• An interesting take on soft power:  Rapper Feud Mirrors World Politics
• I’m not sure about this – Soldier’s old cake never dies, it just gets eaten
• A cruel, cruel, CRUEL time waster.
• Food for thought: “You won’t find too many people in their middle ages or older in this category (of entrepreneur) . Why? Because they can’t get health insurance. America’s health-care system makes it all but impossible for an older worker to try something new…The day we have national health care is the day that we unleash a wave of entrepreneurship the likes of which we’ve never seen before. That’s one of the best reasons for moving toward such a system.”
• Hey! Only have three bucks for lunch? Check out this site for Three Buck Bites near where you live or work…they even have pictures!

Why are so many of our nation’s poor overweight?

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Oklahoma ranks eight on the list of hungriest states and seventh in food insecurity.  However, Oklahoma also – according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) – is the 10th fattest state in the Union.

How can this be?  If so many are going hungry in the Sooner State, how is it possible that so many are overweight?  One possibility may surprise you.

The nation’s poor, when faced with hunger, have few options to fill their bellies.  The first trip probably is to the local Food Bank.  Food pantries provide what could be lifesaving sustenance to low income – or no income – folks with photo identification, proof of address, proof of income (or lack thereof), and a social security card.

While the food bank or local charity may ease the hunger pangs, does the food provide proper sustenance?  I took a trip to the local food bank to find out.

Make no mistake, the food bank is an excellent source to feed yourself and/or your family.  They do their very best to fill the baskets of those in need with a variety of food to satisfy a variety of cravings: snacks, canned vegetables and fruit, bread, beans, rice, and occasionally meat and one or two soda pops.  Variety is all well and good, but what about quality?

A diet consisting solely of donations from the food bank will be high in carbohydrates, sugar, and salt – but, don’t get me wrong…they don’t do this on purpose.  It isn’t likely that anyone visiting the food bank is apt to complain or look a gift horse in the mouth – far from it.  When you are hungry you take what you are given, and you are happy to get it.

But let’s take a look at what five of the 10+ cans’ first few ingredients hold per serving, and we’ll ignore calories:

• Black Eyed Peas – black eyed peas, water, sugar, salt, and bacon.  20g carbohydrates, 550mg sodium, and 4g sugar.
• Sauerkraut – sauerkraut (cabbage), salt, and water.  1g carbohydrate, 180mg salt.
• Green Beans – beans, water, and salt.  390mg sodium, 2g sugar.
• Vegetarian Vegetable Soup – water, vegetables, egg, tomato, etc.  430mg sodium, 2g sugar.
• Diced Tomatoes – tomatoes and salt.  200mg sodium

One canned product you will rarely find at a food bank is something such as “smoked oysters.”  Interestingly, the oysters have only 160mg of sodium, while tuna (more likely on the list at your local food bank or pantry) has about 250mg of sodium per serving.

The USDA recommends – based on a 2,000 calorie diet – a daily sodium intake of 1500mg (lowered from 2300 this year), and a daily sugar intake of 40g.  So, if a hungry person visits the food bank, eats one can of green beans and one can of vegetarian vegetable soup, he or she has consumed 12g of sugar and 2460mg of sodium in only one meal.  Multiply that by three – 7380mg sodium and 36g sugar – and that’s without the soda or juice!  Most surprising is the amount of sodium in the can of vegetables – what one would think should be the healthiest item to choose.

Some studies have indicated that a diet high in salt can contribute greatly to obesity, not to mention hypertension and various other health problems.  And, with the number of Native Americans with diabetes who live on limited income in Oklahoma, eating a diet high in sodium could be fatal.

The problem with Oklahoma’s obesity rates – and probably many other states –  and its connection to Oklahoma’s poor could be more easily solved than you may think.  If you donate food to your local food bank, it needn’t always be canned.  Your local Food Bank probably has a refrigerator and freezer, and fresh items can be kept for a little while.  Not everyone who is in need of food is homeless, and more than a few probably need help filling the gaps, but must choose between electricity and food, or prescriptions and natural gas.  A little fresh food can go a long way, and a nutritious instant meal or a fresh ingredient dropped off at a food drive location probably would be appreciated.  While a donation of delicate fresh herbs or salad greens most likely is not the best idea, hearty fruits and vegetables such as sweet potatoes and apples keep quite well and are considered by some to be amongst those of nature’s most nutritionally perfect foods.

Occasionally, with hushed tones, those who are better off may wonder how the overweight man or woman at the grocery store could possibly be paying with food stamps and weigh so much, or how the impoverished,  yet chubby, child could become so if he wasn’t being fed a lot of expensive snacks.  The answer may surprise you, and you may be able to help.

Donate fresh foods to your local food bank.

Here’s the “before picture” of the dry-rubbed ribs.  Check back later to see how they come out.  After the jump, I’ll tell you how to make your own dry rub.

The first rule of dry rub is “You don’t talk about dry rub.”  That’s why I’m not giving you my recipe.  Rub recipes are like fingerprints that you keep hidden at all times in kevlar gloves, or snowflakes in a very cold, impenetrable vault.  Each one is different, and you never share it with anyone, ever.  This was the least believable part of “Grindhouse Presents: Planet Terror.”

I like to make a big batch of dry rub all at once, but if you aren’t going to use it that often, get out your calculator and cut it down by half.  Also, whenever possible, I use freshly ground spices.  If you don’t already have one, go buy a coffee grinder that you’ll use only for spices.  To keep it clean and non-rusty, fill it with dry oatmeal when you’re finished, hitting the grind button a few times.

Here’s a general recipe for your rub:

16 oz. light brown sugar, tightly packed, or half dark brown and half sugar-in-the-raw

6 oz. kosher or sea salt (do NOT use granulated salt)

2 oz. chili powder

1 oz  black pepper (or other mix of peppers – black, white, red, green)

1 oz  cayenne pepper (or other hot pepper powder)

1 oz  onion powder

These last 3 ingredients are where you get to apply your stamp to the rub.  Try a few things until you find a combination you like.

1 oz  hot ingredient – A hot spice blend like creepily-named Essence of Emeril, or even a packet of taco seasoning will do the trick, or you could blend several types of dried chiles in your new spice grinder.  Mix in some smoked paprika if you like.

1 oz  savory ingredient – Something like Montreal Steak seasoning is good here.  I use my own steak rub in this spot.  You can combine steak seasoning with Adobo, too.

1 oz  dried herbs – sage, thyme, or cilantro are good.

With this general outline, you can make other substitutions that you think might be good.  Grind your spices before combining in a container with a lid.  Shake it up really well.  If you use the raw sugar, run it through the blender real quick.

This rub is good for back ribs, spare ribs, pork shoulder, really any braised pork recipe.

Lay your ribs out on heavy-duty foil or double-folded normal foil, on top of a sheet pan.  Put a handful of rub on them with your dry hand, and spread it around with your pork hand.  (The “dry hand” never touches the pork, and the “pork  hand” never touches anything but the pork and what’s on it.  Don’t mix up the hands, or you’ll be watching Law & Order in the lobby of the ER instead of enjoying your awesome dinner.)

Press the rub into the meat, turn the ribs over, and repeat.  Crimp the foil at the top/center of the ribs, and crimp one end shut.  Leave the other end open for your cooking liquid.

Here’s another way to make the recipe your own.

Cooking liquid:

3/4 cup white wine – You need the wine, but you can reduce it to 1/2 cup and add in something else, like a shot of Maker’s Mark or a strong, dark beer.
2 tablespoons vinegar – White wine or apple cider are good.  Dark vinegars, not so much.
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon sweet syrup – I use molasses, but other choices are honey, dark maple syrup, or whatever else you can think of.
2 cloves garlic, mashed and minced

Stir the liquid, nuke it for about a minute, stir it again, and pour it into the open end of your foil.  Fold it shut tightly, but don’t crimp.  You need to be able to pour it out when you’re done.  Tilt the tray back and forth to distribute the cooking liquid.

If you want to add a smoky flavor, add a couple of slices of smoked bacon, but make sure you cook most of the fat off, first, or your barbecue sauce will look like a lava lamp.

Cook in a 250 degree oven for 3 hrs.  If you have time, cut the heat to 225 and add an hour.  The ribs will be that much more tender.

When they’re done, open one end of the foil and pour the remaining liquid into a saucepan.  Simmer over medium-high heat until it reduces by about half.  Carefully open the foil (watch out for steam) and brush the glaze on top of the ribs.  Place the ribs, foil open, under a high broiler for a couple of minutes, just until the glaze bubbles and browns a little.

The remaining glaze will be the base for your sauce.  This can be as simple or as fancified as you want.  I like a sweet sauce, so I whisk in a half-cup or so of brown  sugar, ’til it dissolves.  Squeeze in a cup or so of ketchup (or if you’re some kind of purist, make your own frakkin’ ketchup), whisk, and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes or so.  Taste it.  If it’s too spice, cut it with some more brown sugar.  If you want it spicier, whisk in some more of your rub.  You can also mellow it out with some tomato paste.

For the corn, you can roast/grill it in the husks if you like, but I just use sheets of tinfoil, 1 for each ear.  Brush the foil with the corn dressing, then put the corn on the foil and brush the top of it.  You can snip in some more dill with scissors if you like.  Crimp the foil and roast the corn under the broiler or on the grill for 20-25 minutes, turning 4 times.  For the grill, you can unwrap them at the end and give them a few minutes on the grill to get some markings.

When you serve the corn, you can brush them again with the dressing.  This corn dressing is sofa king good, you might just skip the rest of the meal.

Corn dressing recipe:

2 sticks butter, cut in pieces

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons country-style dijon mustard

2 teaspoons horseradish

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

Put everything but the butter and dill in a saucepan over medium to low heat.  Whisk it all together, then begin whisking in the butter a few pieces at a time.  Don’t stop whisking, or it’s lava-lamp time.  If the sauce starts to bubble, remove from heat momentarily, and keep whisking in the butter.

Once all of the butter is integrated, remove from heat ans whisk in the dill.

For a mellower sauce, you can use up to another stick of butter without it separating.

A great, simple vegetable idea for this meal is brussels sprouts with chopped bacon.  Chop 2 slices of bacon (I use meat shears) and begin to cook over medium-high heat.  Once it starts to sizzle, add a pound of frozen baby brussels sprouts, thawed partially in the microwave, and saute for 5 miutes, stirring occasionally.

You can do the exact same thing with green beans if you don’t like the sprouts, but I swear, these are the best sprouts you’ll ever eat.  The only reason you don’t like brussels sprouts now is you’ve never had them cooked right.

I’ll be back later to show you how dinner turned out.

Update: Oh, yeah.

According to a White House staffer, the place is lousy with the things, and they’re used not only to cook outdoor fare for the President, but also by White House staff when the opportunity presents itself.

Oh, but that’s not all.  Behind the trusty Sputnik was a sight to quicken the pulse of any charcoal aficionado:

A chimney starter!

No pile of smoke-billowing Match Light for these folks!

Now, finicky grillers like TV’s Alton Brown swear that if you’re not sporting a Sputnik with a chimney starter, you’re not really grilling.  Personally, I favor the hassle-free convenience of a gas rig, especially since I don’t have a team of production assistants to handle the extra grunt work involved.  (Those are my patented bacon-wrapped bananas.  *not really patented)

The same staffer told me that the President gets a bill for all the food that he, his family, and personal guests eat at the White House.  I checked it out, and it’s true, so next time he asks if you’ve seen the price of arugula lately, you can bet that he has.

Because the burger was so heinous, I won’t mention the name of the joint, but I’m also skeptical about 5 Guys.  They cook all of their burgers well-done (damn FDA), and I’d have to see if they do that mash-’em up thing.  Still, I promised the person I spoke to today that I’d check it out next time I’m there.

I also love his other show, Kitchen Nightmares, where he often berates restaurateurs for using frozen or prepared foods.   Ramsay, heal thyself:

GORDON RAMSAY is serving ready-made meals prepared at a centralised “food factory” at his gastropubs and bistros across London, it was revealed today.

The meals are put in white, unmarked transit vans and distributed to his three gastropubs and Foxtrot Oscar, his bistro in Chelsea.

Dishes such as pork belly, coq au vin, braised pig cheeks and orange and bitter chocolate tart are prepared in bulk before chefs put them in plastic bags and dispatch them across London.

Will this revelation hurt Gordon?  I don’t know, but think about this:  Who’s actually going to bring it up to him?

I can hardly stand to watch them mash these burgers down, a heinous practice used by every fast-food joint and short-order cook in the known universe.  Why do they do this?  WHY?  It ruins the burger.  They’re squishing out all the juicy goodness.

The other thing I can’t stand is when short-order cooks throw cheese on top, then sprinkle water on the grill and cover it with a dome to melt the cheese.  It ain’t broccoli, you don’t steam it!  WTF?

The second one doesn’t matter so much, since I’ve pretty much sworn off cheese on my burgers.  It’s a much purer experience.

Here’s how you make a perfect burger.  Preheat your grill to RFH (Really F-ing Hot).  Grab a ball of ground beef, 80% lean, about the size of a baseball.  Press it in your (clean) hands to form a disc about an inch thick, making it slightly thinner in the center.  This’ll keep them from going all round when they cook.

Season well with kosher or sea salt, and either pepper or your favorite steak rub.  (Try this one: 1 part coriander, 1 part black pepper, 1 part white pepper, 1/4 part mustard seed, 1/2 part cumin seed, 1 part garlic powder, 5 parts onion powder, ground finely in your coffee grinder)

Cook 2-21/2 minutes on each side, then remove to tinfoil. Flip only once!  Do NOT poke a hole in it with your spatula to “test” its doneness.  Or I will hurt you.

Wrap loosely and let them sit for 5 minutes.  While the burgers are resting, toast your buns on the grill for about 30 seconds.

Ruin them with ketchup if you must, but I use mayo, a little on the bottom and more on top.  You can mix some chipotle sauce with the mayo if you like, or hot sauce.

The only kind of cheese I’ll put on a burger anymore is bleu cheese.  And don’t stuff your burgers with cheese, that just means you have to cook them to well, ruining them completely.

Bacon I will only use if I have awesome barbecue sauce to go with it.

Now, that’s how the eff you treat a burger.

Here are some pictures of the burger-making process, along with a few others.  Bacon-wrapped bananas on the grill, and banana brulee’ a la mode, which I’ll probably explain some other time.

Three buddies in Australia came up with a unique way to market their bottled beer called Skinny Blonde. Instead of using cutting edge ink technology to turn some bullshit mountains blue the guys at Skinny Blonde make a pin-up girl’s top disappear as the bottle warms up. Yep, you read that correctly, not only do you get a bottle of beer but you get boobies as well. That is what I call a win, win situation

I would normally put a picture like this below the fold, but hey, it’s a DRAWING.  Chillax.

I have a few problems with this. First of all, you’d have to be Australian in the first place to give people an incentive to warm their beer up.  I guess we could run a pool to see how long it takes for some impatient horndog to be the first guy to microwave a beer.

Now, the girl on the bottle is hot, for a cartoon, but I wouldn’t call her “skinny.”   I realize that’s a play on the low-carbedness of the beer, but they’re alienating a large population of guys for whom “skinny” does not equal awesome.

In the US, I’m sure they’d be accused of misogyny by people who didn’t say shit when Budweiser had a horse fart in a girls face during the Super Bowl.

I decided to have another bash at bacon-wrapped bananas, but this time, with a twist:  GRILLED bacon-wrapped bananas.  And “Bailout” bacon burgers.

I started out by wrapping the bananas in half-slices of bacon, holding them together with a toothpick.  The burgers are salted and seasoned with my own special blend.

I also grilled the bacon for the burgers.  Did you just ask about cheese?  Well, over the years I have become a burger purist.  Most cheeses lack the flavor to justify theire own presence on the burger, except maybe bleu cheese.

Everything was going really well.  I got everything prepped, fired up the grill, got my mis en place in place.  Pretty soon, though, the bacon grease was throwing off some decent flames, and my banana-turning skills were a little bit sketchy. By the time I was done, some of the bananas weren’t so much wrapped in bacon as “palling around” with bacon.

Still, the finished product was delish, and I think I mastered the grilling technique required for next time.  I also prepped my superior dry-rubbed ribs for cooking tomorrow night.