This past Monday was the Martin Luther King Holiday for me. It was also the coldest day so far this winter, 45 degrees in the early morning according to the Bank Thermometer! Best to go out and grab some pho’ or other soup. But of course the Missus had other ideas!
She: "I want a burger"
Me: "Okay, what do you want? In N Out…."
She: "No I want a home made burger."
Me: "Okay, I go buy some hamburger and I’ll fry some up"
She: "Ummm, no, I want a grilled burger."
Me: "Are you kidding me! It’s freezing out there."
She "Forget it then……"
So a half hour later, there I was driving down the freeway to Iowa Meat Farms, our favorite meat market. Siesel’s is closer, and both Iowa Meat and Siesel’s is owned by the same Parent Company the Cohn Group. But I’ve always thought that the meat and service at Iowa Meat was better. Case in point, once when I needed a Beef Tenderloin, and I couldn’t find one of appropriate size in the "case". The Cutter actually took me into the back and showed me a bunch of tenderloins, helped me pick one out, cut, trimmed, and tied me a 2 1/2 pound piece off of the tenderloin. Such is the service at Iowa Meat Farms, at least when they aren’t busy.
A quick look at this makes it pretty clear at what Iowa Meat sells:
And it’s "No Bull". Iowa Meat is one of a handful of markets where I trust the quality of the ground beef. USDA prime beef is also sold at Iowa Meat; and I’ll usually spring for a prime cut for special occasions(like Sammy and Frankie’s Birthday). Since we don’t eat alot of beef it’s worth splurging on. There is also a Prime Sirloin Cut called the Cattleman’s Cut that is about 2 inches thick. Grilled over direct heat, on a covered grill, this cut is amazingly tender and tasty for a sirloin. According to what I’ve been told, it is believed that the thicker the cut of sirloin, the more tender. I usually makes this once or twice during grilling season. Meat here is not cheap, but is worth every penny to me.
So I got 2 1/2 pounds of ground beef, enough for 6 patties(5 for us, 1 for the boys), and soon enough I was grilling. By that time the sun was out, it had warmed to the mid-50’s, and the hot grill felt good. Nothing like grilling in January. All was well in our household:
I like my burger with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and some brown mustard. The Missus enjoys it the same way, sans the mustard. She tells me, "I want to taste the beef". She ate a double patty (that’s about 10-12oz) burger, then went to take a nap.
6041 Mission Gorge Rd
San Diego, CA 92120
Oh yes, the story! During my "College Days", during one of the many Business type classes I had to take, another student was giving a presentation. Now, this "Dude" used always tell us about working at a certain "Fast Food" joint, you know the type, he lived for working at this place, always talking about his "career path" to fast-food Manager. Yeah, whatever! For this story let’s just call this place Xxxxy’s. So he’s going over business plans, and I’m just totally spacing out, staring blankly into the distance. All I hear is; "waa-waa-waa, waa-waa,waa". So during the Q&A session following the presentation, the Instructor, who noticed how little attention I was paying to the presentation, called on me, and asked "Kirk, can you tell me, based on the information given; what is the secret to Xxxxy’s success?" Now I hadn’t heard a word! "Ummmm-ummmm…." I could feel a drop of sweat rolling down the middle of my back, my mind racing, trying to come up with something, anything. And suddenly it all became so clear! In a example of improvisational genius, I blurted out; "Yeah, yeah, yesterdays’ burger is todays’ chili!" And the whole class cracked up, even the Professor. He later told me that I’d summed up the entire 15 minute presentation in one short sentence! Oh, and I was sure that my display of "business prowess" was the reason I got an ‘A’ in the class.