Cushion Meat (1996)

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

CUSHION MEAT
(Brought to you by Barry Popik, just let out of parking tickets for the day)

Those who prefer turf to surf should start with the "cushion meat" ($7), thin cutlets of pork shoulder treated with a peppery citrus marinade.
--NEW YORK SUN, 3 March 2004, pg. 21, col. 2
(This article is also on FACTIVA)

CUSHION MEAT--398 Google hits, 6 Google Groups hits

   "Cushion meat" is not in the OED.  A Google search for "cushion meat" + "dictionary" turns up zero hits. The food dictionary competition (what there is of it) just isn't very good.
   Factiva has 2374 hits, but going back only to 1996.  Most of the articles are titled "ODJ USDA Meat Prices."


(GOOGLE GROUPS)
From: bill at pipping.com (bill at pipping.com)
Subject: Re: Cushion meat
Newsgroups: alt.food.barbecue
Date: 2003-08-16 07:07:42 PST

On Sat, 16 Aug 2003 02:28:39 -0500, Steve Wertz
<swertz at fastmail.micronesia> wrote:

>On Sat, 16 Aug 2003 00:19:36 -0700, Bill
><spamtrap at tinlc.lumbercartel.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> Howdy all. So, what is cushion meat and how can I use it?
>>
>> Was going through the meat section and there was this 12 pound vac pac
>>of Farmer John boneless cushion meat for 97 cents a pound. Is it useful
>>for Q or is it dog food?
>
>The cushion refers to a specific muscle in a front leg of swine from
>what I remember.  It can be smoked if there's some fat left on it.
>Otherwise it can be used for anything that calls for boneless pork.
>
>I haven't seen anything specifically labelled that in quite a while.
>
>-sw

I was in Smart & Final yesterday buying some lump, and saw the same
thing in there.
I Googled it, and found the same thing you said.
I might try one.

--
Bill


(FACTIVA)
etc. Meatout Ham slicing
404 words
13 March 1996
Peoria Journal Star
All
C1
English
(Copyright 1996)

Meatout

Break out the tofu: next Wednesday is the 12th annual Great American Meatout, sponsored by the Farm Animal Reform Movement (FARM).

Organizers of the project, which is modeled after the Great American Smokeout, are encouraging Americans to "kick the meat habit, at least for a day."

"Numerous consumer, environmental and animal protection groups, as well as public officials, health providers, clergy, educators, writers, entertainers and others believe that consumers are entitled to a one-day response to the relentless barrage of self-serving promotional messages from the meat industry," reads a FARM press release.

Ham slicing

Easter is approaching, which means it's time for some people to start honing their ham-carving technique. The Pork Information Bureau offers these instructions for slicing a bone-in ham:

*For a whole ham: Place the ham on a cutting board with the shank -- or lower leg -- to the carver's right. Steady the ham with a fork and cut a few slices from the thin side of the leg. This provides a base to set the ham as you continue to carve.

Place the ham on the side where you've removed slices. Make perpendicular slices to the leg bone. To loosen the slices, cut along the leg bone with the knife, removing each slice with the fork.

*For the shank half of a ham: Position the ham with the shank end to the carver's left, with the thicker piece of meat -- the "cushion" meat -- on top. Using a fork to steady the ham, cut along the top of the bone to loosen the boneless cushion meat.

Place the cushion meat carved-side down on the cutting board and cut in perpendicular slices. Transfer slices to a serving platter.
(...)

---------------------------------------------------------------
NO REAL REASON FOR LIVING (PART A MILLION OR SO) (continued, of course)

(NEXIS)
Copyright 2004 National Broadcasting Co. Inc.
NBC News Transcripts
SHOW: Today (7:00 AM ET) - NBC
February 26, 2004 Thursday
LENGTH: 441 words
HEADLINE: Weather report
ANCHORS: ANN CURRY
REPORTERS: AL ROKER
BODY:
ANN CURRY, anchor:

You're up to date at 5 minutes past the hour. It's time for TODAY'S WEATHER forecast with Al in Chicago.

JOE WITTE, announcer: TODAY'S WEATHER is brought to you by...

AL ROKER reporting:

And good morning, everybody. Of course, everybody knows Chicago is known as the Windy City. But it's not why you think. Take a look.

Chicago, the architecture, the lake. Oh, yeah, and the wind. It wasn't those nasty Alberta Clippers, but a very different kind of wind that forever branded Chicago the Windy City. Desperate to win the competition to host the 1893 World's Fair, Chicago put on a full-court press against chief rival, New York City.

Mr. RUSSELL LEWIS (Historian): Somewhere along the line, the people in New York just were so tired of hearing Chicagoans talk about how great their city was, that an editorial appeared in the New York Sun referred to Chicago as that Windy City, referring to all the hot wind that came out of its boosters.

ROKER: But it's that bitter cold wind that most people associate with the Windy City. So we were curious. Just how windy is the Windy City?

Mr. JIM STEFKOVICH (National Weather Service): There are many cities, about 50 or so cities, with higher wind speed averages than Chicago, and that includes New York City, Boston, Milwaukee, San Francisco and the like.

ROKER: So does Chicago's weather get a bad wrap?

Unidentified Man: It's difficult, but it's nice to have four seasons as well.

ROKER: Well, you certainly don't hear any complaints about those lake-front breezes come August.
(...)