flybottle

Tonight? A cheesesteak sandwich and lots of beer. The sandwich (I wouldn't dare call it "a Philly") is made up of shaved chuck roast, carmelized onions, sauteed serranos, and grated cheddar. As you can see, circumstances required that I pile it on good 'ol supermarket white bread. The rest of the roast became this week's chili. Here's the before... ...and here's the after... Looks to me like it's itching for an overnight vacation in the fridge.

Late Monday Night: wildly inauthentic Chicago dogs. Note the conspicuous absence both of tomatoes and of poppy seed buns.

It's chiefly this sort of thing that rubs me the wrong way, eating out of principle. Seems to me that the clearest reason to eat something is because it's tasty.

What's at stake in deciding whether food is art or not?

Do chicken thighs count as undiscovered? If so, I nominate them and recommend that you read Jim Harrison's "What Have We Done With The Thighs?" in The Raw and the Cooked.

I spent the holidays in Oregon where they're now having a great Dungeness season. Dungeness, it goes without saying, is my favorite. It may be a function of the fact that I grew up on the West Coast and of the magic that happens between fathers and sons over dinner tables taken over by thick layers of newspaper, freshly cooked and chilled and cleaned crabs, and big bowls of melted butter. What's a shame is that you can't really get it here in Minnesota.

Tillamook Cheddar Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese Whiz

I slowed down on beef but didn't quit. But now I'm back to normal. Last night I made cheesesteaks, tomorrow I'm having cheeseburgers, and I'll make a pot of chili con beef big enough for the better part of the week. Here's why I was worried and why I slowed down. Though only 165 or so cases of vCJD have shown up in people since 1985 or so, vCJD apparently doesn't show up for some time after you've been infected. I've heard that it can be as long as 15 or 20 years. What this means is that the feeling of confidence we get from hearing that only 165 cases have shown up in people is potentially a sham. vCJD may not be rare at all. In fact, we could be in the middle of an undetected and undetectable epidemic. Here's why I'm speeding back up. I love beef.

Used to be Lasagne Bolognese. Thank god it's now chili. I confess I sometimes make it too hot but it's a good sign that they can't help wanting more...

Evan Jones' American Food.

Amen. I pass Hunts whole peeled tomatoes through it for sauce, but that's only because I can't find a regular supply of San Marzano's. I've been flirting with Progresso and I find Muir Glen too sweet for my taste. Pomi used to be (ten years ago now) my go to tomato when I was flush, but now I find it insipid.

Domestic? Maytag. From the old country? Gorgonzola.

Fancy food, health food, and stand-ins for meat...

What a question... Hamburgers?

Kettle Chips--from Salem Oregon--are good "fancy chips". But regular old Lays, Nacho Cheese Doritos, and (more recently) Cheddar Cheese and Sour Cream Ruffles hold a special place in my gut.

Lucini is great and fairly readily available. I used to use it exclusively but have since moved back to Colavita since it's both quite a bit cheaper ($6.99 vs $11.99 per 500ml) and still pretty good. My favorite oil, which I used to get on the West Coast but can't find here in Minnesota, is a Sicilian oil called Frantoia. It's fantastic and, at $15.99 per litre, a really good deal...

Frank Tolbert's A Bowl of Red is a must have Chili cookbook...

Bayless, in Authentic Mexican, has a knock-down drag-out recipe. I nailed it on the first go, and I'm what you might call "rice challenged".

This is mostly the result of curiosity and nostalgia and isn't to be taken as a characteristic dinner: Tonight I had two SPAM sandwiches. The method? I fried four quarter-of-an-inch slices of SPAM till they were crispy and brown on both sides and laid them to rest on cheap store-brand white bread spread thick with Hellmann's mayo. Washed it down with Miller Lite in the can. Now, I won't have this dinner again anytime soon. But notice that I said I had two SPAM sandwiches. The first one satisfied the curiosity and nostalgia, the second one was all me...

70 in all, though just about half of them count more as food writing books than cookbooks. I started with Marcella's Classic Italian Cook Book almost 12 years ago and for a long time I felt like I'd be unfaithful if I'd looked at any other cookbooks. I guess I couldn't pick a current favorite, though I've been tending towards American eats. Beard is my most trusted guide there except when it comes to chili, in which case Tolbert takes the lead.

My first job was at McDonalds in the prime of the McDLT's life and this was, hands -down, my favorite break food--no doubt because I (or a buddy at the grill) could make one up fresh and avoid the inevitable damage the heat lamp did to the L and the T. I guess I miss these too. Nevertheless, there's a kind of purity to be found in the Quarter Pounder. When the onions are crisp and the cheese is melted and the ketchup is at a bare minimum, it's a fine burger. Of course being flanked on one side by a really cold soda and on the other side by McD's fries doesn't hurt it any.