Yeah, like I’m not supposed to use words, nor am I supposed to post it on a Tuesday. Ah well. Applewood smoked/grilled beef burgers with a slice of Tillamook Cheddar on the top to melt.
xo, Biggles
Author Archives: admin
Do you have any idea what’s the life span of meat?
Rarely do I post anything that points to something cool or interesting on the web, figure you got that taken care of by now. But this is so great, and I just know you haven’t read it already, I had to stop by immediately to give you the scoop.
It’s a short story by Terry Bisson and I’ve only known about it for less than 10 minutes. It’s so good (and short, that’s good for you Twitter Heads), I couldn’t resist
Terry Bisson
They’re Made out of Meat.
xo, Biggles
Meathenge turns 7 years old!
That’s right, snoozy little Meathenge turned 7 years old on May 29th 2010! Pretty cool, eh?
Not much going on at the Lab these days, obviously. The boys are getting out of school for the summer this week, so hopefully will be able to get back to grilling and smoking my brains out. I have been sent a fancy outdoor cooker for review and have been using it quite a bit. The chicken breast you see above was rubbed with kosher salt, then smoked. So juicy, so tender.
Other than that, boring. So, celebrate with me and hoist a strip of bacon to thine mouth. Happy Birthday Meathenge!
xo, Biggles
The Biggles Method
Smoke your goodies, over halfway. Load the firebox up, then let it go for a few hours.
Hooyah !!!!
Boilerhouse Restaurant – Richmond CA
A week ago or so Meathead’s mother came to town and my sister Kallisti offered up the Boilerhouse as a nice, new destination restaurant to visit. It’s only a few minutes from either of us and neither of us had been, it was time.
The Boilerhouse is located at the old Ford Motorplant that was producing vehicles back in the ’50s, very industrial. It’s out near the harbor and the Bay Trail ends right at their front door. You have to drive out near Pt. Richmond, then head out and actually be checked in by a guard at the gate.
At first glance we were all impressed they’d kept and worked with such an industrialized area and old buildings. The place isn’t huge and the day we were there they were hosting a high school graduation. It all worked seamlessly. While it does seem somewhat upscale, it’s more inviting than that. A seating for 7 was easily dealt with, the servers were well groomed and attentive. The menu simple, pointed towards burgers. Burgers!
Ground beef from Niman Ranch and hand patted, cooked to your specification.
I got the Texas burger cooked medium raw. Gently packed with home fried red onions, bread roll was soft yet chewy. My father got the Jalapeno burger, said to be as awesome as well.
All of us ordered drinks and burgers, all were satisfied. The Boilerhouse really succeeds to down scale a great meal in a wondrous atmosphere of old industrial manufacturing. It’s going to be tough for them to bring business their way considering where they are, which is why I wanted to stop by and let you know this is a place worth visiting!
The restaurant opens up directly on to the harbor, marina and the bay. The view is epic, go now! Just to let you know how awesome it was, as we finished our meal the disco version of Star Wars emptied in to the audio system, everyone got dreamy eyed and fell in to a trance.
Go now, go soon. The Boilerhouse in Richmond.
xo, Biggles
Want to listen to music on your iphone? No earbuds? Meathenge can help.
I spent most of today doing chores, many of the to-do items required driving long distances. By 3pm the boys and I were pretty bushed, we reclined to TV, movies and video games. Z had some homework to deal with and settled on the living room floor for a while. After running a load of laundry I came in and found his iphone in his mouth.
He was listening to the Dead Kennedys, mouth open, volume down a bit. I offered that maybe if he turned it up, and put his teeth (gently) on the iphone that it might improve it.
It did! Said it was running through his skull, sounded like a real speaker or earbuds.
So, if you don’t have the earbuds to support your music habit on your iphone, put it in your mouth and hold it steady. There’s 20 bux saved! Not sure how your friends, family or anyone near you will react when they realize you have an iphone in your mouth. And, not convinced this move would be covered under warranty, so be careful. I have contacted Apple with this method, so maybe it will be approved!
xo, Biggles
City Wide Garage Sale – El Cerrito, CA
Z and I awoke this morning, I was the early bird at 6am. Our plans for later in the morning were to head out to the mall to find a jacket that fit the boy proper like. We both understood we had to get this done, but also knew there was a city wide garage sale going on a few miles to the south of us.
Sheet fire! GARAGE SALE HO !!!!
Sure the addresses were published, but we only decided to go that minute. Just drive around, up and down. We found a nice group of older folks living in a home selling grilled dogs, popcorn and drinks for a buck fifty. A block down and around, some young hipster selling off a 78 record player console and a 60 year old camera that looked clean. But some other hipster grabbed it, was totally in to it. I wondered if they knew it didn’t have a lightmeter.
Just down the road we landed on Richmond street, a pretty good little thoroughfare. A hot chick and her dude had a dufflebag of VHS pr0n including a gas mask. I told her point blank that my brother inlaw would be interested in this, right here. She said, “Whatever floats your boat.” Then giggled, flushed and got in to someone else’s business.
Z and I headed out and around the corner, got in touch with my sister and let her know the scoop. Brother inlaw called me back and asked for an accurate locale. Within a few minutes, this poor hotchick was approached by my sister and husband asking if a tall, Norwegian looking, red headed and bearded axe murderer looking guy was here checking out her pr0n and gas mask. “Uh, yeah. It’s over there.” Keep in mind, brother inlaw is bigger than me. It was all a pretty fun encounter and will probably be told a few times over the next day or two.
A good time was had by all and I ended up at the end of the day with a gas mask (found on top of a Russ Meyer movie), a 60 year old flashlight, an abused chopping block along with a few LP’s (Barry White) for about 6 dollars. OH yeah, and we totally scored a dozen doughnut holes from another hotchick that was selling a few macrobiotic cookbooks and trucker hats made from hemp.
Garage sales rule.
xo, Biggles
A Preview to A Review
A few weeks ago a major player in outdoor cooking rigs sent me a 55 lb box, they wanted to know what I thought of its contents. It’s an interesting piece of equipment and am having to run at least 3 meals through it to see how it stacks up. What you’re viewing today is a boar steak from Ted the Rancher of Highland Hills Ranch, located firmly at the Berkeley Famers Markets. Kosher salt only, so creamy smooth with a tender bite that resists a tad then spreads.
xo, Biggles
Mississippi Catfish – Richmond, CA
Alright, gather close. Raise your hand if you’ve driven by a restaurant or food truck and swore to yourself that you really need to stop by and see what they’re up to? Yup, nearly all, myself included. Okay, how many of you drive past the same place day after day, week after week, then year after year saying the same damned thing? Oh, comon, tell the truth. Yup, nearly all, myself included.
Back when they started up, in the parking lot of Mel & Son’s Muffler, they were in a stark white catering trailer. Even had tables set up outside for people to enjoy their food stuffs. They spent 7 years there, and a few years ago moved in to a brick & mortar building right next door. I drive past anywhere from 4 to 6 times a day, watching & waiting. What a noodle, why not just stop the hell by and see what’s going on?
It wasn’t until I saw a smoker on a trailer puffing mightily away that I started twitching and biting my lip. Okay, I give up, you got me.
Parking is a little odd what with being surrounded by auto related service stations, not a biggie though. The place is exceptionally bright and clean, very inviting and well taken care of. A few tables in the center with the kitchen facing you in the back. If Pops is there, the conversation is boisterous and all smiley. Earlier in the day his son is in the kitchen, I hear his daughter comes in later in the day. Ordering was easy because the son helped, me. I mentioned I’d never been and looked lost. He suggested the Lunch Delight with 2 pieces of catfish, 3 hushpuppies, slaw or fries for $7.25. And it comes with a soda !!!
Ain’t that somethin’? The cornmeal coating on the fish is thin, tasty and has a nice toothy crunch. The meat is firm, yet yields, then goes down quickly. I’ve been 3 times now and so far I’ve never just received 2 pieces, it’s always been a bit more. The hushpuppies were perfect in every way, crunchy on the outside, creamy steamy on the inside with nice savory wafty flavors. On the first one I did the fries, having 3 fried things at once was too much. On the second visit I ordered the slaw, was good, had raisins in it, didn’t ask if they make it er not. Oh, make sure you ask for an extra hot sauce packet or two if you’re getting it to go. It comes with 1, 1 is not enough and they’re happy to oblige.
All in all it was an uplifting experience with really tasty catfish & hushpuppies. Heck, I’d pull off the freeway for those ‘puppies! Oh, and the best part? I’ve always been the only white boy in there!
Mississippi has other items on the menu as well, snapper, prawns, wings (I think) and L&D BBQ Thursday through Saturday. Start with the catfish, yes start there and move your way around the menu as you see fit. I’ll get to the que as my budget and time see fit.
xo, Biggles
Mississippi Catfish, inc.
12440 San Pablo Avenue
Richmond, CA 94805
510.682.5377
File: Bacon and egg sandwish – open face
Anyone that has read Meathenge for any length of time knows that I love photography or digital capture and food. This has been the case for more than 35 years, a little more. Out of passion and the plea from my friends & family I set up my blog (actually my sister did) so they’d stop getting routine emails from me showing them what I was eating and they were not. This was back in ’03, a young blogger was born. It was tough for me to not give people a hard time about their images, I bit my tongue. More often than not though I ended up sticking my comments where they didn’t belong. Such is life and I learned my lesson, learned the zen of enjoying people for who they were and what they presented. It’s actually pretty peaceful to watch bloggers grow in both craft and voice, I love it.
Earlier today Jlee sent me this Wikipedia entry and I’ve been getting madder and madder as the minutes roll by. It offends me on every level that I hold sacred, food, photography and respect for the internet. What pushed me over the edge was the fact that the author of this post on WikiP actually published what he did to achieve such a wonderful shot. At this point picture me kicking tin cans around the yard hurling obscenities to the universe.
At first, it was the art, the photography that made my bowels erupt. Bite my tongue, but the blast of light from one direction and the fact the author went out of his way to edit out the shadows? Okay, let’s remove any depth or perception. The lone strawberry with red smudges on the plate? This lead me to the store bought sliced bread with uneven toasting and bacon that’s clearly been seared to near black death. My eye then went to the “tablecloth”? Why not just toss your wet dream stained bed sheets for luster, would have been more interesting. Not to me of course, but some people pay a lot of money for such things. Where’s the mayo? Where’s the black pepper and crystals of salt to glisten? Hot sauce? How the hell is one fricken little ‘berry going to add nutrition, happy breakfast or for crissakes Chi !!! GAHHHH !!!
Okay, so sure the fact the author published his editations pushed me further, but why you’re seeing this here to day is the fact he published this hideous monster on Wikipedia. That sealed the deal, he stepped over the line. This instantly went from a friendly food blogger type of situation to a worldwide encyclopedia entry that states this as truth and love both in the culinary arts and digital capture.
Don’t give me, “But the yolk is the perfect color and runny looking”. You know damned well this “human” needs to be drawn and quartered. Oh sure, I can hear your response, “Alright smart guy, if you think you can do better, go ahead.” Charley Manson could do better, don’t mess with Manson pal. In the last 7 years I’ve never, ever seen a food blogger do this poorly. We rule, you suck and I’m here to testify that I can totally kick your ass. Get this shit off the Wiki and leave us alone, hate doesn’t even remotely describe the feelings I’m having at this moment.
Yours truly,
The Good Reverend Doctor Biggles
Blackened Gater & Fried Pickles at Felix’s in NOLA
While the good Reverend Doctor Biggles spends his days hunting and hopefully trapping his muse, we bring you some travelin’ meaters.
My sister Kallisti, and her husband Meathead are right now in New Orleans. She lived there for maybe 4 or 5 years many moons ago and wanted to revisit. I’ve got a sneaking suspicion this was taken not too terribly long ago, what with how the internet and fancy phones be.
xo, Biggles
FRENCH PIG: The Butcher and the Cook – A Class
Kate Hill of Kitchen-at-Camont a French culinary retreat in Gascony just sent an email letting me/us know of an upcoming class we can take! Lucky for us we don’t have to travel to France, just the Napa Valley. They scored the kitchen at Fatted Calf, cool huh? She’s traveling with a French pig farmer / butcher, Dominique Chapolard. I don’t know the guy, but after reading the words she sent, this sounds like a must do. She states that the Portland class sold out in only a few days, so if you’re interested, jump.
FRENCH PIG: The Butcher and the Cook
An Evening Workshop of Butchering: French Cuts Butchery Plus Artisan Pork Tasting
Date: April 16, 2010
Time: 6 AM – 10 PM
Location: The Fatted Calf- Oxbow Public Market, Napa CA
Cost: $195
On a small farm in southwest France, Dominique Chapolard and his three brothers grow their own grain to feed their own pigs, eight to ten of which they prepare every week for five local markets. At market, they sell their fresh French cuts, like roti, cotelettes, and longe, along with their housemade charcuterie like saucisson sec, jambon, and fromage de tete. Together with the Chapolard family, Kate Hill, culinary teacher and owner of the Gascon Kitchen, a cooking school located just a short drive away from the Chapolard farm, offers butchery apprenticeships and other learning programs in France.
In April, Kate and Dominique will travel to the United States to share their cooking and butchery knowledge. While in Napa, they’ll join forces with Wil Edwards of the Artisan Food School and the Fatted Calf Charcuterie to offer an evening participatory demonstration master class. In this workshop, Dominique teaches students how to transform a pig into premium French cuts, using seam butchery, a traditional European method of breaking down animals according to their muscle seams, as opposed to cutting through muscle as is often done in many American butchery shops. As Dominique demonstrates on a whole mature carcass, Kate teaches them how to transform basic cuts into traditional French recipes. The class will finish with an artisan pork tasting with Carrie Oliver presenting four different breeds of artisan pork and charcuterie tasting and discussion of full-circle farming methods in France. |Students will go home with a share of the meat butchered in the workshop.
Reserve online at: http://frenchpig.eventbrite.com/
Contact: Fattedcalf or Kitchen-at-Camont
Sharpening Serrated Blades Class with Eric E. Weiss
I’ve overheard years and years worth of blather regarding getting your serrated blades sharpened. As far as the general public and uninformed, this cannot happen. Toss and buy new when it becomes no longer “sharp”. What a load of crud. I knew that then and in the last few years can most certainly say, serrated blades can be sharpened!
Yeah but, how’d you like to be able to do that yourself? Really? Really. And Eric is hosting a class to show you exactly how that is done.
Eric has spent his entire life fawning over everything sharp and all that encompasses such things. It’s his passion, his life. Bring any knife, implement from garden to kitchen to military killing items, he’ll go wild eyed and go in to the long history of your item. He’s the go-to guy for anything sharp. And he’s certainly the guy to show you how to sharpen your serrated blade, it’s what he does for a living.
So, if you’re interested in learning how to sharpen your serrated blade, now’s the time to jump in and get learned.
Monday, April 12, 2010
6:30pm – 8:30pm $65.00
Paulding & Company, A Creative Kitchen
1410 D 62nd St., Emeryville, 94608
Eric E. Weiss has taught many classes for people with all levels of sharpening experience from beginning to advanced. In this class, he will teach the skill of sharpening serrated blades. There are many different types of serrations for many different purposes and we will explore a great variety of these.
Please bring two knives (or more), one with small teeth and one with large teeth, and be open to the fact that in the process of learning this skill you will likely scratch or scar your blades, and you may not achieve perfection on your first try. You may want to shop a second hand store for some knives to practice on. We will provide special ‘half-round’ steels for each student and this tool, included in the cost of the class, goes home with you.
xo, Biggles
6:30pm – 8:30pm $65.00
Paulding & Company, A Creative Kitchen
1410 D 62nd St., Emeryville, 94608
510-594-1104
Eric E. Weiss has taught many classes for people with all levels of sharpening experience from beginning to advanced. In this class, he will teach the skill of sharpening serrated blades. There are many different types of serrations for many different purposes and we will explore a great variety of these.
Please bring two knives (or more), one with small teeth and one with large teeth, and be open to the fact that in the process of learning this skill you will likely scratch or scar your blades, and you may not achieve perfection on your first try. You may want to shop a second hand store for some knives to practice on. We will provide special ‘half-round’ steels for each student and this tool, included in the cost of the class, goes home with you.
xo, Biggles
Daisy – Take Pride. It’s a Daisy.
This post isn’t about food, but I couldn’t hold it any longer. It’s just too wonderful to hold back, am gushing.
Tomorrow I will be attending a best friend’s birthday party for his little girl, she’s just turned 1. I have 2 boys, 9 & 14, so I’ve been through the routine. But what do I get a 1 year old for her first birthday !?! I was thinking a box with crinkly paper.
After many thoughts I figured a gun was the best gift of all. I headed off to my local sporting goods store for such an item. What did I find? A Daisy Red Ryder BB rifle gun!
Easy enough, but what they had blew me away. They had a PINK BB GUN !!!!
That’s right, they had a pink bb gun rifle. A bb gun for girls! It was an easy sell.
xo, Biggles
Teriyaki Smoked Tilapia – amazingly perfect
Yup, it was this good. Surprised the hell out of me too, am very impressed. I’d planned on smoking the fish the next day, this would put the marination at 24 hours. I wasn’t able to pull it together due to pouring rain and very chilly temperatures. So, the fish and pork loin roast sat another 24 hours before I could get to it.
Thursday after work the first thing I did was start a fire, I needed every minute to get this rolling so I could get to sleep at a decent hour.
The second thing I did was to pull the 2 meats out of the fridge to warm up a bit. After oven roasting the first fish batch, I found the Soy Vey Very Teriyaki marinade to be a bit on the strong side, figured after 2 days sitting in the juice, it’d be pretty much ruined. The pork loin that Chilebrown of Mad Meat Genius gifted me would be perfect. What I thought I’d do was to wash the marinade off the meats, pat dry.
Got the smoker’s temp stable, the meat was at room temp. Just for good measure grabbed a handful of Bledsoe’s bacon to install above the fish and pork, baste!
I used hickory chips for smoke action, it’s what I had on hand. I used Broad Leaf Maple charcoal for heat, it’s all I had left.
Looking pretty good, eh? Wanna see the bacon?
Oh boy! The bacon came off first, the boys and I made that go away. Soon the fish was flaky, juicy, perfect. The pork loin came out later, pulled it at 138 degrees internal temperature and let it rest. While it was absolutely stellar, even better the next day, I have to say the fish was the one to eat Thursday night.
Agreed?
The shot I took of the pork roast wasn’t usable, so decided to leave it out this time. Don’t worry, there will be more in the future. In any case, you can clearly see the inner meat of the fish was white, the marinade didn’t penetrate that far. And since I washed off any bits & juice, the smoke took very well. Tender, juicy fish with flavor of teriyaki, then a warm smoke to finish dialed in this meal precisely. I shared a little of it and was given 3 thumbs up. I can close my eyes, lick my lips and still enjoy this meal.
xo, Biggles