Brisket Burger

Grinding the point of my 87¢ lb brisket was a resounding success. I'm grinding the rest of it tonight and vacuum packing most of it for the freezer. My processor manual says add diced onion and Worcestershire sauce before grinding!

This isn't a great photo but it's a burger I've been looking for since Saturdays in the 50s when Daddy took us to Hymie's in the East End. Hymie would be appalled that 87¢ lb for ground beef is a great price!

Homemade Bacon Bits

My last 5 lb box of Smithfield bacon ends was over 1/3 large chunks of pork bellies, and the rest was bacon meat and fat. A real deal as trendy as pork bellies are now.

The last 2lb needed to be used or frozen so I decided to try what an Austin guy does. He's so frugal he makes me look like an amateur.

He put his whole package through a meat grinder. This produces a gross pile of mostly fat, kind of like that wagon of chicken fat Oprah pulled onstage.

One thing that looks worse than ground bacon ends is food processor bacon ends. Didn't expect this at all. It looked like tuna fish but I forged ahead and fried it all.

Fabulous! I've sprinkled it on salads, I've spread it on bread with mayo and topped it with sliced tomatoes. My next box of bacon ends will go this way from the first, after I pull out the pork bellies.

I realize a lot of those crispy bits are fried fat but after straining and draining here's what didn't go in my body. The next morning, of course, this was a solid block of white fat. I can't believe my mother saved all this and put it in fresh food she prepared. Ah, the Fifties.

Company's Comin'

Everything's tidied up for the outta-towners tomorrow even if I haven't moved compost to the tomato and green bean beds yet.

Bed 2 is thriving: endive and radishes, arugula, chard, and beets in the background. Courtyard seed trays are bursting with beans, eggplant, okra, and pepper seedlings and 3 bowls stuffed with Romaine.

Bed 3: spinach, turnips, and sweet peas and snow peas in the back row. Just after this shot, I planted more turnip seeds in all empty blocks.

Here's my dirty little secret: the far back Bed 4 is my cornfield and bean plot. This weekend I'll clear the table and pots from the top so I can dig out the St Augustine that's taken over. Then re-assemble all boards to form the sides.

Cornucopia

I broke three basic rules Monday: completely ran out of staples so went shopping at 5pm on a weekday and I was starving. In my defense, I'm in week 3, or 4? of city crews pumping from a main at my driveway through a giant hose to the next main 2 blocks away.

First annoyance is the hose crosses my driveway for usually 6 hours a day. If I must leave, they say tell them and they'll be glad to uncouple and let me come and go. Did that once. Uncoupling spews sewage at the end of my driveway and into the street. When I come home, I'm supposed to pull into my garage and leak all that in there? So I'm trapped 6 hours a day/7 days a week. Second annoyance is my office and bedroom are at that side of my house and the noise puts me in the mood of Michael Douglas in Falling Down. First weeks it put me to sleep at 1pm daily; this week I'm trying a tv and radio at the same time to dull the noise. I can't think!

Monday they knocked off suddenly at 4pm. After 8 days of slowly running out of rice, potatoes, oatmeal, flour, tortillas, cheese, and eggs, I made a grocery list. 2 places had great sales that required a $10 purchase and I planned to hit both. After an hour at Fiesta, I decided to get everything necessary there. Not shown in photo below is 4 lbs rice and 10 lbs russets.

Like everyone else I'm nervous about rapidly increasing prices but read a newsgroup post that said egg prices, adjusted for inflation, are lower than they were in 1997. Huh. Check it out http://www.westegg.com/inflation

First BumbleBee tuna I've bought since the 90s when the cans were more water than tuna. This week there was far less sloshing in the BB cans than COS or SK.

Use 1T dry milk in every loaf of bread but only brand/ only size was almost $7.

Jim Dandy grits at HEB have been 50¢ for years. Fiesta is 77¢ box.

I was buying sale chickpeas 4 cans at a time so grabbed a bag to cook myself. Fresh garbanzos are around so will sure plant some.

For 10 years I've never paid more than $3.29lb for basic cheese. Sometimes required buying a 2lb pack. Now? No brand is under $4lb! Kraft sharp cheddar was two 8-oz packs for $3.99 so I grabbed four.

Hot dogs are for dog training - cheapest in the bin.

Never buy salami but knew I'd need something fast when I got home. And all that sharp cheddar...

Here's the money shot. 2 turkeys (59¢ lb), 2 chickens (69¢), and at the bottom an 87¢ lb brisket. My accidentally smartest move in years was a side-by-side fridge (just like Alton Brown's). All of this fit easily and it was already at least 50% full. Happily, VIP frozen veggies are back down to sale 88¢ lb. The okra? Found 1lb of shrimp in the freezer and need gumbo.

The brisket is my next experiment. Using the food processor to turn the flat into hamburger - for 87¢ lb. If it works as I've seen it described and photos, the rest of it will become meatloafs galore!

Eggplant, zucchini, dry mealy tomatoes, pineapple, and a few yellow onions are all slated for grilling. Last 3 are going to be salsa.

Must transplant tomatillos...

Ya think? These are 6" tall and already fruiting.

Paella di pesce e pollo

Gifted with a gorgeous paella pan from Spain, it took me 2 years to make paella. I researched how to season it, and did so, but was afraid after I cooked with it the shiny finish would be all screwed up. Well, it wasn't screwed up and the rice clung perfectly to the bottom on my first try. Here's a version from last year.

The toughest part was deciding on a recipe. Seafood or chicken? I decided on both. Recipes from Spanish paella pan distributor sites to Epicurious archives started the same so I was well into the process before I made a final decision.





Picked up seafood when I had an hour to kill near the downtown Fiesta. My first visit and I was surprised at the variety and quality of their inventory. I picked up saffron, clams, artichoke hearts, and (gasp) fake krab. Two guys I chatted with in Produce turned out to be the sous chef for a big name restaurant and a new hire at a ritzy catering company.

After the woman at the seafood counter fileted the grouper she asked if I wanted the heads. Yes! I never thought to tell her that first and sure am glad she asked.

When the stock is ready, the rest of the time is sauteeing ingredients in the order described in the recipe and refilling the glass of shiraz as needed.

The idea is to give the flavours to the liquid and to let the rice drink it...
So stirring is to be avoided ! - Philippe, Belgium, on paella

Need more sun!

Monday I had a huge volunteer tree trimmed because it's always shaded a peach tree below it. One really large limb was dead and hollowed out by wildlife so this was a good idea. Too late to stop the peach from leaning tragically toward the sun but extra fruit this year will make up for ugly.


Also cut back the raintree between my driveway and courtyard. It blocked the view of my Canary Island date palm and, more importantly this year, it shaded what has always been my courtyard pepper bed. I'm cramming food everywhere I can in the yard and already need more gardening space.

This was a very windy day but doesn't she look like she's dancing wildly now that she's visible again?

Two trash trees growing beside the compost bins are gone (all the greenery in the background of the first photo). Compost bins don't need sun but these trees were next to a utility pole and wouldn't stay away from the cable lines to my house and the electrical lines that serve my whole street. Nothing worse than a summer thunderstorm with no cable, phone, or a/c.

Besides, the fence to the left is going to be a line of blackberry bushes next month and they do need sun.

Such crisp, pretty radish leaves. Last weekend I fried 2 T minced garlic in a drizzle of olive oil then tossed in some chiffonaded radish leaves and fried until almost crisp. Served on top of sesame oil roasted asparagus... mmmmm. Notice last week's $1 lb asparagus is $2.99 lb this week. :-o