I think we can all agree: meat on the bone tastes better. Or it’s more fun to eat, anyway. I know a lot of people who won’t eat meat off the bone because it reminds them it’s an animal (…what?) but I’m not one of them.
I was in Jamaica earlier this month and I noticed something. Every time I ordered meat (jerk chicken, curried goat, or chicken in brown sauce for breakfast — pictured above), I spent most of my meal picking small bones from it. I mean, bones in whole fish are sometimes inevitable (they’re just so small and hard to see), but I really don’t want to be eating bone fragments, especially when they can be sharp.
In Jamaica, it seems that to make the meat a more manageable size…they don’t take it off the bone, or even cut the bone at a place where it’d make sense (like the joint). The meat, bone and all, is just chopped up into bite size pieces. But who the hell cares if it’s bite-size if there are bone shards and shit in my food? Instead of eating meat off one, large, smooth and normally shaped bone, I’m sitting there with these little bite-size pieces of meat, and even smaller bones everywhere in them. And since there’s no rhyme or reason to the cutting, it’s impossible to predict where the bone/fat/ligament will be on each piece.
It was a scavenger hunt I never signed up to play, and after I got halfway through each bone hunt, I just gave up and ate what else was on my plate. I wasted so much food. And even if I DID spend the time picking through the bones, I just couldn’t get all the meat off that I would normally, given the sharp bone edges and fragments that were present.
Am I missing something? Is there a method to this madness? Is this a way to get people to eat less meat?
I love the local Philly donut shop, Federal Donuts. I really do.
On another note, if you follow the @EndlessSimmer twitter, you know last week I was at the Krispy Kreme factory (details to come, stay tuned!) During our product development session, I made this creation:
Vanilla glaze (only because I wasn’t offered marshmallow), graham cracker crumbs, chocolate drizzle.
(Pic: Krispy Kreme)
And then five days later, Federal Donuts unveiled this on their facebook page:
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Classic cocktails can be fun, but at Endless Simmer we can never resist the urge to mix things up a bit. That means we can’t pass up an alcoholic drink with something new thrown in the mix. Be it ice cream, avocado, or even snow…if you can eat it, we’ll turn it into a drink.
Here are the 31 craziest new cocktails we’ve found/sipped/invented recently
1. Avocado Margarita
The two best things Mexico ever gave the world, now combined in one amazing drink.
Recipe: Avocado Margarita
2. The New Moscow Mule
Traditionally a ginger beer cocktail, now made with ginger…and beer.
Recipe: The New Moscow Mule
3. Bourbon Butterscotch Latte
Eat this, Starbucks.
Recipe: Bourbon Butterscotch Latte
4. Italian Sipper
The foodiest drink yet? Tequila, strawberries, balsamic and basil.
Recipe: Italian Sipper
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I’m sure y’all have heard by now that Paula Deen has diabetes. It’s all over the news. People are pissed. I’ve seen media “correspondents” (who are these people who are allowed to throw stones all over the place?) calling her “outrageous” and demanding apologies to the public. WHAT? Why?
Know what? I’m just gonna say it. I like Paula Deen and I DON’T CARE. I don’t care that my girl Paula cooks food that is bad for her/everyone; I don’t care that she kept her diabetes a secret; I don’t care that she is now doing an endorsement deal with a diabetes pharmaceutical company.
Is a lot of her food hilariously bad for you? Sure is. Does she blatantly ignore nutritional guidelines? Yep. If you cook and eat a ton of her recipes on a regular basis, are you doing your health a disservice? You better believe it.
But guess what, Food Network viewers! The onus is on YOU! If you think Paula Deen’s recipes are unhealthy, don’t cook and eat them. If you think her lifestyle is appalling, don’t watch her show. The fact that Paula has diabetes may be linked to her eating habits, great. Frankly, her health is her business. Anthony Bourdain may say she’s “in bad taste,” but honestly, how is her admitting to diabetes and hawking meds really affecting any of us? Nobody was “betrayed” by her cooking shows, as some people have claimed. She’s never represented herself as an athletic, fit person. Paula Deen’s admission of her diagnosis doesn’t give you a free pass to eat poorly, then complain and point fingers.
Even here at Endless Simmer, we delight in writing about alarmingly extreme foods. I highly doubt any of our readers think we constantly pig out on all of our ridiculous culinary discoveries, or that we encourage anyone else to. We’re all smarter than that, right?
This is just like people who try to sue fast food companies for their health issues. Let’s take some personal responsibility, please. If you honestly think it’s okay to eat burger-stuffed doughnuts three meals a day, that is 100% your problem, not Paula Deen’s.
(image: eater.com)
Nearly two years ago, ESer LB responded to The New York Times’ 100 Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do with her own 100 Things Restaurant Patrons Should Never Do — basically a server’s wish list/bill of rights. While we only actually came up with 50 items for the original list, this continues to be one of Endless Simmer’s most popular posts, so we’re pleased to present part 2 of the list, as suggested by ES commenters.
51. Don’t walk back into my kitchen to tell me that you are allergic to something.
52. Don’t tell me how to do something. I don’t care, if you think you should pay AFTER you eat. If I’m telling you to pay BEFORE, just do it.
53. If you use a coupon or get a discount of some sort (use a gift card, etc) make sure you tip on the ORIGINAL bill…seems like another “duh” but you’d be amazed how often people don’t do this.
54. If you have kids, PLEASE keep them under control before/during//after being seated, especially when the restaurant is busy. I can’t tell you the number of times I have zoomed out of the kitchen, arms full of hot food, to almost trip over a 3 year old running around the dining room. THIS IS NOT OK people! and it is dangerous. THINK.
55. Don’t be the person that comes in at 9:50 at a place that closes at 10:00, then two hours later as someone vacuums under your feet, say, “Oh…you’re closed? When?”
56. I’m not picking the garlic out of the pasta sauce. Don’t be any dumber than your genetics already make you be.
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Sorry, Vampire Weekend, but food bloggers everywhere are standing up for the Kayne West of punctuation:
1. Commas Save Meals
(Pic: Shortee)
Here at Endless Simmer headquarters, we’re considering whether or not to rename our blog 100,000 ways to turn booze into food. From popsicles and cakes to jell-o shots and chicken, there’s nothing better than edible alcohol, right?
Now we’ve even got the pros in on it. Chef John Eisenhart of Pazzo Ristorante in Portland, Oregon likes to take leftover wine and turn it into delicious, boozy jam, and he was kind enough to share his recipe for prosecco preserves with ES. Warning: this ain’t your average jelly recipe; it’s more for aspiring Top Chef-testants, so have your CO2 canister at the ready.
Prosecco Preserves
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