Cheap Cravings.

My Meat is Gone.
Things have gone awry. Approximately once a month (gee figure this one out), I get cravings for steak. Not posh steak, just red on the inside and black on the outside. Prime rib is great, but I really don't care if it is a random chunk hacked off an outside round roast either. Just need beef, and well-done is not an option. The man is not usually on board (unless Prime or NY striploin). He is more of a pizza/hamburger type. The Boy though, will eat most stuff and also likes it rare (he has requested rare pork chops, an obviously strict NO NO).

Detoxing from stress

It has been a while and I was recently asked why I haven't been posting. In addition, my sibling has been prolific so I naturally feel that slight competitive push to contribute.

You know its bad when when...

I am nervous and have stress due to the upcoming defense of my "dry tome".
As a result, I have had a chronic stomach ache for two days, and all food sits like lumps of clay.
Thus, my appetite is affected. I am usually on of those people who eats because of stress, so this is actually kind of a novelty!

I thought it was better than this...

Does it count that I am listening to the "Whiskey in the Jar" by Metallica?

A fine Mahock to you all.

Apparently today is "blog action day".
It is only a coincidence that I post. After all, why expect "Action" on a Monday?

Pork Hocks. I have a strange fascination. Fleshy, soooo Fleshy, with skin that looks like an albino cowboy (Leathery but white). And so many bones! All that gooey marrow and gelatin just waiting to be stewed, and ward off future arthritis (or so I've read).

Apparently, bone broth contains more-absorbable calcium. However, this is a "fact" posted by Broth Endorsers, and may or may not have scientific merit. In spite, from a food perspective, broth should be embraced, and MSG shunned.

I wanted broth. Just to drink, like a beverage. My own personal Bovril. It is sometimes more satisfying than soup, and more nourishing than tea (no, I am not an old lady, merely practicing). My single hock was slow cooked overnight with celery, onions, carrots, S&P, garlic and loads of fresh savory spice (thyme, rosemary, sage). I got a great broth, which was my goal. Mission accomplished (very little fat by the way).

I am now left with this big chunk of boiled meat with skin on. I am not a fan of boiled meat. It is stringy, sad, and, well, boiled. However, I hate Wasting Food more than I hate Boiled Meat. It disgusts me to read recipes for pork hock that tell you to throw all the skin pieces away and just keep some meat bits. This cannot be right, I have eaten several Chinese hock dishes that have had savory skin or nicely-seasoned chewy bits.

And so begins the experiment.
I made a sauce of goo. The classic miscellaneous improvised BBQ sauce that manages to incorporate every sugary-based condiment you have in the house at the time. Honey garlic sauce, oyster sauce, sherry, molasses, brown sugar, garlic, balsamic, tomato juice, ginger, other stuff that appeared... I marinated my bone-free meat chunks in said goo and then cooked in the oven for ~50 minutes at 350. It got dark, gooey, chewy, and tastes like awesome BBQ. I don't know if I can duplicate it, but it was fun. I have made two meals out of one. Thus, A Fine Mahock to you all.

How my garden betrayed me.

I have been neglecting my rants, I have been writing a dry tome that has been sucking my humorly goodness. Tome is almost done and humor is starting to run up, like sap tubes in spring.

I get really pissed off at food fads. Like, "Oh, Rack of Lamb is so 1999, ifyoumust, try the wild boar chop." Preferably with some currently accepted veg item, and a starch that needs the poisons boiled out of it (Taro anyone?). We have the potato; its awesome, why change?

This brings me to Arugula. How tired am I of hearing about Arugula. It is a humble green, no more special than Cress or Mustard, or even the haughty, bitter Endive (the green squiggly kind, not the posh white stuff that costs 10$ a LB). Arugula has no more appeal than a nobel romaine, the ethereal butter lettuce, or the delicate, and classically solid, Leaf (green or red).

But have you been able to watch a food show without this ubiquitous chlorophyll?
Posh salads, weird stirs fries, even as soup garnish; Arugula is everywhere, and don't you dare say a bad thing about it.

This brings me to a tangent. I started a garden. In August. Normal, prepared people don't start gardens in August, but I had to have one NOW, and decided it would be a good way to secure a plot for Next Year. Thus, the desperate scramble to plant something that would grow in a couple of months time. Thus, I go armed with radishes and lettuce mix.

I watered and weeded a few times, grew some successful radishes, and have some aphidey cabbage plants. However, I was forced to ignore the plot for a while (due to said Tome), and didn't visit for ~ 2 1/2 weeks. When I went back, I was pleased to find large quantities of this fresh bright green that had grown from the mesclun mix.

I took a grocery bag of this green home, thinking, naively, that it was mustard greens. I Googled it. Not mustard greens. Arugula. Vast stupid quantities of healthy, enthusiastic, dark green Arugula. The romaines and leafs were tragic, limp, yellowish.

I guess there is a reason that Arugula has taken over.

I smell a conspiracy, easier to grow? In five years it will be the new Iceberg. Enjoy the pedestal, my green friend. Soon, you too will go the way of Baby carrots and microgreens, only to be replaced by something "current". Like food loses its nutrition because it goes "out of style".

Mmmmmm, Marketing.

My greatest accomplishment today was going to the Kwik-E-Mart. These are 7-11 s converted to the convenience store with the Simpson's theme in preparation for the upcoming movie premiere. There is only one in Canada, and it is a 20 minute bus ride from where I live. Woo Hoo!

Therefore, as a Simpson's fan for many years, it is mandatory that I attend at least once and drink a squishy with a hot dog. A popular place, there was a line up to get into the door, but at least I was not the only dork with a camera...