Thank you for all your life’s work, you’ve changed so many lives over the years. Now I guess I won’t get my books signed, dang. Hugs.
Author Archives: Biggles
Fatted Calf Returning Newsletter of Meat!
Egads, FINALLY. They’re baaack. Of course I can’t wait for Saturday morning now, but I have to say I’m not nearly as anticipatory as I thought. We’ve been eating pretty well at the ol’ Lab this last few weeks, so my skip to the meat stall won’t be quite as skippy. I think this time I’ll only be getting a pint of the Sugo Di Carne, some Finnochiona (YUM central) and some Pancetta Toscana. Hey, my interest is picking up a bit. I feel better, I think it was the Finnochiona that did it. If you’re interested in what it might be, do a search here on MeatHenge, it’s there.
onward …
3 Hermanas – Mexican Home Cooking
Here we find ourselves with August coming full on. Which means most of the day it is either overcast or foggy with some blust. Today around mid day it was sunny, El Yay !
Mid day around these parts also finds the Good Dr., hungry. A handful of months ago a new restaurant opened up around the corner. It’s an odd little place attached to Rose & Mike’s liquor in Richmond. Grandma K and Grampa were able to check out the place a few weeks ago. They found the experience quite favorable, which drives the interest higher. Today it was time to visit 3 Hermanas (3 Sisters), my wife agreed and off we went. To the bank, cause I didn’t have any cash. After the bank though, we were there.
Post Party Tribute
Yesterday was our second meatfest of the year. It was big. It was grand. There was a lot of meat and booze. Yet, there was one thing lacking from the get together. No, it was not more meat. What was missing was a little song about meat and the joy that it brings to everyone who loves it so.
Today, I can right the wrong of yesterday and now provide you with that musical composition to complement your next meat-laden meal. This song is called Meat Cuttin’ Blues, written by Hunter and Jenkins (bless them), and I dedicate it to Dr. Biggles (Happy Birthday), and to Rick, our local butcher.
La Caja China – The Odyssey
Are you holding on to something? Maybe you should sit down, a good sit. MeatHenge Labs is proud to introduce our very own La Caja China Roasting Box. This year we’ll be able to roast a 100 lb pig. Since I figure I’ll need a little practice, turkeys get to go first. My eyes are vibrating along with shaky hands as I get this down on monitor. The Caja China is a portable plywood box lined with steel. The marinade injected meat goes inside on a rack over a fat tray. Once loaded, a charcoal tray goes on top. In this tray goes maybe 14lbs of Kingsford charocal briquets. It’s kinda like a pressure cooker, a big pressure cooker. There is no smokey flavor, just roasting like in a big fricken’ oven. This is a fine wonderful thing.
Injectable Marinade – Caja China Roasting Box Preview
This last weekend has to have been one of the most exciting weekends in quite some time. Both Saturday & Sunday was filled with shopping, preparing, experimenting & cooking/smoking/roasting meat. There will be a lot of information both informative & fun over the next few days, so please keep yourself propped upright long enough to get through it, K?
The catalyst for the last few days was the arrival of the La Caja China Roasting Box. I purchased it a few weeks ago, maybe 3. I had planned on roasting a pig for my birthday party that’s coming up, but realized it was too much too late. I attempted to cancel the order, but it showed up anyway. Fine, I’ll find a use for it.
I figure I can do up some turkeys, that’s straight forward enough. One of my first rules about cooking for a party is to not do something for the first time that day. This means I have to learn how to inject meat with a marinade (no, I haven’t been through that yet) and make a few runs through the roasting box before the following weekend. I can do that. But first I wanted to try out my personal injection technique & recipes before ruining 2 14lb natural turkeys. Which means today we’re going to figger out how to inject a marinade in to a Boston Butt Pork Roast. Baby Steps.
Fatted Vacation
Hey man, NO Fatted Calf at the market until August 14th. Take note. Go for fresh coffee & crusty bread, but no meat. And surely no green garlic, too late foo.
CLOSED
Sugo Di Carne
Yahoo !!! Meat Sauce. Good meat sauce, tasty meat sauce. Lovely happy wonderful meat sauce. The kind of meat sauce you add tomatoes to and nothing else. The kind of meat sauce you don’t have to add tomatoes to. Nor do you have to add salt and/or pepper. The kind of meat sauce that gives you smiles from your tummy to your mouth and back again. This my good people, is Sugo Di Carne.
Now that I have your hopes up, here comes the truth. I didn’t make it. I picked it up from The Fatted Calf last Saturday. Speaking of which, they won’t be there for the next two Saturdays. Good thing I have ONE LAST container of Sugo. However, when they return you’ll be able to do this for yourself …
Chicken Pieces with a sprig of bacon
Got chicken pieces? Was the butcher out of whole fryers? Rick was. So I bought three breasts & a pound of bacon (to make up for lost pieces I wasn’t going to get). I believe I can work with this, chicken & cured pork. Nothing wrong with THAT.
Wild Mushroom Crepinettes – Fatted News
Uh, ya know, I may be cutting my own throat here, but getting to the Berkeley Farmer’s Market at 10am could be too late. Sure they open at 10, but when I got there last week at 9:53, Taylor had already sold out of the Sugo Di Carne (meat sauce). So, now that he has his Wild Mushroom Crepinettes listed, I would have to say getting there by the time he is supposed to open might be a little late. Maybe 9:30 or so? I know this week I WILL come away with the Crepinettes, Sugo and some of the Saucisson Sec.
I for one, would like to see the Wieners with Wild Mushrooms. Yes.
… on with the news
IMBB – Smoke the Meat, then Eat the Meat
If you’re a fan of the Henge, there are posts that you expect to see. At the root level, we’re talking about cooking food. Just above that, maybe MEAT and then all hell breaks loose.
Well, it’s been about 14 months since we went up and this will be our first Is My Blog Burning (IMBB).
Aroo ?!??! you say? It is a game that a fellow food blogger (Il Forno ) put up on
the wall. To play you have to cook the Food Theme called, then either post it directly to the host or put in your URL of your blog. There really aren’t any rules, just some people getting together for some fun.
It can be interesting to see what people come up with when you say, RICE !!! Or SEAFOOD. Sure as hell I’m going to cook something with rice differently that someone in Manila.
This time it is all about Grilling / Barbecueing. I thought this might be the time to step in.
Reheating Barbecue
This conversation comes up far more often than you’d expect. Mostly because sometimes there ARE leftovers from cooking out of doors.
Here you find yourself with a rack of pork ribs or 3 lbs of smoked beef brisket. Today we have the 3 lb smoked beef brisket I got from Rick’s Quality Meats of El Cerrito. I’m glad I called that second on Monday, because by the time the meat came out of the smoker (82 pounds), it was all sold. I got mine and here it is. But that was yesterday, now it is cold and the fat has solidified. No problem.
Meatloaf rules for life
Meatloaf can be one of those wonderful comfort foods that nearly anyone can cook. The simplicity is at the heart of this meaty wonder. One can use just ground beef or stir in some ground pork to help out. Emeril adds half & half and stuffs the center with an italian sausage in the casing. I usually just do a few eggs, crumble up some crackers or old bread, herbies with spices. Coat with que sauce or ketchup, install in baking dish and in the oven it goes along with some bakers.
There’s one thing you simply can not leave out, no matter how you make meatloaf. The lack of this turned our meal in to a meat brick. It sat at the bottom of my tummy for over 24 hours, gack.
Yay for Fatted Calf News !! – Extra Special
pictured above; two 1 lb. pork top round roasts from Niman Ranch
(doing the crepinette dance!) Check out what we have this Saturday buckaroos! Duck Crepinettes with Picholine Olives and Thyme escorted by Taylor’s brined 2 pound pork loin roasts. Those two for certain will be in my cotton meat bag. Something else you need to take a peek in to, the Sugo Di Carne. It’s their Meat Sauce and it has already be cooked and seasoned perfectly. You can warm it, dump over pasta or add some nice maters. I did the diced tomato version and it was delightful. Quite rich and again, perfectly seasoned. As the tomatoes simmered, I kept tasting it to see if it needed anything. From the container to the table, not one anything needed addition. No kidding. This week should be quite spectacular in the meat arena, I will go this week. I promise.
The Berkeley Farmer’s Market is within a few blocks of the Berkeley Bart Station, take that if you’re coming in from SF or Walnut Creek. Don’t forget to pick up some Green Garlic while yer there
on with the show
Wendy’s Fast Food – Mandarin Oranges?
Here at MeatHenge Labs we have two semi-small children. What this means is that from time to time we end up at a drive-thru fast food place. Wendy’s is pretty darned close so that tends to be what shows up on our dining room table. Well, here I was waiting for the sewer guy and my wife pulls up waving the Kid’s Meals from Wendy’s. Turns out you have an option other than FRIES. That’s right, a container of Mandarin Oranges! INSTEAD OF FRIES !!! How cool is that ?!? Of course Z wasn’t fooled and got the fries & the oranges, but just the sheer thought of some fast food place offering a replacement for Fries I thought was earth shattering news that warranted an entry. I say, bring it on.