Me And Meat

Yeah. So...vegetarianism. Almost always associated with healthy eating. Often a cause for which people are willing to do all sorts of reactionary deeds, from trying to convert others to "The One Right Way" to attacking fur wearing individuals.

To them I say: Yawn. I see you as Vegeterrorists.

Gillette at age 16....reading all sorts of esoteric treatises from all sorts of spiritual paths about that "One Right Way." One Teacher said that since all of Life is energy, and that everything is connected, when we eat the flesh of something that has been killed, we eat the energy of trauma that the animal felt when it was in the stock yard and then cruelly killed. Didn't appeal. I started the process of stopping eating flesh.

Chicken was easy. My Mom and I used to get KFC and put it in the oven to crisp up. Yum. But then there was the issue of veins snapping back when I would eat the legs. Eeeuw. It was the first to go.

Then I let go of beef. Not a well received decision, given that my grandparents were in the cattle raising business. When I was a kid, I used to cry hearing the young steers braying in the fields at weaning and de-balling times. But yeah...tongue sandwiches. Burgers on the grill. "Rocky Mountain Oysters." Pickled Pigs Feet. Steaks. This was my Midwestern legacy.

So there I was, age 16...the Teenage Vegetarian Weirdo smack dab of middle America in 1972. I was a freak. The last thing to go was crab on my birthday at age 17. But I was ready.

My lacto-ovo vegetarianism was not something I found difficult. I am such a hedonist, that if it had been, I probably wouldn't have been one for 28 years. I never missed flesh. Didn't want it.

Until I hit age 45-6ish. For some reason, all of a sudden I wanted fish. Or as I call it...feesh. I then went from cooked fish to sushi in about three months.

In the interim, I never proselytized. As I have said, I don't care what you eat. It's none of my business. I also think that some bodies require meat to be whole and healthy, others don't. Sorry...I simply don't believe there is only One Way. (even though, as I have clearly indicated, I do have my opinions...and that, obviously, my opinion that there isn't only One Way is, itself, an indication that I think that "The Way," yes?...ah...Gillette...).

I am now 52. I enjoy all sorts of feesh and seafoods. Since age 50, I've been trying more land animals. I'm able to consume a bit of fois gras (because when I do, it's at a top notch restaurant, with an amazing wine pairing and accompaniments). I've made pate at home and can have one bite. I'm able to eat a small, couple bite lamb chop and then I'm done. I tried one steak at The French Laundry. Got down two bites and then I was done. Word has it by my two steak eating companions that it was the best on the planet, so my guess is it's safe to say I'm not a steak fan. Venison, the same. I'm able to eat small pieces of pork items in small amounts in things that disguise it.

I'm not sure if I will ever want a full portion of land animal food. I don't force myself, I merely listen to urges and experiment. It's all about fun.

I don't usually talk about my preferences in the flesh department but I am doing so here to explain one aspect of this blog. Although I've always lived with meat eaters and cooked for them, I don't taste the stuff so have no idea if the dishes are good or not. The eaters tell me they are. And they eat the stuff. And they are not polite enough to eat crap, so I believe them.

I confess, I've never gotten the beef thing down. Anything but hamburger in small bits and chicken fried steak always end up tough. Ironically, even though chicken is the LAST thing I would eat (ba-luck, veins), my kids all say I make the best chicken they've ever tasted outside a high end restaurant. Go figure.

But the upshot is that you won't find much in the way of recipes of the landlocked/airborne flesh sort here.

Unless I start to eat more of them.

The Sublime Scramble

Ah, breakfast. If we believe Jack and others, it's the most important meal of the day.

Scrambles. My favorite.

One of the things I like about them is that they can be the repository for that little bit of leftovers all mishmashed together with a bit of cheese and seasonings to create an endless variety of tasty breakfast meals. The end result is that they end up more than the sum of their pieces and parts. And what better way to get in a bunch of veggies?

In fact, mine are generally mostly veggies, with the egg barely holding them together. Since crunch is one of my favorite flavors, I almost always put in some sort of nut. Always a cheese. Usually an herb or two...when possible, sprinkled fresh over the top. Sometimes I even put in leftover grains. They truly do taste yummy with the egg, even though they don't sound like they would. I'll be sharing different combos I've developed, but would love to suggest that you be bold and give things a try. You might be really surprised at what you come up with.

Basic cooking directions-

Most of mine have some sort of allium- onion, shallot, garlic, scallion, etc. These days my allium of choice is leeks. I'm addicted. I know the most American's are most familiar with them in soups. But they're great sauteed. Just cut the greenest stem off and mince, cooking like you would any onion.

Chop other veggies. For a single serving, I generally use 1-2 eggs (two ends up being too much food for me, but they're good cold, for a healthy snack). Veggie amounts? Raw, I usually have 2-3 cups with every thing combined. They cook down. If you want meats, then get them together- cook your bacon and crumble, get your ham in bite-able hunks, whatever. Get out your nuts, cheese and herbs. Lightly whisk the eggs. Everything is now eager and happy to be combined to sublimeness.

Put oil in your pan (butter, olive, grapeseed, etc.). You want enough to give it some oomph, but you don't want overly oily scrambles. I usually use about a TB of oil for a single serving. I'm not that worried if there's a bit more because healthy oils are GOOD for me. But I want it to taste good. It's all about the taste.

Heat the oil...medium heat is OK, but watch it. Put in the allium(s) for a minute. Then add the other veggies. If you have veggies that take varying amounts of time to cook, put the more hardy ones in first and cook for awhile, like you would do with a stir fry. If I have kale (which I generally do), then I will often put in some water (2-3 TBS) for it to steam as I don't want it to stick and burn.

You want the veggies to be slightly undercooked, still having substance and taste. You can tell when they're ready when they are bright colored and/or you take out a piece and it's a little less cooked than you would normally like it. (If you aren't a cook, ultimately all this stuff becomes second nature, but everything takes time to learn.)

When the veggies are in their perfect state of delicious doneness, add your whisked eggs and the cheese. Cooking the cheese with the eggs( instead of adding it at the end to melt) renders a different quality to the dish. It's these subtle differences which all add up to something being amazing vs. good. These things are Important.

We all have our preferences in eggs. Some are quite passionate about it and will send their eggs back if a restaurant over or under cooks them. I, myself, prefer my scrambled eggs a bit on the side of overdoneness. Just watch them. When they are your verson of perfect, happy eggy goodness, serve, adding nuts either at the end in the pan or simply on top. I usually add my herbs after serving.

Voila...protein, veg, vitamin goodness all rolled up into a far better breakfast scramble than you can find at any high end restaurant. And oooh...the endless possibilities for discovering new, uncharted tasty combos...!!! Makes me very happy.

(And darn I wish I had a camera. Not much in the stock photo department with egg scrambles. Will post one when I get one)

My Flavor Of Food Snobbery

...is mostly about me and what I'm willing to put in my mouth.

I eat whole foods. Usually organic. Usually locally grown fruit, veg and nuts. Why? Partly because they are healthier for me. Partly because I can as I live in California in an area which grows just about everything. Mostly because they simply taste better (once you allow your taste buds to remember what real food tastes like).

I eat real, whole oils and fats. I avoid sugar and other foods that adversely affect me (wheat, corn and some other grains). This does not mean I never eat them. But I know when and how I will pay the price if I do.

Yeah, I have a can or four...I'm not completely neurotic about this stuff it's just how my life evolved given my choices. But my pantry has very few boxes and cans. Most of my food comes in bulk or without packaging. I do most of my cooking from scratch. It's not difficult and (usually) doesn't take as long as advertised. It's worth it to me. It tastes better. And for this hedonist, it's gotta taste good or I spit it out.
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I don't care what you eat. It's your body and you get to do what you want with it.

But that does not mean that I don't have opinions. (Gee...imagine that? A Leo with an opinion!)
And I have more than a few in the food and nutrition department.

And I do get a different kind of snobby then the just me snobby sort from time to time.

Just being honest.

Where does my impatient food snobbery show up?

-If you tell me that all sweeteners are the same
-If you tell me that eating canned veggies is the same as eating fresh.
-If you tell me that the only thing that matters in losing weight is the caloric count of a food
-If you tell me you are depressed or bi-polar and have to be on meds when you eat a diet that consists primarily of chemicalized shaiza...or that your ADD child is not affected by the abysmal lunch you pack for him...and you are unwilling to TRY to eat healthily before turning to meds that are dangerous
-When I hear that real food somehow doesn't taste as good as crap food
-Or that it's too expensive to eat healthy
-when people tell me their M.D. said it's perfectly OK to eat shaiza...when I know allopathy knows very little about food and how it works
-When people tell me that low fat foods are good for me...or margarine...or Splenda

And I know there are more. I'll be addressing all these in future posts, but mostly focusing on the fun stuff.
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We are what we eat.

I want The Best for my body. That means I want it to taste better than just good. That also means I want it to be a good thing for my health.

I admit it. I am a food snob. But a cute one. Usually.

image from here