Braised Rubber Equals Good Eats

Interesting stuff is going on today.

First off, I received–and tried–my rice cooker today.

Cooking rice correctly is not hard if you do it several times a month, but if you lay off, you forget exactly which measurements, stove settings, and cooking times work. I gave up and ordered a computerized cooker.

I was going to go with something that only makes rice, but I saw that I could get an Instant Pot automatic pressure cooker for a reasonable price. I had to try that. Pressure cookers are wonderful, and a pressure cooker that already knows how to do a lot of basic things, and which also lets you choose how long it stays on, sounded like a godsend.

So I made rice, right? No. I made boliche, which is a Cuban dish. This may be the first time I’ve wanted any type of Cuban food since leaving Miami. Generally, it makes my stomach hurt when I see a sign for a Cuban restaurant, and the thought of eating food that reminds me of one of the most unpleasant cities in America turns me off. But today I needed something suitable for pressure-cooking, and boliche came to mind.

Boliche is eye round roast. It’s like a big piece of fat-free rubber shaped like a tongue. If you throw it in the oven and try to prepare it like a real roast, it will be inedible. If you cook it forever in the presence of the right ingredients, it’s very good.

I made a tunnel in the roast and shoved cheap chorizos into it. I covered the roast with salt, pepper, cumin, and fresh garlic. I added red wine and a little water, plus a couple of sacrificial onions for flavor. I cooked the meat for 45 minutes. Then I tossed in seasoned potatoes, carrots, and more onions and cooked everything for another 15 minutes.

You can’t cook vegetables and meat in a pressure cooker for the same amount of time, because the vegetables disintegrate. I saved most of my onions for the second cooking session. I only added onions to the first run to get their flavor into the meat.

The boliche was quite good. It would have been better had I remembered to add red bell peppers, but it was very nice. It could have been more tender, though, so after dinner, I put the meat back in the machine by itself and set it to run 15 more minutes. Really good boliche is on the verge of falling apart, and the sauce permeates it.

Is it worth it to use a computerized cooker to make boliche? It’s an improvement. It’s easier to clean than my regular pressure cookers, and it’s somewhat easier to use. It should give reproducible results easily because it has repeatable settings. On occasions when I have to cook a lot of things, it will free up a stove burner and turn itself off for me, and it will keep things warm when they’re done. It’s hard to see buyer’s remorse in this picture.

I’ll make rice sooner or later. I look forward to rice that doesn’t have little crunchy bits in the middle or a layer of leathery rice on the bottom.

Second major event: I received more .22 LR ammo. I now own too much of it to carry without risking a back injury. I have 5,000 more rounds on order, but the company I bought it from seems shady, so I wouldn’t be surprised if I ended up disputing the charge and getting a refund from my credit card company. My lack of confidence in them is the reason I ordered the shipment that arrived today.

Now I feel good about the .22 LR supply. I can sit back and see if it loosens up. I honestly think 15,000 rounds by mid-summer would be a good sensible goal. As I have said before, it only gets more expensive with time, and I know perfectly well that I’ll shoot thousands of rounds during my life. Best to get the buying over with.

This caliber is indispensible. If you want to be a good shot, practice makes a big difference, and .22 LR makes it affordable. It’s also more pleasant to shoot than bigger calibers. It’s good for hunting. It’s good for slaughtering farm animals. You can even use it for self defense if you’re a good shot with a big magazine. For under $700, you can get a very good pistol plus enough ammo and targets to turn you into an excellent marksman.

I really like Mini-mags. I am content to settle on them for my go-to .22 cartridges for the foreseeable future. I don’t think something else will pop up next month and blow them out of the water. CCI/Speer has always given me great results. I’ve shot aluminum Blazers, brass Blazers, .22 LR, and 10mm Gold Dots. No problems at all. Can’t say that about every brand *cough cough PMC*.

I found an okay deal on 7.62x39mm, but it’s probably gone now. The company I wanted to buy from listed the price as about $250. Problem: one part of their site said it was 100 rounds, and another said 1000. I asked for clarification days ago. They had a box of ordinary pistol ammo priced at something like $35, and that suggested they were not above gouging. I didn’t want to receive a very small box of ammo with a $300 invoice.

They finally responded this afternoon. It’s 1000 rounds. Now…how likely is it that they still have it? I’ll check.

Dang. They still have it.

I have over 1000 rounds already. Why do I want more?

When I first got into AK ammo, I bought Wolf hollowpoints. I figured they were a good balance of low price and reasonable usefulness in a defensive situation. Then I found out Tulammo hollowpoints did a lot better in tests, so I ordered those. Recently, I learned that Tulammo soft points do better than hollowpoints, and the price is either identical or close.

I have no desire to harm anyone, but I did buy my Eastern-bloc guns for self-defense, and it seems to me that I might as well have ammo that works.

People say they do well with deer, using Tulammo soft points. Sounds good enough for me. Anything that works well on deer works well on unexpected guests.

There is a lot of pricey non-Russian AK ammo out there, and maybe it will work somewhat better than Tulammo. I don’t know. Tulammo seems very good, and when you’re shooting 30-round magazines, it’s hard not to think about cost.

Maybe I’m not being logical. I have a desire to make a credible effort to maintain good self-defense ammo, but on the other hand, I am not excited about shooting human beings, and I like saving money. Tulammo is where this maelstrom of motivations took me.

People love to say, “How much is your life worth?”, when discussing ammo prices. I’m not sure my life is worth $1.50 per round. Also, I don’t think a murderer will take 20 hits of Tulammo and then run over, stick a knife in me, and say, “Should have bought Hornady, vato.”

Buying the first lot of Tulammo turned my Wolf into range fodder, and buying a second lot would turn the first lot into range fodder. Guess I’ll start shooting the AK and Vz58. My steel targets are probably too small to hit from a safe distance (100 yards), so I should get a bigger gong or shoot paper.

Widener’s. That’s who has the ammo. If you’re looking for Tulammo soft points, jump on it. I’ve written about the situation before, but I didn’t want to mention the name because I was afraid someone who reads the blog would snap it all up. Before tax and shipping, it’s 25 cents per round. That’s acceptable. The shipping isn’t too bad.

Cheaper Than Dirt has been gouging like crazy. I don’t know why anyone buys from them. Maybe it’s old guys who can’t Google well enough to find good deals. Does the proprietor understand just how cheap dirt is? The name of the company is a bad joke.

I’m all set now. Nearly. I just need some more .22 rifles and pistols, rifle brass, primers, powder, and bullets, an infra-red scope or two, a rangefinder, a couple of cool shooting jackets like Paul Harrell wears, a McCormick AR trigger, several suppressors, and a tactical haircut with lots of gel.

It has been a pleasant day. Hope things are looking up in your area.