Meat

I didn't know it was still possible to order a sandwich from one of the big chain sub shops without walking the thing through the assembly process. First you pick from a variety of breads. After that, it's one option after another. Which sauce? How much lettuce? Olives? Hot, cold … and on it goes. Me, personally? I always overdo the pickles. Now we have Jimmy John's, the big chain sub shop that's new to Baltimore, with three other Maryland locations in Columbia, College Park and Frederick.

When you eat steamed crabs are you a dipper, a swiper or a sauce-maker? A dipper removes the crab meat from the shell then drops it in a bowl of liquid, usually apple-cider vinegar or melted butter. A swiper rubs the crab meat quickly over the bits of seasoning clinging to the shell. A sauce-maker combines ingredients, usually mustard, mayonnaise and ketchup, then drags the crab meat through this creation. There is also another option: None of the above. That is, just eating the crab meat as soon as it pops out of the shell.

Each week a nutritionist from the University of Maryland Medical Center provides a guest post to The Baltimore Sun's health blog Picture of Health (baltimoresun.com/pictureofhealth). This week, Christine Dobmeier, RD CSR LDN, weighs in on the 1812 diet. Baltimore is embarking on the bicentennial celebration of the War of 1812. With the focus on history with the upcoming events around town, it's interesting to think about how people in 1812 lived their everyday lives, including what they ate. Were their diets similar to ours or drastically different?

I have used Adolph's sodium-free tenderizer on all my meat, poultry and fish for years. I'm told that the company is no longer making it, and the alternatives all seem to have sodium. Will the company be making it again or can you suggest a good substitute? According to the customer-service department at Lawry's, the division of Unilever that markets Adolph's, the sodium-free tenderizer was indeed discontinued in January. The representative said there was a possibility the product would be reintroduced if customer demand was high enough, so all you fans out there: Call 800-9-LAWRYS and make yourself known.

The new food truck Philly Mignon , a cheese steak specialist, made its downtown Baltimore debut on Monday. So did Darua. Darua, owned and operated by Marcellos Salles, sells Brazilian street food. On the menu are things like feijoda , a stew of black beans and meat; espetinho , skewered meats; and pastels , which are like flattened-out stuffed won-tons. The truck has a website and a Facebook page . You can also follow it on Twitter @daruafoodtruck.

This summer, we've seen the biggest recall of beef in American history - nine decades after a famous book led the federal government to start inspecting meat. If the author were still alive, he wouldn't be surprised that serious problems remain.Upton Sinclair's novel, "The Jungle," included sickening descriptions of Chicago meatpacking plants. Published in 1907, it jarred the nation and lifted hopes of major reform. But not for long.Later that year, "the lobbyists of the packers had their way in Washington," Sinclair observed.

Chester -- It looked more like a crab pancake than a Maryland crab cake. It was flat and somewhat shy of crab flavor. But when lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise were added to the "new" McDonald's crab cake, it perked up.As a crab cake I would give it a C-minus. As a "trapped parent" dish it got a C-plus. It was above average fare for a parent stuck at a fast food restaurant with the kids.That was my take on the "new," or at least newly reintroduced McDonald's crab cake being sold this summer at 23 McDonald's restaurants on the Eastern Shore.

Winston Blick has heads in his freezer. And hearts. And legs. The legs have hooves on them, and the other body parts come from animals, too, so no need to call the authorities. The only emergency is the freezer-space kind. Blick is running out of room for the big hunks of pig he has on his hands as a result of the laudable, but in some ways confounding, locavore dining trend. More and more chefs, tapping into the local-foods movement, are getting their pork, beef and other meats straight from nearby farmers instead of far-off factory farms.

Put cooked ground meat in a colander, set the colander on a plate and press down on the meat with a spoon to drain off as much grease as possible.- The Food Lover's TiptionaryPub Date: 12/27/98