Kicked in the Ash!

What a weird world. A volcano erupting in Iceland results in a group of people from the Czech Republic not being able to visit Lexington Park, Maryland. The will still be coming to the US, just not able to do our little leg of their visit. SO, what was a busy three days turns into not so busy. But, not so fast. That same Rotary Club is having a conference in Gettysburg that starts Thursday, so now I can fully attend that, so once again we have the spotty blogging opportunities although I will take the (not so) trusty laptop and camera gear.

Where’s the Beef?

We invited some friends over for a dinner on Monday night, and decided to have cold beef tenderloin with a Béarnaise Sauce. First chore, get the tenderloin. That resulted in the trip to the re-arranged Woodburns the other day, thinking that would be a good source since there is an actual human there who will talk to you without buzzing some stupid button and bothering somebody from “the back” (if you’re lucky). Sure enough the nice gentleman butcher said that they usually had some, however they were currently out (Sunday) but they would be getting some more shipped in Monday at ten. Okay, great. So, the next morning after getting coffee and a few things done, I went back over the bridge and sought out the meat department. Of course it was a different real human, but after hearing my story he said yes, they’re coming off the truck as we speak and disappeared for a few minutes with a couple in hand, each sealed in a plastic vacuum packed package.

Getting the meat home, I began to prep it and pulled it from the fridge, and looked at the package. There, inside that familiar shield was the label: USDA Select. I was somewhat taken aback at that, because as the alert consumer of meat products knows, “select” is one of the four standard grades of beef and it is between “standard” (lowest) and “choice” which is below the highest, “prime”. There are those that insist that there is no “prime” grade, but we won’t argue that here. Here’s a link if you want more info. I was just surprised that Woodburn’s who sort of touts itself as one of those fancy markets would have select beef. Maybe they all do, but I’m sure I’ve seen “choice” other places.

Opening the product, it did have some fat and silverskin, which I trimmed away, seared it, slathered it with butter and put it in a 500 degree oven for 15 minutes, then lowered temperature to 450 until my little instant read thermometer claimed it was about 130 inside. Pulled it and let it rest for 20 minutes or so then put it in the fridge. Upon slicing it was pinky rare, just about right. I thought it had some flavor, but not as much as I had hoped. Once you get that “select” mind set, maybe it can’t be right. Of course we had a good meal (MFO did some creamed pearl onions and oven roasted potatoes) and had a good time, but maybe next time I’ll do a little more sleuthing before getting the beef. Maybe Nick’s of Calvert comes to mind. Incidentally, I believe that the grade refers to the whole carcass, not the particular cut, but I am not sure of that.

Oh, PS, if you’re going to use a blender to make the sauce (yes, sometimes you do) be sure to include the blade when you assemble the bowl. It’s much less messier that way... (use your imagination here)...

To Do Today

There’s a little program tonight in the Auditorium at the Visitor Center of Historic St. Mary’s City that will present near and longer term plans for expansion and construction of new stuff like a new visitor center, and the Maryland Heritage Interpretive Center (currently Anne Arundel Hall). Free, starts at 7..

Fire in the hole!

Wow. That was a pretty big fire in the apartments behind Wal-Mart.. for a minute there we thought it might have been the latter, not the former…

Okay, on about (y)our business for a Wednesday. We end with our unflagging commitment to

DFD