What concerns me most about the beef mixed with horse meat controversy is not that people were eating horse meat, the French do it all the time and it’s expensive! It’s the mislabeling of the products, taking away the public’s choice. Scarier still, how were those horses raised? Were they well fed, in good health or just road kill? Potentially gross!
A German government Minister in a statement about the adulterated products, “Give them to the poor, we can’t just throw away good food!” That’s right Mr. Minister, be yourself! I love these mind snatching incidents when true feelings will out 😀 No one can accuse him of insincere sensitivity, no sir! I’ll be home grinding all my mince from now on and frozen meat products won’t pass customs here, Roger.
I’d really like to grill something, not particularly horse, but something. Unfortunately, I don’t have a grill. Actually, I have lots of grills, just not here. I thought my husband had shipped the one from South Sudan to Germany but apparently not. I need a Germany grill. Now. I’m going to have to clean the oven again 🙁
The ribs I made today are real beef American ribs procured from the U.S. military commissary by my commissary-loving husband. USDA, quoi. Which means that although you might detect the presence of growth hormones, miscellaneous drugs and animal based feed, you’ll find no “My Little Pony” in our lasagna. Uh-uh, we don’t play that!
He also found some Mississippi barbecue sauce labeled “Real American Barbecue”, sweet and spicy from Fremont, Ohio with the second ingredient listed after the tomato concentrate being high fructose corn syrup. Boy howdy, we’re eating right today! He-has-got-to-step-away-from-the-commissary!
Anyway. My celeriac and parsnips were calling out from the crisper, “Eat us before it’s too late! Remember what happened to the iceberg lettuce!” So I made a little celeriac-parsnip casserole. Tasty!
Real American Beef Ribs
2 slabs of beef ribs, seasoned with Emeril’s essence
Real American barbecue sauce
Place the ribs in a 150F oven on a rack for 1 hour, turn and cook for another hour. Remove and slather with barbecue sauce, turn the oven up to 350 F and continue cooking for 15 minutes.
Celeriac Parsnip Casserole
1 lb parsnips, peeled and sliced
2 cups celeriac, cubed
Chicken broth
2 scallions, sliced
2 tbsp butter
2-3 sprigs thyme leaves
Salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese
Bread crumbs
Boil the parsnips in the chicken broth for 2 minutes, then add the celeriac and continue to boil for 8-10 minutes. Drain, reserving the broth. Saute the scallions in the butter and add to the celeriac mixture, along with the thyme, salt and pepper and a ladle full of reserved broth. Mash.
Butter an oven dish, add the celeriac mixture, then sprinkle with the cheese and bread crumbs. Bake in a 350 F oven until browned and crusty on top.
Beautiful looking ribs. I assume these are beef short rib? I agree about the horse meat issue. I have no problem with the product, it’s where it comes from. Hence I never eat sausages, burgers or square ham!! When was the last time you saw a square pig.
Thank you David. The package actually said baby back beef ribs. I’d never heard of that before. Coming our way soon, the GM square pig 🙂
These ribs look fantastic!
Thank you Tia 🙂
I guess what you’ve highlighted in quoting the minister is something else no one seems to have mentioned yet in the unfolding of this scandal: the huge wastage of food that is happening because of it. The horrendous number of animals minced for nothing because of the unscrupulous acts of some people involved in their “processing”. I wonder how they are disposing of it all, or if it really is getting shipped off somewhere where food regulations aren’t as stringent.
I too have no particular objection to horse meat per se, but it’s true that we need to know what is really in our food.
Well, I wouldn’t know the difference between beef or horse ribs, but the above definitely look tasty! 🙂
Thank you lemonade. The minister wanted to give it to the German poor. I can’t really see them shipping it to third world countries because I think the products were “heat and serve”, probably microwavable, and that would present a problem where universal electricity is not a given. I wish more people would focus on the dishonesty involved and not so much on their disgust with minced pony.
This post makes me laugh. It is seriously sick how in the US large businesses feel no shame in adulterating food. I wonder if the executives of these companies eat thier own products??? My kids love BBQ sauce and when I found out how much high fructose corn syrup there was in it I started making my own. It is pretty easy. I remember shopping at the commissary when my hubs was in the military. It was always intersting…
I usually make my own also Connie but my husband, civilian that he is, thinks it’s pretty cool to have commissary privileges so he’s always bringing things from the commissary to help with my food preparations. Nice guy but he’s not interested in reading the labels.
I hear ya! I cannot send my Hubs to the store…ever.
Oops! They sound like relatives 🙂
I’ve eaten horse a few times and it’s very good. However, other than minced, it’s relatively easy to tell the difference, it’s very lean and unless it’s a good cut it will probably be tough. I’m quite sure that the problem lies with “filler”, additional minced meat that is used to bulk up beef mince. It should all be beef or labeled accordingly.
Personally, if I was hungry and broke, I’d be grateful for the Findus or Birdseye products. I’d be less excited by cheap burgers, but I don’t like burgers. My preference though and what should be encouraged is cooking from scratch everyday. I don’t buy ready meals and I’m sure you don’t either 😉
Back to the topic at hand – those are delicious looking ribs!
Thank you. If I was hungry and broke, I’d still want to know what I was eating and then I’d most likely go ahead and eat it. But I’d still want to know, Mad. I haven’t had horse yet. I intended to try some while I was in France but never got around to it. Maybe next visit home. You’re right, I don’t buy ready made meals. Now I just have to stop my husband from buying them 😀
Good horse steak is delicious and best bought from a Chevaline 😉
We’ve got two Chevalines in the market place in Sens and I’ll choose one of them.
Love this! Loving the story behind the real beef american ribs, very witty.
Thank you 🙂
Unbelievable! I have to try this soon!!! Thanks for sharing!!
You are welcome.
Yes, I would worry more about how the horses were treated and where they came from than actually eating them.
Your horse-free USDA ribs look great, Rosemary!
Thanks Daisy.
Great ribs Rosemary. The horse meat thing just rolls on and on. The price difference between the two meats is the reason for the deception. That and greed and active or passive dishonesty at various points along the buying chain. I remember asking myself “How do IKEA manage to sell a plate of meatballs at that price?” Now we know the answer.
Best,
Conor
Horse meat is expensive in France probably because there are health/quality regulations and requirements imposed on the sellers. It seems obvious that the suppliers of the faux beef horse meat didn’t have these expensive restrictions. Bleah!
Too true. Thankfully, I have a butcher I can trust.
Hallelujah 🙂
Interesting. I forgot to mention that the big, quality frozen food giant Picard 1) Promises to ADN test all their beef products starting yesterday. 2) Only use French beef starting March 18. 3) Origin of all meat products will be on each package. 4) Systematic quality audits will be conducted for all their suppliers.
Yeah.
Yeah, sure!
Exactly why I source my meat as ethically as possible – now more than ever. lovely ribs, by the way!
Thank you Frugal.
Reblogged this on nopisyarifa and commented:
wih
Oh WOW, what a looker! Those are gorgeous ribs, thanks for sharing your recipe.
Thank you Anne.
Good to hear that our German neighbours haven’t lost their sensitivity for which they are renowned. Those ribs do look good – don’t mention that to the La Moussiere customs officer or I’m in trouble. I might as well start eating pet poodles.
Korean style 😀
All I can say is that is mouth watering!
Thank you R.S.
Effing love ribs of any description!
Yeah!
Gorgeous looking ribs! And that casserole, very interesting! Parsnips usually end up in chicken soup here. Totally agree, the problem is not the meat, it is the misleading!
Thank you. I like mashed parsnips and I like them in soup. I like parsnips 🙂
I really hated them when I was a kid, now that’s my favorite in the soup – curiosities of life 🙂
You’re on a roll. Great post. Great comments. And, wow, do those ribs look good—HFCS BBQ sauce and all. (Mississippi BBQ? Who knew?)
Thank you Michelle.