Cowboys 25, Bills 24

In the last second on Monday Night Football. Reason No. 254 that I am learning to accept the reality of why I gave up season tickets after twenty years!

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A new PETA ad via John Mariani's weekly newsletter, Virtual Gourmet.

Mariani's take:

YOU'RE ALSO BUCK NAKED,
LYING ON ASTROTURF, AND
LOOK LIKE AN IDIOT

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Nomenclature

Bugbear - 2. a persistent problem or source of annoyance. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc.

We were in DC last week, and were treated to dinner at the Capitol Grille. The wine list was extensive, which is really great when someone else is picking up the tab. The dry aged beef hanging in the entryway cooler looked as good as it tasted. However, there was something about that meal that bugged me then and bugs me now. Before continuing, I should also mention that I really don't get the whole idea of steakhouses. More meat than anyone can or probably should consume at one time (which was especially annoying when we had no way to preserve and use the leftovers) and, I'm sorry, but no creamed spinach is ever worth eight bucks.

This isn't about that, it's about the nomenclature - more precisely the lack thereof - regarding various cuts of beef. This has been something that has been a bugbear of mine for a long time. Take the Strip Steak. Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby describe the many names of this cut: "For boneless being called: ambassador steak, hotel-style steak, boneless club steak, New York strip, Texas strip, Kansas City strip; for bone ­in: club steak, country club steak, shell steak, sirloin strip steak, strip steak, New York steak." Bruce Aidells would add veiny steak and delmonico steak as choices. Heck, I thought a delmonico was a rib eye, but you can find that explained here. And what's worse is that, with no rules, a supermarket can call it what it wants.

For me, the real problem is my favorite steak, it's pictured above. I know it as a shell steak or club steak, it is basically a strip steak with a bone. In its purest form it is the transition steak between the short loin and and rib sections, where the the tenderloin has whithered to nothingness, and the top loin is becoming a rib steak. Not as good, but still acceptable, it a steak from the t-bone or p-house section, where the tenderloin has been peeled out and the "t" bone trimmed.

So, what does this have to with the Capitol Grill. What they call a sirloin, I know as a strip. Though Sirloin Strip is used, the phrase "sirloin" by itself should only apply to the meats more to the south of the beast. It was annoying, to say the least.

Lots of people have raised their voices regarding this issue, but without success. So, let's get those politicians who want to play with our food off of foie gras, raw milk cheese and cholesterol, etc. and on to a national standard of nomenclature for beef. I propose adopting that put forward by the Cattlemen's Beef Board and the National Cattlemen's Beef association (PDF chart here). Here is to the Top Loin Steak - the bone is optional!

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Another Reason to Fear a Vegan Invasion

This speaks for itself!

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Phrase of the Day:

From the guy who brought you "Vegoterrorist", I now present to you:

Simultaneous Blogasm: the act of posting on another blog at the same time that the owner of that blog is posting on yours. It may be rare, but almost always enjoyed by the participants. ;-)

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Vegoterrorism

Since I read several food blogs regularly, especially those of Michael Ruhlman and Bob del Grosso, it was likely that there would be some crossover. I didn't expect it this soon. I was working on a future post for the blog on what the late David Shaw called "the Pleasure Police", in my case a rant on efforts to outlaw raw milk cheeses.

Then the poster child for the Pleasure Police rears its head: Foie Gras. Bob has done a particularly good job of keeping us updated on the fight to keep us safe from the threat enlarged poultry liver - today another vegoterrorist "infiltration" of a Canadian Foie Gras farm.

I use the term "vegoterrorist", because not all who accept a Vegan lifestyle feel the need to impose their personal choices on everyone else. The majority of Vegans would never even consider doing what was done to Laurent Manrique. I question both the motives and the methods of those I dub the vegoterrorist wing of the Pleasure Police.

Bob asked: "How do these people get in to these farms? Do they get jobs under false pretenses or bribe workers to let them in?" My answer is the same as I made in one of my first posts at his site. They are targeting the small producers of Foie Gras because they are small producers. This is the opposite of the "deep pockets" theory we learned in Law School. They want to force us all into a Vegetarian diet, but rather than oppose Smithfield, ConAgra or Tyson, they start with small businesses without lobbyists or a lot of money. They got on those farms because the producers lack the wherewithal to do background checks or have a lot of on site security. And without that monetary base, the Politicians can afford to score some points with those who oppose food choice. It's not a fair fight.

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Elegy for a Dead Rosemary Plant

When we moved here, about five years ago, I carefully transplanted some rosemary from our old garden to a pot. Each Spring it went outside, and each Fall it came back in. It seasoned many meals.

But, when we went away for four days last week, I neglected to provide for its care in our absence and returned to find it had shuffled off the mortal coil.

The trip was well worth it, if only because it was the first time my wife and I had traveled alone since the kids came along. I will, however, miss my fragrant friend.

Funeral services will held Saturday, when, after a gentle soak in water, the remains will be gently placed on a bed of coals in my grill's firebox - to season, for one last time, a picnic shoulder.

Flowers are gratefully declined.

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