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alejita

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Everything posted by alejita

  1. alejita

    Safety of beef in US

    Well, I'm certainly not an expert on cattle and corn feed, but this article (by Michael Pollen on the NY Times magazine) spells out many dangers to the animals: (sorry for the long post but it matters). I quote: "The shift to a ''hot ration'' of grain can so disturb the cow's digestive process -- its rumen, in particular -- that it can kill the animal if not managed carefully and accompanied by antibiotics" "Compared with ground-up cow bones, corn seems positively wholesome. Yet it wreaks considerable havoc on bovine digestion. During my day at Poky, I spent an hour or two driving around the yard with Dr. Mel Metzen, the staff veterinarian. Metzen, a 1997 graduate of Kansas State's vet school, oversees a team of eight cowboys who spend their days riding the yard, spotting sick cows and bringing them in for treatment. A great many of their health problems can be traced to their diet. ''They're made to eat forage,'' Metzen said, ''and we're making them eat grain.'' "Perhaps the most serious thing that can go wrong with a ruminant on corn is feedlot bloat. The rumen is always producing copious amounts of gas, which is normally expelled by belching during rumination. But when the diet contains too much starch and too little roughage, rumination all but stops, and a layer of foamy slime that can trap gas forms in the rumen. The rumen inflates like a balloon, pressing against the animal's lungs. Unless action is promptly taken to relieve the pressure (usually by forcing a hose down the animal's esophagus), the cow suffocates. A corn diet can also give a cow acidosis. Unlike that in our own highly acidic stomachs, the normal pH of a rumen is neutral. Corn makes it unnaturally acidic, however, causing a kind of bovine heartburn, which in some cases can kill the animal but usually just makes it sick. Acidotic animals go off their feed, pant and salivate excessively, paw at their bellies and eat dirt. The condition can lead to diarrhea, ulcers, bloat, liver disease and a general weakening of the immune system that leaves the animal vulnerable to everything from pneumonia to feedlot polio. Cows rarely live on feedlot diets for more than six months, which might be about as much as their digestive systems can tolerate. ''I don't know how long you could feed this ration before you'd see problems,'' Metzen said; another vet said that a sustained feedlot diet would eventually ''blow out their livers'' and kill them. As the acids eat away at the rumen wall, bacteria enter the bloodstream and collect in the liver. More than 13 percent of feedlot cattle are found at slaughter to have abscessed livers." Yuk. Other posts in this thread have links to the full article.
  2. alejita

    Safety of beef in US

    Oliver Saks (neurologist, wrote several very interesting and popular essay books) said in an NPR interview that, in his opinion, mad cow disease is the worst possible death you could ask for. One in a million is way too high for me. I can't afford the organic beef on a daily basis, so I've given it up, mostly.
  3. alejita

    Safety of beef in US

    Yes, that's the article. I was a sea change for us; haven't bought beef at the supermarket since.
  4. alejita

    Safety of beef in US

    Can't but agree that the beef industry is burying its head in the sand; I've also pretty much dropped beef from my diet and I must say I've lived without it without tears. Plus, I began exploring legumes as a tasty alternative and, guess what, I like it!! Can anyone comment on practices of other animal proteins such as pork and lamb? Are they also stuffed with antibiotics and go through the feed-lot system, like cattle do?
  5. alejita

    Safety of beef in US

    We had plenty of Kosher beef in Israel (the only kind there is, as far as we could see) and it was, to be frank, tasteless, compared to regular beef. So we ate other things. I'd love to know if others on this site share the worry about the beef we eat (from sources like the supermarket).
  6. alejita

    I dig figs!

    I've just finished roasting a pint of black mission figs: a small roasting pan covered with aluminum foil, a spritz of oil and the figs at 300 degrees for a LONG time until they are beginning to collapse (about 2+hours). The flavor has intensified and they are going into a spinach+nuts+goat cheese salad tomorrow. From the gods... Use them before they are gone for the season!!!!
  7. HI all, I want to discuss a topic that worries me: is US beef safe to eat. Also, what about the other animal proteins. Don't want to extend this to a vegetarian discussion, because I'm not veg A long time ago read a lengthy article by a reporter who bought himself a steer and followed it all the way (almost) to the point it became the steaks we eat. We (husband and I) were so shocked and grossed out by the description of what the industry appears to do (such as feeding corn to cows, who can't digest it so they get sick, locking them in "feed lots" where they are walking -- ill and kept around by antibiotics, it seems -- on their feces...) that we pretty much laid off beef. Follow this with the mad-cow disease thing and we're not too happy about any beef in any form. I KNOW there has only been 1 case of mad-cow disease in th US but this illness is very slow to develop and we sort of feel the beef industry is not likely to come forward with bad news unless there is a crisis. Not different from any other group, I guess. Comments? We LOVE the taste of beef (I was born in Argentina )!
  8. alejita

    Dinner! 2004

    Is this going to be the never-ending topic? For my husband's family on the Jewish New Year I made a brisket (two, actually) in a dried mushroom-tomato-carrot sauce that we Argentines are very fond of and call "tuco". Served with lemony green beans and kasha (not to offent anyone, that's buckwheat). Appetizers were tapenade from Costco (very good product), smoky baba ganoush and a yogurt cheese/lemon/garlic dip called lebneh. I went to the trouble of finding a middle-eastern grocery where I found real pita bread that created the most wonderful, THIN, toasts. Tonight it was rock shrimp with tomato sauce, side of rapini with garlic and red pepper flakes.
  9. alejita

    Dinner! 2004

    Would you share with us what "Leite's Culinaria" is? I'm obviously thinking it's a book, perhaps like other "Culinaria" tomes. What's this one? And BTW, soup with duck broth!!! YUM.
  10. alejita

    Dinner! 2004

    I did that: chicken in quarters tightly into a saute pan. Still way too much water, so maybe the problem with the recipe was not telling us what to expect at the end. I think I'll ask this question in a separate thread! Still the chicken broth was OMG, so I'm not really complaining.
  11. alejita

    Dinner! 2004

    I made a chicken dish out of a Claudia Roden book (her latest mediterranean one with the blue cover) that sounded perfect: a sauce of saffron, almonds and honey. The result was a very flavorful chicken, but WAY too much broth that never made it to sauce. So, tomorrow, glorious chicken soup. Does any one want to comment on why cookbooks don't provide precise instructions? Not to berate Roden, but "cover chicken with water and simmer" can lead to trouble. How about a hint re how much water?
  12. alejita

    Food Mills

    Use it to make better canned or fresh tomato sauce: pass the tomatoes through the mill before adding them to the rest of ingredients. Smoother quality. Also, in recipes where they say you should puree the ingredients, if you use the food mill, you'll get a less uniform consistency, which I like in many soups.
  13. HI all, Is there a difference between the Korean and the Japanese barley tea? I've enjoyed Japanese barley tea at a favorite sushi restaurant in Manhattan YEARS ago, and have not been able to make it properly at home (although with these pointers I'm going to try again); I can easily buy Korean barley tea in bags, is it similar?
  14. alejita

    Smooth coffee

    I'm in Central Florida (Orlando). Thanks for any suggestions...
  15. alejita

    Smooth coffee

    Thanks so much all who responded! I knew about Jamaican Blue Mountain, but was leery of trying due to the cost and potential for cheating. Now I have a couple of sources, which I'll but from. The low altitude info was also useful. But now for the big question: let's assume supermarket variety coffee is out (I have never tasted a good coffee from the supermarket, regardless of how careful I am when making it), can you suggest some online providers you like to deal with? BTW, now that I think of it, I'll roll out my old Chemex: it did make outstanding coffee! Thanks all,
  16. HI all, I'm appealing to your expertise as I'm unable to find a coffee we like. Most coffees are (for us) either overroasted (the Peet's or Starbucks kind) and/or too acidy. The coffee we are looking for can be sometimes tasted at expensive French restaurants (but not a French roast); the last time I had what we think is the best was at Fleur de Lys in San Francisco. It was smooth and a bit sweet, when compared to the Peet's kind. Any suggestions???
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