Petty Vents

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Charlie, I learned years ago to keep all my user names and passwords on a password protected Excel spreadsheet so I wouldn't have that problem. That way you only have to remember one password.
 
My Petty vent - I've read on this site and heard all about America's Test Kitchen being all that, and be trusted for their pick of everything from apples to the best tasting zebra meat (just kidding about the zebra meat, but you get the idea). If they say ABC knife is the best, well you'd better rush right out and get yourself an ABC knife.

I was looking for the best meat to use for carne asada tacos. As I browsed the internet, I came across an ATK recipe that stated it had the perfect recipe for carne asada. I read through all of the explanations, and the research, and the reasons why the author chose the ingredients they chose. At the end of it all, the recommendation was to use skirt steak, as it was buttery tender and had great beef flavor. now mind you, usually I go with sirloin as my go to meat for carne asada, as when made right, it's buttery tender and has great beef flavor. But alright, I'll bite.

I ordered skirt steak from our local meat market and happily picked it up, hoping for something special. I mean, ATK said it was the best meat ever for carne asada, right? So, I marinated it, as suggested, but with my own choice of flavorings that met the acid and flavor profiles given by ATK. I fired up the Webber and cooked it until it was threw it into, the frying pan with the bell peppers, onion, and cilantro, with lime juice sprinkled over top, and cooked until the peppers and onions still had a little crunch to them. Tasted it all, and my carne asada had the perfect flavor. But the diced meat (yes I forgot to say that I diced the meat after it came off the hot grill) had the texture of little rubber dice, and tough rubber at that.

I should have known better. Some of the reasons that the author said that the meat was perfect looked suspect to me. And some of the stuff he said was just plain wrong. Lesson learned, just because someone calls themselves expert, doesn't mean that they know what they are talking about. I've lived 60 years without ATK. I think I'll just stick to what I know. It seems to serve me better.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
Chief, I understand. ATK always has the best of everything. If you don't believe that, just listen and they'll tell you so.

That said, they do have some really good recipes. Skirt steak is like flank steak in that it's not edible if you over cook it. Anything beyond medium and it's little rubber dice.

P.S. skirt steak is the recommended cut for carne asada.
 
Chief, my understanding is that skirt steak, like flank steak (and for all I know they may be the same thing) was originally a cheap, inferior, tough cut of meat. Then all of a sudden, like chicken wings, TV chefs and the media started making it the best thing next to sliced bread and the price shot sky high. Which is why I've never made it. But gilding the lily doesn't make it gold.
 
My petty vent today is about when I go to put pepper on something. I shake that freaking bottle like there's no tomorrow and get maybe, MAYBE, 6 little specks of pepper on the meat. But when I go to clean up, there's pepper on the stove, there's pepper on the counter, there's pepper on the burners, there's even pepper on the floor! The pepper is everywhere but where I want it. :shock: :doh:
 
I fired up the Webber and cooked it until it was threw it into, the frying pan with the bell peppers, onion, and cilantro, with lime juice sprinkled over top, and cooked until the peppers and onions still had a little crunch to them. Tasted it all, and my carne asada had the perfect flavor. But the diced meat (yes I forgot to say that I diced the meat after it came off the hot grill) had the texture of little rubber dice, and tough rubber at that.

ATK said to cook it twice, on the grill and in the skillet? It was grossly overcooked. No wonder it was tough rubber.

We've used skirt steak multiple times for fajitas. It has to be thin sliced against the grain and NOT overcooked. Done that way, it's great!
 
My petty vent today is about when I go to put pepper on something. I shake that freaking bottle like there's no tomorrow and get maybe, MAYBE, 6 little specks of pepper on the meat. But when I go to clean up, there's pepper on the stove, there's pepper on the counter, there's pepper on the burners, there's even pepper on the floor! The pepper is everywhere but where I want it. :shock: :doh:

We grind small amounts in the spice grinder and keep it in a small plastic container with a screw-on/off lid, same for salt. Finger pinches work good for salting and peppering.
 
My petty vent today is about when I go to put pepper on something. I shake that freaking bottle like there's no tomorrow and get maybe, MAYBE, 6 little specks of pepper on the meat. But when I go to clean up, there's pepper on the stove, there's pepper on the counter, there's pepper on the burners, there's even pepper on the floor! The pepper is everywhere but where I want it. :shock: :doh:

I have pepper mills. A smaller one set to a finer grind for the table and a big one set for a coarser grind for the stove.
 
My petty vent today is about when I go to put pepper on something. I shake that freaking bottle like there's no tomorrow and get maybe, MAYBE, 6 little specks of pepper on the meat. But when I go to clean up, there's pepper on the stove, there's pepper on the counter, there's pepper on the burners, there's even pepper on the floor! The pepper is everywhere but where I want it. :shock: :doh:
There's something wrong there!
 
I have pepper mills. A smaller one set to a finer grind for the table and a big one set for a coarser grind for the stove.

Ditto here Andy. You get a much better flavor from ground peppercorns. Sounds like he is holding the shaker too far up in the air.

If you don't have a pepper mill, then pour some into a small bowl that you can keep covered and use your fingers to spread the pepper evenly over the food. When I had the bowl next to my stove, (before I got my mills) I had a small spoon from a salt cellar that was me mother's. Perfect for using for spreading small amounts of seasoning at the stove. Then at a yard sale, I saw a children's play dish set with parts missing. That I didn't care about. I wanted the little spoons that came with the set. I still have a couple. My mother's spoon has been retired and saved for my kids. :angel:
 
Addie, if it's me you think is holding the pepper shaker too high, then I'm a she.

I don't have a pepper mill and I don't particularly want one. Just one more thing sitting out on the counter that takes up space.

Anyhoo, I now have 30 jars of McCormick seasonings, most empty, a few not. I also have exactly 30 spices right now, so in the next couple of weeks I will be transferring all my spices out of their teeny tiny jars back into the McCormick ones. And their shakers let things in the jar fall out. So hopefully I won't be doing a St. Vitus dance to get pepper on anything in the future.
 
I too save empty McCormick spice jars. They have that shaker top with lid that hold my made up spice mixes such as hamburger seasoning and the like. The tiny printed expiration dates are really hard to read on McCormick's containers tho.
 
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I found a set of small plastic canisters and the holder that I put my salts and pepper in if I actually need to measure. I added magnets to the bottom of the holder and it sits on the back of the stove. That area doesn't get hot. I also stole on of my husband's magnetic trays and put it on the back of the stove for my salt and pepper grinders.
If you don't have a husband that brings home odd stuff, you can buy the magnetic trays at Harbor Freight.
 
Well, as I use my spices until they're gone or I'm gone, whichever comes first, I'm really not going to worry about the expiration date right now. Most of mine are only about 1 1/2 years old anyway and the ones I use the most have been replaced at least three times now, which is how I got 30 bottles.

I just wanted matching spice bottles (all the labels will come off and my labels will go on) with a decent cap and McCormicks seems to fit the bill. The caps are easy to take off and I can fit a measuring spoon in the jar, which I can't with ones I have now. Plus all their caps include a shaker. I bought 25 cute, 1960s spice jars before I realized that none of them have a shaker top and no one makes a shaker top to fit them.

Only I could do that.

I found a shop on Etsy that sells spice racks for up to 48 spice jars, but man, oh, man, are they pricy. More than $100. So I think I'm just going to make my own. I made the one I have now, but it won't hold more than 24 McCormicks' jars. And I want them ALL out of my cupboard!
 
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True story. Many ears ago, I was at MIL's and was going to prepare a spaghetti dinner for me, DW, and the crew at grandma's Now my FIL was known to be a huge eater, and so I started with a large pot, and multiple cans of tomato products. I began building the flavors with my favorites - Oregano, Basil, Rosemary, Thyme, and others. I reached for a bottle that sat in her spice fac labeled garlic. after opening it, I shook it vigorously into the sauce. To my surprise and horror, my DMIL had reused the garlic jar and put cinnamon into it. I had just dumped a significant amount of cinnamon into my pasta sauce. I gave a valiant effort at saving the sauce, but to no avail. We ended up dumping it.

The moral of this story is that if you are going to reuse spice and herb bottles, change the label to accurately tell the contents of the bottle.

Seeeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
Oh the horror, Chief! Cinnamon spaghetti sauce, ack puh!

I got a bunch of magnetic spice tins, which I make sure to clearly label, and stick to the side of the fridge next to the stove. Works for me.
 
Addie, if it's me you think is holding the pepper shaker too high, then I'm a she.
I don't have a pepper mill and I don't particularly want one. Just one more thing sitting out on the counter that takes up space.

Anyhoo, I now have 30 jars of McCormick seasonings, most empty, a few not. I also have exactly 30 spices right now, so in the next couple of weeks I will be transferring all my spices out of their teeny tiny jars back into the McCormick ones. And their shakers let things in the jar fall out. So hopefully I won't be doing a St. Vitus dance to get pepper on anything in the future.

Sorry 'bout that.

I have both a salt and pepper mill, but not a regular shaker. Sea salt in one and peppercorns in the other. I no longer even own a regular salt and pepper shaker set. I had my son install some adjustable shelves next to the stove on the wall. I keep the mills there right within reach. :angel:
 
My mother has never owned a salt shaker.
When I was dating a guy, I never realized how much salt his mother cooked with because she never put a salt shaker on the table. After his father had a stroke, she had to quit using salt. At the first meal that the dad was home, she put 2 salt shakers on the table. For 9 adults and 3 children. They literally emptied one and a half salt shakers. Over the next week, I pretty much lived in the bathroom and lost 5 pounds of water weight.
Oh one person did notice I hadn't salted my food. He told me thank you but I didn't have to do that for him. I told him that it wasn't that, it was just my mother had never used much salt. Meals after that, he put me in the chair beside him so neither one of us had to even touch that shaker.
 
You know half the time I forget to salt food when I am cooking. I have lost count of how many times I have forgotten to salt the pasta water. Sure makes for a yucky pasta dish. :angel:
 
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