Gourmet Barbecue - My Personal Favorite

Lest anyone misunderstand the intent of this article, let me say up front that I, in no way, am knocking the men and women who comprise the fine dining industry. I am not casting aspersions on the food, quality of food, quantity of food and character of anything served at a gourmet restaurant. There is definitely a place for fine food dining in this country!

Barbeque however, is one of the great delicacies of the south, no matter whether its chicken, pork ribs, beef brisket or pork chops. My personal favorite, barbequed pork ribs are rarely, if ever, found on the menu of fine dining restaurants. That omission is an indication of how this great food item is discriminated against by gourmet restaurants.

Maybe the barbequed rib has just not climbed its way to the top of modern culinary society yet. My thoughts are that it is just too good to be placed on the same menu as a "Pan Seared French Cut Pork Loin Chop served with baby new potatoes and a cheery medley of spring greens."

Imagine opening the menu at any stuffed shirt restaurant where the dinner meals start at $50.00 per person and reading down:

"Tonight's house specialty is Honey and Soy Glazed Sea Bass, garnished with tiny sprigs of rosemary. Sides are delightful broccoli crowns steamed with basil and tarragon. A creamy garlic mashed potato with fresh clipped chives round out the meal. Our wine cellar is excellent"

Just below this you might find other offerings to temp your pallet such as:
Macadamia Nut-Crusted Mahi Mahi with Tropical Fruit.
Rack of Ellensburg Lamb with Pinot Noir-Thyme Sauce.

Somewhere near the bottom of the menu you should see in proud bold, block lettering: "Hickory Smoked Rack of Ribs! Slow cooked in a hickory smoker for 3 -4 hours, these pork ribs will fall off the bone as you lick the barbeque sauce from your fingers. Hand rubbed into the meat we feature an assortment of spices: garlic salt, salt, pepper, oregano, chili pepper, cayenne pepper, and onion pepper. While the meat is cooking in the smoking chamber it is kissed with our own secret red sauce."

This sounds a little uppity for the good old barbequed rib doesn't it? Ribs, chicken and the like have been relegated to the kitchens of Ma and Pa diners and rib houses that specialize in barbeque. Most of these restaurants are packed with faithful customers most of the time; especially on the weekends. Barbeque aficionados are a loyal crowd. When they find a place they like, they keep coming back for more!

Why then is barbeque not highlighted on the menus of the finest gourmet restaurants in America? Portions! That's the key. In most places of fine dining, the portions of any one thing are ridiculously small. On the other hand when you leave a barbecue joint you're holding your belly because you're stuffed. No small amounts of food here!

Why then do they have portion control at fine dining joints? I think the gourmet food people stumbled onto something a long time ago that the barbecue business has yet to realize. The entrees and appetizers at most of these places are quite expensive. Add that fact that most of the meals featured are weird! They're not usually something that we would prepare at home, so frankly, no one knows how each item is really supposed to taste.

Then, because gourmet restaurants blatantly keep their prices at extortion levels, we feel that whatever they feed us is wonderful because it costs so much! It simply has to be good! Most of us would have to carry our lunch to work for a month in order to pay for one night out with Chef Pierre. That being the case the meals must be wonderful regardless of what our tummies are telling us.

That's it in a nutshell. Serve very small portions, make it so that no one knows if it's good or bad, make it expensive and put the knives and forks in the correct positions. It can then be called gourmet.

Even though in the south every red blooded American male thinks he can cook the best barbecue in the world, we still enjoy going out to eat someone else's cooking and enjoy the ambiance of knotty pine paneling and vinyl table cloths that would enhance any dining experience. Maybe it would make a difference if there was a maitre d' to seat us as we entered the establishment.

USN Report - Ramen House Kambi (03-28-09)

For more info; www.irmnet.com/usn/index.html



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keMWgzb6VEg&hl=en

Raw and Living Foods

It's hard to believe that Americans are the most wealthy, yet malnourished, of all humans on the planet. Our society reports the highest incident in the world of illnesses such heart disease, chronic fatigue, ADHD, high cholesterol, allergies, joint pain, depression, gallstones, gum disease, hair loss, hypoglycemia, hypothyroidism, autism, diabetes, insomnia, cancer and other. Much of this is due to our consumption of high-fat, high-sugar, "low-life" foods filled with dangerous preservatives, dyes and chemicals that the FDA approves. Recently I went to a friend's house for dinner and she introduced me to living foods. I was intrigued with the fact that foods have life and energy in them, and that when any food is separated from its life source, (its "umbilical cord" to Mother Earth) it begins to die.

Processing, cooking, refining, and adding chemicals, coloring or preservatives to food kills the active enzymes, and destroys oxides, chlorophyll, vitamins, essential fatty acids, fiber, and alkaline/acid minerals, thus stripping them of their healing powers. The best way to insure good health is to eat food that is as close to its growing state as possible. This allows our body to access what it needs to heal and protect itself from illness. Not everyone is able to grow their own food, but there are healthy alternatives. You may purchase organic produce at farmer's markets and whole food grocery stores, or participate in a co-op such as the Barefoot Farmer's community supported agriculture group, or grow herbs, wheat grass and sprouts indoors. I did some research on living foods, and began my new eating regime. After just a few days of consuming 75 percent of my diet in raw, organic, and living foods, I felt more energetic, my mind sharpened and my mood lifted.

I still have a cheeseburger and fries upon occasion, but after a meal of dead or low-life food, my body quickly notifies me that it didn't get what it needed. When I begin feeling tired, sleepy or emotionally irritated. I run back to my wheat grass and juicer! The famous physician, Hippocrates, once said, "Let food be your medicine, let medicine be your food." Most of us agree that what we put into our bodies is very important, but we are hooked on the convenience of fast foods in our busy lifestyles. The best way to get started changing to a living food regimen is to get a copy of Rose Lee Calabros' book, Living in the Raw, and begin her "Three-Month Plan to a Healthier Mind, Body and Soul." you may soon find that growing and preparing living foods is a great way to express your creativity. And the best part is you'll have the energy and enthusiasm to enjoy the "uncooked" life style!

Man Eating Potato Pt.2

The thrilling conclusion to the terrifying Man Eating Potato.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEKjvdxbK1s&hl=en

Fresh Foods For Delivery

One of the greatest convenience's of food delivery is the fact that foods are always fresh, just as they are in the grocery store. If you are having groceries shipped to you, chances are, you are not receiving fresh foods. Most people who ship groceries only will ships non perishable items such as chips, canned goods, noodles, bottled goods, etc. With food delivery services, you can have foods shipped or delivered to your house that you thought would never be possible such as fresh produce, juices, meats/dairy products, and even ice cream. The list is endless.

Now think about how ordering these fresh items online can change and improve your overall diet. When you are ordering online, you can see every item in your shopping cart, hour much it costs individually and separately, and how much of that product you have. With this aspect, you can compare what you have and what you need to maintain a healthy diet quite easily. All of your information you need is right in front of you. So say you have too many sweets and not enough vegetables on your shopping cart. With online shopping, you do not have to go all the way back to where you got your product if it is unneeded; simply just take it off the digital cart. Also, when doing this, you can go ahead and add some more vegetables or more abundant quantities of the vegetables you already have in your cart. Easy, huh?

Making a healthy diet and getting the fresh foods you want and need is not always the easiest or quickest process. Now, it can be. So, take my advice and order your fresh, healthy foods online today!

Going Out in Madrid

Getting Around Madrid

If you get your act together, take the Metro, it's fast, clean and virtually free if you buy a "Metrobus", a ten -journey ticket you can share that costs about 6 quid. But if in doubt, jump in a cab (plentiful on the street and also cheap).

Party Areas

Claims that there are more bars here than in the whole UK may be verging on exaggeration, but remember Madrid has serious amounts of bars. And you have to pace yourselves. At weekends dinner finishes around midnight then the night life begins! Head for the bars first (open till 3am usually) as clubs never get going at weekends until well after 2 am, (and some "after hours" keep going till after midday the next day). You'll find that the best atmosphere before 10pm is in Irish and Sports bars. As there are so many bars to choose from, our recommendation is to take a zone-by-zone approach: choose an area of town and explore. You won't be disappointed!

Santa Ana/Huertas: (Metro Sol or Sevilla) Near the Puerta del Sol nerve centre, this area is full of bars and clubs. It's the most popular area in Madrid for out-of-towners and locals alike (and where you'll most likely bump into a Hen group!). You can start slowly on a terrace at Plaza Santa Ana and work your way down Calle Huertas, a bar-lined street, down to Atocha, to finish your evening at Kapital night club. Or stay around the streets between Santa Ana and Sol (Calle Cruz, Calle Principe). Nearby are Orox, Café Ducados, Sala Sol, Joy, Palacio Gaviria, Black Jack etc etc etc.

La Latina: (Metro: La Latina) A cool very Spanish going out area, with lots of tabernas and tapas places. It's in the back streets of Madrid's old town, and the action is around the La Latina square (Puerta del Moro), and the neighbouring square (Plaza de la Paja), with bars, restaurants, and cocktail bars. It's a very smooth and relaxed area, and a good launch pad for a proper nightclub, once all the action closes down around 3am.

Chueca/ Alonso Martínez: (Metro: Chueca, M: Alonso Martinez) Near the Columbus Apartments, near Metro Alonso Martinez, there are many lively bars around Calle Santa Teresa, and Fernando IV. Try some of the trendy bars at the top of Calle Hortaleza and around the Plaza de Chueca (especially the Bodega). This is a gay/mixed area but loved by folks of all persuasions.

Malasaña (Metro:Tribunal, Bilbao)This is another typically Spanish going out area full of tapas bars and small bar/clubs. Very popular with the young Spanish Indie crowd, this is a pub-crawlers paradise, where the action spills out on to the streets. There lots of small, cheap bars & rock music bars, if that floats your boat. Arrive after 23:00 - you just need to follow the hoards. Key streets are: Corredera Baja de San Pablo, Calle Espiritu Santo, Calle La palama, Plaza Dos de Mayo.

Recommended - Bars Bodega Chueca (Plaza de Chueca) - a Madrid classic old-style. Although technically you're not allowed to spill into the street, everyone does.

La Boca del Lobo (opposite Orox), Calle Echagaray, 13) Full of wolves and foxes.

Viva Madrid (C/ Manuel Fernandez y Gonzalez, 7) - another taste of vintage Madrid night scene near the Santa Ana square, and a great starting point for nearby mayhem!

La Chingada (C/ Jardines, 8) - head for this perky little Mexican bar, strategically placed opposite "Sala Sol" so you can keep your eye on the queue as it builds up after 2am.

Black Jack (C/Principe 11) - is it a bar or is it a club? Who cares - it's open till 5am.

La Fontana de Oro (c/de la Victoria 2) - also open till 5am, another pub that turns into a club at the witching hour.

The Quiet Man (Valverde, 44): Irish bar peopled by locals - good vantage point to begin an assault on the lower Malasaña area (and plenty happening the square nearby.)

Sports bars The James Joyce (C/ Alcala, 59 :Near Columbus Apartments. Loads of screens and showing football, rugby cricket, They also do an awesome Irish breakfast.

Finnegan's (C/ Santo Tome/Plaza de las Salesas): Very near Columbus Apartments. Show our card an you'll get a deal at the bar....

The Irish Rover Avenida del Brasil, 7: Near the Bernabeu in Avenida de Brasil, fills up with disappointed hordes who couldn't get tickets for Real Madrid, and those egging on whoever Barça are playing..

Moore's (Calle Felipe III): Near the awesome Plaza Mayor and well placed for central hotels.

El Rinconcito (Espoy y Mina, 28) Cosy and friendly place with good grub. Paul will welcome you as a stagger

Club Guide Clubs never warm up until after 3 am, so pace yourself. And remember that in Spain cover charges on the door almost always includes a free drink, so don't lose that ticket and hand it to the barman when you order!

Sala Sol (Calle Jardines, 3), Stag's favourite, low-priced, laid-back, throbbing with swaying locals and weekender females, and open till 6am. This place peaks around 3-4 am, so aim to be in by 0230. If you do get stuck in the queue, the street vendor opposite sells beer! Once in, you'll lose your mates in the sea of humanity, but love it.

Joy (C/ Arenal, 11), Also open till 6am this is one of Madrid's classic night scenes, with an eclectic bunch of people and music.

Palacio Gaviria (C/Arenal, 9): an excellent alternative to Joy, this is an old stately home with lots of rooms to get lost in and different type of music in each.

Pacha (C/ Barcelo, 11): this is the original Pacha! Another Madrid classic full of savvy locals and out-of-towners alike.

Morocco (Marqués de Leganés, 7). Smaller, cheaper than others, a more laid back experience but with good music.

Kapital (C/Atocha, 125) Kapital's 7 different floors gives scope for all tastes. The music is house, r'n b, funk, techno, Spanish etc, and its go-go dancers and laser show are legendary. Open till 12- 6.

Late Night Munchies You've been out on the razz for 14 hours, the bright morning sun is hurting your eyes, and you have no idea where you are...don't despair, there's food to be had, and that'll cheer you up.

Chocolateria San Gines. (C/ San Gines) Next door to joy, try the classics Spanish after club donuts (churros) dipped in hot chocolate. A Madrid institution for revellers with the munchies.

Gran Via street vendors: Check out the bocadillo (sandwich), rice and noodle sellers (look for the cardboard boxes!) along the Gran Via, while perusing the colourful and friendly selection of señoras de la noche that line that strip of Gran Via. They also sell cans of beer!

O'Muiño, (C/Leganitos, 14) Next to Hotel Señorial, this is favourite little tapas bar with Sr Stag. Gets lively with refuelling partiers on their way to the next club at around 8 am...

Brillante, Glorieta de Atocha, next to Hotel Mediodia. Opens at 6 am.

Calle San Bernardo, near Gran Via: breakfast joints usually open around 5-6am.

Strip Clubs Be aware that Strip Clubs in Spain are very full on sex clubs that near little relation to UK lap dancing clubs. That means that the girls do not stop short of dancing topless. All have private rooms for much more personal attention. You'll find a cluster of these haunts around the Santo Domingo area of Gran Via (the best of which is Chelsea II, see below).

Chelsea II (Calle Silva, 6) our favourite costs. EUR15 entrance including a drink. Includes a go-go area and more private seating. Open every night.

Hot, (Plaza Colon, corner of Calle Genova). Right under the Columbus Apartments. Entrance EUR30. Closed on Sundays.

Restaurants These are group friendly places where if you go by earlier to ask you might just get a table!

Casa Mingo (Paseo de la Florida, 34). A Madrid classic. An Asturian ciderhouse, their speciality is roast chicken marinated in cider. Also try the lacon (Ham) and cabrales (cheese). This must be washed down with sidra (cider). No bookings so arrive a bit earlier than Spanish norm to beat the rush.

La Panza es Primero. (Calle Segovia, 17) A fun Mexican in the old town with excellent food and cocktails.

La Vaca Argentina (Caños del Peral, 2- Near Opera Square) - Top notch Argentinian beef for e carnivore feast. Try the chuletón or bife. Wash it down with a Spanish red, rioja. This is true red-blooded stag fare!

Tapas Bars This can be the best, and most economical way of getting an authentic local nosh-up. Madrid is tapas heaven and you can really get them on any street (especially around Plaza Santa Ana/Sol). But here are some places we specially recommend:

Café Las Bravas, (A few near Calle Espoz y Mina) A Madrid institution, specialising in spicy potatoes (Patatas bravas), tasty fried fish, or octopus!

El Abuelo (Nuñez de Arce, 5) This place serves delightful gambas (prawns) in garlic and chile. Also try the langostinos.

Museo del Jamon (Carrera de San Jeronimo, VVV) The museum of ham. Say No more. It's delicious.

My Dad's Spice Cabinet is Bigger Than Your Dad's!

I'm certain my wife is tired of being told how "lucky" she is (not by me!). I know who the lucky one is. While I was gallivanting around the country in the '90s trying to build a career in sales and marketing, she was holding down the fort and raising three children (who, by the way don't mind being told they are lucky!) practically solo. I'm the lucky one; she just chose well! Nonetheless, in stereotypical fashion, when we encounter friends and acquaintances in social settings, if the conversation comes around to food -- and it often does -- my wife gets to hear it, "You are sooooo lucky your husband cooks!" (Sounds like a kept woman to me!)

I'm a "foodie," but let me say for the record, ANY spouse, man or woman, whose mate cooks three or more times a week is fortunate -- doubly so if the quality of the food is consistently high (which would be the case at our house). My interest in food, particularly the preparation of same, goes back 30 years to my tuna noodle casserole days as a college student living on my own. My mother's tuna noodle casserole was a staple in my house during my formative years, so when I rented my first apartment as a college sophomore, my roommates were introduced to Clara's Tuna Casserole. I picked it because it was easy. The rest, as they say, is history.

After a couple years alternating between tuna casserole, hot dogs, Campbell's chicken noodle soup and Domino's pizza, it was time to kick things up a notch. After all, man cannot live on Domino's alone! Having worked as a short order cook in high school at a popular home-town diner, I knew my way around a kitchen a little bit. I asked for one thing for Christmas in 1980 -- a cookbook -- and true to form, Santa came through with my very own Betty Crocker Cookbook (actually, it was from Mom). By then, I was sans roommates, so cooking for one wasn't the most efficient, but nonetheless, I forged ahead, determined to expand my culinary horizon. Lo and behold, the quality of the leftovers began to improve!

I married my wife the summer after graduating from college, and I've been cooking for her ever since. My second cookbook -- the classic New York Times Cookbook -- was a gift from my mother-in-law. I was pretty handy with a sketch pad and a box of pastels as a kid, but I chose a non-artistic career path, so I believe my discovery of cooking was preordained. It allowed me to satisfy my creative tendencies while serving a genuinely practical function -- we all gotta eat.

HOUSE RULE: You don't have to finish it, but you at least have to try it.

That's really the only hard-and-fast rule at the dinner table in our house, and it enabled us to greatly expand our children's palates when they were youngsters. That can be a two-edged sword, for if I dared serve a meat dish without an accompanying sauce, I'd be sure to get the evil eye from my daughters. "What, Daddy, no sauce? May I be excused?" Ultimately, my children grew up with a tremendous appreciation for good food and the effort that goes into it, not to mention the importance of fresh ingredients.

As you might imagine, our dinner table hosted dozens of our children's friends over the years, and the House Rule applied to them too. The only exception involved allergies. As a result, we exposed hundreds of kids to dishes they had never experienced, and expanded their culinary worlds in the process too. Our kids' friends knew - and still know -- that an invitation to dinner at the Stauffer house was a special opportunity, and we were blessed to have quite a few of them join us more than once.

What about our friends? Did the House Rule apply to them too? You bet! Having friends join us for dinner, or hosting a group for a football game or holiday represents some of our most memorable and enjoyable social occasions. Our idea of a good time is hanging out with friends, noshing on some top-notch home-cooked goodies complemented by some good wine and a few cocktails. For us, it doesn't get any better than that.

GOD BLESS THE INTERNET

I'm a strong believer that if you can read, to a certain extent, you can cook. Therefore, given basic requisite supplies and equipment, there's no reason anyone should eat bad, or even mediocre food, if you have access to a cookbook or the internet. The greatest resource for world-class recipes has become, without question, the internet. Websites like Epicurious.com, FoodNetwork.com and Allrecipes.com -- to name a few -- have become my primary source for new recipes. To an extent, the web has virtually eliminated the need for the average consumer to purchase expensive cookbooks. Most sites include user ratings, so a good rule of thumb is to stick to recipes that receive the maximum rating. Many sites also include degree-of-difficulty ratings and nearly all include preparation time estimates, so even the beginner or novice can determine whether to tackle a recipe. The highest rating on Epicurious.com, for example, is four forks. I never download a recipe that averages a collective rating of less than 3 1/2 forks, and generally I pull only recipes rated four forks. Over time, I have collected enough quality recipes downloaded from the internet to fill a 3 1/2" D-ring binder, and I add to the collection routinely.

Ladies, it's been said that the quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Guys, take it from me, it works the other way around too. Just ask my wife, and my daughters, and my neighbors' wives, and my friends' wives! Bon Appetit!