My very own Meat Head, circa Halloween 1999. Photo: Kat Kinsman
Is there any gathering that would not be made exponentially more festive by the addition of an edible meat head? We thought not. Here's how to craft one of your very own, inspired by a decade-old MIT student Web posting.
First, select and wash a plastic skull. If it seems especially non-food-safe, mummify it in plastic wrap. Set it aside and prepare a batch of red-colored Jell-O, using half the amount of water required by the recipe. Pour this into a shallow pan to a depth of 1/4 inch, chill and let it congeal to a rubbery state.
Forget Godzilla. Beginning Thursday, Burger King fans in Japan can get a mega-sized Whopper.
Microsoft is teaming up with Burger King to release the Windows 7 Whopper, our sister site Engadget reports. The burger features lucky-number-seven stacked beef patties and stands 5-inches tall.
Keeping with the seven theme, the sandwich will sell at 777 yen (or approximately $8.50) to the first 30 customers and will be available for seven days. For customer No. 31 and beyond, the tower-o-meat will sell for 1,450 yen -- almost double the promotional cost.
Officials at the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission absolutely refuse to talk turkey this week, thanks to a lawsuit filed by a local hunter furious with the department for canceling this year's turkey season.
Citing pending litigation, spokesman Keith Stephens declined to comment on the department's contentious decision last month to halt the hunt. "Nobody's going to talk about this," Stephens says.
According to a release issued by the commission, a close 4-3 vote determined the fate of the much-anticipated archery and firearm turkey seasons, previously slated to start this month. "I'm convinced we have a heck of a problem ... we're going to mess around and not have a spring turkey season if we don't do something," said vice-chairman Craig Campbell.
Oktoberfests are ubiquitous this month. For those not interested in the chug-a-thons and oompah bands, check out this list of alternative options.
Dixon Lambtown USA, Dixon, Calif., Oct. 3: Break out the mint jelly! Attendees can participate in such culinary slugfests as the National Lamb Ribs Eating Contest and Barbecue Cook-Off, not to mention a shearing competition and sheepdog trials. For the kiddies, there's Mutton Bustin' -- a buckin' bronco bruising of the woolly kind. The Food Network New York City Wine and Food Festival, New York, Oct. 8-11: Hosted by and benefiting the Food Bank for New York City and Share Our Strength, this festival brings the toque and the home cook together. Everyone from sous chefs to casserole queens can attend wine seminars, recipe-creation panels and cooking demonstrations. For the kiddie cook, check out the Kids Get Cooking! series. Your favorite celebrity TV chefs will be there, en masse, including Ming Tsai, Paula Deen, Rachael Ray and Anthony Bourdain, as well as culinary heavyweights such as Sue Torres, Marcus Samuelsson, Odette Fada, Daniel Boulud and David Chang.
I'm not sure how this myth got started -- I used to believe it too, before I met my husband, who grew up in Germany. Every time I tell someone I'm making schnitzel for dinner, they talk about hot dog buns and sauerkraut. Then they try to convince me that I really meant sausage and they will go as far as to ambush random passersby to help corroborate their story.
In truth, the word schnitzel comes from the German term "schneiden" which means to cut, so schnitzel means cutlet. Thus, Wiener Schnitzel is not a cut-up hot dog, but rather a "cutlet from Vienna or Wien." See how I make it after the jump.
That's the philosophy of Mallie's Sports Grill of Southgate, Mich., and its owner, Steve Mallie. The restaurant recently became the Guinness World Record holder for the largest commerically sold burger.
The aptly named "Absolutely Ridiculous Burger" is approximately 185.6 pounds, 3 feet tall and 26 inches round, Mallie told Slashfood.
It starts with 200 pounds of uncooked, ground beef (an 80/20 blend) and ends with a patty that takes a whopping 16 hours to cook and another eight hours of resting time. The bun takes an additional eight hours. Mallie's uses a large commercial oven for baking but does have a custom-made form to mold the patty.
Our intrepid pack of testers chomped their way through 50 different franks, hot dogs and wieners in hot pursuit of the top tube steak in all the land. Not a single chicken, turkey or tofu dog made the final cut, while beef and pork reigned supreme.
Our intrepid pack of testers chomped their way through 50 different franks, hot dogs and wieners in hot pursuit of the top tube steak in all the land. Not a single chicken, turkey or tofu dog made the final cut, while beef and pork reigned supreme.
Did your favorite frank lead the pack? Read on.
Nathan Ellis Perkel
20. DIETZ & WATSON NEW YORK BRAND BEEF FRANKS (All Beef, Natural Casing)
The strong casing caused our panel to snap to attention, and the solid, beefy interior makes this a dandy, workaday dog.
Nathan Ellis Perkel
19. SABRETT SKINLESS BEEF FRANKFURTERS (All Beef)
Our panelists were split on the subtly peppery aftertaste, but all sang the praises of the juicy, gently salted initial flavor experience.
Nathan Ellis Perkel
18. COLEMAN NATURAL UNCURED BEEF HOT DOGS (Uncured, All Beef)
All tasters sang the praises of the smoky, bratwurst-like flavor or this firm, un-fancy frank.
Nathan Ellis Perkel
17. HILLSHIRE FARMS LIT'L BEEF FRANKS (All Beef)
These wee wieners pack a lot of meaty, salty flavor into a bitty bite. The size allows for lots of skin crisping, and our panel deemed 'em a 'perfectly respectable cocktail frank.'
Our tasters were in agreement that a pinch more salt would really make this pup pop, but still, the snappy, crunchy skin and juicy inside more than made up for it.
Nathan Ellis Perkel
15. OSCAR MEYER PREMIUM BEEF FRANKS (All Beef)
On the other hand, this one got a teensy bit too silly with the salt shaker, but still nosed ahead with a distinctive smoky sweetness, and a snappy skin that crisps up beautifully over an open flame.
Nathan Ellis Perkel
14. OSCAR MAYER WIENERS (Turkey, Chicken, Pork)
This childhood classic holds its own against the fancier franks, earning raves for its spicy, smoky flavor combo and sturdy casing. Oh, Oscar, we are still in love with you.
Nathan Ellis Perkel
13. BALL PARK BEEF FRANKS (All Beef)
Every single tester waxed wacky over the satisfying juice jolt of this beefy stadium staple. The flavor may not be a grand slam, but it's a solid base hit.
Nathan Ellis Perkel
12. OSCAR MAYER MINI HOT DOGS (All Beef)
This tiny dog has the heart of a champion, fetching maximum intense flavor per square centimeter. As one panelist suggests, 'Wrap some Pillsbury around these, and you've got a party!'
Dates wrapped with bacon and stuffed with fontina. Photo: Brown Eyed Baker.
Fontina-stuffed, bacon-wrapped dates. The description alone is enough to make one's mouth water.
It is probably a safe assessment to say that if you want to make everyone in the room like you (aside from vegetarians, of couse), this is exactly the kind of hors d'oeuvre you make for a party. And according to the Brown Eyed Baker, who made these, we're right. "This is quite possibly the most amazing appetizer I have ever made," she wrote. "I have never seen anything gobbled up by a crowd so quickly."
While this particular combination of fruit, cheese and meat is nothing short of culinary genius, let's be honest here: No matter what had been wrapped in that perfectly pink bacon, we'd have eaten it -- wouldn't you?
Hot dogs are as ubiquitous as Ray Bans this summer, with all-beef franks gracing grills at backyard BBQs and gourmet versions making cameos on restaurant menus. But a hot dog coddled in bacon is a rare treat.
These bacon-wrapped dogs were captured by our friend Fork This at a Hot Dog Cookoff before being placed in buns and topped with crushed almonds. Though we have mixed feelings about the crushed-almond topping, these look good enough to eat straight off the grill.
Aptly called Dog Date Afternoon, the heart-attack-inducing treats sadly didn't take home top (or any) honors, but it's pretty likely there were none left for their maker to take home, either.
Gazing upon Pham Fatale's perfect peppercorn-encrusted medallions of lamb on rounds of onion-flecked baguette, it's easy to imagine them being devoured in a shady spot following an afternoon in the summer sun with friends.
Seared, roasted and dolloped with "Dijonnaise" (mustard, lemon juice and creme fraiche) and a sprinkle of crisp garlic chives, these colorful, two-bite-size hors d'oeuvres would make a wonderful dinner alongside a mixed green salad and a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon or Rioja. Pham Fatale's recipe is right on the page, so a reader might -- irrespective of whether her name is Mary -- have a little lamb.
Cow head in banana leaves at Hill Country. Photo: Kat Kinsman
There comes a time in every girl's life -- when she's ripping open the long-braised skull of a short-lived calf in order to better wobble out its beer-marinated brain -- that she smiles contentedly and realizes she loves her life an awful lot. Then she goes for the eyes.
Well OK, not every girl's life -- but at least those of a troika of squeam-free dames including Hill Country's executive chef and cookbook author Elizabeth Karmel, Homesick Texan writer Lisa Fain and lucky, lucky me. And it all happened because of Twitter.
See a step-by-step barbacoa making slideshow and read a description after the jump. Warning -- it's not for vegetarians or the faint of stomach.
Chorizo tacos at Austin's Arandas #3. Photo: Jessica S. Ralat
A whopping 69 percent of poll respondents told this recent Brooklyn-to-Austin transplant that the Lone Star State's tacos were the best in the nation and relayed some excellent suggestions. We were able to sample some 40 tacos around Austin, setting them against the closest Sunset Park, Brooklyn, counterparts we could find. Here's one taster's subjective opinion. (Austin is growing on him.)
6. Austin's Arandinas (suggested by Slashfoodies Lacey and LP) pork taco vs. Brooklyn's Matamoros cabeza taco: Arandinas' juicy, eminently scarfable pork taco went head-to-head with Matamoros', uh, cow head -- and triumphed. Winner: Arandinas, Austin.
5. Austin's Mi Madre's Restaurant (suggested by Jodi and others) Pork Adobado vs. Brooklyn's Matamoros Enchilada taco: Anticipating a chili steam engine from this red-sauced breakfast taco, we instead found spiceless goop in a flour shell ill-matched to its flurry of onions and avocado slices. The slightly spicy red enchilada taco at Matamoros is still the one we hold dear. Winner: Matamoros, Brooklyn
In this weekly series, home cook Bruce Watson works his way through a decades-old family cookbook, adapting the best recipes exclusively for Slashfood.
Going through my old family cookbook, I came across my Aunt Renie's recipe for blue cheese meatloaf. Like many of Renie's recipes, this one has a long pedigree and an old school gourmet touch. However, the original had a heavy touch of sage, which made the loaf fairly bland.
Experimenting with various sauces in my kitchen, I found that the meatloaf tasted amazing when served with a hearty dollop of barbecue sauce. My modified version, featured below, integrates the barbecue sauce into the meatloaf, along with a huge amount of blue cheese. This, combined with a shorter cooking time, yields a finished product that narrows the distance between meatloaf and paté. With that in mind, you might consider serving this dish with sliced pickles, mustard or other paté accompaniments!
Get the recipe for barbecue blue cheese meatloaf after the jump!
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