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Posts with tag meat
Slim Jim - What's in It?
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| Looking inside the Slim Jim. Photo: Rachel Been |
According to manufacturer ConAgra, the Slim Jim was invented by Philadelphia sausage-maker Adolph Levis in 1928. The cellophane-wrapped sausage sticks were originally sold in jars that sported an illustration of a "tall, elegant man complete with top hat and cane" named "Slim Jim."
Today's Slim Jim, with an ad campaign that lets you create an avatar and wander around "Spicy Side," is likely a far cry from the original. And it's got Wired wondering where that meat stick comes from.
Make the Most of Your Butcher - Tip of the Day
Don't forget about the carnivore's favorite time-saver: the employees behind the meat counter at your local butcher.
Continue reading Make the Most of Your Butcher - Tip of the Day
Pat LaFrieda, Meat Maven, Weighs in on the Haute Burger Craze
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| Pat LaFrieda. Photo: Nick Solares. |
That's no longer the case. Proprietary patties are big business, with big money to be earned in creating a mouth-watering blend of ground cow. A masterful mix could earn a chef the coveted crown of Burger King at one of growing number of cook-offs, such as the Feedbag's first annual cook-off in Summit, N.J., last weekend.
In New York, when a chef wants a custom burger, he often turns to third-generation meatman Pat La Frieda, whose family has been making burgers for nearly a century. He and his staff spend up to two months creating the right mix of meat for a chef.
"For the Shake Shack we made almost 30 different blends," La Frieda told us. "For Minetta Tavern's Black Label Burger, it was probably just as many. We tried different styles of meat, different weights. It was a process. I was eating burgers everyday."
We caught up with LaFrieda to get the juice on his family, the growing list of big name chefs trafficking in burgers and his decision this month to finally make three types of patties available to home cooks through Fresh Direct.
Continue reading Pat LaFrieda, Meat Maven, Weighs in on the Haute Burger Craze
Center-Cut Cute
Love it, loathe it or live for it, meat's been on a lot of minds these days.
A recent study found that red meat consumption increases the overall risk of mortality. And even though swine flu is not transmissible through pork products (duh), it wasn't exactly a publicity boon for the other white meat, either. Even the beloved bacon has been taking a beating. One writer went so far as to declare an end to Baconmania, proclaiming that "Our Long Coronary Nightmare Is Almost Over."
Meat, needless to say, isn't going down without a fight. Aside from the expected army of industry lobbyists covering its (fat)back, it's got plenty of product tie-in love. There's these plush toys from Sweet Meats, so cute they could bring a smile to even a vegetarian's face. There's Meatcards, the beef jerky business cards that recently took the Internet by storm.
And, standing boldly in the face of the bacon backlash, there's Heather Lauer's "Bacon: A Love Story." Subtitled "A Salty Survey of Everyone's Favorite Meat," it includes profiles of bacon-loving chefs across the country, recipes for such delicacies as bacon-jalapeno pizza and bacon Bloody Marys, and tips for creating your own cure. Clearly, Lauer isn't writing bacon's obituary. And if anything can help meat get its groove back, its a 100 percent recycled fleece T-bone.
Meat Business Cards
MEAT CARDS: BUSINESS CARDS MADE FROM MEAT AND LASERS.
We love a direct marketing approach. "Meat Cards" -- pure beef jerky etched with your information using lasers (sorry, "a 150 WATT CO2 LASER") -- take off where the bacon explosion, flaming bacon lance of death and meat art stop.
Why should you care? Because they'll "retain value after the econopocalypse," of course: "Hoard and barter your calorie-rich, life-sustaining cards." Bust these suckers out at the next Bar Association meeting or snack on them when stuck on the subway.
Follow the meatheads' Twitter to find out when to avail yourself of these treasures.
[Via Boing Boing]
The Joy of Meat Art
This bacon teacup is from Meat After Meat Joy, an exhibition of artists who work in meat (yes, there are more than one!), now running at the Daneyal Mahmood Gallery in New York. If you think bacon art is a contemporary phenomenon, you'll find it interesting to learn that artists have been using meat in the work since at least as far back as 1964, when Carolee Schneemann staged a "happening" involving chicken, sausage, raw fish and several semi-nude performers at the Festival of Free Expression in Paris. Other works at the Meat After Meat Joy exhibit include an animatronic meat shoe that twitches with electricity and a lard and meat flag that is already swarming with maggots. Mmmmm.
Thanks for the link, Eat Me Daily.
Meatcake!
When a friend of mine recently asked me to help throw her a baby shower, I had many questionable suggestions-- like making it race-car rather than baby themed (accepted) to making a baby-shaped red-velvet cake with gooey red filling, except the diaper part, which would have brown icing filling (rejected). But one of the things she was most excited about was my suggestion that I make a meatcake. That is, a cake made of meat, an idea I had found (like so many nutty ideas) on the interwebs. I took the concept, but created my own recipes--two, since a non-red-meat eater needed turkey. It may sound peculiar but the result was delicious and even rather spectacular. If you want to try it yourself....
You Wanted Spam?
Turn off your spam-blockers and get ready for an avalanche of salty, eraser-colored porktastic goodness. The other day, I wrote about how Spam is ramping up production to meet recession-fueled demand. Some of you passionately defended the oft-ridiculed meat product; others requested Spam recipes. So I rounded up a few of the best Spam-cooking sites, just for you.
First, check out the aptly named spamrecipes.net, which gives Spam a vaguely International makeover with recipes like Spam frittata, Spam carbonara and Cantonese Spam. Spam's own website has recipes from its test kitchen as well as contributions from fans like Spam salad cones and Maui Spam muffins. Just Recipes has 359 Spam recipes, from A Good Hot (Spam) Sandwich to Zippy Spam and Pesto Biscuits.
As for me, I still favor the classic Southern Spam sandwich: A thick slab of skillet-fried Spam between two slices of Duke's mayonnaise-slathered Wonder Bread with a sliced summer tomato.
Tainted Meat in Arizona Supermarkets, Possibly Nationwide
More than 40 percent of packaged meats sampled from three Arizona chain stores tested positive for Clostridium difficile (C. diff), a bacteria that can cause intestinal distress and, very rarely, death. About 40 percent of the cooked products and nearly 48 percent of the ready-to-eat products showed evidence of C. diff. Nearly 30 percent of the tainted samples of ground beef, pork and turkey and ready-to-eat meats were identical or closely related to a super-toxic strain of C. diff that's a growing problem in hospitals across the country.
But there are no proven cases of humans getting C. diff from food; it's almost always hospital transmitted. And if food-person transmission is possible, it's not known if the levels of bacteria in the supermarket meat are high enough to cause infection. But it does seem to add to the growing evidence that overuse of antibiotics, both at home and in meat processing plants, are leading to nasty superbugs. Yet another reason to eat sustainably-raised hormone and antibiotic-free meat.
Tip of the Day: Store raw meat appropriately
When buying raw meat, it's important to consider storage. Looking for a quick and easy guide to storing various kinds of raw meat?
Continue reading Tip of the Day: Store raw meat appropriately
Moooove over beef--it's time for something cheaper!
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If you've been searching for a fresh reason to cut back on your meat consumption, look no further. According to the National Restaurant Association, beef prices have risen almost 20% since August 2007 and are poised to go up another 5% to 8% over the next year. Part of this inflation is due to increases in the price of feed, although the cost of gas has also made it much more expensive to transport beef to markets. Regardless, this might be a good time to dust off some of your favorite tofu recipes.Wendy's, which has raised the price of its quarter pound burger by 4-8 cents in the past year, will probably be joined by McDonald's in its efforts to deal with meat inflation. The ultimate fast food joint is contemplating either raising prices on its dollar menu or changing the items that it offers.
The great meat shortage of the 1970's, which also resulted in price inflation, arguably led to America's culinary renaissance and the increased popularity of pasta, tacos, and other foods that didn't rely heavily on meat. One can only wonder what this new meat inflation will lead to!
Want to help save the world? Eat only four portions of meat per week
That's right, cutting your meat consumption down to four portions per week, and cutting your milk/dairy intake down to 1 liter (about a quart), is a major step we all need to take to "avoid run-away climate change." At least that's according to a recent study released by the Food Climate Research Network, which operates at the University of Surrey in England.
The new study, reported in The Guardian this week, does touch on eating locally, avoiding waste, and cooking in larger batches as well as using a microwave. However, one of the main points is that the government should intervene and put everyone on meat and dairy rations. The argument is that awareness campaigns and trying to get people to voluntarily change their habits simply won't work: people won't make the tougher changes by themselves.
I know that people feel very strongly about the government telling them what they can or cannot do (or eat). Not only do I not want direct government interference, I don't think imposing rations would be very enforceable. However, I do think it would work if limits were put on how much meat could be produced. That would raise the price of meat and lower the demand for it dramatically.
Cold Cuts ID Quiz
Think you can tell cotto salami from Dutch loaf or summer sausage? Prove you're not just full of baloney with AOL Food's Cold Cuts ID Quiz, then come back to share your score.
Cold Cuts ID Quiz
Read what my Dad had to say about lunchmeat a while back.
Midnight Sausage: Ipercoop Supermarket, Italy
Preserved meat counter at an Ipercoop supermarket in Italy. From Flickr user cary b's Flickr.
I'm posting images of sausage counters the world over each weeknight (and occasionally weekend) witching hour until I run out. Please use the comments section to post links to your Flickr or personal site faves, and perhaps you'll see 'em posted here late some evening.
Previously-- Midnight Sausage: Donaueschingen, Germany
What Can I Get You Folks? - Server Revenge
Reality-Show Celebrities Serve Up Chef Curtis Stone's 'Hundred-Dollar Burger'
Foods Celebrity Chefs Hate
