Animal fat

[Gary]

Inspired by the braising lessons on eGullet, I made braised beef short ribs on Monday. They sat in the fridge overnight and I methodically removed the coagulated fat layer that formed on top of the broth.

Tuesday evening I reheated the ribs in the oven. Prior to serving, I trimmed the top layer of fat off the ribs.

I ate mine. Delicious. Juicy. Salty. Fatty. Yum!!

The other three servings went in the trash. My 8 year old daughter was in tears... afraid to eat the fat within the meat. My wife refused to eat them too... preferring to microwave some "taquitos" from Trader Joe's and eat them with a side of sour cream.

I'm so pissed off right now that I'm considering serving the family boiled skinless bonless chicken breasts from now until eternity. No salt. No butter. No pepper. Bah humbug!!

[DTBarton]

I agree with your frustration at fataphobia. It's important for people to understand that these dishes are traditional, it's not something you eat 3 times a day, and try to maintain a reasonable portion control. Then enjoy! Most folks I've run into that express this fear eat plenty of fatty stuff that they are familiar with, and use the "too fatty" excuse to not eat things they think they won't like.

Did your wife read the label on the taquitos and sour cream? Was the only reason they turned down the short ribs dietary, or was this an unfamiliar dish that they were leery of because they'd never seen it before?

I attended an outdoor party with a good friend of mine. Among the food offerings were a mixed bag of grilled things and a selection of fried chicken wings with various sauces that had been cooked on a gas burner. My friend allowed as how he wouldn't eat the chicken wings because they were "too fatty and fried". Instead, he had 2 big grilled bratwursts! I suspect that he doesn't like wings, or he was not sure about the hot sauces on them. Sounds similar.

[mrbigjas]

do it!

[Chufi]

I am not at all afraid of fat, however I don't like to eat very fatty meat - I just don't like the texture of the fat. I will leave it on to cook because it gives flavor, and then I'll eat the not so fatty bits (and let my husband steal the fatty bits from my plate )

[touaregsand]

I love charred bits of fat on grilled meat. I'm not too crazy about fat on braised meats though, so I follow the "Chufi plan" I eat the tender morsels of meat and my husband steals the fat pieces off my plate.

My overall policy on eating fat is to eat fat that I can see. I don't eat processed/packaged foods which contain a lot of hidden fat and god knows what else. I don't have a weight problem at all, even though it looks like I indulge my "fat tooth" quite a bit.

[Tepee]

These articles (see also Articles 2 and 3) by Dr Joseph Mercola should clarify a lot of myths about saturated fats. Whew!

[Gary]

  Was the only reason they turned down the short ribs dietary, or was this an unfamiliar dish that they were leery of because they'd never seen it before?

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The only reason the short ribs were refused was that there was visible fat embedded in the meat. It was the first time I made short ribs so there was some fear factor in trying a "new" dish.

My wife trims every spec of fat off the edge of pork chops too. Only a perfectly lean cut will make it in her mouth. A pile of trimmings are left on the plate.

My wife is on a mission to avoid any "visible" fat. Her crusade has affected my daughter and instilled a fear that caused tears last night.

Chicken nuggets are OK

Microwave taquitos are OK

Kraft Mac & Cheese is OK

Crazy!?!?!?!?!?

I'm even getting pressured to stop sauteeing in EVOO. I've been asked to bake fish in the oven (no problem... I just put EVOO on top and bake away!!).

Complicating matters further is a general aversion to all spices and sauces by the kids, as well as a wife who says she likes lots of vegetables (except tomatoes, carrots, eggplant, cauliflower, peas, cucumber, celery and beans).

I feel like Jack Sprat... in reverse.

[touaregsand]

My wife is on a mission to avoid any "visible" fat. Her crusade has affected my daughter and instilled a fear that caused tears last night.

Chicken nuggets are OK

Microwave taquitos are OK

Kraft Mac & Cheese is OK

Crazy!?!?!?!?!?

Yes totally crazy!!!!!

The hidden fats are what kill you. Sticking with visible fats is not only more satisfying to the palate, but you can control how much you eat. Whereas with the processed stuff she thinks is ok, contain lots of fat, preservatives, sugar....

[Jensen]

I don't like the texture of visible fat in meat so, unless it has a crispy side to it, I will trim it off. However, refusing the entire meal because of it seems a bit over the top to me.

Maybe some facts would help with the situation. Do you still have the nutritional information from the taquitos?

This site (Nutrition Data) has a great database for foods. According to it, 3 oz. of short ribs with lean meat and fat has 36g of fat. 3 oz. of lean only has 15g of fat. I'll bet you a dollar that the taquitos had more than 15g of fat...

[SobaAddict70]

Complicating matters further is a general aversion to all spices and sauces by the kids, as well as a wife who says she likes lots of vegetables (except tomatoes, carrots, eggplant, cauliflower, peas, cucumber, celery and beans).

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This is inexplicable. Someone pinch me.

Soba

[TheFoodTutor]

Horrifying. If it turned out that this were my family, I would feign going into a fugue state, wander aimlessly for days with nothing but the clothes on my back until I reached an area several states away, where I'd start my life anew with an assumed name.

Good luck.

[jsolomon]

I'm so pissed off right now that I'm considering serving the family boiled skinless bonless chicken breasts from now until eternity.  No salt.  No butter.  No pepper.  Bah humbug!!

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Dude, swing by my house. We'll have some grilled, untrimmed meat things with appropriate sides, a couple of beers, and we can kvetch about the insanity of the "Nutrition Gestapo" in America.

[lala]

Interesting. I shop regularly at TJ's, and a friend showed me those frozen taquitos. One look at the nutritional information and I made her put them back. Waaaayyyy too much fat.

You choose your fat. I'll take a nicely braised sparerib over a frozen fat-bomb any day!

[chefzadi]

Dude, swing by my house. We'll have some grilled, untrimmed meat things with appropriate sides, a couple of beers, and we can kvetch about the insanity of the "Nutrition Gestapo" in America.

I was invited to a raw food lecture once. The weird (maybe obvious) was no one really looked healthy.

Coffee and cigarettes, charred fat, wine, triple creme brie cheese. Food of champions!

[WHS]

The other three servings went in the trash.  My 8 year old daughter was in tears... afraid to eat the fat within the meat.  My wife refused to eat them too... preferring to microwave some "taquitos" from Trader Joe's and eat them with a side of sour cream.

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Divorce the wife, disown the kid.

[DTBarton]

Dude, swing by my house. We'll have some grilled, untrimmed meat things with appropriate sides, a couple of beers, and we can kvetch about the insanity of the "Nutrition Gestapo" in America.

I was invited to a raw food lecture once. The weird (maybe obvious) was no one really looked healthy.

Coffee and cigarettes, charred fat, wine, triple creme brie cheese. Food of champions!

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I have to concur that the palest looking folks I've ever encountered that weren't genuinely ill were rigid vegetarian/vegan/no fat folks. Not a generalization, I had an old girlfriend vegetarian and she was very healthy, but she did eat dairy, that girl lived on omelets a lot.

This thread was in the DC board recently. For those who don't know, Takoma Park is a famously leftist suburb of Washington DC, touches on the subject of former vegans venturing back in to the world of the meated.

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=64019

[robyn]

Inspired by the braising lessons on eGullet, I made braised beef short ribs on Monday.  They sat in the fridge overnight and I methodically removed the coagulated fat layer that formed on top of the broth.

Tuesday evening I reheated the ribs in the oven.  Prior to serving, I trimmed the top layer of fat off the ribs.

I ate mine.  Delicious.  Juicy.  Salty.  Fatty.  Yum!!

The other three servings went in the trash.  My 8 year old daughter was in tears... afraid to eat the fat within the meat.  My wife refused to eat them too... preferring to microwave some "taquitos" from Trader Joe's and eat them with a side of sour cream.

I'm so pissed off right now that I'm considering serving the family boiled skinless bonless chicken breasts from now until eternity.  No salt.  No butter.  No pepper.  Bah humbug!!

←

I must admit. I don't eat beef that often. So I haven't had that much experience. But when I've eaten braised ribs (don't know what kind they were) in fine restaurants - they didn't have more than a trace amount of visible fat. That's why you have to braise them - not much fat.

And - despite what people have said here - animal fat - visible or invisible - isn't really good for you. It's downright bad - whether or not you can see it. Ditto with large amounts of salt. So it's best to eat those things in moderation - or as an occasional treat when it comes to the stuff that has huge amounts of animal fat or salt. I'm not sure an 8 year old can relate to that concept.

What your wife likes to eat doesn't sound swell either. So in your family - you're basically arguing about unhealthy home-cooked food as opposed to unhealthy fast-food-junk food. Sounds like a good time for a family conference. Robyn

[touaregsand]

I must admit. I don't eat beef that often. So I haven't had that much experience. But when I've eaten braised ribs (don't know what kind they were) in fine restaurants - they didn't have more than a trace amount of visible fat. That's why you have to braise them - not much fat.

The fat's been trimmed at those fine restaurants. I'm not sure how they get to the fat in between though. And this portion of the animal is also used for Korean Galbi, which is grilled, a much quicker cooking process than braising.

unhealthy home-cooked food as opposed to unhealthy fast-food-junk food

I think that unhealthy home cooked is less un healthy than fast-food-junk. At home we're not adding chemicals, preservatives, hidden fats, etc...

[robyn]

Here's a picture of raw short ribs - along with the nutritional information. Perhaps all short ribs don't look like this - but - if they do - I don't think I've ever eaten them. My plate would be a pile of little pieces of fat after - and my plate usually doesn't look like that in FD restaurants . The closest thing I make at home that's like this is brisket. A couple of times a year for holidays. It has a bunch of fat. Even after cooking and cooling and skimming and reheating. But the fat is usually pretty big chunks that can be cut off. When I'm through eating - my plate is full of pieces of fat. Perhaps someone who knows more about animal anatomy can help me out a bit. Are there similar cuts of meat that have less internal fat?

I think unhealthy is unhealthy If you look at the nutritional information on this website - well it's dreadful. And that's probably for a 4 - perhaps 6 - ounce - serving.

On the other hand - I'm not rigid about eating all the time. I do eat things that are quite awful to eat. As an occasional treat. And when I eat them - I want them to be the best. I don't want to waste the calories. So that rules out fast-food-junk-food stuff. Robyn

[jgarner53]

I'm not crazy about the texture of fat on a piece of meat, so I'll leave it on the plate. I love bacon (who wouldn't?), but I prefer it well cooked so that the fat gets crispy. Chicken skin on a nicely roasted bird? Bring it on. But there's something about the chewiness of a hunk of fat on something like a pork chop or steak that just doesn't work for me.

Many kids don't like spicy foods because kids have more taste buds than we do, which means that foods are generally more intense to them. Or so I've read. So yours not liking spicy things isn't really that surprising. Your wife, OTOH, is a freak. Give me home braised short ribs over TJ's taquitos any day.

[Gary]

Another classic example is the pork chops I serve. I get the thinly sliced ones that are labeled "brown and serve" pork chops. They are no more than a half inch thick and the fat is trimmed to 1/8". What's not to like about a tiny slice of fat on the edge of a piece of meat? Nice and juicy in my book. Nope... definitely a horrible thing in my wife's opinion.

While I'm on my rant, what is up with my wife's hypocracy over vegetables? The list of "exceptions" I listed before was an abbreviated one. There are a lot more "no-nos" I left out. Anyone else have the same thing in their house?

Tonight's dinner was salmon (baked), roasted cauliflower (leftover from yesterday) and rice pilaf (from a box). She choked down the cauliflower by eating it mixed with salmon. Maybe this is it's own thread. Just want to know if I'm alone in this fight or if there are others like me out there.

[Shalmanese]

Ugh, the same thing happened to my mother. Anything with visible fat = instant no, stuff with the fat emulsified in, perfectly okay.

She was adamant that I stop buying salami because of all the specks of fat, even though I pointed out that, at the rate I was eating it, I was only eating 0.5 grams of fat a day or a couple of rice grains worth. Still no go, the salami had to be out of the house.

[Shalmanese]

These articles   (see also Articles 2 and 3) by Dr Joseph Mercola should clarify a lot of myths about saturated fats. Whew!

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Joseph Mercola, to put it politely, is a crank.

[yslee]

I assume that your wife is an otherwise intelligent adult. How does she respond when confronted with facts (like the nutrition info on a box of frozen junk food)? Maybe it's time to see a nutritionist (screen, obviously - no point in getting a fatphobe, of which there are still plenty kicking about).

Frankly, I'm more worried about your daughter. This is the kind of stuff of which eating disorders are made.

[Busboy]

Here's a picture of raw short ribs - along with the nutritional information.  Perhaps all short ribs don't look like this - but - if they do - I don't think I've ever eaten them.  My plate would be a pile of little pieces of fat after - and my plate usually doesn't look like that in FD restaurants  .  The closest thing I make at home that's like this is brisket.  A couple of times a year for holidays.  It has a bunch of fat.  Even after cooking and cooling and skimming and reheating.  But the fat is usually pretty big chunks that can be cut off.  When I'm through eating - my plate is full of pieces of fat.  Perhaps someone who knows more about animal anatomy can help me out a bit.  Are there similar cuts of meat that have less internal fat?

I think unhealthy is unhealthy  If you look at the nutritional information on this website - well it's dreadful.  And that's probably for a 4 - perhaps 6 - ounce - serving.

On the other hand - I'm not rigid about eating all the time.  I do eat things that are quite awful to eat.  As an occasional treat.  And when I eat them - I want them to be the best.  I don't want to waste the calories.  So that rules out fast-food-junk-food stuff.  Robyn

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Yep, those are short ribs, all right, though the onces I buy are a little less short.

A loooong braise, which is what you get in most FDR's, probably knocks 80% of the fat off, though. When I make them at home, it all but disappears from the meat and is skimmed from brazing liquid after an overnight set. I suspect that, for red meat, they're relatively healthy -- especially when you consider that, when cooked in wine and stock, they're so rich that the non-bone portion is relatively small.