tfbrennan

"Who wants soup ... and ice cream??" Those with dental fillings beware - Coldstone pairs with Soup Nazi

I did this last Wed for our 20th Anniversary. It came out better than any steak I've ever done in my life.

For those who've read the article, are the details important? Time in oven, thickness of steak, etc.?

And do you see where you can buy them? Sharper Image!

Is it April 1 somewhere, like the newly-discovered Gliese 581 c?

I read that Jerry's is moving next month about 2 miles to a spot in a newish shopping center (Vista Gardens Marketplace) at the intersection of Rts. 450, 704 and Lottsford Vista Rd in Lanham/Bowie. The article says 10K sq ft, 3 dining rooms and a carryout.

...We have a principle of never turning away a guest if at all possible no to, regardless of the clock, even if it means turning the grill back on and me waiting on the table myself--... (NOT an invitation to come late, by the way!).

Nice save. You know how we think.

For the past year or so, I've used the Toddy cold brewing system at home. My wife, who is bothered by coffee's acidity and to a lesser extent, caffeine, believes the claims that this system results in less of both. She also brews tea with it, so we've got containers of both concentrates in the refrigerator. We simply boil water in the morning and add it to a few ounces of concentrate in our mugs, the ratio of water to concentrate depending on our respective preferences. A review of the Toddy system

Anyone caught this effort?

Somewhat hypnotic even for a hater. I shudder to think what it'll do for Dan. (Is there a "raging chubby" smiley?)

Only thing better for Dan would be his ultimate fantasy, "Rachael Ray's the Steaks."

You'd be better off investing in a charcoal chimney and just use regular charcoal. All serious grillers use them for starting charcoal. It's really easy to use - just three crumpled pieces of newspaper and a match gets the charcoal going. Then you don't have the extra expense of Match-lite and the yucky smell/taste of petroleum associated with your grill.

My old chimney starter recently bit the rust (sic); today the UPS man delivered my new and improved one -- cone-shaped grate for speedier ignition, thermoplastic handle, aluminized steel (whatever the hell that is). Although I grill year-round, spring has now definitely arrived.

... and on DC's card, Donna vs. Kliman: Reliable Source: A Scorching Response to a Food Critic (Cue Michael Buffer?)

Anywhere in Maryland? [fyi: it is that small state on the other side of the Potomac River.]

per their websites:

$10.99 at Corridor Wine in Laurel

$9.99 at Beltway Fine Wines in Potomac

Gosh, I've been doing that all my life. The fragile/soft stuff, like eggs, bread, pears, mushrooms (especially the $30/lb kind) go at the end. The canned stuff, the dry pasta, the potatoes and onions go at the front.

Yeah, I'm pretty ocd about it myself.

How about adding the OCD of spinning the UPC's around forward for quicker scanning? You would think I was a former cashier, but no. In years of doing this, no comments from any cashier, but I like to think I'm getting silent appreciation. Maybe I just scare them....

Post Extra review

Or you could ask Michael.

Well, then. Please, if you will, share your calette du boeuf/deckle/spinalis dorsi knowledge.... (We aspire to be worthy.)

I will be grilling this delectable cut on my deck this summer!!!

Not until summer? And you hold yourself out to be a Canadian? Hmmmm....

from Jeffrey Steingarten, It Must've Been Something I Ate, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2002. Pp. 453-4:

"…But the rib steak offers the most succulent and flavorful muscle of them all: the spinalis dorsi. “You can’t beat the spinalis dorsi,” is what cattlemen and meat scientists say to each other in hushed tones as they finish up a fine steak dinner. Sometimes they just call it the spinalis. It’s the curve of heavily marbled meat topping the rib eye.

Most butchers do not know the words spinalis dorsi though they acknowledge this strip to be the most flavorful and juicy beef you can think of. Some deny it has a name at all. Can you think of anything so good that it has never been given a name? The knowledgeable James O. Reagan, Ph.D., a former beef academic now at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, gave its common or vernacular name as the “rib-eye cap” or “top of the rib.” One very expensive New York City butcher, who with psychic ability was able to sense the extent of my gluttony, proposed selling me a whole seven-rib section for $250 and slicing off the entire spinalis dorsi for a special feast. To such extreme lengths neither I nor my employer was willing to go.

Do you remember that a steer (or heifer) has thirteen ribs on each side, of which the rib section occupies seven? The rib-eye muscle next to the loin at rib number 12 has no spinalis dorsi to brag about, or very little of it. This area is known as the “first cut,” and your butcher may try to force it on you, often at a higher price, because the central rib-eye muscle predominates here and there is less visible fat. Don’t listen to a word of it. As you move backward toward the shoulders, the spinalis dorsi grows thick and plump. But near the chuck, the distinct muscles in a rib steak become more numerous and varied, with large chunks of fat and gristle among them. And worst of all, the spinalis dorsi there thins down to a quarter-inch in thickness as it begins to fan out over the animal’s entire shoulder area.

So, it is the three steaks cut from the center of the rib section, ribs eight, nine, and ten, (counting from the front of the animal) or three, four, and five (counting from the back end of the rib section), that have the thickest piece of spinalis (though number seven is nothing to be ashamed of) plus a fine rib-eye, and only moderate deposits of separable fat at their center. Ribs eight, nine, and ten: These are the three greatest steaks, the very summit and apogee of beef. Plus, of course, the paradigmatic porterhouse."

Later, a colleague offers to treat Steingarten to the purchase of the spinalis; they pick up a seven-rib section at Lobel's, asking the butcher to remove the spinalis in one piece. It measured about 7 by 11 inches, and 1 1/2 inches thick at the center. They grilled it.

To Dan:

Yumm-o!

Love,

Rachael Ray

Rachael Ray is on my list of Five Celebrities I'm Allowed to Sleep With.

Tomorrow night I'll be dining at Citronelle for the first time in ages. I'm excited. ... Mad with gustatory lust, if you will.... - what's the dress code for women?

RR should stay away from the ruched shirts that she seems to favor.

Gus seems to have answered you already.....

Inspired by Zora's post but wanting to keep it simple, I found a recipe for crockpot pozole using country style pork ribs. Christmas Eve morning, put the simple ingredients in the pot, and after picking up my parents at the airport, served what I learned was a traditional Mexican (Mexican-American?) Christmas Eve meal with crusty bread. A virtue of the dish is that each person could spice it to their particular taste with different salsas and hot sauces. Also cut up some avocados and (still-surviving) cilantro from a container on the deck for toppings, and everyone was happy. (Kept the theme going later that night with some Aztec hot chocolate from a recent Post recipe). Thanks for the tip, Zora.

Well, in Laurel, they turned the Food Lion to a Bottom Dollar. I went there once and I hated it. Never will go back. Even if they turn it to a Bloom now, I doubt I would go back. They turn their back on my hood by giving us a Bottom Dollar and I turn my back on them. BAH!

Never been to Bloom, but FL did give one to North Laurel/Scaggsville. I think I saw it on my way to Smokey Hollow BBQ. I may try one just to play with the handheld scanners....

Domino's has scarily rolled out on Halloween its "Brooklyn Style" pizza. BOO! Oops, wrong thread; just for contrast's sake.

All right you Laurel Rockwellians (yes, you, TJaehnigen), any reviews of Red Sky Steak and Fish House on Route 1?

If you're ever in Odenton MD, try a place called My Butcher and More.

Hearty second to that recommendation. Yesterday, we picked up two Prime bone-in ribeyes (16.99/lb) and a Prime strip (27.99/lb) there. Cut as we waited and to our size requests, the aged steaks were absolutely superior. Our 12 yo son devoured the 12 oz. strip and we had the ribeyes, each over a pound with the bone. The "Cowboy" ribeye may just be my new favorite cut, topping the NY strip. I think my wife and I will get both next time and switch at half-time.

I would disagree with a previous comment re. small selection. While display case is small, they've got it all in the back or by special order, from hanger, tri-tip, chateaubriand, Colorado lamb, veal, pork, salmon, tuna, sausages, etc. to ostrich, Wagyu beef, whole suckling pigs and lambs, pate, caviar, whole aged beef brisket, Long Island duck, So MD stuffed ham and, for the holidays, Turducken! I asked where their baby back ribs came from, and the butcher on duty said Denmark, so nothing unusual there, as it seems the majority of baby backs sold around here are Danish.

Technically in Gambrills, just east of Crofton and west of Annapolis, its at the corner of 450 and 424, about 2.5 miles north of Rt 50 on 424.

I made pesto with it, I now have 4 pints of fresh pesto in my fridge.

How long will it keep? I made some this summer, and although I think I've read it'll last only a relatively short time, we're still using it. Seems to be just fine. I've got 4 or 5 plants ready to be used for more, so am wondering if I should freeze some of the excess, or do something else....

Who's to say they aren't already here?

I've often used Alton Brown's trick with strip steak where you place the meat directly on red hot coals.

I've seen him do this with skirt steak (pure heresy), but not strip steak. I must have missed the strip steak episode.

As Dan notes, earlier this summer were some posts re. cooking steaks directly on the coals. I have done it with strips, and as this link (Julia and dirty steaks) upthread reveals, George Germon of Al Forno used ribeyes. Germon doesn't even trim the fat, and combined with the rich marbling of the ribeye, the resulting smoke infuses the steak with great flavor, in his opinion.

El Presidente cocktail (rum, vermouth, orange curacao, grenadine) .... Now all I need is a good cigar......