So I went looking around, now that I finished the tongue article, to see what else might be out there on tongue.
And I find another blogger – actually an article writer – who has a feature called “The Nasty Bits”. It is almost exactly what I’m doing, but done for a while, with pretty pictures, and a couple of recipes I’m now dying to try.
Chichi Wang of Serious Eats offers The Nasty Bits for your eating pleasure. And I’ll try to do some different ugly bits before she gets there. (sigh)
Yeah, it’s a pun. My blog, My choice of misery to inflict.
Since TaMara asked, the first Dirty Bits recipe(s) will involve the tongue.
Friends, the look of the tongue causes my wife and daughter to gag, so I don’t make it often at ALL. However, the tongue is one of my favorite bits of meat. It is an extremely lean, well-developed piece of muscle. Setting aside taste, the closest analogue for preparation is squid, with cuts such as Boston Butt’s coming next closest. It is amazingly tender when heat is barely (if at all) applied, then it turns tough until it’s had so much heat that the proteins collapse; at which point it is again velvety. Tastewise it’s, well, it tastes like the animal from which it came.
The ‘old-fashioned’ ways of cooking the tongue are long-cooking techniques. Braising is most common but not the only option. I also think the tongue is ideal for several ‘fast-cook’ techniques: Mongolian hotpots, oil fondues, and hibachis being examples. Personally, I think the tongue is very close to being my preferred choice for tartare and carpaccio as well.
I’m going to give you two rambling recipes, but before I do I’m going to discuss the logistics of the tongue. I suspect more than one of you has never dealt with the tongue.
If at all possible, purchase your tongue cleaned and skinned. There are two reasons – practical and emotional. The practical reason is that getting the skin off is a pain. I’ll be discussing that in one of the recipes as it’s likely you won’t get ‘how’, but why do work you don’t need to do? The second reason is emotional – or perhaps the better word is visceral. I don’t know why, but most people get a bit queasy when they see the tongue with all the papillae (bumps that hold the tastebuds). It is TONGUE, not ‘meat’. (heave)
The basic of cleaning the tongue is to cook it to about 3/4 done (which means 2-4 hours depending on what animal’s tongue and what cooking technique you’re using), then pull it out and pop it into cold water like you’d do for peeling tomatoes. (Oh, you didn’t know that trick? Well, the heat that’s in the object meets the cold and forms a condensation layer. Since the skin is really separate from the meat – tomato or tongue – it gets pushed a bit further apart. This makes it easier – not easy, just easier – to pull the two apart.) Once it’s peeled, look for any additional membranes and then get ready to finish the dish. Let me note that you CAN peel the skin without the cook and blanch process but it is a LOT harder and you will lose some of the meat in the process – it’s more slicing and less peeling.
OK, let’s actually make a couple – no, let’s make a trio of tongue dishes. The first one is likely to NOT wind up on your list for ‘first tries’. The second might not, and it’s a rather extended preparation time. That said, between the three you’ll get a good idea of what it is you’re getting with tongue.
Recipe one is tartare. Tartare is raw meat with a strong flavoring sauce. Classically it’s made from very fine cuts of steak, has worcerstershire and dijon and capers and maybe a bit of wine or brandy plus an egg yolk to enrichen it. It’s eaten cold on baguettes or other breads, toasts, or crackers. And I’ve basically described it the recipe already.
This is a case where you REALLY want to get your meat peeled if you can. However, before you ask your butcher to chop it for you make sure he knows it’s for tartare and that you trust him. The tongue under the skin is surprisingly free of bacteria. Run it through where other cuts have been and all bets are off. (If you’re truly paranoid, take it home with skin on and slice it off once home.)
With a pound of chopped tongue the truly basic recipe is two tablespoons each of worcestershire and dijon and two egg yolks. If it were chopped steak it’d only be one egg yolk but I repeat: Tongue is VERY LEAN. Serve as close to chopping and mixing as you can manage. FWIW a pound of meat is a LOT, and this is considered enough to serve four. Cut it in half to serve two – or for four tentative tasters.
For the second recipe, taking the tongue’s skin off first is optional – at least at first. See, we’re going to corn the tongue (first – I’ve got more).
The first thing you want is a non-reactive container large enough for the tongue and the water that’s going to cover it – and maybe something that’ll keep the tongue submerged as well. Crocks, casserole dishes, and large glass jars are examples. I’m gong to call this the pickling container – corning is merely a type of pickling, after all.
The next thing you’re going to do is make enough (and only enough) brine. Put your tongue in plastic wrap or a plastic bag and put it in the bottom of the container. Add enough water to cover it by a couple of inches. Now pour the water into a separate pan and start adding salt. Add it by the quarter cup, here, and stir till it’s dissolved. Before adding the next quarter cup of salt, put a raw egg (still in shell) into the water. When it floats with about half the eggshell out of the water, you’ve added enough salt.
Now add your corning spices:
1/4 c brown sugar
2 bay leaves (crumbled)
1/2 teaspoon whole allspice
1 teaspoon peppercorns
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
1 teaspoon mustard seed
2 cloves whole garlic, peeled.
Bring the brine to a boil, boil for 15 minutes, then let cool to room temperature. Meanwhile unwrap the tongue, wash it, and return it to the pickling container. Add the room temperature brine to the container, add a weight to keep the tongue submerged, put plastic wrap over the top, and put it in the refrigerator for about three weeks. While it’s in there check it every so often to make sure the meat has stayed submerged, and if you want you can pull it out and turn the tongue once a week or so.
It’s corned, so now we’re going on to the next step. I give you three choices here depending on what you’ve got available, running from my most to least preferred. Smoke (hot smoke); slow-grill (BBQ); and boil (like any corned beef briskit). For the smoking and the slow-grilling you have to keep your temperature controlled – you want the chamber around 200-210 degrees, and you’re aiming for a finish temperature of around 165. If you’re BBQing you may (probably will) have to mop the meat (I’ve used butter, olive oil, and a red wine vinegar seasoned with the same spices as were in the brine successfully). If you’re boiling it put it in enough water to cover by a couple of inches and add an onion you’ve halved and a couple of broken cabbages, and boil till it’s tender.
In all three cases, once the tongue is done and IF it didn’t come skinned (or you didn’t slice off the skin yourself), now’s the time to slit the skin and peel it off.
My favorite of these is the smoked. It’s pastrami. It’s really, really good pastrami. By the way, if you’ve the smoking facilities to COLD-smoke it, do so – it makes a better pastrami.
Pause – why do I like this better than brisket? Lean (no fat), no gristle or other connective tissue, short muscle fibers, and a slightly stronger beef taste combine to a consistently smooth and full-flavored meat.
Final recipe: braised. For this I’m going to make a fairly simple braised tongue. However, for those wanting to ‘do it right’, HERE is a link to Julia Child’s more flavorful Langue de Boeuf Braisee au Madere. Change around the ingredients a bit and you can get basque or italian or german — all of which have their variants (though it’s more likely to be sheep or pig than beef tongue).
I’m assuming a beef tongue, which is going to give you about three to four pounds of meat. If you’ve gotten a smaller tongue (by way of having the butcher cut, or choosing one from a different animal), adjust as appropriate.
Start by covering the tongue with cold water and let it set for a couple of hours. The sole purpose of this is cleaning and again if you trust your butcher you can skip this step. When you’re done, toss the water.
Heat a large stock-pan to medium, add a bit of oil, and then a pound of chopped carrots and three chopped onions. Stir briefly, then put the tongue on top and let it sit till the bottom layer of veggies start to brown. Immediately add a pint of beef stock (up to about half-way on the tongue). Bring it to a boil, reduce it to a bare simmer, cover the pot with a lid, and let it cook till the tongue is fork-tender. Check it every 15 minutes or so to make sure it hasn’t boiled dry – it shouldn’t if you’re experienced at braising, but if you’re not you may lose more moisture than you intended. Add a bit of stock – no more than half a cup at any time – if needed.
Again, this is going to take two to three hours to get back to tender. Once it IS tender, you’re going to do two things separately. Let’s follow the tongue first.
Pull out the tongue and…
If you need to peel it, plunge it into cold water. This will work like it does for tomatoes and other meats and veggies with tight skins – loosen it so it’s easier to peel. Remove the skin and the membrane.
Once peeled – or if you didn’t need to peel it you’re here now – you are going to slice the tongue to form medallions of 13/8 to 1/2 inch thick. Set aside and let’s chase everything else for a moment.
We pulled the tongue. Now drain and reserve the stock – we should have between a cup and a pint – and set aside the veggies for a moment. Make a butter and flour roux (one tablespoon of each). Add back the stock while stirring and boil till it thickens slightly. Stir in a tablespoon of tomato paste and a quarter cup of semi-dry red wine, add the tongue slices, and finally add back the veggies to cover. Simmer for another 30 to 45 minutes or until the tongue is easily pierced with a fork.
Serve with… serve it with what you’d serve with a braised beef tenderloin and you’ll do very, very well indeed.
Three tongue recipes that will give you an idea of something to do about those ugly bits.
Like I don’t have enough on my plate, I got another itch to scratch after a brief discussion with TaMara on her pig knuckles recipe.
I was going to use “poor people’s recipes” but, well, a lot of what was for poor people is now for the snooty (see recent fish cake discussion). While it’s still hilarious to chase that sort of thing, there are foods which were developed by the poor (who could NOT afford to throw away food) which are still… unless you were raised to eat them, learned to eat them, or have a strong stomach, these modern times the food is TRASH – OMG WHY YOU EATING THAT?!?!?
Like pig’s knuckles.
So I think I’ll be tossing the occasional ‘ugly bits’ recipe. Maybe pork jowls or head cheese. Beef tongue (though that sometimes slips into ‘poor made wealthy’) gets there as to hearts, kidneys, and livers of just about everything. Chicken’s feet, anyone? (Yum, actually – if done right.)
Let me point out you are probably NOT going to get these from most neighborhood groceries. You’ll need a butcher, and some ethnic groceries will carry many as well. I’m not going to tell you where to get any of these ingredients but will assume you know how and where to get them.
Just consider this your fair warning.
I’ve laughed before about recipes created by the poor to stretch the budget that were coopted by the wealthy. Here’s another chapter. For the wealthy these tend to turn into crab cakes and other more expensive fish.
Here’s the basic idea. You’re going to take a bunch of crackers or dried bread (say, about half a standard package of saltines or club crackers) that you’ve coarsely crushed – not dust, just small pieces – and put these in a bowl. You’re going to take a bit of fish (say, a 5 ounce can of tuna). You’re going to drain it, break it up into flakes, and stir this into the crumbs. Stir in a bit of aromatic flavoring (a tablespoon or two of chopped onion), then a slightly beaten egg to bind it. You’ll make four loose (ie, don’t mash them into dense lumps) patties out of this which you’ll fry for 2-3 minutes in a dry to lightly oiled medium hot skillet.
Look at that list of ingredients. Even ‘back in the day’ when people purchased from the fisherman the idea stood. Meat that’s seriously stretched with a cereal filler. Four patties is (depending on your thriftiness and sides) a meal for two to four people. It’s a Poor Person’s meal.
Use crab instead of the canned tuna and even if you add nothing else it’s delicious, but you’re beginning to spend some money (unless you’re in a trapping community – and even then you’re using what you couldn’t sell or held back for your own table).
Yes, I made these last night. I had a side of sweet and sour red cabbage and some oven fries (potatoes cut up in the same fashion as french fries, tossed with a bit of oil and salt, and baked till tender). I topped the fries and the cakes with a dressing that was 3 parts (by volume) mayonnaise and one part lemon juice. The most expensive thing was the head of red cabbage, and there was enough of it left over it’ll supplement today’s lunch for two of us.
I see that Stiglitz is predicting a second downward surge. Krugman is predicting doldrums unless we make a new stimulus.
Allow me to forecast again. 2.5% (give or take) for 4th quarter 2009. Passage of Health Care bill before Christmas (probably near Thanksgiving) will act as a stimulus. Passage of Jobs Recovery Act or whatever Son of Stimulus: The Jobs is called will also act as a stimulus. The tax relief and monetary supplement elements of the 2009 stimulus act that are scheduled to take effect in 2010 will act as a stimulus. None of the three are large enough in themselves but in concert will (In My Opinion) kick 2010 over 3% growth in GDP.
Incidentally, SoS:TJ plus the employment effects of 3+% GDP growth will create additional jobs. You will not see the rate decline for up to six months as ‘exhausted’ seekers (those who’ve given up) return to the seeking, replacing the ones who’ve found work and so keeping the rate high. But the jobs will be created, and come summer 2010 you’ll start seeing the rate decline.
That is still my forecast, barring a catastrophic event.
I’ll be putting this in all the AHCAA review messages, so if you’re on RSS you know why you’re seeing so many update pages.
To see links to all the House Health Care Bill review articles, go HERE.
Yaknow, I really ought to be writing the book as much time as I’m putting into these things. Any of the books. Ah well, it’s late and I wanted to add a bit of whimsy.
Much as I deride the Wii controller, it is still the only one that makes me think I could play a neat bit of fun. (Both the Natal and the Magic Wand controllers coming soon for other gameboxes have this potential, but I digress.)
I really want to see a game where spell casters have to make gestures, MAYBE with buttons in combination. Remember both wii sensors detect movement in all three axes, so… make an “S” and throw? or Pull? With left, right, or both hands?
And then the bonus – they’re not pre-programmed, they’re designed by the player? Set it so that, say, if C and Z are held simultaneously (or very close to such) then all movements from either or both devices are spells that ‘fire’ on pressing A or B.
No, it probably wouldn’t really work, and yet… temptations…
There are two subtitles to this 28 page title, but not really. You see, subtitle A, “Individual responsibility,” is one sentence long: “For an individual’s responsibility to obtain acceptable coverage, see section 59B of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as added by section 501 of this Act).” We’ve already been there: Get insurance coverage or pay an additional 2.5% on taxable income.
Even though Subtitle B (Employer Responsibility) is everything else, it too turns out to be fairly simple (though with lots of tiny details). For that matter we’ve touched on most of it before.
Here’s the simple: Employers are for the most part responsible for helping employees have coverage. They can provide it, paying a portion of the premium (that 30%, not above the 30%). They can pay toward their employee’s individual plans. They can choose not to provide a plan and instead contribute an amount to the Trust Fund. If they’ve a hardship or if they are a small business they don’t have quite as much burden; in two ways. First, these sorts of burdens don’t have quite as heavy an obligation. Second, even that obligation can be offset by credits and subsidies.
Seriously, if you want you can quit reading – I’m just going to go into some of the niggles and breaks now. Though you might want to know…
Still with me? OK, let’s hit the first jaw-dropper. The minimum employer share for a full-time employee is 72.5% of the premium for individual plans and 65% for families. I’ll wait while you catch your breath.
Actually that’s not too far off what most employers who provide do already. It’s still a shock to see. Let’s get a solid handle on it, shall we? The Basic plan individual cap is $5,000. If coming through an employer, then, the employer can be expected to pay $3625 or a bit over $302 a month. For a family that number is $6500.
The employer is not allowed to reduce wages to compensate – it’s employer contribution, not hidden employee contribution. But that amount is the expectation whether it’s employer provided or the employer supplements an individual plan (although the employer is allowed to pay based on “basic”, not on the plan the employee chooses – no being forced to pay for gold plating.)
If the employer chooses instead to pay the trust fund it’s 8% of the employee’s wage. Just for giggles, a family insurance person needs a wage of $81,250 for the employer to pay the same cap. On the other hand the individual employee’s break-even is $45,312.50.
Before you get bent out of shape, remember that there’s still the cost-sharing element – and further that the cap is (probably) higher than the premium should come to. So in reality the employers will probably pay less – emphasize that word “probably”.
I’ll note right here that there will be a lot of employers, particularly those who are heavy in low-wage employees (WalMart and its peers, fast food, etc) who will probably feel much more comfortable paying the 8%. I’m going to point out also that these employees are likely to get screwed unless they hit one of the ‘hardship’ loopholes (which might or might not happen). Most of this ilk will be “large” employers and so the employees won’t be eligible till Y3 or later.
However (grin) while it’s possible there’s a loophole, it appears to me that the employer cannot only provide insurance for some employees. In other words if it’s available for the executives (whether employer provided or employer subsidized) it must be available on the same terms for all. (caveat – the amount paid can be adjusted by work-hours.) Note the company does not have to make a great break for supplemental insurance and for that matter is not required to offer such for everyone. Also (if I’m reading it correctly) they can agree to pay a greater proportion for some employees – everyone gets a minimum but not everyone gets all the breaks.
Employers can set up an automatic enrollment of employees, but the employees must get notice and an opportunity to opt out. The reason for this is that the employers are allowed to have individual plans to which the employer must contribute (to the amount they’d contribute to the company plan).
I’ve already noted that small businesses with payrolls of less than $750,000 per year have lesser participation responsibilities if they choose to just pay the exchange trust fund.
The remainder of this title is about recordkeeping and oversight requirements for the HCA plus the penalties to a company that doesn’t provide support – something I’ve mentioned already. Worse, it’s repetitive as it needs to get written into several parts of the US code – mostly tax code, but a few other place.
There’s a bit more in there about how multiple employers and aggregate employers are covered – mostly ‘it’s proportionate’. And a bit about how agencies who are having THEIR turf trod upon must work out the conflicting authority in light of the laws and requirements. That, though behind the scenes, is going to be a LOT of fun. (sarcasm, folks, unless you’re not touched by it.)
Next will be title 5: IRS code changes. ugh.
One of the more contentious arguments boils down to: if we make low incomes have insurance, how do we ensure we don’t shove them into bankruptcy? Here’s the sections – 341-347.
Keeping it simple up front, the intent is that those who can’t afford it will get a supplement (basically what affordability credits boil down to) to cover part of the cost. People on Medicaid and Medicare aren’t eligible for the supplement. Illegal and what I’ll call “pass-through” aliens are not eligible. People who have an opportunity for an employer-provided plan are not eligible. Of course there are a lot of details in which the devil can hide. Let’s dig a bit.
The bill starts with applications. The commissioner can set up a direct application process. He’s also supposed to work with state medicaid agencies who can do it as a subcontract as well as the required auto-consideration if the applicant is not eligible for medicaid. Buried in the medicaid is something most people won’t recognize as amazing – medicaid eligibility is increased to 133% Federal Poverty Level. The reason they won’t recognize it as amazing is that presently most adults aren’t eligible at all UNLESS they have children, that if they have children the US average threshold is 41% of the FPL, and some states have a threshold as low as 10% of the FPL. Ponder it for a while but I’m going to keep moving.
Eligibility is only for citizens and legal aliens who are here for an extended period – immigrants, student/work visa holders, etc. One of the things this bill requires is ‘proof of citenship’, part of which comes by social security number. The application is supposed to be vetted by (as applicable) the social security administration and the immigration department of Homeland Security. Both can bring an investigation on the applicant if they come up as not eligible by way of being an illegal alien. Lots and lots of detail rules in here to lock out wiggle room here while allowing for stopping if ‘honest error’ is found. Hard core anti-immigrant folk will find it too lenient, the open borders folk should feel the opposite.
We’ve also got another bit of fun when we get to work-provided plans – two areas of exception. One is in cases of divorce or separation, the uncovered spouse (and dependents) can get the benefits if the covered spouse tries to use that as leveraqe (come back and obey or don’t get medicine). The other is where the employer buys into a plan that are “too expensive” for the employee. Specifically, if the employee’s premiums (or share of the premiums if the employer is covering part of the cost) are more than 12% of current modified adjusted gross income, the employee can get the credits (and apply them to the employer’s plan). Modified AGI is basically AGI minus some deductions and some credits. For those using a 1040A or 1040EZ it’s Taxable Income. Long form… it’s just going to depend.
The subsidies come in two forms – premium and cost-share – and never the twain shall meet. In Y1 and Y2 they can only be applied to basic plans, not enhanced or premium (and yes it’s confusing to use premium in two separate ways). Starting in Y2 the premium subsidies can be used for enhanced and premium plans in some cases, but the cost-share subsidies are for basics only. Oh – if unused there’s no cash refund.
So how much will they be, anyway? Well, it depends. The breaks are based on % relative to FPL: 133-150, 150-200, 200-250, 250-300, 300-350, and 350-400. Now keep in mind that over 400% the basic plan is that insured will pay 30% of the actuarial amount. So using the breaks already mentioned, instead of 30% the amount for premiums is: 3%, 7%, 15%, 22%, 28%, and 30%. (Yes, 350% pays as much as 400%.) The annual out of pocket individual cap (which if $5000 for ‘full’ coverage) is $500, $1000, $2000, $4000, $4500, and $5000.
Cost-sharing uses the same table. Oh – just to close a loophole, if someone makes less than 133% but is ineligible for medicaid or one of the other plans, they’re treated as having an income of 133% FPL.
There’s a somewhat large section dealing with income verification which boils down to “federal tax return, and rules are to be developed for when there’s no return OR if there’s been a significant change.” Since medicaid among others already have techniques in place and both medicaid and unemployment already feed into the system it’s not really a big deal. Let’s see, false reporting will be penalized by repayment of ill-gotten gains plus penalties to be determined. There’s a bit about transitioning from and to CHIP, and authorization to adjust the FPL for geographic reasons – again, if you’re in LA the needs will be different from those in Genoa, Kansas.
There are special rules for territories which I’m actually going to mostly skip. I just want to point out each territory has the right to be considered as a state or a protected territory for this purpose. There are differences in amounts paid, and provided and various burdens and obligations, and it appears to be a trade-off. A territory which doesn’t choose gets treated as a territory, which tends to make me suspect the better break is being “a state” for affordability credit and health care option reasons.
Finally, and the last section of title 3, we have a repeat statement. Section 347 says: “Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States.”
This takes us through page 267 of 1990 pages. Wheee.
Let me open by again noting this is not The Entirety. In fact in a lot of ways the important thing of Division A is the exchange and the rules surrounding it. The Public Option is going to have a lot of potential problems, not least the risk it will be the dumping place for other plans, picking up the significantly more at risk and so having significantly higher costs. There’s no real mechanism to control this at this time – no risk aversion control. OK, let’s get into the nuts and bolts.
Let’s see. The plan has to offer Basic, Enhanced, and Premium options, and MAY offer Premium plus. It has to abide by all rules (including actuarial determination of premiums and cost-sharing) of other exchange participants, but can only be offered as an exchange option.
The Treasury will make $2 Trillion available for startup moneys – administration and any payouts until sufficient premiums are collected into the trust fund to cover it all. The plan administration will repay the money plus interest over ten years out of moneys collected (premiums, penalties, specific tax collections, etc.) And a fun clause pops in here: No TARP equivalent bailouts. Bluntly, that’s a feel-good clause. A panicked vote on a perceived emergency can have a “except for this once” clause written — just as TARP had.
SecHHS is allowed to negotiate provider and drug costs but has some restrictive bounds. No lower than what’s negotiated for Medicare and Medicaid, and no higher than the average of what’s paid by the other QHBPs of the exchange. Note the pressure this will put on cost control, but at the same time this plan will probably pay medical providers more than medicare pays (which in turn tends to pay more than medicaid).
Also note: costs and premiums and such CAN VARY by geographical region (ie it’s not tied to state borders). That’s basically the clause that allows cost of living supplements to apply to major metropolitan areas instead of state-wide application.
The next interesting clause is the provider network. If the provider accepts Medicare they are automatically accept Public Option UNLESS they opt out. If they opt out they also automatically opt out of Medicare and then have to apply for a Medicare Only exception. Other than the paperwork hassle, no penalties exist. Providers can start the opt-out up to a year before the public option goes into effect, and can opt back in at the time of annual enrollment.
There are several clauses listing what providers can be accepted which can be simplified as pretty much the same rules as for Medicare, but with prices/costs as negotiated for Public Option. Note again that these are likely to be MORE THAN what Medicare pays.
A specific clause that points out enrollment in the public option is VOLUNTARY. Another that says members of congress may enroll (instead of using their gold-plated but more expensive program). Finally, this plan will work out a reimbursement arrangement with VA similar to those made between VA and private health insurance plans.
That’s it for the public option. Easy, wasn’t it? Next up: Affordability Credits aka low income subsidies.
