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Slightly off-topic - if free-range acorn fed black pigs are so delicious... why aren't certain squirrels?...

Who says they ain't??

Actually, they ARE pretty tasty, but 1) they're little devils to skin; and 2) not enough meat to make it worthwhile; and, finally, 3) not enough fat to cure as ham/bacon!!

Geo

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Sooo, you like wine and are looking for something good to read? Maybe *this* will do the trick!

Squirrel is one of the finest and tenderest of all wild meats. Its flavor is mild, rarely gamey. There is no need for soaking, and seldom any need for parboiling. They should be cleaned as soon as possible after shooting, but skinning may wait until they are to be cooked.

--Charleston Receipts, 1950

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Watch Sky Full of Bacon, the Chicago food HD podcast!
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Périgord Truffles anyone? $99 for 2 ounces, includes UPS 2nd day air delivery.

-Dan

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Effete and self-important snooty-pants dilettante.
@dschleifer

Several months ago, happy to see that the Clybourn Costo had prime meat, we bought a package. I reported here that they turned out to be awful. They were full of hard gristle. Mr. Views had a pile of inedible gristle larger than the amount he was able to eat from said steak.

Fast forward to the lovely spring day earlier this week. Mr Views was at Costco getting his new glasses. He decided grilling was in order and he wanted to try the $9.99 a pound prime strips instead of the $25.99 Whole Foods aged strips that are excellent. I don't know if he forgot how bad his steak was last fall or the thought of getting them for $16 a pound less than the aged ones was that enticing.

Either way, I came home from a meeting to find them on my counter top. I wasn't happy. Oh, well. I took the worst looking piece and gave him the best so at least I wouldn't have to listen to him complain. I don't mind sucking off the bits of tender meat from around the gristle. I cut out a particularly egregious piece of thick hard fat from my piece and prepared for the worst. After salting and getting the grill ready, I grilled them and let them sit tented while I finished the salads.

I ate other things first - my baked sweet potato, my salad. He started directly on the steak. "This is really good," he said. Given that last time he was infuriated with them, I was both skeptical and confused. But, I had to eat it regardless unless I wanted a vegetarian dinner.

It was like a completely different cut. It was actually GOOD! Very good. Not aged beef good, but prime meat good. My piece was the worst of them and I did have chunks of interior fat that was gristly to throw away, but it was tasty fat this time and much of the fat was soft. Equally important, the meat was tender, the marbling juicy and tasty, the flavor of the meat rich and meaty.

I don't know what happened that first time. They truly were awful - I think I've had better from Jewel. Along with the tough hard gristle, the steaks were not tender and the flavor was bland and dull. I guess looks can be deceiving even in a cow; I suppose they could have been mismarked and been Costco's main grade of choice, but the taste and texture was more like chain-grocery-store select at best, even though they had decent marbling. I'm just glad that the ones this time were good and I had an opportunity to offer a second opinion. If Mr Views hadn't bought them, I am certain I never would have tried them again.

Every one of the Costco prime rib eyes and strips we have had have been excellent. Going to Oak Brook today in hopes of scoring more.

I am a diabetitic and have been on a special diet since the beginning of the year. (As an aside a lot of good results). Someone told be to try Arnold's sandwich thins which I did and found they where great and could give me a sandwich and still let me have one carb my allowable. Found them at the Costco in Glenview the other day. Great for anyone looking for a diet roll. They are multi grain and taste great toasted.

Clybourn was selling Kingsford Competition Briquettes today. Looked to be $13.XX for a 2 pack.

I love Arnold's sandwich thins! I can't believe Costco had them - I am so getting them!

I recently bought a Cuisinart Smart Stick Hand Blender (includes whisk & chopper) for only $30 vs $50 at other retailers. I am excited to start using it.

You buy any, try em yet?

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Sauce on the side, always, implied, axiomatic..........never a doubt, BBQ sauce without.

Low & Slow

We suffered from a full cart so I didn't have anywhere to put them. Will grab some soon and give them a whirl.

That "100% natural" on the bag puts me off... I mean, what ELSE would there be in it?? Perhaps even more scary, what's in their *regular* briquets??

Geo

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Sooo, you like wine and are looking for something good to read? Maybe *this* will do the trick!

From what I have read on the "internets", the competition briquettes contain only wood char, corn starch as a binder and borax so they will release from the mold. There is a list of ingredients in their regular briquettes here...

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/charcoal.html

Costo in Niles had average sized stone crab claws for 12.99/lb. today.

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Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

That's 30 lbs for $13. Perhaps it's a good price for Kingsford, but is still more expensive than natural lump charcoal from Berger Brothers (about $15 for a 40 lb bag). (Although some fraction of the bag of lump charcoal are pieces/dust that are too small to use.)

It's actually 24 pounds for $13, unless they're bigger bags than what's available everywhere else.

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Ed Fisher
my chicago food photos

RIP LTH.

You're right. I don't know why I assumed they were 15 lb bags. The photo clearly shows that they are 12 lbs each.

I haven't tried it yet, but I've read some good things about the Kingsford Competition. They've got Chris Lilly selling it. That said, Berger Bros. is definitely the better option - they also have 40 lb. bags of the Royal Oak Chef's Select Briquettes for about $15.

I've had really good luck with the Beef Top Loin at Costco. I trim it and cut into NY Strip steaks that are pretty good for the price.

I bought the Cuisinart Hand Blender as well - one of the best purchases I've ever made.

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It is VERY important to be smart when you're doing something stupid

- Chris

We ran to Costco on Sunday for a few things. One thing we were out of was dog treats. Our dogs loved the Cadet duck breast strips which we broke down and bought several weeks ago. My husband spotted the chicken and sweet potato dog treats and we decided to switch off and try them. They must also be magically delicious, as our dogs are unusually attentive if you have one in your hand. I don't think the container will last as long as the duck strips did, but it's nice to know that there is something else if your dog is getting bored with dining on duck.

Suzy

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" There is more stupidity than hydrogen in the universe, and it has a longer shelf life."
- Frank Zappa

Now that's a quote.

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"I would gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today."

Based on my dog's reaction, I can't imagine him ever being bored with the duck bacon, which is why there are several extra bags hidden in the pantry (don't tell him).

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Watch Sky Full of Bacon, the Chicago food HD podcast!
New episode: Soil, Corn, Cows and Cheese
Watch the Reader's James Beard Award-winning Key Ingredient here.

My neighbor has lately been buying and distributing the duck treats and the sweet potato treats, which is why my dog now likes my neighbor more than me.

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"I would gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today."

It is actually 33lbs for $13. Just grabbed some today, plan on using for a high heat 14lb packer brisket tomorrow.

Well, the Kingsford Competition Charcoal seemed to work out well for me. Was doing a "high temp brisket cook" so I started with maybe 2/3 ring of unlit coals covered with 1/2 a chimney of lit. Used the old "upside down door prop" trick to keep temps up in the 350+ range for the cook.

Gotta say it turned out a delicious brisket in about 4 hours (give or take a beer or two). Great smoke ring and flavor.

Hard to judge how well/long it burned since I was using high heat method. I can say it lit quickly and smelled just like lump in the chimney (without the spark explosions).

Jamie

How does one do a "high heat" brisket? I only know "low and slow". The 2 I did for Easter took 14 hours.

My guess, flat (first cut), foil and liquid.

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Sauce on the side, always, implied, axiomatic..........never a doubt, BBQ sauce without.

Low & Slow

Not quite.

14lb packer on WSM at about 350 degrees for 2.5 hours (will be at about 160 degrees). I prop an upside-down door open about 1.5 inches or so (lean a piece of firewood against smoker and let door rest on it so it doesn't fall out) and use an empty water pan to keep temps up. After the 2.5 hours (or the temp mentioned above) you wrap in foil and put back on for 1.5 hours or so.

This turns out a super moist and tender brisket with nice smoke ring and smoke flavor. Honestly I can't tell much a difference between this method and my non-foil method "long" so I tend to stick to this for briskets (actually I prefer it). Being done in 4 hours is pretty nice.

Jamie

I concur... Was hard to tell the difference between that and a brisket cooked for twice as long. Then again, after trying our best to finish off your kegs for 7 hours you probably could have fed me a rubber chicken and I would have been happy!

Actually I think those smoked chickens I made were rubber

And still... I was happy!

I actually thought the flavor was quite good on the chicken. I still think the could have benefited from a minuet or two on a very hot grill. Down in the DR they did a combination of smoking and grilling and the skin got this "papery" (in a good way... hard to explain) quality if not crispy.

Anyway... this is getting off point...