By Iron Chef Leftovers

A professor a the University of Maine has come up with a way to turn lobster shells into bio-degradable golf balls. Some of the details:

The lobster golf balls solve two environmental problems, actually. “We’re using a byproduct of the lobster-canning industry, which is currently miserably underutilized — it ends up in a landfill,” Neivandt said.

Neivandt and Caddell see the golf balls as particularly useful on cruise ships. They can be used with both drivers and irons, Caddell told WMTW.

Biodegradable golf balls currently on the market sell for about $1 a ball retail; the raw materials for the lobster shell balls cost as little as 19 cents.

I guess this shouldn’t be a surprise that someone from Maine came up with this, although I am surprised that it took this long. It makes me wonder if the same could be done with crab shells, since we do have a pretty large Dungeness crab processing industry in the Pacific Northwest.

This also gives me an idea for the next time I do a lobster dinner…

by A.J. Coltrane

Forwarded to me by my buddy D. It’s two members of the band Cake, Vince and Pete, in a cooking contest.

The judges may be the best part:  Rick James (as in “I’m Rick James, b*tch!”), Phyllis Diller, and Jeff Smith (the Frugal Gourmet.)

 

By Iron Chef Leftovers

The other day, I happened to be shopping at the local megamart and I notices a sign for “buy one, get one free” whole free range chickens. I have long maintained that if you are buying poultry, the whole bird is a significantly better value than buying parts, so I decided that this is a good opportunity to put it to the test.

Braking down a bird is easy – with a minimum of knife skills, it shouldn’t take more than 10-15 minutes to break down a chicken. For this trial, I went slowly and it took me 8 minutes per bird. If I am just focusing on breaking them down, I can do it in about 5 minutes per bird. Someone who really knows what they are doing can break down the bird in less than a minute. It is really not hard – here’s a good demo on how to do it from Cheap Seat Eats favorite Ming Tsai:

http://www.graspr.com/html/flashplayer/swf/home_player.swf?dataID=http://www.graspr.com/html/flashplayer/data/data.php%3Fv=51ecca3abb51c77a924057626825f6a3&pid=108&gh=www&swid=20&lid=1

Either way, with breaking the birds down and packaging them up for the freezer, you will be investing no more than 30-45 minutes for 2 birds.

In breaking down the chicken, there are really 2 groups that the parts fall into:

• “Supermarket” cuts – boneless, skinless breast, hind quarters (skin on legs and thighs) and wings
• “Throwaway” cuts – skin, offal, oyster, carcass and neck

Supermarket cuts are the things that you will generally find in the butcher case in your local megamart. Throwaway (for lack of a better term) are things you would be able to get for free from most butchers (and some megamarts if they break down their own chickens for parts) or at a very nominal cost. People will generally toss these parts on a whole chicken – whatever you do, don’t do that. I will talk about what to do with these later.

The total weight of the 2 birds was 10.26 pounds at a cost of $11.78 ($1.19 per pound for you keeping track at home) and the regular price per pound is $2.29 for the whole bird. Here is how the supermarket cuts played out:

Part	Total Weight	% of Total Bird Weight
Breast	2.93 Lbs	28.5%
Legs and Thighs	2.76 Lbs	26.9%
Wings	0.98 Lbs	9.5%

Buying a whole bird has a good yield – about 65% of the bird’s total weight is supermarket cuts. Even if you used nothing else on the bird, you have just pulled nearly 6.5 pounds of meat from 10.25 pounds of starting weight. Yes, there is some bone and skin factored in on this, but you would pay for those if you bought the parts at the supermarket.

Here is the price per pound comparison. I adjusted the cost per part off the whole bird to assume that a person takes a whole bird and throws away everything but the supermarket cuts and assumed that the same price ratios as the packaged parts (i.e. if a breast is $6 per pound and thighs are $3 per pound, the breast absorbs 2 times the total cost as the thighs). I also calculated the total cost for both breaking down the whole bird vs. buying the parts using the weights on the birds I broke down. (On a side note – if you ever need to prove to anyone the useful application of algebra, this is it).

Part	Whole Price/Lb	Whole Total Cost	Parts Price/LB	Parts Total Cost	Savings
Breast	2.61	7.65	7.29	21.36	13.71
Leg & Thigh	1.14	3.15	3.19	8.80	5.65
Wings	.98	1.00	2.79	2.73	1.73

No markup there. I basically just saved $20 by buying the birds and breaking them down. Even at the regular price, there is about a $4.50 savings per bird. Heck, if I used nothing else besides the breasts, I still would have saved myself about $9. The way I look at it, I now have the bulk of the ingredients for stock (neck and carcass), chicken gravy (neck, offal and carcass), real “Chicken Nuggets” (oysters) and Fried Chicken Croutons (skin), but those recipes are for another post.

Of course, you can just keep the birds whole and roast them (which are a lot easier and quicker than you think). It is a truly lost item at the dinner table and should really make a comeback. (Once again, that is for another post)

You may say, but Iron Chef, I can go down to Costco or my local megamart and get chicken breast for $2.99 a pound and not have to do all the work you did. A couple things you want to consider:
• The stuff at your megamart is probably factory farmed and you really don’t want to know how factory farmed chicken is raised.
• There is a very good chance that you are paying for a bird that has been treated with a salt water solution (brined) to keep it from drying out in cooking. I usually say this on the label and that water can add up to 15% of the total weight that you are paying for.
• Frankly, Free Range and Organic Chicken just tastes better and is better for you and the environment.

If you really want to splurge, buy a heritage free range chicken from your local farmer. They are not cheap (around $6 per pound) but they are better than anything you will ever buy in a store

By Iron Chef Leftovers

The question always comes up, where should we go for dinner. I am always up for trying a new place, Mrs. Iron Chef, not so much, so I don’t always get to try places as quickly as I would like. As a result, I present to you the “Iron Chef Top 10 Places I Haven’t Been Yet, but Really Want to Get to in the Pacific Northwest.” Presented by city in no particular order. If you have been to any of these places, post a comment and let me know what you thought.

The Top 10 – Seattle
It wasn’t easy narrowing Seattle to a top 10, considering I live here and I tend to be much more in tune with the dining scene. With all of the places I have been in Seattle, a few of these surprise me as places I haven’t been yet.

1) 360 Local – This place specialize in local, seasonal items and seems to have a love for the “economy cuts” of meat. How could you not love that? They also have a pretty fantastic happy hour.
2) The Corson Building – Tucked under the Michigan St. overpass in Georgetown, communal dining and no menu. Two of my favorite things.
3) The Walrus and The Carpenter – Hidden behind Staple & Fancy and a bike shop, the place is tiny and the waits are horrific. I have been told the best oysters in town are here though.
4) Canlis – For obvious reasons, but also because Chef Jason Franey told me that he loved me when I asked him for the cheeks off the whole roasted pig at his cooking demo at Taste Washington.
5) Quinn’s – Somehow I have not been here, considered the best gastropub in the city.
6) Lecosho – Pork, Pork and more Pork. Did I mention Pork?
7) Staple & Fancy – Need to get there soon, Stinging Nettle Soup!!!!
8) Poppy – Love Jerry Traunfeld, love the concept – Indian inspired NW food.
9) Spur – The leading molecular gastronomists in Seattle. Not for everyone, but I am definitely curious.
10) Tat’s Deli – So many people claim this is the best cheesesteak in Seattle and it rivals the ones in Philly. I will be the judge of that.

Top 10 – Portland
I have been really lacking on dining out in Portland. Usually my trips there are either day trips or for another purpose which doesn’t let me enjoy the dining scene in the Rose City. I probably could have added another 10 to this list, but I figure I will start here.

1) Beast – Another communal dining, fixed menu place. I have wanted to go here for some time, but they are only open 4 days a week and the place is small. Naomi Pomeroy’s success on Top Chef Masters probably won’t help.
2) Olympic Provisions – A friend of mine swears this place is better than Laurelhurst Market. It is in the middle of nowhere in an industrial park. I am all for it.
3) Pok Pok – Never felt like waiting forever, but considered to be some of the best Thai outside of Thailand. Lots of stuff you don’t see on most Thai menus.
4) Nostrana – It has great Italian, has been there forever and I have never been.
5) Little Bird – I am a HUGE fan of the Bird’s big sister Le Pigeon.
6) Toro Bravo – A Tapas joint. I know a few people who consider this the best restaurant in Portland, period.
7) June – Another farm to table place getting fantastic reviews.
8) Paley’s Place – In the Canlis class with price, but food is supposed to be out of this world.
9) Tasty N Sons – The little bro of Toro Bravo. With a name like Tasty N Sons, how could you not want to try it?
10) Andia – Peruvian food and highly rated. Besides, raise your hand if you have ever actually been to a Peruvian restaurant. (Iron Chef hangs his head in shame – he has never been to one)

 

Top 9 – Vancouver

I love Vancouver and it has a great dining scenes, but I could only come up with 9 places that I want to go to. That is partially because I have hit most of the places that I really wanted to go to already and dining out in Vancouver can be a very pricey proposition.
1) Cioppino – We ran into the chef of Cioppino at La Quercia in Vancouver. This place has won all sorts of “best of” awards and is priced accordingly.
2) Lumiere – Best French in Vancouver about a bizillion times.
3) Tojo’s – Probably the best sushi on the West Coast, if not all of North America. Booking to sit at the bar requires 3 months advanced reservation.
4) Vij’s – Some would argue the best eats in Vancouver. No reservations and people line up for dinner and hour before the restaurant opens.
5) Rain City Grill – Another local, sustainable place with an amazing view.
6) Chambar Belgian Restaurant – You had me at Belgian.
7) CinCin – I have been to the other Top Table Restaurants in Vancouver (West, Blue Water), but never this one. Probably the result of the prices and the abundance of great Italian in Vancouver.
8) Maenam – Wanted to go when it was called Gastropod. New owner, same chef, same glowing reviews.
9) La Ghianda – Little sister of La Quercia. It is a deli, and they cure in house. I am there.