Ice Cream Politics: Recent Episodes
George
Summers here, and I got a brand-new grill, so now seems like as good a time as any to reexamine some of the things we know about grilling beef. A perfect steak should have a crusty, crunchy, well brown exterior surrounding a core of perfectly pink, juicy, tender meat that spans from you. Well, donners, can go eat your hockey pucks on someone else's lawn. A perfect steak should have a nice contrast between the smoky, almost chart exterior and the deeply beefy interior.
A perfect steak should be chin, drippingly, juicy, and melt in your mouth tender. We all know where we want to go. The real debate is what's the best way to get there? You've just dropped $50 on some prime aged beef, and you're rightfully nervous about screwing it all up. After all, there's a lot at a wait for it steak. Want to know how to grill a steak?
Here's my advice do not do it the way they do it at steakhouses. Well, yes, they know how to cook a steak in a steakhouse setting, where their goal is consistency, quality, and more importantly, speed. Hungry customers don't want to have to wait for their meat. And a steakhouse has equipment and techniques designed to meet those needs at home. On the other hand, consistency and quality are important, but speed? Not so much. Check for marbling. You want plenty of intramuscular fat? Buy a thick steak. 2s Bone in or boneless, it doesn't make a difference. This is totally a matter of personal choices.
Beef, unless you don't enjoy the extra tenderness or slightly funky flavor of dry aged meat. Salt in advance and salt well. I season mine four days in advance, but you want to do it a minimum of 40 minutes ahead of time. For better searing, rest your steak uncovered on a wire rack in the fridge at least overnight and up to four days. Use hardwood coal if you've got it, but briquettes will work just fine. And arrange the coals in a two zone pattern with all the heat under one half of the grill. Cook your meat gently, then sear at the end. This will give you more evenly cooked meat and a better crust.
Flip your meat as often as you like. The whole thing about only flipping once is utter nonsense, and we can prove it. Use a thermometer. If you don't have one, go ahead and poke or cut and peak. It won't harm the stake. Let your meat rest. Your meat should rest for about a third of the time it took to cook in order to prevent excess moisture loss. Selecting the right cut first a definition steaks are basically any piece of meat that falls under the category of fast cooking cuts cuts that are low enough in connective tissue that they don't require the long cooking times that slow cooking cuts require. The difference between a steak and roast essentially comes down to size. Any good roast can be cut into individual stakes, although, unfortunately, it's not possible to put together several steaks into a large roast without the aid of transcutaminase or at the very least, a reliable time machine. The tenderness of a steak is inversely related to the amount of work that a muscle does during the steers lifetime.
The longissimus dorsi, referred to as the loin or the backstrap, are relatively unused muscles, so they're extremely tender, making them an ideal candidate for steak and also quite expensive. The Sowas major are a pair of shorter muscles that start about twothirds of the way down the steer's spine and run on the. Of the ribs, commonly referred to as the filet mignon or tenderloin, thereby far the tenderest piece of meat on the steer, coupled with their small size, makeham most expensive cut at the butcher. That whole supply and demand thing, you know. Out of these two muscles come a number of cuts. Here's what you'll find at the typical butcher cooking. Given the same amount of coal and the same exact treatment, a steak cooked over hardwood will have a better crustier sea and a smokier flavour. This difference largely has to do with the relative densities of the two products. Hardwood is not nearly as dense as a briquette and is thus better ventilated when burning. This leads to a hotter, faster burn. Measure the heat at grill level from a chimney full of briquettes and a chimney full of hardwood, and the difference can be as much as 100 degrees or more.
Charcoal briquettes are easier to find. I can't get real hardwood within a 20 block radius of my apartment cheaper, more reliable and longer burning, making them great for extended grilling sessions. Salt your meat about 40 minutes before it hits the grill. When the salt first hits a steak, it sits on the surface. Through the process of osmosis, it'll slowly draw liquid out of the mat, which you'll see pull up in little droplets. As those droplets grow, the salt will dissolve in the meat juice, forming a concentrated brine. At this stage in the game, about 25 to 30 minutes in or steak is in the absolute worst shape possible for grilling.
That moisture will evaporate right off, leaving you with a tough, stringy crust. Give it a bit more time and eventually that brine will begin to break down some of the muscle tissue in the meat, allowing the juices to be reabsorbed and taking the salt right along with it. What does this lead to? Meat that is both better seasoned and more tender and moist when you cook it. Personally, I season my steaks at least a few days in advance to give the salt maximum time to work its way into the meat. Why steakhouses don't do this is a mystery to me. Do use kosher salt. Not regular table salt, the larger grains of kosher salt. 1s koshering salt, as salt itself is always kosher. Kosher salt is coarse salt used in the koshering process, easier to sprinkle evenly with your fingers, and will also draw more initial moisture out of the meat to dissolve than table salt quite heavily.
A thick steak will be seasoned only on its exterior, so you need enough salt to carry that flavor through. I always have a hard time describing how much salt to use, but my best description is the way a light snowflurry looks on a dark ashfelt parking lot. Not completely white, but enough salt that you can see it very, very clearly. I also like to keep a highquality, coarse sea salt, like molten or flour de cell at the table to serve with the steak, sprinkling it on the interior of individual slices as I eat. Therefore, the closer it is to its final eating temperature, the more evenly it will cook.
Letting it sit on the counter for 20 to 30 minutes will bring the steak up to room temperature. The warmer meat will brown better, the thinking goes, because you don't need to waste energy from the pan to take the chill off of its surface. I found that with a thick steak, even after 2 hours of sitting out at room temperature, the center of the steak had risen by a measly 19 degrees or so, not even 15% of the way to its final target temperature. But when cooked side by side with. Straight from the fridge. The end results were completely indistinguishable. Here's the issue. Steak can't brown until most of the moisture has evaporated from the layers of meat closest to the surface. And it takes a hell of a lot of energy to evaporate moisture. It takes five times more energy to convert a single gram of water into steam than it does to raise the temperature of that water all the way from icecold to boiling hot. When searing a steak, the vast majority of energy that goes into it is used to evaporate moisture from its surface layers. Next to that energy requirement, a 2030 or even 40 degree difference in the temperature of the surface of the meat is a pittelling affair.
Don't bother letting your steaks rest at room temperature. The single best thing you can do to improve your steak is to let it rest on a rack uncovered in the fridge, at least overnight and up to a few nights. This process is not dry aging, as some folks will have you believe, but rather it accomplishes an entirely different goal drawing out the exterior. The vast majority of energy that goes into a stake in the early stages of cooking are spent converting surface moisture to steam. Without that surface moisture, your steak will brown much more efficiently, which means less overcooked meat underneath the surface. At this stage in the game, I don't think I need to tell any of you that the old saying that is utter and complete nonsense. You can prove this quite easily by cooking two identical roasts. One see it first, then finished at a low temperature, the other started at a low temperature and seared at the end. If searing really locked in anything, you'd expect the one seared first to retain more moisture. In fact, you find that the exact opposite is the case. In reality, the amount of juices a steak loses is directly proportional to the temperature you cook it to, not the temperature you cook it at so wide. As a slow start, searate end roast lose less moisture.
It has to do with the length of time it takes to build up a good crusty sear. Throw a raw steak on the grill and the cold, moist meat takes a long time to heat up to the point where it can begin browning and crisping properly. By the time it's well seared, the outermost layers are already overcooked and you've lost the battle before you've even begun to cook the steak through to the centre. Start a steak out on the cold side of the grill with the cover on the entire time. 1s On the other hand, and by the time it's reached within a few degrees of the proper final temperature, more on that in a moment its exterior has already gotten a good head start on the browning and crisping phase. All it takes is a moment on the hot side of the grill to crisp up you end up with meat that is as crusty as you could hope for and perfectly evenly cooked from edge to edge. I call the method the reverse sear and its gunner changed the way you make your steaks forever. Also note that for a gas grill, closing the lid will increase the temperature inside the grill, whereas for a coal grill, closing the lid will starve the coal of oxygen and thus decrease the temperature.
Make sure to preheat gas grills with the lid closed before searing that steak. The reality is that multiple flipping will not only get your steak to cook faster up to 30% faster, but will actually cause it to cook more evenly as well. If you imagine that you can flip your steak infinitely fast, asterisk then you can see that what ends up happening is that you approximate cooking the steak simultaneously from both sides, but at a gentler pace. While it's true that it takes a bit longer over the hot side of the grill to build up the same level of crust, in a multifliper steak, the fact that it cooks more evenly means that you can cook over the hot side a bit longer without the risk of burning the outside before the center cooks.
You can also avoid creating a harsh temperature gradient inside the meat as you would if you were to cook it entirely over the hot side without flipping. There are two possible advantages to the single flip method. The first is that if you like pretty grill marks, you won't get them with multiflipping. The second is that multiflipping can be a pain in the butt. If you have a ton of meat on the grill, you don't have to flip your steaks multiple times. But if someone tells you that you're ruining your steak by flipping it over and over, you can assure them that science is on your side. The theory is that a seasoned cook can tell how well done by poking it with their finger. If its rare, it should feel like the fleshy part of your hand at the base of your thumb when you touch your thumb to your index finger. Enjoy your barbecue this weekend.
Electric Vehicles Are an Important Climate Solution for the world
The transportation sector is the largest source of global warming emissions in the United States.It's also a major source of harmful air pollution that can lead to asthma and heart and lung disease, especially in communities of color that have been historically targeted for highway and port construction.We need to act quickly to reduce these emissions by reducing car dependency with better transit, pedestrian and biking options, increasing the fuel efficiency of gas cars, and electrifying as many of the cars, trucks, and buses on our roads as possible.
In conclusion, the good news is that President Biden Announces Steps to Drive American Leadership Forward on Clean Cars and Trucks
Specifically, President Joe Biden Executive Order will set an ambitious new target to make half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 zero-emissions vehicles, including battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric, or fuel cell electric vehicles.
The Executive Order, also kicks off development of long-term fuel efficiency and emissions standards to save consumers money, cut pollution, boost public health, advance environmental justice, and tackle the climate crisis.
President Biden is committed to changing that and delivering for the American people.
That is why the Executive Order that sets a new target of electric vehicles representing half of new vehicles sold in 2030.
This builds on the announcements today from automakers, representing nearly the entire U.S. auto market who have positioned around the goal of reaching 40 to 50 percent electric vehicle sales share in 2030.
More than a deployment target, it is a goal to leverage once-in-generation investments and a whole-of-government effort to lift up the American autoworker and strengthen American leadership in clean cars and trucks.
The 2030 target is calibrated to provide time for existing manufacturing facilities to upgrade without stranding assets, upgrades that will be catalyzed by leaning into a path that expands domestic U.S. manufacturing with union workers.
Good news for many states and great news for North Carolina is that President Biden is Creating Jobs, and right here in North Carolina.
The electric vehicle maker VinFast will build an electric vehicle and battery manufacturing facility in North Carolina – $4 billion to create more than 7,000 jobs and hundreds of thousands of electric vehicles and batteries.
This is the latest example of my economic strategy at work. It builds on recent announcements from companies like GM, Ford, and Siemens to invest in America again and create jobs.
The actions will spur good-paying jobs with strong workforce requirements for America’s steelworkers, electrical workers, and laborers to build, install, and maintain the network. And, making chargers and EVs more accessible will help tackle the climate crisis reducing emissions, increasing cleaner air, and creating more clean energy jobs.
In other words, our planet will be cleaner and millions of new jobs will be created for our future.
Owning a working set of jumper cables and knowing how to use them is a must. First, you need the right pair of cables, in other words, a good quality pair of jumper cables. I suggest you purchase a pair of jumper cables that are four six gauge and at least 20ft or 6 meters long. Extra long jumper cables will come in handy and will make a better connection to the batteries easier, especially if your vehicle and the other vehicle is in location. That's not easy to access when jumper cables, look for the ones with the thicker cables and heavy clamps on the end. Heavier gauge jumper cables four six gauge will deliver more electric current to the dead battery.
Overall, a better quality of jumper cables will be more durable and last many years to come. Now let's get to the part of jumping your dead battery with another vehicle. When it comes time to connect the jumper cables to your vehicle battery from another vehicle battery, be sure you have read over the owner's manual of your vehicle. This is very important as some vehicles have special instructions on jumping the vehicle battery is not to damage other components in the vehicle. Connecting the jumper cables requires that you pay special attention to handle the cables properly when connecting the clamps to each battery post or battery terminal. Pay special attention to connect the red cable to the positive plus post or terminal and the black cable to the negative posts or terminal on each vehicle on the other end of the jumper cables. Take care as not to touch red and black clamps together as this will create a spark and could do some damage. Most jumper cables have an instruction card or label, so you can make sure you're connecting them the right way. Additionally, if you have a smartphone with you, one can Google the correct method and actually view the video on YouTube. Now it is time to connect the cables to each. Begin by parking the vehicle with the good battery next to the car with the dead battery.
Open the hoods of both cars and locate their batteries. If the batteries are covered by plastic hoods, remove the hoods so the battery posts are exposed. Locate the in negative posts. The positive post may be read, but it's not always so. It's best to look for the plus or minus sign to determine the post's polarity before you attach the clamps be sure to remove any dirt from the posts. Next, get out your jumper cables and connect one of the red clamps to the positive plus post of the dead battery. Make sure that the clamp is. Firmly connected. Clamp the matching end of the same cable to the positive plus post on the working battery. Connect one of the black clamps to the negative post of the good battery. Make sure the clamp is firmly connected. Important to note here that instead of connecting the other end of the cable to the negative post of the dead battery, clamp it to a bare metal surface on the engine of the dead car. Like a bolt or a screw, this will provide grounding for the jumpstart. Next, start the functioning car's engine first and let it idle for a few minutes. Start the dead cars engine and let it idle for a few minutes. If the dead car starts without any issues, carefully disconnect the black clamp from its battery first. Then disconnect the black clamp from the other car. Finally, remove the red clamp from the good car's battery and then from the once dead battery.
With just six ingredients and 30 minutes of your time, you can serve up ten delicious yet simple beef tacos. Homemade tacos are one of the most reliable and easy weeknight dinners, with endless variations to keep things interesting.
If you want to step up your homemade taco game, stock up on essential taco tools. Learn how to make from scratch corn tortillas and perfect your pico de gallo. £1 lean at least 80% ground beef one cup old El Paso thick in chunky salsa ten old El Paso taco shells one half head lettuce, shredded one medium tomato, chopped three quarters cup one cup shredded Cheddar cheese 4oz.
Cook beef in ten inch skillet over medium heat eight to ten minutes, stirring occasionally, until brown.
Drain. Stir susa into beef heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium low.
Cook five minutes, stirring occasionally.
Pour beef mixture into large serving bowl. Heat taco shells as directed on package. Serve taco shells with beef mixture, lettuce, tomato and cheese. You.
Use these steps and ingredients as a basis for your own unique recipe, adding and subtracting whatever attracts your taste buds.
Ingredients
1 whole cut up fryer chicken
2 stalks (to 3 stalks) celery, chopped
3 whole green onions, chopped
2 c. (to 3 cups) grapes, halved
1/2 c. mayonnaise
1/2 c. plain yogurt or sour cream
Juice of 1 lemon1 tbsp.
(to 2 tablespoons) brown sugar
Kosher salt to taste
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
Small handful of fresh dill, minced
Cayenne pepper, to taste
1/2 c. slivered almonds
-
Rinse chicken thoroughly and place in a large pot of water. Turn on the heat and bring to a boil.
-
Reduce heat and simmer until chicken is done (about 45 minutes to an hour). When you are ready, remove the chicken from the pot and place on a plate. With your fingers or a fork, pull all of the meat off the bones, chop into bite-sized chunks and set aside.
-
Chop all of your fruits and veggies and place them in a bowl with the chicken.
-
In another bowl mix mayonnaise, yogurt (or sour cream), lemon juice, brown sugar and salt and pepper to taste.
-
Add the dill, oregano and cilantro with a dash of cayenne pepper.
-
When the dressing tastes just right, pour it over the chicken/veggie/fruit mixture and stir gently until everything is thoroughly mixed.
-
Stir in the almonds and a sprinkling of bacon bits.
-
Allow the salad to chill for several hours or overnight. Serve on a bed of lettuce or on toasted whole wheat bread or sourdough bread.
Bottoms Up!
Vanilla is the most iconic ice cream flavor known to man. Did you know that vanilla is actually, the most popular flavor out there? Yup. The well-loved chocolate ice cream does not even come close. Over 90% of Americans prefer vanilla or over chocolate or any other flavor.
It's not surprising, considering how versatile it is. Whether you eat it on its own or enjoy it on top of a pie, good old-fashioned vanilla ice cream will not disappoint. Chocolate. If you think that the vanilla ice cream started it all, think again. Chocolate ice cream, while only second to vanilla in popularity, came first. Chocolate chip chocolate chip ice cream is another fan favorite, which is not surprising.
It's a combination of two well-loved classics. Just imagining sweet and crunchy chocolate chips in every bite of vanilla ice cream makes my taste buds tingle. Butter Pecan another classic and a personal favorite of mine is butter pecan. Who can say no to vanilla ice cream? Mixed with crisp pecans roasted in butter, it's the perfect combination of sweet, salty buttery and crunchy chocolate chip cookie dough.
As if good old chocolate chip ice cream isn't good enough, ice cream makers up the game even further. Adding chunks of sweet and chewy cookie dough to the classic. You get such an irresistible combination of flavors and textures.
Eskimo the akutak, a goo duck or eskimo ice cream is an Alaskan flavor that's made of whipped fat and berries such as blueberries, cloudberries and cranberries. Strawberry going back to the basics, here's another iconic flavor for you. Strawberry ice cream is pretty to look at, and it's so tasty. The combination of sweet and tarte is just pure satisfaction.
Horchata horchata is a Mexican inspired ice cream flavor made with the iconic horchata, a plant milk, tiger nut or white rice-based beverage. It's rich, creamy, and since its infusion used with cinnamon, has a nice hint of spice. Lemon Custard lemon custard ice cream tastes exactly how you would imagine it. It's smooth, creamy, and has that wonderful sweet and tangy combination going on.
Here are some at-home remedies that I use to rid my cats and house of fleas.
Cedar Chips
It’s a known fact that fleas hate the smell of cedar chips. Spread cedar chips around your cat’s bedding. Also apply cedar oil spray on your cat’s fur, as it is a safe, and non-toxic essential oil. Cedar chips can be purchased at Walmart or Tractor supply.
Lemons
One of the most effective ways to kill fleas is using a citric acid, which makes lemon juice a home remedy for treating fleas. You can spray your cat’s coat with a solution of fresh cut lemons. Transfer the lemon juice with a 50/50 mixture of water into a spray bottle. Work the solution gently into your car’s fur and be sure to avoid the cat eyes. Repeat treatment as often as needed until the fleas are gone entirely.
Spices
One of the easiest things you can do for a flea-infested cat is to spice up their life with natural ingredients you might find in your kitchen. Natural compound known as carvacrol, oregano oil can be very effective at removing fleas; start by mixing one teaspoon of oregano oil with three teaspoons of olive oil and apply small amounts of the solution to areas where fleas tend to congregate, like your cat’s ears, stomach, tail, and neck.
Fleas also don’t particularly care for rosemary; try grinding the leaves into a powder and sprinkling it in the areas where your cat tends to hang out in your home.
You can also try mixing a small amount (less than a teaspoon) of cumin into your cat’s food. The spice will make your cat’s skin become very unappetizing to fleas.
If you don’t have any of these spices on hand, try a little bit of table salt, as it dehydrates and kill the fleas on your cat. Also sprinkle salt on your cats bedding and carpet. It works to kill fleas and flea eggs that may be lurking on your carpet, mix with water and it can be used to treat hard surfaces.
Apple Cider Vinegar
This is a great grocery store product that I use to clean hard surfaces with. Fleas don’t particularly enjoy is apple cider vinegar. While it’s not effective at killing fleas, apple cider vinegar can cause fleas to jump off your cat’s body so you can deal with them better.
Try mixing the apple cider vinegar with water in a 2:1 ratio and spraying it onto your cat’s coat. Fleas can be a stubborn bunch, so you may have to undergo a few home treatments by applying the vinegar to your cat’s fur in order to become completely flea-free.
Vacuum all floors and upholstery and dispose of the vacuum cleaner bag, wash all bedding in hot water.
Lavender and Chamomile
Another gentle way to soothe your pet’s skin is to use lavender, it is actually a powerful, fast-acting agent against fleas, and it will even make your cat feel comfortable to take a nap.
In fact, some studies have shown that formulas containing diluted lavender were just as effective at killing fleas as commercial chemical sprays.
Use lavender in a spray bottle and spray areas of your home where the cat bed is. Also, you can spray lavender onto your cat’s coat.
Additional, loose chamomile tea can also be used to attack fleas on your cat. Simply steep the tea and, after it’s fully cooled, apply the liquid to your cat’s coat. You can repeat both treatments daily for as long as needed.
“Toxic algae affect not only the health of people and marine ecosystems, but also the health and vibrancy of local and regional economies,” said Nicole LeBoeuf, Assistant Administrator for NOAA’s National Ocean Service. “Like with the weather, environmental forecasts are an important tool that can empower communities to more effectively prepare for these events and are a huge part of NOAA’s service to the nation.”
Lake Erie blooms consisting of cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, are capable of producing microcystin, a known liver toxin which poses a risk to human and wildlife health. Such blooms may force cities and local governments to treat drinking water, close beaches and can harm vital local economies by preventing people from fishing, swimming, boating and visiting the shoreline.
The size of a bloom isn’t necessarily an indication of how toxic it is. For example, the toxins in a large bloom may not be as concentrated as in a smaller bloom. Each algal bloom is unique in terms of size, toxicity and ultimately its impact on local communities.
“With ten years of experience with forecasts we understand more about the blooms, including evidence that big river discharge events in mid-summer may matter more than we thought,” said Richard Stumpf, Ph.D., NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science’s (NCCOS’s) lead scientist for the seasonal Lake Erie bloom forecast. “They create more uncertainty, but our models are improving as a result. We will also have to watch to see if these events become more common in the future.”