modern structure, symbolic of America’s post-War II fascination with new forms, modern convenience, and luxury; a site that perfectly matched the modern, now, a-go-go tater tot. At one breakfast Neef had smuggled in a satchel of 15 pounds of Tater Tots and then bribed the head chef to prepare them. Once they were cooked, Neef had them placed on small saucers, and distributed on all of the breakfast tables for sample treats. “They were gobbled up," Grigg wrote, "faster than a dead cat could wag its tail.” Maybe this is an Oregon or Idaho folk saying, and even though it makes no sense at all (since a dead cat cannot “wag” or twitch its tail), we think we get the meaning; reports had the breakfast diners loving them, and wanting to know where they could get more.
They first became available in grocery stores later in 1954. Ironically, the original price point was too low; people wouldn’t buy them because there wasn’t any perceived value. Once OreIda raised the price, they suddenly had merit, and people started buying them. Today, Americans consume over 70 million pounds, or about 3.6 billion individual Tots, per year. What began as a solution to make use of leftover scraps has become an American food icon. That status was reinforced by the product placement of Tater Tots in Napoleon Dynamite.
In the high school lunchroom:
Napoleon: Are you going to eat your tots?
Pedro: No.
Napoleon: Can I have ‘em? (At which point Napoleon takes the pile and puts them in the side cargo pocket of his pants.) Later that day, in class, while reading, Napoleon takes a Tot out of his pocket and bites it in half….
Jock: Napoleon, give me some of your tots.
Napoleon: No, go find your own.
Jock: Come on, give me some of your tots.
Napoleon: No, I’m freakin’ starved. I didn’t get to eat anything today.
That mention in the film’s dialog, and the fact that it was shot in Idaho, caused the Idaho Legislature to pass a resolution in 2005 commending the “Napoleon Dynamite” filmmakers, reading, in part: “…tater tots (sic) feature prominently in this film thus promoting Idaho’s most famous export.” We assume that they meant potatoes, but perhaps Tater Tots are Idaho’s most famous export. They are famous enough to earn their own National Tater Tots Day, every February 2nd.
OreIda was eventually purchased by H. J.Heinz, and now the Tater Tots line has expanded, with Onion Tater Tots, ABC Tater Tots (alphabet-shaped Tots!), Crispy Crowns (crispier Tots), and Mini Tater Tots. You can make your own Tots at home and season them with anything you like.
Basic Tots makes about 50 tots
Russets are a high starch spud, and the starch is what holds the tots together when they are cooking.
4 large Russet baking potatoes, peeled
1 heaping teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon dehydrated granulated onion
½ teaspoon black pepper
Cornstarch or potato starch (if necessary)
Vegetable or rice bran oil for frying
Using a food processor, shred the potatoes. Take the shredded potato and pulse it in the food processor bowl to cut the shreds into small pieces. Steam the potato shred pieces for only about 3 minutes, just enough to get them to express their starch. Spread them out on a sheet pan and sprinkle them with the salt, onion, and pepper and mix well. At this point you should be able to take a clump of the mixture and squeeze it, and it should retain the shape. If it tries to fall apart, you can sprinkle some cornstarch or potato starch over the mixture and mix it in well.
Lay down a sheet of plastic film about 12 to 14 inches long. Spoon the potato mixture in a line about ¾-inch wide and ¾-inch tall, running almost the length of the piece of film. Tightly roll up the film from the side, like you might roll a cigarette, forming a tight log, twisting the ends in opposite directions to seal. Repeat with the remainder of the potato mixture. Put the logs in the freezer for about 30 minutes or so to firm-up.
Preheat oil for frying to about 355°. Take a log, remove the plastic film, and slice it into sections about 1 to 1¼ -inch long, forming the tots. Fry the tots in batches until golden brown; if they try to stick on the bottom, let them brown and gently remove with a spatula about ¾ the way through the cooking process. Remove and drain on paper towels. At this point they can be frozen. They can be cooked to finish in a hot oven (~400°) on a sheet pan or cookie sheet until crispy and heated through, or they can be deep fried in oil (365°) until crispy and heated through.
They are good served with mustard, ketchup, aioli, tartar sauce, green onion-sour cream dip, chile con queso, or just about anything else you can dream up.
Variations:
You can add dried powdered chiles (jalapeño, ancho, chipotle, etc) or cayenne to spice them up a little, you can use some granulated garlic in place of the onions, or add minced bacon bits or dried scallions. If you hand-form the tots, you can place a chilled ½ teaspoon-sized portion of cheese (goat, pepper jack, mozzarella, cheddar, blue, manchego, etc.) in the middle of a tot and mold the potato mixture around the outside, cooking them until the cheese inside is melted.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Three Little Pigs Opens Softly
Chef Ray Tatum, one of Austin's best long-time chefs, has opened his own pork-centric trailer. It's a gleaming white kitchen-on-wheels tucked right behind the stately Victorian house that is the home of East End Wines, at the triangular intersection of E. 11th and Rosewood, a few blocks east of IH 35. There is a warming chiminea set up next to the BBQ pit, and a few cafeteria tables with chairs for sit-down diners. East End will be setting up a more formal dining (and drinking) area once their on-premise permit goes through, so in the near future, you'll be able to choose from their amazing selection of beers and wines to enjoy with Ray's wonderful chow. East End already has a few tables set up on their back deck, and the planned sitting area will be on the sun-drenched south side of the house, with a nice view of the north end of the park-like Texas State Cemetery across the street.
The neighborhood is a pleasing and comfortable mix of new urban hipsters and old East Austin, with hopping venues like Blue Dahlia Bistro, the new Franklin's BBQ, 11th St Station, Zandunga, Victory Grill, East Side Pies, Sam's BBQ, and Nubian Queen Lola's all within a stone's throw. Fedora wearing bike riders coexist nicely with low riders and little old ladies. This area is on the cusp of breaking big time, and for those class conscious paranoids among us, there is nothing to fear. If you're missing out on the new East Austin, you are a moron, plain and simple.
We attended the soft opening yesterday and frankly speaking, we were blown away. We started with a posole, pork, and green chile stew topped with a small dollop of crema fresca ($4). Ray has always been a master of soups and sauces, and this bowl was no exception: richly complex, subtly spicy, and multi-layered in flavors, it takes you back to those early days in Santa Fe.
Next was a pork belly slider ($6), on a soft yeasty bun: two thick, unctuous slices of browned pork belly hanging outside the edges, with a crisp slice of tart green apple, caramelized scallions, and a soy-maple glaze. A perfect combination of flavors in a handy package.
If there were a signature dish, it might have to be the pork meatloaf with cracklins ($6). Ray makes a bacon-wrapped pork meatloaf that has little porky nuggets of craklins embedded in the mixture. A thick slice of the loaf sits atop a pool of rich, garlicky cheese grits, and the griddle-browned slice is topped off by a small pile of soul-style collard greens. A taste explosion that harkens back to Ray's southern roots with a new-age twist.
We then sampled a nice braised pork in green curry on rice noodles ($6). Ray's Thai-style pork melts in your mouth, drenched in a rich, spicy coconut milk-green curry sauce with makroot leaves, baby corn, and bamboo shoots, all sitting on a base of slippery rice noodles. Ray's Asian influence and culinary expertise shines through with every bite.
The big ending came with a serving of sweet chile fried chicken ($6). Imagine Korean-style fried chicken with a crispy crust and a moist steaming interior, coated with a sweet and spicy chile sauce. If fried chicken and chile candy ever had a hybrid love child, this would be it. Addictively good and coaxing moans from the crowd.
Ray is still playing around with his set-up and fine-tuning the equipment, so be patient in the first week or so, but Three Little Pigs is going to quickly shoot up to the top of Austin's trailer food scene. Food this good is sought out with enthusiasm, whether it's inside a brick and mortar, or served from a humble trailer. Three Little Pigs and East End Wines are shaping up to be a symbiotic culinary juggernaut.
Three Little Pigs
1209 Rosewood (@ E. 11th)
653-5088
4pm - food runs out or 10ish, whichever comes first
Tues-Sat
Major credit cards and cash accepted
The neighborhood is a pleasing and comfortable mix of new urban hipsters and old East Austin, with hopping venues like Blue Dahlia Bistro, the new Franklin's BBQ, 11th St Station, Zandunga, Victory Grill, East Side Pies, Sam's BBQ, and Nubian Queen Lola's all within a stone's throw. Fedora wearing bike riders coexist nicely with low riders and little old ladies. This area is on the cusp of breaking big time, and for those class conscious paranoids among us, there is nothing to fear. If you're missing out on the new East Austin, you are a moron, plain and simple.
We attended the soft opening yesterday and frankly speaking, we were blown away. We started with a posole, pork, and green chile stew topped with a small dollop of crema fresca ($4). Ray has always been a master of soups and sauces, and this bowl was no exception: richly complex, subtly spicy, and multi-layered in flavors, it takes you back to those early days in Santa Fe.
Next was a pork belly slider ($6), on a soft yeasty bun: two thick, unctuous slices of browned pork belly hanging outside the edges, with a crisp slice of tart green apple, caramelized scallions, and a soy-maple glaze. A perfect combination of flavors in a handy package.
If there were a signature dish, it might have to be the pork meatloaf with cracklins ($6). Ray makes a bacon-wrapped pork meatloaf that has little porky nuggets of craklins embedded in the mixture. A thick slice of the loaf sits atop a pool of rich, garlicky cheese grits, and the griddle-browned slice is topped off by a small pile of soul-style collard greens. A taste explosion that harkens back to Ray's southern roots with a new-age twist.
We then sampled a nice braised pork in green curry on rice noodles ($6). Ray's Thai-style pork melts in your mouth, drenched in a rich, spicy coconut milk-green curry sauce with makroot leaves, baby corn, and bamboo shoots, all sitting on a base of slippery rice noodles. Ray's Asian influence and culinary expertise shines through with every bite.
The big ending came with a serving of sweet chile fried chicken ($6). Imagine Korean-style fried chicken with a crispy crust and a moist steaming interior, coated with a sweet and spicy chile sauce. If fried chicken and chile candy ever had a hybrid love child, this would be it. Addictively good and coaxing moans from the crowd.
Ray is still playing around with his set-up and fine-tuning the equipment, so be patient in the first week or so, but Three Little Pigs is going to quickly shoot up to the top of Austin's trailer food scene. Food this good is sought out with enthusiasm, whether it's inside a brick and mortar, or served from a humble trailer. Three Little Pigs and East End Wines are shaping up to be a symbiotic culinary juggernaut.
Three Little Pigs
1209 Rosewood (@ E. 11th)
653-5088
4pm - food runs out or 10ish, whichever comes first
Tues-Sat
Major credit cards and cash accepted
Sunday, November 28, 2010
REVOLT! A Pox on Chicken Breasts!
There’s just no accounting for people’s tastes. That’s the only explanation I can come up with regarding the majority of ignorant diner’s obsession with breast meat when it comes to chicken consumption. It doesn’t matter if it’s broiled, grilled, roasted, stir-fried, or smoked; whatever form it takes is second-rate. All of the fried chicken joints charge extra for white meat; they are used to the demands of the dullard finger lickers. Most chefs and restaurant operators are afraid to use anything but chicken breast, because that’s what the customers crave. On top of that, these less than informed consumers want a skinless chicken breast. It’s not their fault, they just don’t know any better.
Here’s the problem with this scenario. Today’s processor-raised chicken breasts have absolutely no taste whatsoever, especially when the skin (which contains the precious schmaltz, or fat) is removed. As with all meats, fat equals flavor. These breasts also have a tendency towards toughness and stringiness, and they are prone to being overcooked. Most of the time, that skinless, portioned-controlled, nitrate-injected chicken breast arrived at the back door of your favorite restaurant as a chunk of frozen breast packed into a round indention on a plastic tray, a dozen to the tray, four trays to the case. To the casual observer they look like a pinkish-tan cylinder, an inch and a half tall, and three and a half inches across. Chefs call them hockey pucks, which is a good indicator of what they taste like.
With the typical Sysco/Tyson/Perdue/etc. puck, all of the tenderloin has been removed, along with part of the breast, to become chicken tenders for the fried chicken and fast food joints. The uneven edges of the breast are removed to be minced into oblivion, and reformed into pre-breaded fake chicken “tenders”, a misnomer, since they are actually breaded patties given quasi-natural tenderloin-like shapes. The tenders can be shaped and molded to resemble a portion of an actual chicken tender, or formed into patties which may or may not resemble anything that once clucked or had feathers. These are the frozen units that today’s youth are so addicted to; the easily microwaveable chicken-like unit that is every busy mom’s best friend. The fat content gets all jacked up with empty breading calories, and it’s pumped full of salt to give it some taste.
For a substantially cheaper price, the chef could instead order a boneless chicken thigh, preferably skin-on, but they could also order skinless. The big advantage to using boneless thighs, even skinless chicken thighs, is that they actually taste like chicken. They have residual fat content in the meat, which means they have rich flavor. Of course, a skin-on boneless thigh is blessed with even more fat, therefore even more flavor. Add the thigh bone, and it gets better still. A boneless thigh is tender and never stringy. It is much more forgiving when overcooked by some moronic fast food teen gastroworker. Since it comes with its own built-in flavor, it requires little salt to taste good, so it is healthier.
The only chicken breast that should ever be eaten is a bone-in, skin-on breast, hopefully from a bird that was raised frolicking in a verdant field full of bugs, worms, grains, and weeds. Barring frozen, “mechanically-pulled” white meat chicken, the hockey puck breast is the lowest form of chickendom, and frankly, we deserve better. Rise up chicken eaters! Demand flavor, tenderness, taste, and lower prices! Shake off the cloak of public shame and insist on eating chicken thighs. The next time you’re gnawing your way through a stringy, tough, tasteless hockey puck, imagine how good it could be if it were a rich, tender, flavorful chicken thigh with chickeny goodness that would make a Jewish grandmother proud. We deserve better.
Here’s the problem with this scenario. Today’s processor-raised chicken breasts have absolutely no taste whatsoever, especially when the skin (which contains the precious schmaltz, or fat) is removed. As with all meats, fat equals flavor. These breasts also have a tendency towards toughness and stringiness, and they are prone to being overcooked. Most of the time, that skinless, portioned-controlled, nitrate-injected chicken breast arrived at the back door of your favorite restaurant as a chunk of frozen breast packed into a round indention on a plastic tray, a dozen to the tray, four trays to the case. To the casual observer they look like a pinkish-tan cylinder, an inch and a half tall, and three and a half inches across. Chefs call them hockey pucks, which is a good indicator of what they taste like.
With the typical Sysco/Tyson/Perdue/etc. puck, all of the tenderloin has been removed, along with part of the breast, to become chicken tenders for the fried chicken and fast food joints. The uneven edges of the breast are removed to be minced into oblivion, and reformed into pre-breaded fake chicken “tenders”, a misnomer, since they are actually breaded patties given quasi-natural tenderloin-like shapes. The tenders can be shaped and molded to resemble a portion of an actual chicken tender, or formed into patties which may or may not resemble anything that once clucked or had feathers. These are the frozen units that today’s youth are so addicted to; the easily microwaveable chicken-like unit that is every busy mom’s best friend. The fat content gets all jacked up with empty breading calories, and it’s pumped full of salt to give it some taste.
For a substantially cheaper price, the chef could instead order a boneless chicken thigh, preferably skin-on, but they could also order skinless. The big advantage to using boneless thighs, even skinless chicken thighs, is that they actually taste like chicken. They have residual fat content in the meat, which means they have rich flavor. Of course, a skin-on boneless thigh is blessed with even more fat, therefore even more flavor. Add the thigh bone, and it gets better still. A boneless thigh is tender and never stringy. It is much more forgiving when overcooked by some moronic fast food teen gastroworker. Since it comes with its own built-in flavor, it requires little salt to taste good, so it is healthier.
The only chicken breast that should ever be eaten is a bone-in, skin-on breast, hopefully from a bird that was raised frolicking in a verdant field full of bugs, worms, grains, and weeds. Barring frozen, “mechanically-pulled” white meat chicken, the hockey puck breast is the lowest form of chickendom, and frankly, we deserve better. Rise up chicken eaters! Demand flavor, tenderness, taste, and lower prices! Shake off the cloak of public shame and insist on eating chicken thighs. The next time you’re gnawing your way through a stringy, tough, tasteless hockey puck, imagine how good it could be if it were a rich, tender, flavorful chicken thigh with chickeny goodness that would make a Jewish grandmother proud. We deserve better.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Insults from the Golden Age of Language
Back before twitter and cuss words, folks had the ability to decimate their opponents with a few carefully chosen words. Borrowed from the Net. Witness:
The exchange between Churchill & Lady Astor: She said, "If you were my husband I'd give you poison." and he said, "If you were my wife, I'd drink it."
A member of Parliament to Disraeli: "Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease."......
"That depends, Sir," said Disraeli, "whether I embrace your policies or your mistress."
"He had delusions of adequacy." Walter Kerr.
"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire."
Winston Churchill
"A modest little person, with much to be modest about." Winston Churchill
"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." Clarence Darrow
"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)......
"Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?" Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)
"Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it." Moses Hadas
"He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know." Abraham Lincoln
"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." Mark Twain
"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends." Oscar Wilde
"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend, if you have one." George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill......
"Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second¦ if there is one." Winston Churchill, in response.
"I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here."
Stephen Bishop
"He is a self-made man and worships his creator." John Bright
"I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial." Irvin S. Cobb
"He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others."
Samuel Johnson
"He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up." Paul Keating
"There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure." Jack E. Leonard
"He has the attention span of a lightning bolt." Robert Redford
"They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge." Thomas Brackett Reed
"In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily."
Charles, Count Talleyrand
"He loves nature in spite of what it did to him." Forrest Tucker
"Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?" Mark Twain
"His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork." Mae West
"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go." Oscar Wilde
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts¦ for support rather than illumination." Andrew Lang
The exchange between Churchill & Lady Astor: She said, "If you were my husband I'd give you poison." and he said, "If you were my wife, I'd drink it."
A member of Parliament to Disraeli: "Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease."......
"That depends, Sir," said Disraeli, "whether I embrace your policies or your mistress."
"He had delusions of adequacy." Walter Kerr.
"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire."
Winston Churchill
"A modest little person, with much to be modest about." Winston Churchill
"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." Clarence Darrow
"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)......
"Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?" Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)
"Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it." Moses Hadas
"He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know." Abraham Lincoln
"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." Mark Twain
"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends." Oscar Wilde
"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend, if you have one." George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill......
"Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second¦ if there is one." Winston Churchill, in response.
"I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here."
Stephen Bishop
"He is a self-made man and worships his creator." John Bright
"I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial." Irvin S. Cobb
"He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others."
Samuel Johnson
"He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up." Paul Keating
"There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure." Jack E. Leonard
"He has the attention span of a lightning bolt." Robert Redford
"They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge." Thomas Brackett Reed
"In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily."
Charles, Count Talleyrand
"He loves nature in spite of what it did to him." Forrest Tucker
"Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?" Mark Twain
"His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork." Mae West
"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go." Oscar Wilde
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts¦ for support rather than illumination." Andrew Lang
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Roads and Deer (Not Venison-Related)
Back in decades past, the University of Georgia did a lot of research on the hearing of deer. Don’t ask me why they did this, but trust me that they did. I found this out when I was calling around talking to assorted deer experts in connection with an idea I had for a product that was going to keep those pesky deer out of folk’s gardens. It was all about sonic deer deterrence. The sad result of this research was that deer basically hear the same frequencies that humans hear, although they hear those frequencies in a much more sensitive manner, since they can not only swivel their ears, but their ears are cupped and huge.
If deer hear what we hear, then those deer whistler doo dads that people attach to their front bumpers are completely ineffective. Do you hear any racket coming out of your deer whistlers as you motor down the road? Of course you don’t, and neither do the deer. There’s no telling how many millions of dollars have been wasted on worthless deer whistler sales over the decades, yet they are still being made and sold.
Deer and auto collisions are a very big deal, especially in deer country like Texas. During breeding season, known as “the rut”, sex-crazed bucks are the most likely to run right in front of (or into) your vehicle while they are chasing a doe, or battling it out with another buck for the right to chase some doe. In Texas the rut occurs in November and December, and if there’s any doubt about when it starts or ends, just check with your local auto body shop. You can also look at how fat and sassy the buzzards are that time of the year. In the U.S. every year there are 1.5 million deer-vehicle collisions, costing an estimated $1 billion dollars. Of these, about 6% cause human injuries, and some even cause death. My insurance agent has told me horror stories about people from my own area getting killed by deer hurtling through their windshields, or fatalities caused by people swerving off the road to avoid deer and running into trees. I have a friend that sliced completely through the midsection of a deer on his very fast motorcycle one night; the deer died instantly, my friend spent three months in the hospital and almost died.
In these parts, collisions with feral hogs can also be a problem, and the rules for driving with deer apply to them as well. Deer are most active along the roads at dusk and dawn and very late at night when some drivers are seeing double or are tired and nodding-off. Deer especially like to cross roads near the crests of hills, and will often travel in groups, so if you see one cross the road, expect more to be following. During the rut, bucks are just plain nuts, so expect deer to come flying out of anywhere during November and December. Deer will often feed right along the edge of the road, especially during droughts, so watch for their eyes to illuminate in your headlights and be ready to stop if necessary. If they are focused on feeding they will probably ignore you as you drive past. Whenever you see a deer crossing sign, trust that it knows what it’s warning you about; they get placed based on patrol incident reports and feedback from the crews that pickup animal carcasses, as well as the blood spatter stains on the surface of the road.
If you see deer along the roadway slow down if at all possible and let them do their thing. Don’t honk your horn unless you absolutely have to, as this startles the deer, including the ones that you don’t see just off of the road. Whatever you do, never leave the roadway to avoid a deer collision; hitting a deer will mess up your vehicle, but a deer moves when it’s hit, and lots of trees, culverts, big rocks, etc. do not. If you successfully pass deer along the road and want to warn an oncoming vehicle of the deer’s presence, hit your warning lights. Some experts tell you to hit your high beams, but that can send mixed signals (cops ahead, dim your lights asshole, etc). When a driver sees you hit your warning lights, you can take it to be a legitimate warning.
Out where I live, on the edge of the Texas Hillcountry, deer collisions are a real concern. Maybe they aren’t that big a deal where you live, but at some point you’ll have to drive on a rural road (or even on Mopac) during the deer witching hours, and this bit of practical advice might just come in handy. You’re welcome, Mick
If deer hear what we hear, then those deer whistler doo dads that people attach to their front bumpers are completely ineffective. Do you hear any racket coming out of your deer whistlers as you motor down the road? Of course you don’t, and neither do the deer. There’s no telling how many millions of dollars have been wasted on worthless deer whistler sales over the decades, yet they are still being made and sold.
Deer and auto collisions are a very big deal, especially in deer country like Texas. During breeding season, known as “the rut”, sex-crazed bucks are the most likely to run right in front of (or into) your vehicle while they are chasing a doe, or battling it out with another buck for the right to chase some doe. In Texas the rut occurs in November and December, and if there’s any doubt about when it starts or ends, just check with your local auto body shop. You can also look at how fat and sassy the buzzards are that time of the year. In the U.S. every year there are 1.5 million deer-vehicle collisions, costing an estimated $1 billion dollars. Of these, about 6% cause human injuries, and some even cause death. My insurance agent has told me horror stories about people from my own area getting killed by deer hurtling through their windshields, or fatalities caused by people swerving off the road to avoid deer and running into trees. I have a friend that sliced completely through the midsection of a deer on his very fast motorcycle one night; the deer died instantly, my friend spent three months in the hospital and almost died.
In these parts, collisions with feral hogs can also be a problem, and the rules for driving with deer apply to them as well. Deer are most active along the roads at dusk and dawn and very late at night when some drivers are seeing double or are tired and nodding-off. Deer especially like to cross roads near the crests of hills, and will often travel in groups, so if you see one cross the road, expect more to be following. During the rut, bucks are just plain nuts, so expect deer to come flying out of anywhere during November and December. Deer will often feed right along the edge of the road, especially during droughts, so watch for their eyes to illuminate in your headlights and be ready to stop if necessary. If they are focused on feeding they will probably ignore you as you drive past. Whenever you see a deer crossing sign, trust that it knows what it’s warning you about; they get placed based on patrol incident reports and feedback from the crews that pickup animal carcasses, as well as the blood spatter stains on the surface of the road.
If you see deer along the roadway slow down if at all possible and let them do their thing. Don’t honk your horn unless you absolutely have to, as this startles the deer, including the ones that you don’t see just off of the road. Whatever you do, never leave the roadway to avoid a deer collision; hitting a deer will mess up your vehicle, but a deer moves when it’s hit, and lots of trees, culverts, big rocks, etc. do not. If you successfully pass deer along the road and want to warn an oncoming vehicle of the deer’s presence, hit your warning lights. Some experts tell you to hit your high beams, but that can send mixed signals (cops ahead, dim your lights asshole, etc). When a driver sees you hit your warning lights, you can take it to be a legitimate warning.
Out where I live, on the edge of the Texas Hillcountry, deer collisions are a real concern. Maybe they aren’t that big a deal where you live, but at some point you’ll have to drive on a rural road (or even on Mopac) during the deer witching hours, and this bit of practical advice might just come in handy. You’re welcome, Mick
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Pigs in America: A History
The pig dates back 40 million years to fossils which indicate that wild porcine animals roamed forests and swamps in Europe and Asia. Remains of the earliest known North American peccary, Perchoerus, are from late Eocene sediments dating from 37 million years ago in North America. But it's the domesticated pig that holds our interest. Pigs were domesticated in China around 4900BC (although some experts claim 7000 to 6000BC in Western Asia) and were being raised in Europe by 1500BC. The Romans improved pig breeding and spread pork production throughout their empire. Two main types were developed: one breed was large, with floppy ears, and produced copious amounts of lard, while the other was of a smaller frame, with erect ears, used primarily for meat.
Jewish religious law banned the eating of pork before 1000BC, based on a belief that pigs were unclean since they ate waste, and there was the fear of disease (no doubt associated with contracting trichinosis from eating improperly cooked pork or the belief that pork meat didn't last long before "going off"); don't forget that nomadic cultures are not as suited to pigs as they are to cattle, sheep, or camels. Early Christians also shunned pork, but by around AD50 those restrictions were relaxed. Muhammad also banned the consumption of pork, resulting in a severe decline in the pig population of the Middle East and Western Asia. Europe, being principally Christian, embraced the pig: Swine ate anything, reproduced prodigiously, and their meat was easily preserved. By the 1500's in Europe, the Celtic people in the north were breeding large-bodied, well-muscled pigs, while in Southern Europe, the Iberians had developed smaller-framed, lard-type pigs. All of the pigs of this time period were dark-colored.
At Queen Isabella's insistence, Christopher Columbus took eight pigs on his voyage to Cuba in 1493. They were tough and could survive the voyage with minimal care, they supplied an emergency food source if needed, and those that escaped provided meat for hunting on return trips. But Hernando de Soto was the true "father of the American pork industry." He brought America's first 13 pigs to Tampa Bay, Fla., in 1539. As the herds grew, explorers used the pigs not only for eating as fresh meat but for salt pork and preserved pork. American Indians were reportedly so fond of the taste of pork that attacks to acquire it resulted in some of the worst assaults on the expedition. By the time de Soto died three years later, his original herd of 13 pigs had grown to 700 – a very conservative estimate. This number doesn't include the pigs eaten by his troops, those that escaped and became wild pigs (the ancestors of today's feral pigs), and those given to the American Indians to keep the peace. The pork industry in America had begun.
As an interesting tidbit, the feared buccaneers of the Caribbean derived their name from the Arawak Indian word buccan, referring to a wooden frame used for smoking meats. The French changed this to boucan and called the French hunters who used these frames to cook and preserve feral cattle and the offspring of Columbus' pigs on the island of Hispaniola boucanier. English colonists anglicized the word to buccaneers.
Pig production spread rapidly through the new colonies. Cortés introduced hogs to New Mexico in 1600 while Sir Walter Raleigh brought sows to Jamestown colony in 1607. Semi-wild pigs ravaged New York colonists' grain fields to the extent that every pig of 14 inches or more in height that was owned by a colonist was required to have a ring in its nose to make it easier to control. On Manhattan Island, a long solid wall to exclude rampaging pigs was constructed on the northern edge of the colony; it created the name for the area now known as Wall Street. By 1660 the pig population of Pennsylvania Colony numbered in the thousands. By the end of the 1600s, the typical farmer owned four or five pigs, supplying salt pork, ham, and bacon for his table; any surplus was sold as "barreled pork" (pork meat preserved in salted brine, contained in wooden barrels). Finishing pigs before slaughter on American Indian corn became popular in Pennsylvania, setting the new standard for fattening before the late fall pork harvest.
At the end of the 1700s, pioneers started heading west, taking their utilitarian pigs with them. Wooden crates filled with young pigs often hung from the axles of prairie schooner wagons. As western herds increased, processing and packing facilities began to spring up in major cities. Pigs were first commercially slaughtered in Cincinnati, which became known as "Porkopolis"; by the mid 1800s Cincinnati led the nation in pig processing. Getting the pigs to market in the 1850s was no small task. Drovers herded their pigs along trails, with the aid of drivers who handled up to 100 pigs each. It is estimated that between 40,000 and 70,000 pigs were driven from Ohio to eastern markets in any given year. A herd could travel 5-8 miles a day and covered total distances up to 700 miles.
In 1887 Swift & Co. introduced the refrigerated railroad car, chilled by a solution of ice and salt (mechanical refrigeration wouldn't appear until 1947). It created a revolution in pig farming: Slaughterhouses could be centralized near production centers since processed pork meat could be shipped instead of live hogs. Large terminal markets developed in Chicago; Kansas City, Mo; St. Joseph, Mo.; and Sioux City, Iowa. Centralized packing plants were located adjacent to the stockyards. The natural progression was for the pork industry to relocate to the Upper Midwest, where the majority of the grain was raised; Corn Belt morphed into Hog Belt. Today Iowa is still the top pork producer in the States.
The trend was for developing herds that produced higher numbers of offspring and pigs that were leaner (resulting in better feed efficiency). Husbandry methods emphasized control of diseases caused by huge factory pig-raising techniques, introducing the use of prophylactic antibiotics. Pork had become "the Other White Meat", and although production was more efficient and cost-effective, the taste was steadily being bred away.
Now the trend is toward a return to the older, fattier, tastier heritage breeds such as the Berkshire, the Red Wattle, the Tamworth, the Large Black, the Mule Foot, the Old Spot, and the Ossabaw (a direct descendant of the original Iberico black-footed hogs imported by the Spaniards to Savannah, Ga., some 400 years ago). Their meat has superior taste and texture, with marbling that retains the moisture of the meat. There is also a greatly increased demand for small farm, pasture-raised, organically grown pigs, and rejection of methods such as water-injection for finished pork. A happier pig is a tastier pig!
Mick Vann © originally published in the Austin Chronicle
Jewish religious law banned the eating of pork before 1000BC, based on a belief that pigs were unclean since they ate waste, and there was the fear of disease (no doubt associated with contracting trichinosis from eating improperly cooked pork or the belief that pork meat didn't last long before "going off"); don't forget that nomadic cultures are not as suited to pigs as they are to cattle, sheep, or camels. Early Christians also shunned pork, but by around AD50 those restrictions were relaxed. Muhammad also banned the consumption of pork, resulting in a severe decline in the pig population of the Middle East and Western Asia. Europe, being principally Christian, embraced the pig: Swine ate anything, reproduced prodigiously, and their meat was easily preserved. By the 1500's in Europe, the Celtic people in the north were breeding large-bodied, well-muscled pigs, while in Southern Europe, the Iberians had developed smaller-framed, lard-type pigs. All of the pigs of this time period were dark-colored.
At Queen Isabella's insistence, Christopher Columbus took eight pigs on his voyage to Cuba in 1493. They were tough and could survive the voyage with minimal care, they supplied an emergency food source if needed, and those that escaped provided meat for hunting on return trips. But Hernando de Soto was the true "father of the American pork industry." He brought America's first 13 pigs to Tampa Bay, Fla., in 1539. As the herds grew, explorers used the pigs not only for eating as fresh meat but for salt pork and preserved pork. American Indians were reportedly so fond of the taste of pork that attacks to acquire it resulted in some of the worst assaults on the expedition. By the time de Soto died three years later, his original herd of 13 pigs had grown to 700 – a very conservative estimate. This number doesn't include the pigs eaten by his troops, those that escaped and became wild pigs (the ancestors of today's feral pigs), and those given to the American Indians to keep the peace. The pork industry in America had begun.
As an interesting tidbit, the feared buccaneers of the Caribbean derived their name from the Arawak Indian word buccan, referring to a wooden frame used for smoking meats. The French changed this to boucan and called the French hunters who used these frames to cook and preserve feral cattle and the offspring of Columbus' pigs on the island of Hispaniola boucanier. English colonists anglicized the word to buccaneers.
Pig production spread rapidly through the new colonies. Cortés introduced hogs to New Mexico in 1600 while Sir Walter Raleigh brought sows to Jamestown colony in 1607. Semi-wild pigs ravaged New York colonists' grain fields to the extent that every pig of 14 inches or more in height that was owned by a colonist was required to have a ring in its nose to make it easier to control. On Manhattan Island, a long solid wall to exclude rampaging pigs was constructed on the northern edge of the colony; it created the name for the area now known as Wall Street. By 1660 the pig population of Pennsylvania Colony numbered in the thousands. By the end of the 1600s, the typical farmer owned four or five pigs, supplying salt pork, ham, and bacon for his table; any surplus was sold as "barreled pork" (pork meat preserved in salted brine, contained in wooden barrels). Finishing pigs before slaughter on American Indian corn became popular in Pennsylvania, setting the new standard for fattening before the late fall pork harvest.
At the end of the 1700s, pioneers started heading west, taking their utilitarian pigs with them. Wooden crates filled with young pigs often hung from the axles of prairie schooner wagons. As western herds increased, processing and packing facilities began to spring up in major cities. Pigs were first commercially slaughtered in Cincinnati, which became known as "Porkopolis"; by the mid 1800s Cincinnati led the nation in pig processing. Getting the pigs to market in the 1850s was no small task. Drovers herded their pigs along trails, with the aid of drivers who handled up to 100 pigs each. It is estimated that between 40,000 and 70,000 pigs were driven from Ohio to eastern markets in any given year. A herd could travel 5-8 miles a day and covered total distances up to 700 miles.
In 1887 Swift & Co. introduced the refrigerated railroad car, chilled by a solution of ice and salt (mechanical refrigeration wouldn't appear until 1947). It created a revolution in pig farming: Slaughterhouses could be centralized near production centers since processed pork meat could be shipped instead of live hogs. Large terminal markets developed in Chicago; Kansas City, Mo; St. Joseph, Mo.; and Sioux City, Iowa. Centralized packing plants were located adjacent to the stockyards. The natural progression was for the pork industry to relocate to the Upper Midwest, where the majority of the grain was raised; Corn Belt morphed into Hog Belt. Today Iowa is still the top pork producer in the States.
The trend was for developing herds that produced higher numbers of offspring and pigs that were leaner (resulting in better feed efficiency). Husbandry methods emphasized control of diseases caused by huge factory pig-raising techniques, introducing the use of prophylactic antibiotics. Pork had become "the Other White Meat", and although production was more efficient and cost-effective, the taste was steadily being bred away.
Now the trend is toward a return to the older, fattier, tastier heritage breeds such as the Berkshire, the Red Wattle, the Tamworth, the Large Black, the Mule Foot, the Old Spot, and the Ossabaw (a direct descendant of the original Iberico black-footed hogs imported by the Spaniards to Savannah, Ga., some 400 years ago). Their meat has superior taste and texture, with marbling that retains the moisture of the meat. There is also a greatly increased demand for small farm, pasture-raised, organically grown pigs, and rejection of methods such as water-injection for finished pork. A happier pig is a tastier pig!
Mick Vann © originally published in the Austin Chronicle
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