Text 9197, 163 rader
Skriven 2006-12-23 16:00:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av DALE SHIPP
Ärende: various beefs 734
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 ML> there was a nice gingery flavor to the chicken in green
 ML> curry, whose defect was that it had very little if any
 ML> chile heat; the chicken was quite fine;
 DS> Have you ever had a dish on a buffet that had more than "a little
 DS> chile heat", even by our standards -- much less yours?   Even things
 DS> that are supposed to be hot tend to be mild -- to please the masses
 DS> I guess.

Seldom. As buffets have limited restrooms and are looking
for return business. And there are more of THEM than there
are of YOU, and more of YOU than there are of US.

They being pepper wusses who eat extra mild hot dogs;
you being people with some appreciation of chiles; and
we being, well, Jim Weller, Clean Dave, Dirty Dave, the
Hapster, Glen, and myself, mostly. Hum. That's a sizable
proportion of the active membership of the echo. Got to
rethink this.

In spicy dishes at buffets, you will note that there are
usually whole hot peppers of a contrasting color stuck in a
totally bland (generally oversweetened and over MSGed)
substrate. I avoid tasting these dishes but tend to visit
them to harvest the hot peppers, saving the rest of the
clientele from itself.

 ML> On the shellfish and appetizer table, there was a dish of
 ML> cold green-lipped mussels in red curry: these had a bit of
 ML> fire (unlike the chicken), and the freshness was exemplary.
 DS> Well -- maybe this was the exception that proves the rule:-}}

Okay, I know you're saying that with a nudge nudge and a wink wink,
but exceptio probat regulam (the original Latin saying) is not an
easy schoolboy translate of cognates. It means "the exception
tests (probes, not proves), the rule." The difficulty lies in the
dual meaning of probare - in Lewis and Short, meaning I. is tests,
puts to judgment, etc., whereas meaning II. is approves etc.
Same with the English word prove - which can mean test or probe
OR accept something true as tested.

I just have to give some variation on that lecture every time I see
someone saying that. Too often, the saying is twisted around (God
I hate universal literacy, at least in the incarnation we've been
given) - so - we get idiot conversations such as

- Volvos are the safest cars in the world.
- I just saw an accident where a Volvo hit a Toyota, and the
  Volvo driver was killed, but the people in the Toyota survived.
- Oh. The exception proves the rule.

- Hillshire Farms makes the best sausages, you'll love them.
- I dunno, I just had a bite of their cheddarwurst, and it was nasty.
- Oh. The exception proves the rule. Try this low-fat kielbasa.

 ML> Cajun perch was tender but prefrozen fish coated with a
 ML> facsimile of Paul Prud'homme's Seafood Magic.
 DS> Why pay $4 for a small bottle when you can make it for far less?

Indeed.

 DS> When our kids were young, the school they went to had an annual fund
 DS> raiser which was a silent auction combined with an bull roast and
 DS> oyster bar.   It is about the only time I got my fill of oysters,
 DS> and was torn between the pit beef and and oysters.

Hey, this was supposed to be a FUND RAISER, not an opportunity
for you to make up for the year's tuition and schoolbooks. [g]

If I'd been there, the school might have had to close up shop.
I wouldn't be torn between those two delights; I'd take them
both.

 DS> BTW -- is pit beef a Maryland thing, or is it universal?  I'm not
 DS> talking about steamship round roast like you tend to find in buffet
 DS> lines, but pit beef such as we had at the Canopy on Route 40.  I
 DS> read some review in the Washington Post which seemed to imply it was
 DS> a Maryland thing, but I somehow doubt it.

Well, beef cooked in a pit isn't just Maryland, but "pit beef"
apparently is pretty much mid-Atlantic. What you get in the
pit beef so called places is not unlike what we get at the
"roast beef" stands up north, only it may be a bit smokier; the
stuff at the pit beef store you took me to wasn't great, and
the one Carol and I went to in Odenton was pretty bad, though.
Another thing about Maryland pit beef is that when I've had it
it's usually cooked over a gas grill with wood chips.

Now if someone were to come to town and build a proper barbecue
pit and put wood and briskets in it, that would be front-page news.
Unfortunately, it's hard to get to Luling, Texas, where reputedly
are some of the best bbq pits in the known world.

MMMMM-----Meal-Master - formatted by MMCONV  2.10

     Title: Cajun Prime Rib
Categories: Cajun, Beef
  Servings: 6

     10 lb Prime rib roast
    1/4 c  Black pepper
    1/4 c  Garlic powder
    1/4 c  Salt
      2    Onions; thinly sliced
           SEASONING MIX:
      1 TB Plus 1 tsp salt
      1 TB Plus 2 tsp white pepper
      1 TB Plus 2 tsp fennel seeds
      1 TB Plus 3/4 tsp black pepper
  2 1/2 ts Dry mustard
  2 1/2 ts Ground cayenne pepper

Remove fat cap off top of meat (butcher can do this for you) and save.
Place the roast, standing on the rib bones, in a very large roasting
pan.  Then with a knife make several dozen punctures through the silver
skin so seasoning can permeate meat.  Pour a very generous, even layer
of black pepper over the top of the meat (the pepper should completely
cover it); repeat with the garlic powder, then the salt, totally
covering the preceding layer.  Carefully arrange the onions in an even
layer on top so as not to knock off the seasoning.  Place the fat cap
back on top. Refrigerate 24 hours.

Bake ribs in a 550F oven until the fat is dark brown and crispy on top,
about 35 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool slightly.  Refrigerate
until well chilled, about 3 hours.  (this is done so the juices will
solidify and the steaks can be cooked rare.)  Remove fat cap and
discard.  With the blade of a large knife, scrape off the onions and as
much of the seasonings as possible and discard.  Then with a long knife,
slice between ribs into 6 steaks (4 will have bones); trim the cooked
surface of meat from the 2 pieces that were on the outside of the roast.
Season and cook in your favorite way for steaks.

TO BLACKEN THE STEAKS:  Combine the ingredients of the seasoning mix
thoroughly in a small bowl; you will have about 8 tablespoons.

Sprinkle the steaks generously and evenly on both sides with the mix.
using about 4 teaspoons on each steak and pressing it in with your
hands.

Heat a cast iron skillet over very high heat until it is beyond the
smoking stage and you see white ash on the skillet bottom--at least 10
minutes.  (The skillet cannot be too hot for this method.)  Place one
steak in the hot skillet (cook only one side at a time) and cook over a
very high heat until the underside starts to develop a heavy, black
crust, about 2 to 3 minutes.  Turn the steak over and cook until the
underside is crusted like the first, about 2 to 3 minutes more.

Repeat with the remaining steaks.  Serve each steak while piping hot.

(*NOTE*:  If you don't have a commercial hood vent over your stove, this
dish may smoke you out of the kitchen.  It's worth it!  But you can also
cook it outdoors on a gas grill; a charcoal fire doesn't get hot enough
to "blacken" the steak properly.  If you have a smoke detector in your
house, you will be able to determine if it is working correctly.  This
is NOT a dish to prepare in an apartment building with a central fire
alarm system wired into your smoke detector.  It causes great
excitement!  Also, you can be guaranteed you will meet your landlord.)

Recipe By: Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen
MMMMM

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