Food Porn

I went to Whole Foods and bought myself some of their ground beef.  (Whole Foods sells organically raised meats--free range, no hormones, that kind of thing.)  Then I made spaghetti sauce with the meat, using my usual method: dump a big can of tomato puree into a large pot, add a little water and seasonings¹, turn on the heat.  While that's starting to heat up, brown meat in a skillet and add it to the sauce.  Then let it cook for a few hours.

I wasn't really expecting to be able to taste much of a difference; this was meat that was going to be stewed in tomato for quite some time, after all, and tomato is not exactly a delicate flavor.  And yet, you really can taste the difference.  Aside from the flavor, which is--for lack of a better term--just more meaty than the ground beef one gets in styrofoam packages at the Quik-E-Mart, the organic stuff has a different texture as well; it's much more delicate, almost grainy (and I mean that in a good way).  I was really impressed.  

You can get no-hormone milk at Giant Eagle these days, and sometimes free range eggs (did you know, by the way, that egg yolks are supposed to be orange?).  The milk's 10 cents a gallon more expensive than the regular stuff.  This is a price I'm willing to pay...

1: Basil, oregano, onion, garlic and pepper are the basics; after that, rosemary, tarragon, sage, and thyme.  Some also like chili powder, cumin, coriander, parsley, and/or paprika.

links: digg this    del.icio.us    technorati    reddit