Time for the NYT Dining and Wine Recap!

Getting it Backwards: OK guys, if this is gluttony, why are you replacing butter and rendered beef fat with margarine and vegetable oil? There's trimming costs and there's cheapening the meal. Fascinating article, though.

This would normally be my soapbox article. But frankly, I think that Bittman does an excellent job of summing up the problems with modern meat production and consumption, the myriad economic and social factors, and he provides the more compelling statistics when it comes to meat and the environment.

Speaking of health and the environment, yes, I did read about the high mercury levels in sushi tuna, and I'm not reading anything else from the NYT about it. The article that came to my reader last week was shameful: there were no scientists explaining exactly what the heightened mercury levels meant, the recommended rates of consumption of fish with certain mercury levels, or the health repercussions of consuming too much mercury, just quotes from consumers who appeared to be as woefully ill-informed as I was. I've since read good articles that gave me all the facts I wanted, but they weren't in the NYT. So I will be going elsewhere for my mercury information.

I've been looking for a Cocida recipe since it was mentioned on lobstersquad

Here's the Soapbox Article

Georgia's got some special liquor laws. We're one of 15 states (as of 2006) that doesn't allow off-premise alcohol sales on Sundays. We have multiple dry and half-dry (beer and wine only) counties. In Atlanta, last call is at 2:30 a.m., except for Sundays, when the bars all close at midnight, but bars in Dekalb can stay open till four, seven nights a week. If you want to buy booze and take it home on one of the six legal days, you have till 2:00 in Atlanta, and midnight in Dekalb. I haven't tried to buy beer at midnight on a Monday in years, but my experience is that if the clerk is even a little dubious as to the legality of the transaction, he or she won't sell, terrified that the customer is a cop.

The most onerous, of course, is the Sunday sales law. I hate the early closing time on Sundays--haven't we all done whatever worshiping we want to by midnight? Let us drink!--but far more people have been tripped up by not buying enough beer for two days on Saturday. For a couple of years, various bills allowing Sunday sales have made their way in front of the state legislature. And every time good ol' Sonny has taken a break from fishing to get on the horn and insult the city that pays the bills for the teetotalling evangelical rednecks who elected him. It's delightful.

But I was born and raised in Georgia, so I can't exactly claim ignorance with the laws. No, what really bugs me, what seems completely intractable, and what is deeply, deeply unfair to small breweries and wineries--we dream of distilleries--in Georgia is our three-tier distributorship system.

Here's how it works: a brewery that wants to sell in Georgia finds a distributor to market and sell its products to grocery and liquor stores and restaurants. The producer of the booze pays for this sort of marketing, as well as the more traditional sort, usually print and billboard ads. The distributors pay lobbyists, who take lawmakers out to lunch and on other free outings to talk up the "purity" and standards that the three-tier system ensures.

It works for Budweiser and other massive companies that can find the money in their budgets to pay enough for the distributors to promote their newest almost-craft-brewed, low-carb, hair-regenerating product. But for small local companies, it's a bit more difficult. Local brewers here have difficulty getting their small-volume products promoted (with the notable exception of Sweetwater, which will give away kegs for anything) by distributors that are getting way more cash from the big guys. It's a system that works for everyone but the small brewers, who don't have the cash to wield influence anyway. It also shut down Dogwood Brewery in 2003.

What about the purity, you say? The standards? Well, the distributors don't actually inspect any of the sites for safety or health codes, and there are laws about what constitute safe beer, wine and liquor in this country. At the end of prohibition, local and state governments weren't inspecting alcohol producers, so distributors fulfilled the roles that those agencies now perform. Importers are responsible for verifying the credentials of foreign-produced alcohol, which, in most countries, is going to be produced according to standards far more strict than the ones we use over here.

That's why I bristled when I read Craig Wolf's comments in this article. First, Mr. Wolf, a system that has "worked" since prohibition isn't necessarily the best one out there, especially since your industry was created as a compromise between dries and wets. Second, jackass, you and your industry have been promoting the "bottle of 1997 whatever" red herring for too long without getting called on it. It's a great way to make your critics seem elitist and unreasonable but it's also disingenuous. Most of the people who want to see you gone want to see a healthier, more competitive market for small, local and emerging businesses. Finally, your business has no need to exist. Every brewery, winery, and distillery is inspected for safety and quality, and you can bet that no outfit worth its salt is going to stand for someone counterfeiting its product. We have laws and lawyers to ensure it; you're simply one more redundancy. If any body of lawmakers ever gets serious about cutting the fat, it will see you, Mr. Wolf, realize that it's already paying more citizens to do the job that you claim to do, and if said government is functional enough to handle basic inspections, it will free you, your lobbyists, and the legislators who oversee you, to fulfill more pressing obligations. Like anything.

Epicure's Bolognese



I've been at work till 11 watching my chef make Bolognese sauce; pans and pans of it, in fact. And yet it never occurred to me to do so till the other night when we had dinner guests, some expensive pasta and a pound of ground beef. So I broke out The Art of Simple Food and adapted it to what we had on hand. I used less meat, and I didn't bother mincing skirt steak. It was a touch soupy, but after the remnants had reduced during dinner, it was perfect to swipe at with bread. And great the next day with grits.


(1) T Butter, melted


(2) oz. bacon, small-medium dice


(1) medium onion, small-medium dice


(1.5) celery (about 9" total) small-medium dice


(1.5) sticks carrot (=celery), small-medium dice


(1) lb. ground beef


(1) C. dry white wine


(2) C. chicken stock


(1.5) C. milk


(2) T. tomato paste





1. Brown bacon and beef with butter


2. Sweat veg


3. Deglaze with wine


4. Mix stock, milk, and tomato paste, and add to pot. Let simmer for as long as you can-at least a half hour. It gets so much better the longer you cook it, though. And if you can wait a day before eating it, do so.



We also had little beets that I'd roasted off just for Honey and me. I pulled the little gray lumps out of the oven and began to peel them, and discovered those vibrant colors underneath. Ms. Waters suggested a little good olive oil and sea salt for vegetables. I was a little dubious, but I halved and skewered the beets, hit them with some olive oil I bought in Granada, and realized to my chagrin that I only had kosher salt. They were still gorgeous, and they made awesome hors d'oeuvres. The white ones with the red center are Cioggas (I think) and the purple one was a Red Ace, which we've been pickling the heck out of at work.

I've Got a Post All Ready to Go

Seriously. But I have to leave for work now, and I've spent the past hour fiddling with format changes. Check out the new picture! That's me, 2-3 years ago, in pants that have long since been bleached to a light Georgia Clay. I was chagrined to see, in the other pictures taken that day, that I was such a messy, messy cook. I'm no saint now, but...damn. It was pretty bad.

I want to share articles from my RSS feeds with blogger from my reader page. I can't figure out how to do that, so for the time being, direct your attention leftward to "The Meat of the Matter" from the NYT. We have guanciale at work. And pasta...

Epicure Makes Sushi



A few months back, a friend's mom contacted me: she was part of this organization and they needed someone to supervise about 40 international students while they made dinner for the 150 people they stayed with over Christmas break. The students ranged in age from about 19 to 35. There were undergraduates and graduate students, a couple of MBA students and a seminary attendant.



I stayed up till 3 in the morning, immersed in the constant activity of the possessed. I made lists, more lists, maps, copies, spreadsheets, sent e-mails, printed things and left the printer running while I went to bed, where I slept lightly for about four hours. It was an 18-hour day, which is really OK by me.



The students were enthusiastic about the challenge, and were grouped by country. China and Taiwan, by far the largest group, made a menu of seven items. Not to be outdone, the Japanese students increased their menu from two to four. All of the students were optimistic, established leaders naturally, and worked diligently after I walked away. They were really quite a crew, although I failed to convince them that a dish could be cooked by fewer than 3 people. I got to chat with a woman from Tunisia who was very pleasant, and very particular about her salad. And I, the pig-worshipping Southerner, was forced to develop some sensitivity to the Muslim students' aversion to the bountiful pork that the Chinese students were mincing, making into dumpling, and frying.



I bought more food than I needed, per usual. But it's getting old, especially since this time I didn't stay in budget. I felt pretty bad watching the subtotal cross my spending limit.


Highlights of the day:


--Realizing that we were going to the International Farmer's Market on Buford Highway instead of the Dekalb Farmer's Market. The choice was fine, even practical given proximity and the need for different ingredients. But I'd copied maps of YDFM on the back of the shopping lists.


--Saying no to making dumpling skins and having make-your-own sushi for the buffet. The Chinese students made the dumpling skins anyway, but gave up when I showed them my old roomie's secret Chinese meatball recipe. (I'll give you a hint: it's just like dumplings, but without the skins.) And the Japanese student who had her heart set on sharing how much fun it was too make sushi went and moved the dumpling-cum-meatball project along. She also cleaned like a sport.


--Similarly, I loved watching the students go work with other groups. They worked very well together, and were incredibly positive the whole time. One Chinese girl in particular minced pork, made sushi and seemed to magically appear whenever someone needed an extra pair of hands. And one of the guys seemed to relish the repetitive prep tasks, and spent the entire time joking.


Admittedly, there was more than one time that I wanted a cigarette, just for the excuse to step out for a few minutes. I got pretty snappy more than once too, hearing three people calling my name all the time. I swore that next year, I'm printing "If it's not food, it's in the storeroom." on a T-shirt. I've heard fellow cooks say that cooks are the reason chefs don't have children. I believe it. I made a French Press of coffee at noon. I drank it at six. I might as well have been wandering around in a dirty T-shirt with stained jeans. Oh wait. I was.


Seriously, it was fun. Honest.


And when I delivered the leftovers to Cafe 458, I got to check out my old stomping grounds. It was looking pretty nice these days.

The Care and Feeding of Yourself...WITH BACON!




This bacon was brought to you by two of the finest pigs in Georgia: Berkshire breeds from Gum Creek Farm in Roopville, GA and Riverview farms in Ranger, GA. They were grass- and forage-fed. If you want to try their products yourself, contact Gum Creek through this site. Riverview sells pork every Saturday at the Morningside market, or you can place special orders by emailing wcswan at yahoo.com. A word of warning, though: Riverview's butcher is less than consistent. Their pork is wonderful, but if you want the same cut of Boston butt or ham roast that you get at Kroger, you need to be specific, and will likely have to place a special order. Feel free to ask me for specifics on cuts.



Bacon is the meat from the belly, where there's lots of fat, a little muscle, and no connective tissue. In roast form, this makes it almost impossible to overcook, because it can never really "dry out." It's cured by coating it twice: once with a mixture of salt, sugar and nitrate to suck out the water, keep it a nice pink color, and temper the salt flavor, and again in a seasoning mixture. It's then left for osmosis to work its magic. All of this bacon has been roasted once to a temperature of at least 150°F, but should be cooked to desired doneness before eating. While there's practically no risk of trichinosis or any other food-borne illness in high-quality cured meat, the cautious among us are advised that the FDA recommends a minimum temperature of 160°F. I heat mine to a minimum temperature of hot enough to eat.




Slicing is easiest when the bacon is really cold--just this side of freezing. Stick yours in the freezer for about 20-30 minutes before you slice.



Bacon#1 a breakfast bacon, cured with a sweet mixture of honey and molasses and smoked with a combination of pecan wood and a little hickory. It's just a touch Southern. Slice it for breakfast as thick or thin as you like and can, and if you don't want a long slice, you won't lose anything by cutting it in half and making smaller slices. A word of warning though: the sugar in the cure means that the edges of the bacon will burn before the middle is crispy. Try cooking it in an oven at 250-300°F if you like your bacon crispy. A sheet of parchment paper or aluminum will save the lazy from cleaning the pan. And even when it looks burned, it's delicious.



Bacon #2 was flavored with a mix of fennel, black pepper, and garlic from south Fulton county. It's great to slice into batonets (fancy culinary term for little sticks: 1/4" x 1/4" x 2") or lardons (somewhat less precise), cooked briefly in a little water, and sauteed for salads, sauces (try a traditional amatriciana sauce for your pasta), or ground and mixed with beef for meatloaf or burgers. Not that it's bad sliced into strips and fried, either.




Bacon #3 is the "Rendezvous Roast." Coated with a dry rub from Charlie Vega's Rendezvous Ribs in Memphis, it's best browned on its sides and roasted at 350°F until you decide that it's done. It's great sliced against the grain (the opposite of the way that you slice it for breakfast, or on the short end) and eaten with lots of fall and winter vegetables: bitter turnip greens or spicy mustard greens, sweet roasted turnips or radishes, any vegetable with a strong flavor to complement the salty, intense flavor of the rub. If you want to experience an old-school farm family meal, use the bacon as a condiment and eat most of the meal as vegetables. But if you want something a little more modern and meaty, sliced bacon roast goes great with a slice of pork loin, or other lean pork. You can also coat it in honey-mustard to roast. Just brown it first.