One More Reason

[yogi]

One time many years ago we were in an Italian restaurant that served calamari. It is a highly prized Italian dish but me eating squid tentacles just doesn't sit right on my pallet. It was acceptable but truly tasted like eating rubber bands. The thought that comes to mind is how do people come to the decision about eating certain foods. I guess if it doesn't kill you it must be OK to eat. But who in their right mind would even think of eating squid tentacles??? Then there are the oyster fans. Oyster sauce is fine, but eating the real thing would make me puke immediately. Why on earth anyone would even think of swallowing such an ugly looking thing is beyond my comprehension.

We don't have a will but probably should. There would only be two heirs in our case and back in Illinois we figured the state would divide things properly. But, so I hear, it could get complicated so that a will is important. I don't know why we are putting it off. I guess it's a concession to the fact we will die some day. LOL I'm not all that warm and fuzzy comfortable with Missouri, not knowing much about it's laws and all. Making a will might be a good idea while I still can.

[Kellemora]

I hear ya on the weird foods some people eat. Even some of those most folks consider normal, I wouldn't touch with an 11 foot pole.
Although I did have rattlesnake once without knowing what it was until after dinner and the host finally told us what it was.
Before dinner, he told us it was shrimp, although he said he never said it was shrimp, he said it was like shrimp, hi hi.
It actually tasted pretty good, but then after hearing what it was, we all turned green, hi hi.

One thing you don't want to do is send up in Probate. Especially if you own a house or something expensive, because the state will take half of it or more.
Just like I had the house put in Debi's name before her mom died. There is a 5 year waiting time after the transfer that the state can still make a claim, if Debi's mom wound up in a state run care facility.
My name is not on this house, never was, but Debi transferred it to her son, which makes me a bit leery.
Even though he's a lawyer, he don't know diddly squat about real estate law or inheritance laws.
At least they are pretty lenient down here. Not so much in Missouri though.
A Will does not need to be registered with the state, as long as you have a copy that is witnessed by three people who are not related and have nothing coming from the Will. Just having the paper, and knowing how the estate is divied up keeps you out of probate, most of the time that is.

[yogi]

Ahhhhhh, yes. Probate Court. I can't say that I've ever heard anything good come out of that jurisdiction. Then again it deals with inheritances and those are the kind of things that make the worst side of people visible. You would think some respect for the deceased would be honored, but it can get bloody when free money is involved. Since I won't be here to witness the infighting, that really doesn't matter to me. However I would object to the state, any state, taking a share of what I spent a lifetime accumulating. All I need to do now is convince my wife we should do it. LOL

I suppose when you are starving you will try to eat anything. That must be how people came to eating snakes and bugs. About the most exotic thing I recall eating was eel at some fancy Scandinavian restaurant downtown Chicago. I knew what it was and it didn't taste that bad, but I'm not going to order it even if it is available. Caviar is pretty gross when you think about it, but I have had occasion to sample more than one kind of it. It was good enough to go back for seconds but I don't see why that stuff is so expensive. Been up to Sturgeon Bay a few times and believe it or not none of the restaurants there have caviar. Then again there are sturgeons and there are Sturgeons. Green Bay is not Russia. LOL

[Kellemora]

Even with a Will, I've seen folks take their relatives to court, because they thought the Will was coerced, or anything they could come up with to cause a delay in the distribution.
I already gave away or sold some of the things listed on my Will, so for now, I just scratched through the named items and put my initials behind the scratch outs.
I do have one very simple Will that is signed and witnessed, it basically just says, everything goes to my wife, because she know who to distribute certain items to, unless she desired to keep them for herself.
It's a little longer than that, but that gets the point across.

I worked with a fellow at my first job at McDonnell-Douglas, who was lost in a forest for 38 days.
Although he lost about 25 pounds before he found a way out.
He said he just watched to see what the animals would eat, and what they wouldn't eat.
Had to drink some of the most foul water he ever tasted, but it was from a pool many animals drank from.
He ate one heck of a lot of leaves of various sorts, and even some roots he dug up to chew on to get the sap out.
Some of the small animals he could catch he had to eat the meat raw, what little meat he could get out of one, and the rest he left for the other animals to eat.
Said he tried several times to make a fire, came close a few times, got a little glow and some smoke, but no flames.
But he never ate any bugs, he made that clear. He said no matter how hungry I was, I didn't try an insect of any kind.

[yogi]

I used to talk to a gal who was part Seminole Indian. She actually lived in Tampa but knew quite a bit about survival in the wilds. She complained and laughed a lot about some show on television where people are put in remote locations (without clothes) to see how long they can survive. The complaint was that in many of the scenes the folks could not find anything they thought was edible but the scene also included certain bugs and spiders. One spider episode in particular got her going. "The people deserved to be hungry if they didn't realize how nutritious that spider was." I didn't say much in response, but I'm guessing those people might have known about the spider and did not go after it by choice. LOL

I don't think I would last 38 days lost in a forest, but I probably would think of taking a cue from the local residents. A lot of bugs are a source of protean, which could be the reason why birds like to eat them. Then again, I think I would choose to die a painful death if I had to eat worms in order to survive. However, you can get them at Trader Vic's from what I understand. Fried even.

[Kellemora]

One of the things they taught us in Boy Scouts to some degree, and much more heavily when I was in the service, was survival training, but it had more to do with staying alive than having a full belly, hi hi.

Maple, Elm, Birch, and several other trees have enough edible components to them to keep you alive for a long time.
Slippery Elm and Birch bark actually taste pretty good.

I had chocolate covered ants and grasshopper when I was in my teens. I assume they were fried since they had a crunch to them.

[yogi]

We had a white birch tree in front of our very first house. I loved the color of the bark and the way it seemed to be peeling off, but really wasn't. It didn't have a lot of foliage, but the beauty of the tree was it's bark. It never occurred to me that it might be edible. Back in my previous house where I had a small forest out back there also were several huge, and I do mean huge, honeysuckle bushes. The branches on some of them were thicker than my arm. They all died within the first 5 years because there also were some displaced deer in that forest. Those deer loved to eat the bark off the honeysuckle and nothing else. Unfortunately Honeysuckle needs the bark in order to survive. I also read where those helicopter whirly pods that drop off maple trees are very tasty. I've taken a few of them apart but there too it never occurred to me that they can be eaten. Then there are those crazy gourmet cooks who put flowers and weeds on their creations. Apparently they are intended to be eaten and not just looked at. I guess that's how our human ancestors lived. They didn't have McDonalds back in the caveman days.

[Kellemora]

There were a lot of what we call weeds, that grandma would pick out of the yard and include with dinner.
I I wouldn't doubt my other grandfather would make Dandelion Wine, considering the number of larger size Dandelions he never hoed down, hi hi.

I've eaten all kinds of seeds over the years, some of them are quite good, others way to bitter.

I'm sure glad we have fast food joints now, hi hi.

[yogi]

One of the few fast food places I enjoyed eating at was Arby's. The other was Steak and Shake. Arby's roast beef sandwiches were exceptionally good, but it turns out that the meat from which it was made was not the attraction. The meat only served to hold the sauce which was indeed superior to most other fast food joints. I discovered that Arby's source of beef was retired dairy cows, or so it was way back when. I guess there is nothing bad about dairy cow meat, but I was expecting a lot more given how good the sandwiches tasted. I should have known better because Arby's was the least expensive of all. And there was a good reason for that. LOL

[Kellemora]

You are very lucky if you found an Arby's in Missouri that had a good meat sandwich.
I say this because Lion's Choice had the Patent on their roast beef sandwich, and somehow managed to make a couple of changes that allowed them to get a second patent.
Because of this Arby's was relegated to using only processed meats in their sandwiches.
That being said, when I moved south, the Arby's down here used roast beef, not the pre-processed kind, so theirs are good.
But nothing holds a candle to a Lion's Choice roast beef sandwich. As long as they are not underdone, hi hi.
Every trip I made back home, that was about all I would eat was Lion's Choice sandwiches, because we don't have them down here. We don't have White Castles either. And the couple of Steak n Shakes are way to far away to drive to now. But when we are out in the ritzy area called Turkey Creek, we will stop at a Steak n Shake.
We have a restaurant called Freddies, that is the closest thing you can get to a Steak n Shake burger.

[yogi]

I knew Arby's meat was processed because the same source that revealed it was dairy cows also had the supposed recipe for the meat mix. The only Arby's I've eaten was in Illinois. There is an Arby's here in O'Fallon but we never went there for a meal. There is a Steak N Shake around here somewhere too, but I'm not certain anymore if it's in O'Fallon or not. Needless to say we have not had the Missouri version of that burger either. The only issue I had with Steak N Shake was that you needed to order their double or triple burger to get enough meat to be filling. They claimed it was special because it was all beef, but to be honest they were not the best burgers I could get from a fast food joint. They were very good nonetheless.

I have not heard of Lion's Choice but I will say the beef in general down here is as good as or better than what I could get back home. The brisket served at some restaurants seems to be the best way to serve beef, but the pulled pork is exceptional. In fact I've not had pulled pork until I moved down here and was impressed from my first encounter with it. One restaurant we go to here serves White Castle sized sandwiches made with pulled pork. I'm very impressed with how good they taste.

[Kellemora]

Some Steak n Shake cooks press the meat too thin, which causes the edges to turn hard.
I do believe their patties are 1/5th pound, and they do use the entire steer, not just the hamburger meat.
We used to joke about that too. They use the entire steer including the hoofs, bones, innards, etc., hi hi.

Lion's choice uses a roast that they bake themselves, then shave the meat so it is not slices, but more like pulled beef, but it is not pulled, it is shaved. Some folks don't like their beef sandwiches, but I love them, and miss them big time.

If you really want some excellent pulled pork, check your grocery store for Jack Daniels pulled pork in the freezer section.
We have a restaurant here named Buddies BBQ, that claimed to have the best pulled pork. I agreed until I tried the Jack Daniels from the grocery store. It is 100% better and no burnt brown chunks in it either.

[yogi]

I don't know what is actually in it, but I do love the name Jack Daniels pulled pork. LOL Oddly enough I got myself a bottle of JD for cooking. I stopped drinking that stuff or anything like it about 5 decades ago. However, I will put whiskey, wine, sherry, cognac, vermouth or any other liquor called for into my cooking. When I make a steak I sometime go overboard and chop up a few onions to grill with it. The onions get a dose of liquor, and I found that Jack Daniels makes the best tasting onions I ever ate. Usually I relegate onions to be a condiment, but this JD spiked stuff is a side dish for me. It's extra special because my wife of many years doesn't like onions at all so that I get them all to myself.

Shaved meat tastes different than sliced meat. It might be all psychological but there is something about the thinness that makes it taste better. I will get Black Forest Ham from Dierbergs on occasion and I make them slice it very thin. It gets piled onto rye bread with Swiss Lace cheese for a topping. And, of course, yellow mustard. Beef is vastly improved from thin slicing it too. There were many fast food joints up by Chicago which sold Italian beef sandwiches, but the best ones came from the place that sliced their beef the thinnest. I could tell the different in taste without ever looking at the meat.

My understanding is that certain lunch meats also use the entire steer which does in fact include hoofs and bones and no doubt innards too. I'm very particular about what lunch meats I buy for that reason. Hotdogs too.

[Kellemora]

I quit drinking when I turned 21 and haven't had a drop since. Well, maybe a sip at a wedding as a toast, but that's it.
Nevertheless, like you, I do love to use beer on BBQ Spare Ribs, and a touch of wine mixed in a salad dressing on salads.

I think my favorite meat to make a roast is Eye of Round, and if you cut it crossgrain when eating, it melts in your mouth.
I've always called it stringy roast pot, hi hi, because if you don't cut it right, that's what you end up with a mouth full of.

When I could afford them, I only bought Eusingers hot dogs. But now, the frau found a ball park style hot dog that tastes out of this world. Not like those packaged things you get that say hot dogs on them, hi hi. Of course they come package, but also fetch a premium price as well.

I have a hot dog grill that is a row of steel rollers, and that is what I like them cooked on the best.
Or over a charcoal fire. Don't like them much if they are boiled.
And back when I worked as an electrician. We used to stick a wire in each end of a hot dog and plug it in to an outlet for a few seconds. Got them too hot to eat fast.

[yogi]

Hebrew National makes a hotdog that is packaged and sold at Schnucks. It's the best of the lot that I've sampled down here. They have a dog that is about twice the diameter of a normal one, and that is the one I like most. Steamed hot dogs are what I grew up on unless they were made at home where mom boiled them. I have discovered that nuking them in the microwave for 30 seconds or so does a great job of warming them and retaining their juices.

I love Eye of Round made into steak, which is simply the cross grain cut you mention. I have only one recipe that calls for them and it's basically a stew in tomato based sauce. The round meat works because the stew simmers for a couple hours which tenderizes the round steak. I've not tried a whole roast because that's simply too much meat for the two of us. There is little fat in the eye, which I would suppose is the reason you favor it. That absence of fat however makes it difficult to cook without it drying out and becoming chewy. A roast might work better.

[Kellemora]

Those were the only kind of hot dogs my late wife would buy. Understandable since she only bought Kosher meats.

I used to buy round steaks because they were the cheapest steak I could buy. Most folks didn't like round steak, but the store was always out of it or close to it. I had a way of treating it before I put it on the BBQ grill that made it super tender.
I had a press that was like a thousand little 1/8 inch long blades spaced about 1/16th inch apart, and about an 8th inch between the rows. This was used on the raw meat before cooking, on both sides of the meat, and doing this always made it come out super tender.
Now I've had meat that seemed tender before, when really it was tough as nails, just in smaller bite size pieces, but still as chewy as trying to eat a scrub brush, hi hi. Mine never came out that way. I guess I lucked out, hi hi.

[yogi]

Back in my previous neighborhood where there were many ethnic food stores I loved to shop at the Polish Deli. Poland apparently is famous for its pork products and my guess is they had some connections in order to import a lot of it. Maybe not, but their pork was different than most other places. They had a press in the meat cutter's room that was exactly like the one you describe. Whenever I bought pork chops they would ask if I wanted it tenderized. They would run it through the press if I said, yes. That process did in fact make the pork very tender. Since I no longer have a Polish Deli available I discovered that marinating pork in red wine vinegar will produce the same tenderizing effect as the press. Maybe better because the vinegar aftertaste.

Round steak is good for stew meat and I make a mean goulash from those eye of rounds cut into chunks. The secret to success is in the extended length of time taken to cook, or simmer, the meat in a suitable liquid. I've tried grilling and frying but never had much luck.

[Kellemora]

Our butcher back home had a machine for making cube steaks.
But it could be used to tenderize meat by running it through the machine one time with a gap left on the rollers.

Some meat, no matter how long you cook it, even until it is falling apart, is still tough.

My wife's step-son was going to teach her how to cook steaks, but then he moved too far away to come by to do that.
So if I want a good steak, I have to go to a steak house and pay through the nose for one.

I had this big stainless steel mallet I used to beat some meats with big time. It helped some.

[yogi]

Apparently smashing meat is a valid way to tenderize it. However, I still recall the cube steaks mom would cook for dinner. I ate them because I had to, but there was no way you could call them tender. LOL I read a few things about what makes meat tough and it turns out to be a matter of connective tissue in and around the muscle. Breaking down that tissue is how to tenderize the meat. Vinegar is supposed to be one way to dissolve it, but other factors need to be taken into account was well, such as fat content. The best solution to chewy meat is to put it into something like fajitas or tacos ground up. LOL

I don't know what you would like as far as steak goes, but I can describe what I do to make it nearly perfect every time.

Sirloin steak is the best, but NY Strip also responds well to my method. I'd guess any high quality meat can be prepared the same way with good results. I get steaks that are cut 1" thick. This is important only to determine the cooking time. I have used thinner steaks but the thick ones work best. The steak should be sprinkled with garlic salt and allowed to come to room temperature. In a pan large enough for the steak to lay flat melt equal parts of butter and Extra Virgin Olive Oil - a couple tablespoons of each would work. The idea is to have just a little more than you think is necessary so that you can spoon the butter and oil over the steak as it cooks. When the oil is hot enough put the steak in the pan. Then spoon the oil over the top of the steak - a few spoons full will do. Repeat this spooning every 30 seconds or so until the steak has cooked for 4 minutes. Then flip the steak and repeat the process on the second side. Somewhere about the 3 minute mark on the second side insert an instant read thermometer into the center of the steak. When the temperature is around 140F it's perfect but can go 10 degrees higher without ruining it. Remove the steak from the pan and place on a platter with pads of butter on top. Cover this with aluminum foil and let it sit for at least 5 minutes, maybe 10. It should be perfect eating at that point.

[Kellemora]

I agree! I bought a case of sirloin stakes once for half price. They looked good in the vacuum packed clear plastic. But they were so tough you couldn't eat them. Even though they were already cooked, and did have that steak flavor to them, I sliced them up in little strips and put them through the meat grinder one pass, and put them in some vegetable soup.
I will say this, it was the best tasting soup I ever came up with, hi hi.

I'm copying your recipe and will give it a try. Thanks!