Gammon steaks, or ham steaks as you like it, are a quick and easy cut of meat to prepare, are usually reasonably priced at the supermarket, and can offer two to four portions easily.  The downside to this semi-staple is that at the end of the day, it’s still just a thick slice of ham.

That being said, it’s extremely easy to create a much more flavorful dish from such an humble slice of pork.  All you’ll need are three ingredients:

• 1 Gammon / Ham steak, 1/4 – 3/8″ thick, bone-in
• 2 Tbsp black peppercorns, cracked
• 12 oz hard cider (dry brands like Strongbow work wonderfully, but fruitier ciders such as pear cider will add a completely different sort of flavor) .

Preparation is incredibly simple.  All you’ll need to do is set the meat in a non-stick skillet, pour on the cider, add the peppercorns, and cook over medium heat until the cider has been near completely reduced, turning the meat at least once during cooking (7-8 minutes per side should be adequate, as pork only needs to reach 140*F internal temperature to be safe for consumption).

It’s no secret that GOOD is one of my favorite publications.  Granted, I mourn their decision to go to a quarterly schedule to lower their carbon footprint and costs, among other reasons, but on the upside, it means a lot more web based content from this excellent magazine.

One recent offering caught my eye:  Picture Show: You Are What You Eat, which showcase the photographic endeavor of Mark Menjivar to showcase USAmerican culture through the contents of our refrigerators.  The notes about the household occupancy and personal facts add an even more humanizing anchor to the subject of one of our most basic needs: nutrition.

Whether the subject of the camera’s gaze is the near empty fridge of a person on fixed income which holds little more than a single condiment and what appears to be a handbag, or the rich red bounty of the deer hunter’s freezer, these simple photographs really make a point.  It may not be sublime, it may not be even be artistic, but the series of shots certainly has a punch to it, if you’re willing to look.

Have you ever wanted to know more about your breakfast meat of choice?  Look no further than The Baconcyclopedia, a comprehensive and exhaustive exploration of the best bits of Babe.

Sometimes it’s just fun to find a new giant fiberglass rooster at one of your favorite home cooking nooks.

Buckners’ Family Restaurant
1168 Bucksnort Road, Jackson, GA
770-775-6150

Following the meme of the Omnivore’s 100, here’s my appropriately marked version of the list.  Bold for tried, italic for “would never try.”

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream 
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini 
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong <- My favorite tea.
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers <- Roses and violets especially.
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

As I previously mentioned, more and more men are finding cooking to be fun and enjoyable as it can lead to…well, to other things that are fun and enjoyable, like relationships, or maybe just an impressive fling with an impressionable interest.

However, there may be some more dastardly impetus behind the “gastrosexual” movement and coining of the term other than just to up ratings for male cooking celebrities such as Iron Chefs, the new Food Network Star, Aaron McCargo, Jr., or traveling stomachs such as one of my personal heroes, Anthony Bourdain, or the more eclectic (and non-discerning) star of Bizarre Foods, Andrew Zimmern (C’mon…the man volunteers to eat what normally passes as vomit inducing on shows like Fear Factor).

PurAsia has registered the domain name Gastrosexual.com and even goes so far as to include their commissioned 29 page report (PDF) on the phenomena in their “pardon our construction” splash which currently inhabits the site’s frontpage.

Now…the real question is not whether or not cooking for others involves some need for ego stroking, oyster based aphrodisia, or elsewise. The question is “Who in the name of Bacchinalian revelries is PurAsia?” The short answer is that they’re a new subsidiary(?) of Mars Foods based on pushing Asiatic spices and seasonings. TalkingRetail has more info here.

There’s no denying that Asian restaurants are hot right now, nor that they make great date spots, so it’s not so unimaginable that being able to prepare the same dishes doesn’t lend a certain je nest sais quios to the chef…but I do find it a bit capitalistically troubling that a spice company is now empowering a new term for an entire subculture which in turn spans across just about every other subculture. Sure, spices and seasonings have driven economies since time immemorial, but who knows where this will lead.

Hopefully to some tasty meals shared with others at the least.

Apparently, there is a term for men like me that enjoy cooking and see it as a life skill useful for something other than…well…staying alive. That term? Gastrosexual. While perhaps not being the best word creation ever, the term is being used to delineate one simple line of thinking: Cooking is sexy, and doing a good job of it is a way to attract others.

With the appeal of the hobby / profession among men growing daily thanks to macho celebrity chefs (without strange facial hair, funny accents, and 50lbs too many), it’s not hard to imagine that cooking is no longer relegated merely to women and the French.

Come on…it involves sharp knives, fire, and when done correctly earns the chef praise and knowledge of his ability to delight, entertain, and satisfy those around him.

For more on the rise of macho cooking and its place in modern western culture, see this article at the Daily Mail.

Makes for one amazing mosaic.  The below photo is part of a larger collection of images created using nothing but apples.

[Via: CuriousPhoto]

In one classic episode of the Simpsons, Homer is served Fugu, or pufferfish / blowfish, at a Japanese restaurant. Shortly after devouring the dish, he is told that the entirety of the fish, save for the eyes, is extremely poisonous.

While this isn’t entirely true, the fish does require careful preparation by a licensed sushi chef to avoid exposing patrons to the fish’s natural toxins.

YouTube, ever a font of video interest just so happens to have a video featuring the preparation of the dangerously puffy delight

Warning: Fugu is prepared live.  You’ve made jokes about beef so rare it was still moo’ing?  Fugu is sometimes served so quickly that the musculature literally is still twitching.