FitSugar

The Crusade Against Ground Meat

FitSugar — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:00:00 -0700

There's been a lot of talk in the media about E. coli contamination in ground meat lately, hamburgers specifically. First, The New York Times profiled Stephanie Smith, a young woman who was paralyzed after eating a contaminated hamburger. A week later, Larry King and CNN posed the question "Should Americans banish the burger"? The media is always reporting beef recall stories, which leave me a little freaked out about indulging in the occasional cheeseburger. How about you?

The argument against ground meat goes something like this: in slaughterhouses all sorts of things are flying around, including cow guts, which contain E. coli. Because slaughterhouse practices can be a little iffy, the E. coli can come into contact with the meat to be sold for consumption. Cooking a piece of contaminated steak usually kills the bacteria because the E. coli has only touched the surface, not actually penetrated the meat. The problem with ground meat is that E. coli can easily get onto every small bit of meat, making it harder to eliminate.

I'm not sure if I'm ready to completely banish the burger from my diet, but I do eat less meat these days. Besides being healthier for my heart, the sanitary conditions of large slaughterhouses worry me a bit. When it comes to eating meat I definitely try to follow certain guidelines. To learn them, continue reading.

Reader Recipe: Hamburger Stroganoff

partysugar — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:50:43 -0700

Do you cook wonderfully delicious dishes and then take photographs of them to show your friends and family? Well, why not go one step further and share them with us in the YumSugar Community? That's what reader MénagèreModerne recently did with this scrumptious sounding stroganoff recipe. Classic stroganoff is made with ground beef, but Ménagère used ground pork because that's what she had on hand and she wanted to "cut down on the salt a bit." The final dish, that combines the meat with sour cream, sherry, and mushrooms, is economical and surprisingly fast. More of Ménagère's stunning food photography can be viewed on her blog, mmmm...food!, but to check out the pork stroganoff recipe, read more.

Hamburger Stroganoff
www.simplyrecipes.com

I made this over the weekend and my husband and I both really liked it. I used ground pork instead of beef since that's what I had on hand and cut down on the salt a bit and it tasted great. It was yummy, economical (since it uses ground meat instead of a more expensive cut), and really fast to make. I will be making this dish again for sure.

Ingredients

* Butter
* 1 lb ground chuck
* Salt and pepper
* 1 yellow onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
* 8 ounces sliced cremini mushrooms (can substitute button mushrooms), sliced
* 1/3 cup of dry sherry, dry white wine, or water
* 1/2 cup chopped parsley, loosely packed
* 1 1/4 cups sour cream (room temperature)
* 1 teaspoon lemon juice (I used a bit more than that)
* 1/4 teaspoon paprika or more to taste (I used smoked paprika instead and more than what the recipe called for)
* 8 ounces egg noodles

Directions
1) Put a large pot of salted water (1 teaspoon salt for every quart of water) on to heat, for the pasta.
2) Heat a large sauté pan on medium high heat. Melt 1 teaspoon butter in the pan and swirl it around. Sprinkle the bottom of the pan generously with salt. Working in batches as not to crowd the meat, break up the ground beef and add it to the pan. Sprinkle the meat with salt. Do not stir the meat, as stirring will prevent browning. Once the meat is well browned on one side (a couple minutes, depending on how hot the pan), use tongs or a fork or a metal spatula to flip to the other side. Once that side is browned as well, use a slotted spoon to remove from the pan and set aside. Continue to brown the meat in batches, adding a teaspoon of butter to the pan with each batch if needed, and salting the pan and the meat, until it is all browned. Remove meat from pan. Drain excess fat from pan.
3) Lower the heat to medium. Add the onions to the pan. If you are working with very lean meat, you may not have any residual fat in the pan. If this is the case, you'll want to add in a tablespoon of olive oil or butter to the pan. Cook the onions, scraping up the meat drippings, until soft, about 5 minutes. Remove onions from the pan (add to the meat).
4) Depending on the cooking times of your particular brand of pasta, this is likely a good time to add the pasta to the (should be now) boiling, salted water.
5) While the pasta is cooking, add a tablespoon of butter to the pan, increase the heat to medium high. Add the sliced mushrooms. Sauté until nicely browned (about 4 minutes). Add the sherry (or dry white wine or water) to the pan to deglaze the pan, scraping up any browned bits. Let the sherry reduce by at least a half, then lower the heat to low.
6) Remove the pan from the heat. Mix in the sour cream and paprika until smooth. Return the pan to very low heat, and not let the sour cream boil (or it may curdle). You may add a few tablespoons of water to the mixture to thin it out a bit at any time. Stir in the lemon juice, and about 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of salt (taste). Stir in the meat and onions. Stir in the chopped parsley. Add more salt, pepper, and/or paprika to taste.
7) Keep the stroganoff on warm heat until the noodles are done cooking. When the noodles are ready (al dente) drain.

Serve the stroganoff on top of egg noodles. Serves 4.

Print recipe with images | without images

Nausea! Heartburn! Indigestion! Upset Stomach! Diarrhea!

GiggleSugar — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:15:00 -0700

Introducing: The new spokesperson for Pepto Bismol

Source

Breaking News: Human Head Found in BK Hamburger

GiggleSugar — Fri, 02 May 2008 03:00:00 -0700

Back in 2005, Wendy's scored an avalanche of negative publicity for allegedly serving a flippin' finger in a bowl of chili. Anything Wendy's can do, Burger King can do better, so one BK restaurant allegedly shoved an eight pound human head between the buns of a double whopper. (Let's see Wendy's allegedly top that.) And the free publicity has already started rolling in . . .

Flashback: Andy Warhol Eats a Hamburger

GiggleSugar — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 08:00:00 -0800

Is it art or awkwardness? How can something so mundane seem so unnatural? Folks, that's Andy Warhol for ya. Watch him daintily dip a Burger King hamburger into a dollop of ketchup, chew, chew, chew, finish in under three minutes, and then give the camera an unflinching look of. . .indigestion? Despair? Hope? I have no idea, but I know it's more compelling than Paris Hilton washing a car in bathing suit.

Fast Food Breakdown: Hamburgers

FitSugar — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 03:00:00 -0800

If you're on the road or in a rush, sometimes you can't avoid finding yourself in a fast food restaurant. Hamburgers are a pretty popular menu item, and since every fast food joint prepares them differently, it's hard to make the healthiest choice.

Want to see how these popular burgers compare? Then read more

Burger	Calories	Trans Fat (g)	Cholesterol (mg)	Sodium (mg)
McDonald's Hamburger	250	.5	25	520
McDonald's Cheeseburger	300	.5	45	750
McDonald's Quarter Pounder	410	1	65	730
McDonald's Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese	740	2.5	155	1380
McDonald's Big Mac	540	1.5	75	1040
McDonald's Big N' Tasty with Cheese	510	1.5	85	960
Burger King (BK) Whopper with mayo (without mayo)	670 (510)	1.5 (1)	95 (80)	1020 (880)
BK Double Whopper with cheese and mayo (without mayo)	990 (830)	2.5 (2)	195 (180)	1520 (1380)
BK Triple Whopper with cheese & mayo (without mayo)	1230 (1070)	3.5 (3)	275 (260)	1590 (1450)
Wendy's 1/4 lb Single	430	1	75	870
Wendy's 1/2 lb Double with Cheese	710	2.0	160	1440
Wendy's 3/4 lb Triple with Cheese	980	3.5	245	2010
Wendy's Baconator	840	2.5	195	1880
In-N-Out Hamburger with Onion	243	0	40	650
In-N-Out Cheeseburger with Onion	268	.5	60	1000
In-N-Out Double-Double with Onion	330	.1	120	1440
Arby's Beef and Cheddar	445	1.5	51	1275
Jack in the Box Hamburger Deluxe with Cheese	460	1	70	930
Jack in the Box Bacon Ultimate Cheeseburger	1090	3	140	2040

Well I just about had a heart attack looking at those numbers. As you can see, they're loaded with tons of sodium and calories. If you can, I'd stick with burgers from In-N-Out or McDonald's since they aren't as bad for you as those from Wendy's and Burger King. Go for smaller sandwiches too, ones that are made with only one patty. Order extra veggies on top, and then order a healthy salad or baked potato on the side. Forget a side of French fries, since they're loaded with sodium and crazy amounts of calories. Picking up fast food is fine every once in a while, but with numbers like these, I wouldn't make a habit of "lovin' it."

Recall Warning: Rochester Meat Company Recalls Ground Beef

YumSugar — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 15:18:31 -0800

Listen up! The first ground beef recall of 2008 has arrived. The Rochester Meat Company of Rochester, Minn., has voluntarily recalled over 180,000 lbs. of ground beef due to a possible E. coli contamination. The recall comes after five illnesses in Wisconsin and one in California.

The scariest part is that the product is actually not available on a retail level, but is sold for commercial purposes. So hopefully the places where you're eating ground beef are being diligent in their practices. Make sure that ground beef patties have been cooked to an internal temperature of 160°F. I know, some of you prefer yours a little more rare than that, but it's better to be safe than sorry, no?

If you're concerned about the meat your restaurant has, find out which boxes are being recalled.

Yummy Link: Drool Worthy Burger

partysugar — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 08:28:31 -0800

Doesn't this burger look gorgeously divine? It's a French twist on the American classic with sauteed onions, a crisp potato rösti, and comte cheese. Oh to eat like Ms. Stewart! - Martha Stewart

Get Some Table Manners!

GiggleSugar — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 13:00:00 -0700

I'd like to think this guy hasn't eaten in a month, which would explain the overzealous make-out session he's got going on here. Word to the uncouth: don't bite off more than you can chew. And when I say "chew," I mean with your mouth closed.

Bird Makes a Burger Run

GiggleSugar — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 08:00:00 -0700

Staged or not, I love how this birdie takes the bait, waddles to safety, and then shamelessly eats the burger in front of its rightful owner. The audacity! Reminds me of a certain shoplifting seagull we once encountered...