Feb. 20th, 2009
Recipe: Parmesan Bacon Burgers
Feb. 20th, 2009 02:11 pm- 2 lbs fresh ground beef
- 4 slices of bacon
- 1/2 cup parmesan-romano-asiago cheese, shredded
- 1/2 cup tomato, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- white peppercorns, freshly ground
This is pretty simple, but worked out very well. While I'd love to use only bison and ditch the cow altogether (sorry, Bessie!), this recipe seems better suited to the flavor of beef ~ in fact I took the ground bison and prepared that differently, and will post that recipe in a little while.
Pan-fry the bacon to a crisp and set on paper towels to drain.
In a large metal bowl, mix the ground beef and other ingredients. Separate out into six big meatballs ~ keeping the round ball shape makes it easier to compare sizes and get roughly equivalent proportions. Once you've got it all divided, and all six lumps of mix are the same size, set them, one by one, on pieces of wax paper. Press a bit to flatten, fixing up any fault-lines that may appear. Fold the wax paper over the burger and press down, using a large flat object (a saucepan works good). The burger should be no more than 1 inch thick.
Refrigerate until ready to cook.
While the best method may be to toss them on an open flame grill, it was a bit too cold and windy for that today.
The second-best method is a combination effort:
Set the burgers on a foil lined baking sheet, and broil.
At an internal temperature of around 90 degrees or so, flip them, and at 100 or so take them out of the broiler. To measure the temperature, the probe should be inserted from the side of the burger and extend in to the center, about 2 inches or so.
I used a grill pan to finish them off and put the final sear on them without sending them too far past the medium rare stage.
Ideally, this grill would be superheated, but that gets back to the rant about venting and the lack thereof ~ I had the heat set on medium, and used the thermometer to keep an eye on the temperature.
The grill pan can be skipped ~ just cook them in the broiler until done ~ but I like that little extra bit of sear.
Serve on crustini rolls with some lettuce.
Recipe: Bacon Cheddar Bison Burger
Feb. 20th, 2009 02:30 pm- 1 lb fresh ground bison
- 2 slices of bacon
- 1/4 cup extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated
- white peppercorns, freshly ground
For all intents and purposes, I could just have written this up as a variation to the parmesan bacon burger in the last post, but I want it to stand out a bit. I also did this at half the scale of the prior recipe. While the parmesan, garlic, and tomato add their own touch, the big feature here is that the cow isn't involved.
A quick word on bison: it's better for you. Simple as that.
This was the first time I cooked bison, but over the last few years I've selected it at restaurants when I noticed it was an option. I like the taste a bit better, but the health impacts are huge. Watching this cook up, far more tender than the beef at the end, yet with no massive oil slick coming off of it, was eye opening. This is good stuff.
Other than the ingredients, the process is the same as involved in the other burger, just sized differently:
Pan-fry the bacon to a crisp and set on paper towels to drain.
In a large metal bowl, mix the ground bison, bacon, and cheddar. Grind some white pepper on to it. Separate out into two big meatballs ~ keeping the round ball shape makes it easier to compare sizes and get roughly equivalent proportions. Once you've got it all divided, and both lumps of mix are the same size, set them, one by one, on pieces of wax paper. Press a bit to flatten, fixing up any fault-lines that may appear. Fold the wax paper over the burger and press down, using a large flat object (a saucepan works good). The burger should be no more than 1 inch thick.
Refrigerate until ready to cook.
While the best method may be to toss them on an open flame grill, it was a bit too cold and windy for that today.
The second-best method is a combination effort:
Set the burgers on a foil lined baking sheet, and broil.
At an internal temperature of around 90 degrees or so, flip them, and at 100 or so take them out of the broiler. To measure the temperature, the probe should be inserted from the side of the burger and extend in to the center, about 2 inches or so.
I used a grill pan to finish them off and put the final sear on them without sending them too far past the medium rare stage.
Ideally, this grill would be superheated, but that gets back to the rant about venting and the lack thereof ~ I had the heat set on medium, and used the thermometer to keep an eye on the temperature.
The grill pan can be skipped ~ just cook them in the broiler until done ~ but I like that little extra bit of sear.
Serve on crustini rolls with some lettuce.
Credit Cards
Feb. 20th, 2009 03:36 pmI'm noticing a trend.
The banking industry screwed up.
So it is taking things out on consumers: the default rates for a couple cards ~ even the business one, which has never run a balance ~ has shot up to nearly 30%.
Of course, you only see the default rate if you're late three times, look sideways at them, or think unhappy thoughts about banking executives.
One card, however, will soon have a regular APR that's jumping to nearly 20%.
In all cases, you're given an opt out that will close your account in May, and allow you to pay off the balance at the current terms. One company has indicated you wouldn't be able to use your card, another company has indicated you can use a card, but then it will be as if you had accepted the terms even if you said you didn't.
I'm weighing what to do.
The company card will stay, as it's paid at least once a month, if not more, and, as I said, doesn't run a balance. The personal cards... I think they'll have to go the way of the dodo.
I'm also wondering what these banks will do if significant numbers of consumers drop them and stop spending more with them. Obviously, to keep meeting the artificially inflated numbers they need to support their upper management's lifestyle, they'll need to raise rates for those that remain and retain balances ~ making it more likely for more people to fail to keep up with payments ~ and they'll need to raise their fees for those that remain and do not keep a balance.
It's like the stunt they're pulling with the unemployment funds ~ seems like a time when they could use some good PR, and, instead, they say: how can we improve our profits? how can we make more?
"The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed -- for lack of a better word -- is good. Greed is right. Greed works."
The banking industry screwed up.
So it is taking things out on consumers: the default rates for a couple cards ~ even the business one, which has never run a balance ~ has shot up to nearly 30%.
Of course, you only see the default rate if you're late three times, look sideways at them, or think unhappy thoughts about banking executives.
One card, however, will soon have a regular APR that's jumping to nearly 20%.
In all cases, you're given an opt out that will close your account in May, and allow you to pay off the balance at the current terms. One company has indicated you wouldn't be able to use your card, another company has indicated you can use a card, but then it will be as if you had accepted the terms even if you said you didn't.
I'm weighing what to do.
The company card will stay, as it's paid at least once a month, if not more, and, as I said, doesn't run a balance. The personal cards... I think they'll have to go the way of the dodo.
I'm also wondering what these banks will do if significant numbers of consumers drop them and stop spending more with them. Obviously, to keep meeting the artificially inflated numbers they need to support their upper management's lifestyle, they'll need to raise rates for those that remain and retain balances ~ making it more likely for more people to fail to keep up with payments ~ and they'll need to raise their fees for those that remain and do not keep a balance.
It's like the stunt they're pulling with the unemployment funds ~ seems like a time when they could use some good PR, and, instead, they say: how can we improve our profits? how can we make more?
"The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed -- for lack of a better word -- is good. Greed is right. Greed works."
Friday Funnies
Feb. 20th, 2009 04:08 pmMuch needed today, after recent news, this still seems to remind me of several conversations I have going on about outsourcing and bad business decisions in Corporate America: