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It's on special......

Anna N

By Anna N
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JasonCampbell

JasonCampbell

Posted
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Jinmyo--sounds wonderful. Love rosemary with lamb and there is now a ton in the garden.

JasonCampbell: Yeah, to some extent. But a leg of lamb is a leg of lamb, especially boned and butterflied. If it's on special, it is in all likelihood from NZ no matter what side of pond you are on.

I cant argue that a leg of NZ lamb is a leg of NZ lamb: and I can't argue the seemingly global dominance of NZ lamb on special.

But a leg of lamb beyond NZ is a quite different animal. What might be called a leg of lamb in America isn't the same cut as you would find in France or Britain, as I'm sure you are aware.

The original concept would loose much if it had to limit itself to only suggesting 'NZ lamb on special' recipes.

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Anna N

Anna N

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I think the reason that this excellent idea will fumble is because of geography. The cuts of meat are all different based on where you live, for example a cow is butchered very differently in America as compared to Britain.

Geography can be either an obstacle or a stepping-stone.

I certainly did not suggest this thread to benefit any one person or group. Even between Canadians and Americans there seem to be differences in how cuts of meat are labelled. But I wouldn't try to respond to a question about a cut I didn't know but I'm sure those who are familiar with it will. And we could all learn something from both the question and the answer. I'm sure there are veggies and seafood that go on special in cities and countries but never even appear on the shelf in Canada - I'd still be interested in hearing about them and how to make a tasty dish from them. So I don't think it needs to stumble on geography.

Anna N

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

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sparrowgrass

sparrowgrass

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In the meantime one has made crispy shattered potatoes in EVOO (par-cook, whack to crack, pan roast).

Jinmyo, can you 'splain this a little more? It sounds yummy, and I have a whole garden full of new taters out there just begging to be cooked.

sparrowgrass
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JasonCampbell

JasonCampbell

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If we kept a standard title, such as "Bottom round on special - what can I make?"  it would be pretty easy to search for whatever cut of meat or fish we might be interested in.

But It wouldn't as that cut of meat in all probability isn't available in my location. Certainly some cuts are the same regardless of locality, they just have different names. But often the cuts would be very different.

You end up with a situation where the ideal recipe is there but you can't find it due to the complexities of translation.

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Jinmyo

Jinmyo

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In the meantime one has made crispy shattered potatoes in EVOO (par-cook, whack to crack, pan roast).

Jinmyo, can you 'splain this a little more? It sounds yummy, and I have a whole garden full of new taters out there just begging to be cooked.

Um. Par-cook. Drain. Put on cutting board. Whack them with something like a mallet to crack them. Pan roast in a cast iron skillet with EVOO or duck fat or schmaltz or what have you until crispy and crusty. That's it. Season as one sees fit, use whatever herbs one wishes.

-------

fresco, that's good.

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Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

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fresco

fresco

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In the fish category, tilapia always seems to be for sale cheap somewhere, but it gets quite mixed reviews. Is it worth buying and if so, what do you do with it?

Arthur Johnson, aka "fresco"
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Richard Kilgore

Richard Kilgore

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I think the problem this thread has run into is that Anna suggested a concept for a series of threads, not this single thread. And I think it is a fine idea.

My suggestion, Anna, is for YOU to just start it to show folks what you want to do: you start a thread on perhaps each of three cuts of meat that are on special now in your area. You can title the thread something similar to this one, "XXX on sale, what to do?". As you have pointed out, there are already a few similar threads that have received a lot of interest and many contributions.

Good idea, just start the ball rolling yourself.

Edited by Richard Kilgore (log)

Richard Kilgore

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Jinmyo

Jinmyo

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In the fish category, tilapia always seems to be for sale cheap somewhere, but it gets quite mixed reviews. Is it worth buying and if so, what do you do with it?

In Japan it's called izumi-dai and used for sashimi. Quite nice. Good with a bit of chile oil and shoyu.

You can also marinate it in sesame and chile oil and grill it Korean style.

It's nice just pan-fried as well.

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

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AndrewM

AndrewM

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what JasonCampbell mentioned, re: names of cuts of meats, is a minor stumbling block i face in quebec.

i've had to (and am still) learning which cuts correspond to what in french--> english: i.e., bavette, roti de pallette a l'europeene.

there's the fairly obvious, like "jarret" is the osso buco cut, but then there's all the others...

gus tatory, I agree, and I wouldn't even call it minor. :biggrin: I have the same problem learning the French names for cuts of meat in Quebec but you also have to deal with the fact that many places sell the French cuts as well.

I've found one place that helps somewhat. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has a bilingual lexicon online for beef, veal, pork, lamb, poultry. But, for instance, bavette is not there. :sad:

If I know what cut I want I can just ask the butcher or find the obvious ones at the supermarket. When something is on special though, knowing what the hell it is can be a challenge. And try asking a French supermarket staffer for "pork butt".

Then, of course, there's fish... :shock:

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  • 4 weeks later...
Bashful3

Bashful3

Posted
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MOre on that "bargain" leg of lamb.

Practice your assertive techniques on the butcher. INstruct the butcher to please cut four nice slices out of the middle; debone the rest, and grind the meat once. You will have dubious looks, and maybe you won't convince him to do this for a sale item.

Anyhow, nothing is more delicious than lamb burgers. Gently chop with some onion/ garlic/maybe a tad tomato juice. Do not overcook in butter. Yum. Trust me.

Cutlets can be marinated and broiled.

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fresco

fresco

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I wonder what it would take to link one or more specials from on-line flyers to the eGullet recipe data base--and do it by region? I would think that supermarkets--and consumers--would kill to have something like that.

Arthur Johnson, aka "fresco"
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