Ground Beef

If you've stuck some ground beef in your freezer after Aug. 23, listen up. Tyson Fresh Meats Inc. of Emporia, Kan. is recalling more than 113,000 pounds of ground beef due to a possible E. coli contamination in Ohio, according to the USDA. The meat was shipped to distribution centers in twelve states, including Maryland and Delaware, in three-pound chubs, were produced on Aug. 23 and bore a label stating a "BEST BEFORE OR FREEZE BY" date of "SEP 12 2011". The retail distribution list for this meat will be posted on the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection service website.

Wegmans Food Markets Inc. said today they will also stop selling meat with an additive known as pink slime. Thebyproduct comes from fatty scraps leftover after steaks and roasts are cut from a cow. The meat bits are heated to soften them and then spun to remove the fat and separate the meat. Ammonia is used to kill bacteria. The filler is sometimes mixed into fattier meat to create a leaner product. The USDA said pink slime passes food safety standards but many retailers have been pulling it from shelves because of concern from shoppers.

Giant Food, the region's largest grocery chain, became the latest area supermarket Thursday to declare it would stop selling meat with the additive known as pink slime. The Landover-based company is among a growing number of supermarkets pulling the product from its shelves because of concern from shoppers, even though food regulators say pink slime, also known as "finely textured beef," passes food safety standards. "While the USDA … has indicated this product is safe for consumption and complies with all applicable standards for lean beef, many of our customers voiced concern regarding finely textured beef," Giant said in a statement.

Giant Food, the region's largest grocery chain, became the latest area supermarket Thursday to declare it would stop selling meat with the additive known as pink slime. The Landover-based company is among a growing number of supermarkets pulling the product from its shelves because of concern from shoppers, even though food regulators say pink slime, also known as "finely textured beef," passes food safety standards. "While the USDA … has indicated this product is safe for consumption and complies with all applicable standards for lean beef, many of our customers voiced concern regarding finely textured beef," Giant said in a statement.

If you shopped at BJ's earlier this summer, here's a reason to check your freezer. The USDA has announced a recall of 8,500 pounds of ground beef that was repackaged for sale at retail locations including 26 BJ's Wholesale Clubs, such as the location in the White Marsh Retail Center, due to possible E. Coli contamination. The original packages, each containing three 14-pound chubs, had a use or freeze by date of July 1, 2010. There have been three reports of illnesses --- two people in Maine and one in New York --- due to this meat, prepared by Cargill Meat Solutions Corp.

IS THERE a healthy hamburger in our future?Nutrition experts are skeptical, noting that foods high in saturated fats have been shown to contribute to heart disease and the risk of certain cancers. And a typical hamburger today is 20 to 30 percent fat.But Americans love their beef, and they're not likely to give it up, especially not ground beef. Indeed, 44 percent, or about 3 billion pounds, of the beef consumed in this country each year is ground beef, according to the Beef Industry Council.

If your only knowledge of Turkish food consists of the confection called "Turkish Delight," you're not alone. While Turkish food isn't well known, you could say the same about Cazbar, a narrow restaurant on Charles Street in Mount Vernon. It was so under the radar that it was recently reported to be closed. The tales of Cazbar's demise were greatly exaggerated, though, which is a good thing. Sitting down with a menu in Cazbar's cozy dining room, it's clear that any and all fears of otherworldly cuisine are unfounded.

Scott Barao sold 420 pounds of ground beef one day last week at his Frederick County farm store, up from the 100 pounds he moves most weekdays. The reason for the run on his $4.95-a-pound burger meat: Bad beef in the news. "Every time there's a ground beef recall, our ground beef business in our little market triples," said Barao, owner of Hedgeapple Farm in Adamstown. Or quadruples, at least this time around, a few days after Fairbank Farms in Ashville, N.Y., recalled nearly 546,000 pounds of ground beef.

* Use non-stick cookware or vegetable spray to cut down or eliminate cooking fat or oil.* Replace cream with evaporated skim milk. Replace whole milk with low-fat or skim milk.* Replace or blend sour cream with a reduced-fat sour cream or plain, low-fat or non-fat yogurt.* Replace some or all ground beef with ground turkey in meat loaf, chili and casseroles. Stick to ground beef for burgers.* Use sausages made from low-fat meats such as turkey, chicken and veal.* Use a small amount of broth or stock instead of fat to saute vegetables.

Because of incorrect information provided to The Sun, the safe cooking temperatures for red meat and poultry were reversed in yesterday's Tidbits column in the A La Carte section. Ground beef should be cooked to 160 degrees, and whole poultry should be cooked to 180 degrees.The Sun regrets the error.Pub Date: 8/28/97

If you've stuck some ground beef in your freezer after Aug. 23, listen up. Tyson Fresh Meats Inc. of Emporia, Kan. is recalling more than 113,000 pounds of ground beef due to a possible E. coli contamination in Ohio, according to the USDA. The meat was shipped to distribution centers in twelve states, including Maryland and Delaware, in three-pound chubs, were produced on Aug. 23 and bore a label stating a "BEST BEFORE OR FREEZE BY" date of "SEP 12 2011". The retail distribution list for this meat will be posted on the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection service website.

If your only knowledge of Turkish food consists of the confection called "Turkish Delight," you're not alone. While Turkish food isn't well known, you could say the same about Cazbar, a narrow restaurant on Charles Street in Mount Vernon. It was so under the radar that it was recently reported to be closed. The tales of Cazbar's demise were greatly exaggerated, though, which is a good thing. Sitting down with a menu in Cazbar's cozy dining room, it's clear that any and all fears of otherworldly cuisine are unfounded.

Last week I fessed up to employing a pina colada to mask the taste of shad roe. I recounted that tense moment socially when the rest of the room was praising this old Maryland culinary springtime dish, but I was in agony. As it turned out, there were others who found themselves in a proper dining room with a plate of dubious delicacy in front of them. What do you do? I heard from E. Christian Mattson, who offered this suggestion: "I grew up in Highlandtown and my mother, being Italian, served us wonderful dishes.

Bonnie Conrad from Pasadena was searching for an old recipe called "Country Kitchen Pie. " She said the recipe was on the back of a box of Minute Rice during the 1960s and had ground beef as the crust and rice and cheese as the filling. This must have been a very popular recipe back in the day because several readers still had it in their files. Helen O'Connor of Knoxville, Tenn., sent in a copy of her "well-used and loved" recipe for the pie that she cut out of a magazine ad for Hunt's tomato sauce.

If you shopped at BJ's earlier this summer, here's a reason to check your freezer. The USDA has announced a recall of 8,500 pounds of ground beef that was repackaged for sale at retail locations including 26 BJ's Wholesale Clubs, such as the location in the White Marsh Retail Center, due to possible E. Coli contamination. The original packages, each containing three 14-pound chubs, had a use or freeze by date of July 1, 2010. There have been three reports of illnesses --- two people in Maine and one in New York --- due to this meat, prepared by Cargill Meat Solutions Corp.

Scott Barao sold 420 pounds of ground beef one day last week at his Frederick County farm store, up from the 100 pounds he moves most weekdays. The reason for the run on his $4.95-a-pound burger meat: Bad beef in the news. "Every time there's a ground beef recall, our ground beef business in our little market triples," said Barao, owner of Hedgeapple Farm in Adamstown. Or quadruples, at least this time around, a few days after Fairbank Farms in Ashville, N.Y., recalled nearly 546,000 pounds of ground beef.

Consider this dish a Southwestern spin on a sloppy Joe. It's just as easy to make, especially if you buy commercially prepared salsa, refried beans and, of course, the soft flour tortillas. Use the Mexican variety of hot chorizo, which must be cooked. To crumble the sausage, cut down the casing with a sharp knife and use your fingers to pull out the meat. You can find chorizo at supermarkets and ethnic-food stores. Ground turkey or ground chicken are lower-fat alternatives to the ground beef.

* Use non-stick cookware or vegetable spray to cut down or eliminate cooking fat or oil.* Replace cream with evaporated skim milk. Replace whole milk with low-fat or skim milk.* Replace or blend sour cream with a reduced-fat sour cream or plain, low-fat or non-fat yogurt.* Replace some or all ground beef with ground turkey in meat loaf, chili and casseroles. Stick to ground beef for burgers.* Use sausages made from low-fat meats such as turkey, chicken and veal.* Use a small amount of broth or stock instead of fat to saute vegetables.

Janna Snyder from Portland, Ind., was hoping to find a recipe for one of her favorite dishes from childhood. It was a skillet type of pizza, without the traditional crust, that she thought was made by soaking bread in beaten eggs and then topping it with pizza sauce, cheese and pepperoni in the fashion of a traditional pizza. I decided this sounded interesting, and while I did not receive any recipes from readers, I did locate a recipe for a skillet pizza on Cooks.com that sounded close to what Snyder had described.