FREE/BARGAIN — Non-Fiction

[koland]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Do you like to eat BBQ or do the BBQ?

Eat, mostly. Although I've done it as well - including in a pressure cooker and over actual wood, not gas flames.

[koland]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

The charred part is carcinogenic. If you eat BBQ, it's like smoking cigarettes.

Quite possibly. But the evolution of Man took a decided upturn with the taming of fire and the start of eating foods, especially meats, cooked instead of raw.

Not to mention it tastes better (so long as it is over wood and not so charred that all you get is burnt).

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by koland

Quite possibly. But the evolution of Man took a decided upturn with the taming of fire and the start of eating foods, especially meats, cooked instead of raw.

Not to mention it tastes better (so long as it is over wood and not so charred that all you get is burnt).

People who eat rare steaks (eating rare chicken, hamburger, et al. are no-no's) say that they taste better than ones fully cooked. I'll just have to take their word for it--I'm not going to eat any rare steak.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

People who eat rare steaks (eating rare chicken, hamburger, et al. are no-no's) say that they taste better than ones fully cooked. I'll just have to take their word for it--I'm not going to eat any rare steak.

Rare can be delicious, but if it done wrong it is unedible. Same for well done. It can be good or It could make good leather.

[Difflugia]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

People who eat rare steaks (eating rare chicken, hamburger, et al. are no-no's) say that they taste better than ones fully cooked. I'll just have to take their word for it--I'm not going to eat any rare steak.

I don't know if "better" is necessarily always true, but they do taste markedly different. If you can get past the squeamishness even once, I really recommend trying it so you at least know what you're missing.

I assume raw fish is out, as well?

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Rare can be delicious, but if it done wrong it is unedible. Same for well done. It can be good or It could make good leather.

The problem is that I don't like the texture of raw beef fat, so marbled cuts are out. Something like a NY strip, I like medium rare so that the fat has a chance to melt. I almost never get steak at restaurants, though, because too many chefs overcook steaks in general. I only bother if I'm at an Outback or I spring for a trip to Ruth's Chris or something.

If you want a rare burger, buy a piece of tenderloin at the meat counter (a half-pound piece will cost less than a burger at most restaurants) and chop it yourself. If you know a grocery store with its own butcher, tell him or her that you're going to make steak Tartar and they'll usually cut you a really good piece.

I freeze it until it's firm, but not solid and put it in a food processor. Partially freezing lets the processor chop it into small pieces instead of a paste. If you're worried about bacteria, add a shot of either liquor (brandy, bourbon) or good vinegar while you're processing it and let it sit for a few minutes. At that point it's perfect for a burger (or steak Tartar). I also like it raw, sliced thin and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds.

[piperclassique]

A food processor? A FOOD PROCESSOR? Words fail me. Steak tartare is CUT. With a knife. Not mashed into oblivion by a machine. Show some respect for food, please. Adding brandy? Or vinegar? Eek. A few capers, a little onion, and a drop of Tabasco at the table and to the diners taste is all it needs. An egg yolk if you wish, certainly.

[Difflugia]

Originally Posted by piperclassique

A food processor? A FOOD PROCESSOR? Words fail me. Steak tartare is CUT. With a knife. Not mashed into oblivion by a machine. Show some respect for food, please. Adding brandy? Or vinegar? Eek. A few capers, a little onion, and a drop of Tabasco at the table and to the diners taste is all it needs. An egg yolk if you wish, certainly.

I thought the same way until I was turned on to the freezing thing. I really do like that texture better than what I can do with a knife.

I don't use brandy or vinegar for myself, but I experimented with them specifically for someone that was worried about food poisoning. I found that the added flavors are inoffensive and go well with the meat.

I like it with or without the egg, but the egg tends to give me heartburn later. My personal mix-ins are fresh garlic, ginger and toasted sesame oil, which together remind me of bulgogi.

[GtrsRGr8]

I apologize for making post #56.

I partly made the post was in jest, as I said, to create shock value, and to see the reactions that I would get. A moderator brought to my attention that making a post to see what reactions that a person gets is against the MobileRead rules (it's called "trolling"). In retrospect, I think that it is a good rule and I'm sorry that I either overlooked it several years ago when I joined MobileRead, that I forgot it, or that I never saw it to begin with.

There was a legitimate question in the post and that was "what do you think about the fact that the meat is charred, and that some people have thought that charred part to be carcinogenic?" Unfortunately, I went beyond that with the part of the question that was intended to elicit reactions ("the same as smoking cigarettes," I think is what I said).

Lesson learned.

G.

[GA Russell]

Bob St. Clair of the 49ers was famous for eating raw steaks.

He even called his biography I'll Take It Raw!
https://www.amazon.com/ST-Clair-Ill-...dp/0977176509/

[piperclassique]

Garlic, ginger, and sesame oil sound good. I'm still firm on cut with a knife, though. It needs to be sharp, so it cuts the fibres rather than crushing them. A good knife will slice carpaccio transparent without needing to freeze the meat. Rump steak will work, but fillet steak is better.

[GtrsRGr8]

. . . During the Revolutionary War.

I admit, this book covers an area of American history that I don't know but a little about--I know nothing about it. There is complete cavity in my brain where information about the events brought out in this book ought to exist. That's bound to be one reason that I was so attracted to this book.

I am ashamed to say that it is a Britisher, Simon Schama, who is the one to bring this part of American history to the attention of us Americans.

The ratings are high at Amazon, and GoodReads (3.96 (684)). The markdown of 86% (from the digital, not print, list price) is fantastic. And the book is a hefty 512 pages, so there's plenty of bang for the buck, punch for the peso . . . . well, you know how that goes.

I wish that there was a Whispersync deal (unless it's one of those which are like $12.99 for the audio portion! Ack!) for this ebook, but there isn't. I've got far more time to listen to books right now than to read them. There apparently isn't even an audio of it at Audible (U.S., at least). As a famous Brit sings, "You don't always get what you waaant." *sigh*

Rough Crossings: The Slaves, the British, and the American Revolution. By Simon Schama. Rated 4.3 stars, from Amazon at the present moment. Print list price $16.99; digital list price $14.49; Kindle price now $1.99. HarperCollins e-books, publisher. 512 pages. https://www.amazon.com/Rough-Crossin.../dp/B000W965EO.

Book Description
If you were black in America at the start of the Revolutionary War, which side would you want to win?

When the last British governor of Virginia declared that any rebel-owned slave who escaped and served the king would be emancipated, tens of thousands of slaves fled from farms, plantations, and cities to try to reach the British camp. A military strategy originally designed to break the plantations of the American South had unleashed one of the great exoduses in U.S. history. With powerfully vivid storytelling, Schama details the odyssey of the escaped blacks through the fires of war and the terror of potential recapture, shedding light on an extraordinary, little-known chapter in the dark saga of American slavery.

[Red Falcon]

Freebie from Charles Rivers Editors

https://www.amazon.com/Eleusinian-My...ligious-ebook/

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by Red Falcon

Freebie from Charles Rivers Editors

https://www.amazon.com/Eleusinian-My...ligious-ebook/

Gr8 find!

But try this link instead: https://www.amazon.com/Eleusinian-My.../dp/B01MUAD6X7.

[GtrsRGr8]

Here's a free book, on Yellowstone and Yosemite, from Charles River Editors also.

https://www.amazon.com/Yellowstone-Y...dp/B01MR5M9KO/.

[Little.Egret]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

Here's a free book, on Yellowstone and Yosemite, from Charles River Editors also.

https://www.amazon.com/Yellowstone-Y...dp/B01MR5M9KO/.

Do you have a difficulty with the titles ?

Yellowstone & Yosemite: The History of America's Most Famous National Parks

The Eleusinian Mysteries: The History of Ancient Greece's Most Famous Religious Rites


https://www.amazon.com/s/?url=search...ld-title=-kids

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?url=sear...ld-title=-kids

https://www.amazon.ca/s/?url=search-...ld-title=-kids