It is a jungle out there...

My hip is feeling better. Most likely an arthritis flare up. It really did hurt!

The grass is so tall, it is really tough to cut. It has been a hot dry summer and have not really had to cut much grass. The temps right now are a bit cooler and it has rained rained rained like crazy the past week. Grass in spots is over 2 feet tall. It is rough but will muddle through it!

Hope it will be a nice quiet weekend!

Getting old?

Most days I feel pretty good but today I feel old. I hate complainers just as much as the next person so I apologize for this little "pity party bitch" session! My hip huts like hell, am almost ready for the emergency room. I tweaked my left shoulder today; my right shoulder has been bum for a year. I guess all of this is just a part of getting old.

I have never really taken very good care of myself and body and it is catching up! I NEED to start walking and exercising again. Not tomorrow, not next week, RIGHT NOW!!
I just need to get off of my fat butt and put one foot in front of the other!

It sucks to be me right this second! OK!! I am over this!

MC Cheffrey!

I was honored to host a small event at a local foods expo yesterday at Botetourt Commons; The Taste of the Blue Ridge Local Foods Expo College Chef's Challenge. It was very challenging to do this live. I could not walk around because of a hard wired mike but it was so much fun! Three chefs from local colleges were competing "Iron Chef" or "Chopped" style with a live audience watching on. Just about all of the food they were cooking with was local! This really was so very cool! I hope I can do something like this again soon!

I am ruined, really.....

Have you ever tasted something so good, it possibly may have ruined all other eating experiences forever? This very well may have happened to me, two different times, over the past week.

Case #1: Wine
Last week, I drank wine! Not just any wine but a truely excellent Cabernet; it was amazing! It was a private label and you can not purchase this wine and I really do not know if I can really ever drink another red wine again, unless I am at this persons house.

Case #2: Steak
Tonight we tasted Kobe beef or commonly known here as American Wagyu. It was tender, juicy, buttery, flavorful, just amazing! My job is based on center of the plate items like beef and what we tasted was beyond measure of any other steak. I know we will continue to eat steak but nothing will ever compare.

OK, maybe most of this sounds dramatic but I am serious about the wine! I was amazing!

2 Days in a row...

That's right; I am on a roll! Here are a few more random thoughts:

- I need new work shoes!
- I work with some really great people!
- Captain Morgan's "Lime Bite" is pretty darn tasty.
- Our dog is a pug and he is goofy!
- Having chef block for TV this weekend.
- I am tired!
- Depression sucks!
- I have been working on my chef career for 30 years!
- I need to cut the grass, really bad!
- I miss my best friend Tom!

I guess this is kind of like tweeting, just all at once! Still trying to embrace social media!

Ramblings and other things

It has been a while since I have posted so here are some updates and random thoughts.

- My small garden did ok this year. Candy sweet cherry tomatoes, no cucumbers, big tomatoes are hard to come by. Stupid deer, rabits, and groundhogs!
- We saw a fox in our back yard a few days ago.
- I picked a bunch of peaches off of the peach tree. I should of used bug spray! The fox enjoyed eating some of the peaches!
- My fig tree is flourishing!
- Charleston, South Carolina is one steaming hot city! Can you say hell?
- I am exhausted!
- I love looking at Facebook and hearing about others but I hate posting. I feel like I have nothing interesting to say at all.
- I miss my dog Elmo!
- I have gained a bunch of weight back that I had lost. Hate it! I am working on trying to get back into it, but it is really really hard to do so. I look like SHIT!
- I got to work with Chef Spike from "Top Chef" Season 4.
- My chefjeffonthe.net web site has been up and down. Chefapoloza is down. I think avahost is a horrible web hosting site and service! I will never do business with them again!
- I love books on CD!
- I have found myself cussing more than usual lately.
- I love Gillette Fusion razors but they are too expensive to purchase! I now use disposable, if nothing more than for the principle. Sorry environment!

So I guess that is enough crap for now. Am working on redesigning my chefjeff website. I want to work hard and post more often here! Can not make promises but I am going to really try!

The quest for beef, good beef...

A few years back, on a totally different blog, I started a quest to find the best "retail" beef around town. The final result was, there really is not much good retail beef out there, at all. All of the major grocery chains failed to produce any beef product with a good flavor, any substantial amount of tenderness; there was just no good eating experience when it came to retail beef.

Flash forward to right now; has anything really changed? My first answer would be not really, retailers have not changed they way they do business so I would expect that there really is very little palatable beef out there. Please keep things in perspective, what is good to some may not be good to others so if you do eat beef from a major chain and enjoy it, there is nothing wrong with that. Are there exceptions? Sure there are. You may be able to find a "local" beef producer which has taken the proper steps to give you a great eating experience and maybe markets, some markets, are making real changes.

Why can you get OK beef in a retail store but the beef you eat in restaurants is generally much better? (This statement does not apply to all restaurants! I got a steak at a "national chain" and it was inedible, so inedible, my dog would not even eat it!) Here are the reasons why with a general explanation:

Grade: Most steaks served in restaurants, specifically higher end, upscale, white table cloth, steak houses, etc. use USDA grade choice or better grades of beef. This means there is more intramuscular fat (white specs) contained in the flesh of the meat. Consumers grew up wanting and buying lean, ruby red meat from markets; this grade is USDA select or lower. Higher grades cost more and lower grades cost less. There really is a difference between choice and select grades of beef.

Aging: This is the single most important factor determining flavor and tenderness of beef. Most beef served in restaurants is aged more than 14 days and often over 21 days. Beef sold is markets is generally aged less than 6 days (termed "green" meaning young). Well aged meat can turn brown very fast and "green" meat will stay red much longer. Well aged meat is significantly more tender and has more flavor that "green" meat. Wet and Dry aging give different flavor results but that is for some other time (along with grass fed verses grain finished cattle).

So what should us consumers do to find great meat in retail stores? I really have no answer but I can tell you this; get to know your butcher and ask many many questions! By local if you can and help support local farmers! Continue to eat at your favorite restaurants and visit personally owned, local "Mom and Pop" restaurants rather that national chains. Your chances of having a better beef eating experience will be much greater!