Hold on Kobe Beef

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Beef exports halted over suspected foot-and-mouth

Kyodo News

The government imposed a temporary suspension Tuesday on beef exports after revelations of possible foot-and-mouth disease in some cows in Miyazaki Prefecture.

The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry took the voluntary measure after the Miyazaki Prefectural Government announced earlier in the day that three cows were suspected of being infected with the virus.

"The suspension will last for at least three months," agriculture minister Hirotaka Akamatsu said.

Japan exported about 550 tons of beef in fiscal 2008 through March 2009.

If no more cows are found infected with the foot-and-mouth disease virus for the next three months, it will be up to importing countries to decide whether to accept Japanese beef.

"The government will take every measure to prevent the disease from spreading further," Akamatsu said. "The disease will do no harm to humans even if they eat beef from infected cows."

The Miyazaki Prefectural Government said a veterinarian found a light ulcer in the mouth of one of 16 cows at a farm April 9. Two other cows were found to have similar ulcers Saturday.

The National Institute of Animal Health in Tokyo has notified the Miyazaki government that the three cows tested positive for the virus in a preliminary examination. If confirmed, it would be the first case of foot-and-mouth disease in Japan since 2000.

The prefectural government will slaughter the 16 cows at the farm and set a zone where livestock movements and shipments will be restricted

Brunch with the King?

Looks like today is pile on Burger King Day. But when the senior vice president of global product marketing and innovation is going around saying "the BK Mimosa was a no-brainer" its pretty much deserved.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/04/29/fast.food.brunch/index.html?hpt=C2

Your way, or throw away

Sometime last week : It was late at night, and I found myself at a local gas station in Miami.
Kinda drunk and kinda hungry.

I perused through the aisles and stumbled upon these bags of little nasties.














I kid you not, these bags of crunchy chips are fowl.
I would love to meet and interview the control group who actually said these were good and therefore convinced Burger King to go ahead and launch these bags of sin out to the public.

What's next...? 5 Bean Burrito Altoids?

Hiyoko Manjyu

These little chick shaped Japanese pastries are my absolute favorite.
Baked in the shape of cute little chickies, and filled with yummy white bean light paste. 

Its one of those things (because you love 'em) you could easily go through a box in one sitting.

I almost always ask for these when friends go to Japan and ask if I want anything.

Hint hint*** 

Nathan's Nuggets

A little pre-boarding snack before my flight back home. Think mini corndogs.
Not great but not all that bad.

Cocktails at Mercadito - Miami

Quite possibly some of the best Cocktails I've had in a long time.
This is a must have/must go to destination when you are visiting Miami, Florida.
Great decor, vibe and most importatly, the cocktails. Best place to have drinks and meet up friends.

Mercadito - Recommended
3252 Northeast 1st Avenue
Miami, Florida 33137

(786) 369-0423

Mitchell's Fish Market

Tampa may not be a gastronome's mecca, but they sure do have their corporate food chains down.

Salmon on Cedar Plank.

Somewhere in Miami

I'm in between meetings and found a gas station with a restaurant built in the back.

All this for $18.

I got my laptop open and munching away on this parade of meats.
Not too bad folks.

Union Square Cafe - Review

Intro
Union Square Cafe - Highly Recommended
21 E 16th St, New York NY 10003
Btwn 5th Ave & Union Sq West
Phone: (212) 243-4020

After some fun drinks and apps at 15 East, the dudes and I decided to get some real food and Union Square made sense. This is the third time that I've been to USC and as usual it was so damn on. Always solid cooking with great flavors and surprisingly some of the best Italian food in the city. Overall, I give the restaurant an 86/100.

Our Menu

Veal Cheek Ravioli **
with celery root, morels, sage and petite sorrel
Great silky, yet chewy texture on the pasta and phenomenal flavors with the veal cheeks. Celery root and morels had this whole earthy thing going on. Some sick stuff...

Berkshire Pork Lasagna **
with ricotta and mushroom-pesto sauce
I was just saying to my wife the other day I have no idea when's the last time I had a great lasagna. I used to love lasagna as a kid, but as an adult I've never had one that I considered great. Well, this was my first great lasagna. This looked like a mille feuile with thousands of layers of super thin pasta. Perfect texture that was delicate without being mushy and phenomenal unctuous pork and mushroom pesto sauce.

Cheeses
Pecorino de Parco, Blu di Bufala
I absolutely love cheese, but the ones here were bland if that were possible. No pop and felt more salty than anything else.

Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way * Good ** Great *** What the F – in a good way























Overall Restaurant Experience (86/100)

• Food (8.7/10) – Uber tasty pastas. Two dishes - two huge flavors with mushrooms really amping up the earthiness. Cheeses were average, but pastas were so good I forgot about them until I saw the pics.
  
• Service (8.0/10) – Waitress was nice and food came out relatively quick, but we were laughing about random stuff so didn't pay too much attention to the service.
  
• Atmosphere (8.0/10) – Very casual place that is nice and bright inside. Definitely has that local cafe feel, but serving some awesome food. Place was about 60-70% full and contained a mix of couples and groups of 4.
  
• Price (8.0) – A tad pricey, but well worth it. App sized pastas were about $15-18, with entree sized portions are about $27-35
  

Closing Comments
All four dudes were very happy with their courses. Gotta remember to keep this in the rotation when I crave some pasta.

The new KFC Double Down sandwich - but is it a sandwich?

Take a good look at that picture. Yeah, that's right - no bread. It's bacon and cheese in between 2 pieces of fried chicken. Is this another post about the This Is Why You're Fat dot com website? Nah, you have to look hard to get those things. This? Readily available at your KFC. My coworker asked me if I tried it yet. I haven't even heard of it! I poked around the web, and sure, it's 1,300+ calories, but I'll try it. Good thing they come in grilled chicken, too. Not cuz I'm watching cals, cuz at this point, well... it's a moot point. Once you order it, you're already past the threshold. Might as well keep the momentum going, right? I just like the grilled chicken better than the fried at KFC.

In case this is news for you, too, check out the commercial below. Personally, :13 had me crackin up!

Look for a review on the KFC Double Down in the future.

Ribs

After a whole day of Guitar Hero with friends, it's nice to pause for a bit and munch on some slow cooked ribs.

4 hours in a 275 degree F oven = fall off the bone goodness.
I didn't have time to make my usual dry rub, so the next best thing I could think of was to pick up Adobo seasoning.
That and a generous amout of freshly ground black pepper rubbed into the ribs.
Lay it on a silpat and into the oven it went.

I covered it with aluminum foil for the first 2 1/2 hours. Then uncovered for the remaining 90 minutes.
Basting twice. Once when removing cover, and one more time 45 minutes left.

Worst Vending Machine Snack Ever

Usually around 3:00 every day in the afternoon at the office I take a stroll down the floor for a snack. I'm trying to eat healthier of late in the afternoon, usually springing for some SnackWells Vanilla cookies (0nly 80 calories). But one week ago I saw something that caught my eye. What do you get when you combine Beef flavor , nacho cheese, and tortilla chips: Doritos Late Night All-Nighter Cheeseburger. I had to explore.

The verdict, this is one of the most horrid tasting things Ive ever had. To use the expression from Anchorman: "This tastes like Bigfoot's @*%$!". This is 85 cents of my life I can never have back. I'm hoping next year's federal income tax return asks me "Did you have Doritos Late Night All Nighter Cheeseburger?". Honestly if having Whopper Breath for the next 2 hours is something you think would be cool: think again. Steer clear of this snack - you've been warned. Without even trying these I'd also recommend you avoid the other two in the late night series: Tacos at Midnight and Last Call Jalapeno Poppers.

Celebrity Chef Apperances

Read this Mario Batali interview from Slashfood and he fesses up to getting 100g's a day to appear at these food festivals. Kinda sickening, but most people would sell out also if given the opp...

Excerpts:
I loved the recent New York Times magazine article about celebrity chefs. You and Paula Deen make a lot of money.
Paula Deen probably makes a lot more money than me these days, but you know what, she hits a lot more strings with the public that I do. That cultural confidence with somebody that's motherly is an impressive thing and she makes food. Boy, she can really cook it up.

So how much money do you guys make at those food festivals?
A hundred grand a day is very traditional. It's crazy.

Latin Style Roast Pork

$6 lunch the other day. Yellow Rice and Beans, Roast Pork with Crispy Skin.
Can't beat that!

Dr. Thunder

You know what?  I welcome the competition. Dr. Pepper is one of my favorite soft drinks, and if the market has room for an RC Cola equivalent, by all means, Bring It!

And just for the record, Dr. Pepper is still King.
This imposter scores 2 full marks (out of 10) short of the real thing.

Cobb Salad : The Ultimate

Is there anything better than a Cobb Salad?  Seriously. Not only does it consist of Bacon, Avocados, Ranch Dressing, Chunks of Blue Cheese, and your favorite Meat...  it's considered a freakin "Salad".
I normally don't seak lettuce or any other ruffage, but in a Cobb Salad, I actualy look forward to some greans to wash down the rest of the goodies.  

Who ever Cobb was, I hope he or she was awarded at least 5 James Beard Awards and a place in the Smithsonian National Museum.

Hale to the Cobb!

Momofuku #5

I was lucky enough to receive an invite to Momofuku Ma Peche this past weekend. They were having their Friends and Family event and I got to be one of the first to try their new menu out.
All in all, it was a good meal. I'm going to reserve the word "Great"... because quite frankly, it wasn't.
Ma Peche definitely fell short of my expectations.

The cold dishes and apps were very good, but the 2 entrees my guest and I ordered were merely average. Average in Momofuku standards that is. I've easily had better dishes at both Ssam and Noodle Bar in the past. So I'm left stumped... What on earth happened?
Now granted, the place isn't even open yet, and there are always kinks to work out in any opening... So I'm sure the boys in the kitchen will tighten things up and rock out in a few weeks.

(Momofuku) Ma Peche
15 W 56th St
Mezzanine of Chambers Hotel
(between 5th Ave & Avenue Of The Americas)
Manhattan, NY 10019

Half dozen raw oysters with Vietnamese Mignonette *
Very good start... ain't nothing wrong with solid raw oysters

King Crab with Aioli *
A little briny... but still fun to eat

Guinea Hen and Foie Gras Pate *
Great pate with my favorite toasted Tom Cat Baguette on the side

Mussels cooked in Crab Paste and Beer *
I could eat 2 full orders of these

Juliet Steak with Rice Fries with Ghetto Sauce
Not at all "Inspiring". I know the boys in the kitchen know their beef. I mean, they really know their beef, but the piece I got was pretty tough with tendons and stringy fat. I say bring back the good 'ol Sirloin. Wet aged is fine... I just want to see a good piece of beef on the menu

Skate with Garlic Sauteed Snow Pea Tips
Prepared with a lot of butter, over a bed of quickly sauteed snow pea tips... It reminded me of Chinese food in Flushing. So that can't be right. These guys are innovators of flavor... WTF is going on?

Cookies **
Probably the Highlight of the new location. The Milk Bar is located right as you walk in to Ma Peche. I highly recommend everybody to stop by and pick up a box of cookies for the office, or to take home... or even for the walk back to where ever you came from. These cookies are gooooooood.

- Marshmallow Chocolate Chip, Blueberry Cream, and Chocolate

Sunday Night

Sunday evening tradition. Some munchies for me while watching my 60 minutes.
Yes. The Dork in me is Strong.

This Is Why You're Fat

Check out this website:

ThisIsWhyYoureFat.com

Lots of evil food. But is it bad to say that, as I'm thumbing through the website, that I would love to try a lot of this food? LOL!