Things that change when you stop eating junk food...

[Overmind One]

More stuff that changes when you stop eating junk foods...you can recognize REAL food and start avoiding mystery dishes. I found this cool article on pretentious chefs:

http://thefoodnazi.wordpress.com/2012/07/21/pretentious-crap/

Some REAL foods are just not all that great, and are overrated. One of my favorite targets is filet mignon. I have two of them in my freezer, and I will order it when I have to choose from that or chicken (business dinners bought in bulk). Filet mignon is one of the most tasteless cuts of beef there is. When somebody lifts their nose and proclaims they are eating Filet Mignon and braised Harcots, they are just saying they are eating a little cut of soft, tasteless beef and green beans. Big deal! And truffles? They are balls of fungus found on a tree root. They arent all that. Snails? Really?

 

[shavedape]

More stuff that changes when you stop eating junk foods...you can recognize REAL food and start avoiding mystery dishes. I found this cool article on pretentious chefs:

http://thefoodnazi.wordpress.com/2012/07/21/pretentious-crap/

Some REAL foods are just not all that great, and are overrated. One of my favorite targets is filet mignon. I have two of them in my freezer, and I will order it when I have to choose from that or chicken (business dinners bought in bulk). Filet mignon is one of the most tasteless cuts of beef there is. When somebody lifts their nose and proclaims they are eating Filet Mignon and braised Harcots, they are just saying they are eating a little cut of soft, tasteless beef and green beans. Big deal! And truffles? They are balls of fungus found on a tree root. They arent all that. Snails? Really?

Truffles, to me, smell and taste like dirt. And I don't see the appeal to things like truffle oil. I used to sell that shit when I worked for a certain retailer many moons ago. It was just dumb.

Escargot (snails) are only good if done right -- and very few places know how to do them right. The only snails I've ever enjoyed were Sechuan escargot from this upscale Chinese place that went out of business years ago (I worked there as a bus boy when I was younger so that's how I knew of them). I haven't had snails since that time.

As for filet mignon, I like it but you're right in that the flavor profile isn't the same as a cut of sirloin. I think people go for filets because of the tenderness factor mostly. I admit I often go for the filet because I like a butter-soft cut of meat. Oddly enough I'm not so keen on prime rib though, go figure. I have been known to default to a Ribeye or NY strip when the mood strikes.

The problem with all of this though is finding a restaurant that does steak right. It's getting harder and harder these days to find that. I'm lucky in that I have Jenn-air grill top so I can make steaks at home but I still like to go out at times too. So basically the compromise has been to go out for Japanese or Mexican but to stay home for making steak. Sadly there just aren't that many reasonable and good steak houses out there anymore.

 

[Overmind One]

Truffles, to me, smell and taste like dirt. And I don't see the appeal to things like truffle oil. I used to sell that shit when I worked for a certain retailer many moons ago. It was just dumb.

Escargot (snails) are only good if done right -- and very few places know how to do them right. The only snails I've ever enjoyed were Sechuan escargot from this upscale Chinese place that went out of business years ago (I worked there as a bus boy when I was younger so that's how I knew of them). I haven't had snails since that time.

As for filet mignon, I like it but you're right in that the flavor profile isn't the same as a cut of sirloin. I think people go for filets because of the tenderness factor mostly. I admit I often go for the filet because I like a butter-soft cut of meat. Oddly enough I'm not so keen on prime rib though, go figure. I have been known to default to a Ribeye or NY strip when the mood strikes.

The problem with all of this though is finding a restaurant that does steak right. It's getting harder and harder these days to find that. I'm lucky in that I have Jenn-air grill top so I can make steaks at home but I still like to go out at times too. So basically the compromise has been to go out for Japanese or Mexican but to stay home for making steak. Sadly there just aren't that many reasonable and good steak houses out there anymore.

You sound to me like a great home cook with some advanced culinary experience. Im a newbie, but I do prepare about 95% of everything I eat. I never knew how bland chicken breast and filet mignon was until I started preparing it myself. Most of the taste comes from the seasonings and marinades used to prepare them. My comment about escargot came from the discovery that the plain cooked snail has NO taste whatsoever. It is like a piece of gristle. Same with calamari. No taste...until you season and sauce it to death. I love the Ribeye too, and especially the NY Strip steak. I use strip steak to make fajitas and carne asada Tacos/burritos. You can half them horizontally and then dice it to make an excellent filling for stuffed green peppers (along with the other ingredients) Im also not too keen on Prime Rib. The filet mignon is definitely the most tender cut on the steer.

 

[Bluce Ree]

Filet mignon is one of the most tasteless cuts of beef there is.

You should use the words "relative to other cuts of meat". It is also one of the easiest to flavor because of its tenderness and it is, by far, the most tender clean cut of beef. If you're going to argue that point, I will point out that I'm talking about REAL filet, not that marbled, nerve ridden, corn-fed shit they serve throughout most of this country.

Chuck is by far the shittiest meat you can find at the butcher.

 

[Bluce Ree]

I have been known to default to a Ribeye or NY strip when the mood strikes.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ... NY Strip.

 

[Bluce Ree]

You sound to me like a great home cook with some advanced culinary experience. Im a newbie, but I do prepare about 95% of everything I eat. I never knew how bland chicken breast and filet mignon was until I started preparing it myself. Most of the taste comes from the seasonings and marinades used to prepare them. My comment about escargot came from the discovery that the plain cooked snail has NO taste whatsoever. It is like a piece of gristle. Same with calamari. No taste...until you season and sauce it to death. I love the Ribeye too, and especially the NY Strip steak. I use strip steak to make fajitas and carne asada Tacos/burritos. You can half them horizontally and then dice it to make an excellent filling for stuffed green peppers (along with the other ingredients) Im also not too keen on Prime Rib. The filet mignon is definitely the most tender cut on the steer.

You bastard, you're making me drool.

 

[shavedape]

You bastard, you're making me drool.

Agreed. The NY Strip for carne asada tacos caught my eye too.

There's this Mexican place in town that has a Parillada that is amazing! They don't use NY strip but what they do use is knock your socks off good (flank steak, chorizo, beef ribs, etc). And the portions are HUGE! They serve it on a hibachi type sterno thing and you make your own tacos; mostly just meat meat meat and maybe some onions, that's it. It's a carnal treat.

 

[Overmind One]

Agreed. The NY Strip for carne asada tacos caught my eye too.

There's this Mexican place in town that has a Parillada that is amazing! They don't use NY strip but what they do use is knock your socks off good (flank steak, chorizo, beef ribs, etc). And the portions are HUGE! They serve it on a hibachi type sterno thing and you make your own tacos; mostly just meat meat meat and maybe some onions, that's it. It's a carnal treat.

Try that....it came to me by accident. I used to use sirloin or flank (the usual cuts), but at the time I only had a couple of NY strip steaks and I had already made the other ingredients and the taco shells. You take the steak and slice it horizontally to half the steak, then slice it into strips and then cut the other way to get smaller pieces. The strip steak is more tender than sirloin.

 

[Jim of WVa]

You should use the words "relative to other cuts of meat". It is also one of the easiest to flavor because of its tenderness and it is, by far, the most tender clean cut of beef. If you're going to argue that point, I will point out that I'm talking about REAL filet, not that marbled, nerve ridden, corn-fed shit they serve throughout most of this country.

Chuck is by far the shittiest meat you can find at the butcher.

Corn is junk food for livestock and junk food (high fructose corn syrup) for humans.

Have you had Kobe beef?

 

[Tripler]

I try and get my meat from my local butcher a few steps from my house . All his beef ,poultry , pork are raised free range . It cost more but the meats are always tasty and he also cuts them thick . Also a note here . Canada does not use any hormone or growth meds in any of our livestock . Even the large commercial farms or dairy's are not allowed to use chemicals to enhance there meats .
Also up here in Canada we have a placed called the Keg . In the 70's it was called The Crock and Block . The last time I went to one was around 2 months ago and I was extremely disappointed as it was my favorite take a date steak house . It may have just been there cooks at the time or who knows but the steak was horrible . Tasteless , bland and just plain boring to digest . I also found the place very loud . It is usually or was usually a nice atmosphere to enjoy your dinner . Sad how things have only recently changed as it was a wonderful place to dine over many years . I believe they have switched corporate ownership again recently but kept the name .
Recently I found an amazing all you can eat Sushi place . $26 and kinda small cuts but beautifully presented and very little wait time between servings . Service was impeccable and the sushi , sashimi or terryakki were so delicious I could eat that all the time and just stay away from beef altogether . BBQ eel is bloody amazing . I hate snakes yet I eat this water snake cuz it is just so good ! They had bbq kippers also ! Yummm !
Do you guys like sushi ? Do you have a favorite food place also ?
Another Sushi place that is amazing though expensive is YUMEI . Huge cuts and prepared by an award winning Korean Sushi master Young

http://yumeisushi.ca/

 

[shavedape]

I try and get my meat from my local butcher a few steps from my house . All his beef ,poultry , pork are raised free range . It cost more but the meats are always tasty and he also cuts them thick . Also a note here . Canada does not use any hormone or growth meds in any of our livestock . Even the large commercial farms or dairy's are not allowed to use chemicals to enhance there meats .
Also up here in Canada we have a placed called the Keg . In the 70's it was called The Crock and Block . The last time I went to one was around 2 months ago and I was extremely disappointed as it was my favorite take a date steak house . It may have just been there cooks at the time or who knows but the steak was horrible . Tasteless , bland and just plain boring to digest . I also found the place very loud . It is usually or was usually a nice atmosphere to enjoy your dinner . Sad how things have only recently changed as it was a wonderful place to dine over many years . I believe they have switched corporate ownership again recently but kept the name .
Recently I found an amazing all you can eat Sushi place . $26 and kinda small cuts but beautifully presented and very little wait time between servings . Service was impeccable and the sushi , sashimi or terryakki were so delicious I could eat that all the time and just stay away from beef altogether . BBQ eel is bloody amazing . I hate snakes yet I eat this water snake cuz it is just so good ! They had bbq kippers also ! Yummm !
Do you guys like sushi ? Do you have a favorite food place also ?
Another Sushi place that is amazing though expensive is YUMEI . Huge cuts and prepared by an award winning Korean Sushi master Young

http://yumeisushi.ca/

Being stuck in the land-locked Midwest I don't trust many sushi places here (neurotic as that sounds) but there is one place in town that is quite good. Their cooked dishes are really good but so is their sushi. And thankfully they don't have any of those stupid hibachi stations like other so-called Japanese restaurants here do. This place just has tables and booths and a sushi counter and every time I go there it's busy. To me that's a good sign. :encouragement:

http://kyotomke.com/

Now when I'm out in Los Angeles I love going to this place. It's been a few years I admit so I don't know if things have changed but hopefully they are still the same cool sushi joint that I loved. (The hostess, the owner's wife, has got to be the nicest person I've ever met that was working in a restaurant. She greeted everyone who walked in the door like they were a close friend that she was delighted to see.)

http://matsudasushibar.com/about.html

 

[Bluce Ree]

Corn is junk food for livestock and junk food (high fructose corn syrup) for humans.

Have you had Kobe beef?

Oh hell yes. It's heaven on a plate to me.

 

[Overmind One]

Oh hell yes. It's heaven on a plate to me.

I hope that was before 2009. All Japanese beef import has been basically illegal since then. I have a lawyer friend who said that places claiming to have served Kobe beef commanded top dollar for it, and that claiming it was not illegal. The Wagyu could be exported to other countries then raised in those countries to be considered domestic (legally). Many were crossbred. So, we still get an exquisite cut of beef, but it isnt the original.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/larryolmsted/2014/01/07/the-new-truth-about-kobe-beef-2/

 

[Bluce Ree]

I hope that was before 2009. All Japanese beef import has been basically illegal since then. I have a lawyer friend who said that places claiming to have served Kobe beef commanded top dollar for it, and that claiming it was not illegal. The Wagyu could be exported to other countries then raised in those countries to be considered domestic (legally). Many weree crossbred. So, we still get an exquisite cut of beef, but it isnt the original.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/larryolmsted/2014/01/07/the-new-truth-about-kobe-beef-2/

BLT Steakhouse in Manhattan was my favorite. $18/oz back in 2006, 2007, 2008 and most recently 2010 and 2011. Still tasted the same.

I'm overdue for a short trip to NYC.

 

[shavedape]

Just curious, what's so bad about cattle eating grains? After all, we're not the ones eating grains directly, they are. So why is eating the meat of grain fed cattle bad?

 

[Bluce Ree]

Just curious, what's so bad about cattle eating grains? After all, we're not the ones eating grains directly, they are. So why is eating the meat of grain fed cattle bad?

Cows don't digest grains and corn properly, which causes undesirable effects to the meat. The reason why North America has notoriously shitty meat is because they are fed corn and grain.

I go back to the filet example because it is a meat where this effect is most clearly seen. Good quality filet should be red with no marbling, no chunks of fat and no thick nerves going through its center. This is true of filet everywhere on the planet except in this country.

Filet in Panama was a nice, even red right through and butter-like tender and only cost $9/lb. Typical filet here looks like bloody shit with a neural network ripped from a monkey's brain stem wired through it and is borderline acceptable in tenderness, so long as you're not biting through a nerve that has the consistency of a Comcast cable, and costs upwards of $30/lb.

 

[Backstep]

Best of both worlds

 

[Overmind One]

Just curious, what's so bad about cattle eating grains? After all, we're not the ones eating grains directly, they are. So why is eating the meat of grain fed cattle bad?

Cattle would not go for grains naturally. They would go for young grasses and young leaves from certain low growing bushes (along with berries). In addition to that, most 95%+ cattle raised in the US is fed GMO corn and GMO soy products. If you have pets, then you know that much of the pet food for dogs and cats is mostly modified grain products. Cats do not eat grain in the wild. They will eat grass and the leaves or flowers of certain plants but they are obligate carnivores, They MUST eat meat in order to live. Grain based cat foods use protein "digests" to trick the cat into thinking he/she is eating protein when it is eating modified grain.

But I still think most beef is safe no matter what it has been fed as far as foods go. Im just against hormones and antibiotics being used.

 

[Bluce Ree]

Cattle would not go for grains naturally. They would go for young grasses and young leaves from certain low growing bushes (along with berries). In addition to that, most 95%+ cattle raised in the US is fed GMO corn and GMO soy products. If you have pets, then you know that much of the pet food for dogs and cats is mostly modified grain products. Cats do not eat grain in the wild. They will eat grass and the leaves or flowers of certain plants but they are obligate carnivores, They MUST eat meat in order to live. Grain based cat foods use protein "digests" to trick the cat into thinking he/she is eating protein when it is eating modified grain.

But I still think most beef is safe no matter what it has been fed as far as foods go. Im just against hormones and antibiotics being used.

I have no doubt the beef is safe here. It's just that the quality is so sub-par it's barely palatable. You really have to buy your meat from markets that either import or sell naturally grown (free range?) beef.

 

[Jim of WVa]

...Im just against hormones and antibiotics being used.

Why? What harm to they do?