GoneTrending

Ivanka Trump, officially, has remained very quiet following the failed MAGA coup, in which a mob of Trump followers stormed the U.S. Capitol, which left five people (including two police officers) dead. Well, Ivanka did tweet-and-delete a description of these people as “American Patriots,” and there are reports that she fancies herself as a future president, but other than that, we’re hearing a lot from other people. That includes warring sources quoted by the Washington Post in a report about the many toilets of Jared and Ivanka… and their apparent steadfast refusal to allow their Secret Service detail to use any of them.

This seems a tad extreme, right? Jared and Ivanka’s D.C. home (which they will, uh, soon vacate) features six-and-a-half bathrooms, and if this report is to be believed, they didn’t even want to designate a powder room for the people who protected them from harm’s way. This led to the U.S. government eventually being forced to rent a $3,000 per month basement bathroom elsewhere that has totaled up to $100,000 over the past your years. Yikes. This absurdity arrived after Jared and Ivanka wanted the agents to use a porta-potty, which the neighbors hated, and after the agents used a garage bathroom nearby at Barack and Michelle Obama’s house. That got (literally) messy:

The porta-potty was the agency’s initial solution to the protective detail’s dilemma, but it was removed in the face of the neighborhood’s protests. After that, according to the law enforcement officials, the agents began using a bathroom in a garage at the Obamas’ house, which the former president’s protective detail had turned into a command post.

The Obamas did not use the garage, so the extra traffic to and from the command post caused no problem. Yet this solution, too, was short-lived after a Secret Service supervisor from the Trump/Kushner detail left an unpleasant mess in the Obama bathroom at some point before the fall of 2017, according to a person briefed on the event. That prompted the leaders of the Obama detail to ban the agents up the street from ever returning.

The Post quotes a law enforcement source that declared, “It’s the first time I ever heard of a Secret Service detail having to go to these extremes to find a bathroom.” Meanwhile, the official White House word is that the Secret Service didn’t want to use Jared and Ivanka’s bathrooms, but yeah, law enforcement pushed back on that one. So, is it January 20th yet?

(Via Washington Post)

Cooking a steak to (your personal idea of) perfection takes time to master. Because there are a lot of ways to cook a steak, which means there are a lot of ways to mess it up. We’re not talking about selection, cuts, or even methods today. Instead, we’re zeroing in on getting the meat done right in a general sense, whether on a grill or in a cast-iron skillet.

This is about teaching you to have a “knack” for cooking steak. So that you never cut into a $40 piece of filet mignon and find it blue when you wanted it medium ever again.

Our goal here is to help you learn the three main ways to check your temperature as you’re cooking and resting your meat. Using a thermometer is (surprise!) the most accurate. But beyond that, you’re really going off of feel more than anything else. And that’s something you master over time.

Obviously, there are a lot of variables at play here, too. Cooking a skirt steak isn’t the same thing as cooking a bone-in ribeye. Likewise, a filet is going to take a little more finesse than a strip. We’ll explore the differences in the process as it relates to the specific cut as we go along.

PART I — Know Your Temperatures

• 110F — Blue (seared, red, and just warmed through)
• 120F — Rare (dark pink and fully warmed through)
• 130F — Medium Rare (light pink throughout)
• 140F — Medium (losing most of the pink)
• 150F — Medium Well (brown with a hint of pink in the very middle)
• 160F — Well Done (no pink at all)

140F is generally the spot you want to hit if you’re worried about bad bacterias on or in your food. Side note: Buy food you trust from local sources and this becomes much less of a concern.

If you’re nervous about your meat, always cook it to at least 140F. However, a steak is a solid piece of meat and harmful bacteria (if there is any) will be on the surface, which reaches temperatures well beyond 140F while cooking. Onely when the surface area is ground and mixed into the whole (hamburger), do you really have to start worrying about harmful bacterias in your meat.

All of that being said, know what you like and are comfortable with. Then cook your steak accordingly. Sure, well done meat is worse for you, but who are we to judge?

Lastly, these are end-point temperatures. That means we’re talking about a steak’s internal temp once it has rested. In general, the internal temperature will raise anywhere from five to ten (sometimes more) degrees while it rests, depending on which cut we’re talking about (more on that later). So don’t make the common Thanksgiving mistake of not taking your protein off the heating element until it’s reached the desired temp.

PART II — Start With Room Temperature Meat

Give yourself a head start! Cooking meat fresh out of the fridge will screw up the final product. You want to take the steak out at least an hour — preferably two hours — before you cook it. This will bring the internal temp of the meat to room temp. That should mean a difference of starting your cook at 75F instead of 35F. The actual muscle and fats will be softer when the meat is room temp, allowing the heat you apply on a stove or grill more space to do its work.

You also want to salt pretty early. Our tip is to take your steak out of the fridge about two hours before you want to cook. Then liberally salt all sides and let it rest on the kitchen counter. This will help season beyond the surface while also desiccating the surface, allowing a better crust to form down the road.

(There is some debate on when to salt the steak, but with a lot of reps under my belt, I like this method.)

PART III — Rest Between The Sear And Finish/Baste

Whether on a grill or in a skillet, you want to go fast and hot for the first step of cooking. You really don’t need to worry about internal temp at this point. Heat some neutral oil in a skillet or turn your heat up to 11 on the grill and get a solid sear on your meat.

Once you have a sear on both sides, take that steak off the heat and let it rest for a second. If you’re going for rare or medium-rare, this will stop the outer layer of the steak from losing all its pink color and going brown.

Generally, let the steak sit for three to five minutes just to take the edge of that high heat off. If we’re talking about a flank or skirt steak, you really don’t need to do this because they’re thin enough just to sear and be done with it. If we’re talking something with a bone, this is crucial.

Then you want to finish the steak on closer to medium or medium-high heat. This is where you add in your aromatics — thyme, rosemary, garlic, whatever — and butter if you’re basting.

This is also where you start testing for temperature. Which leads us to…

PART IV — The Touch Method

The most talked-about way to test your steak’s doneness is called the “touch method,” where you use your hand’s meatiness as a gauge.

It goes something like this: Look at your palm. Start poking it where your thumb meets the palm, leading to the index finger. That little bit of soft fleshy bit is basically the same feel as a rare steak. Now, move your poking finger about a half-inch towards the inner palm. It’s a little stiffer, right? That’s medium-rare. Another half-inch towards the palm is medium. The next half-inch should have your poking finger fully in the palm and a fairly stiff point which is medium-well leading to well done.

This little explainer is actually produced by the American Heart Association.

Chef Gordon Ramsay has a different riff on the touch test here. He drops a few other gems, too.

This is not a science. A skirt steak will cook much faster than, say, a rib eye. So you’ll have to keep a closer eye on it and take it off pretty fast. Then there’s a filet (or tenderloin) which, depending on thickness, will still hold a bit of giggle to it even as it cooks through. So you’ll have to practice this and find the sweet spots.

PART V — The Metal Spear Method

This might sound a little crazy to the uninitiated, but most professional chefs use a very small metal meat pick or spear to test their meat’s doneness. Basically, what you’ll see trained chefs do is insert this thin little metal stick into the meat and then place that stick on their wrist (or more weirdly their chin) to test the warmth of the internal meat. How warm that metal stick is will tell the chef where the meat is internally.

While this is a cool looking trick, it takes forever to master. You really have to get used to how a temperature feels which you really can’t do unless you’re cooking 50 steaks a night in culinary school. Still, if you master this at home, good on you! It’s a fun way to prove your prowess at cooking meat precisely… if you can dial it in.

PART VI — The “Just Use A Thermometer Already!” Method

This is really where everyone should start, especially if you’re dealing with thick cuts of meat. You can use something like a Meater thermometer to know exactly where your steak is at all times. We’re calling out that thermometer specifically because you leave it in the meat while you cook. You do not want to be poking your steak a dozen times to check the temperature — it’ll create holes through which all the juices you want to preserve will escape. The thermometer in the image above sort of gets sealed into the meat as it cooks, so you don’t lose the precious fluids.

If you do want to use a standard thermometer, our advice is to use the “touch method” and then put a thermometer in to see how close you are to the targeted temp just once. Please don’t keep poking the steak with a thermometer. The best thing you can do is practice and feel it out over trial and error until you have it just right.

PART VII — Always Rest After The Cook

This is the final step of cooking any steak and crucial to the final doneness of the meat.

If you’re cooking something thin like a skirt or even something small like a four-ounce filet, you’ll need around five minutes for the rest. In that time, you can see anywhere from five to seven or eight degrees change in temperature.

If you’re talking about a big ol’ rib-eye or porterhouse, you’ll need at least ten minutes and expect a ten-degree increase in internal temp.

So, if you’re aiming for medium-rare with a rib eye, take it off the heat at 120F to 125F. Rest for ten minutes. Then check the temp with a thermometer. It should be between 130F and 135F. This process also allows the steak to calm down and for fluids to redistribute. The juices will settle back into the muscle, creating a more succulent final experience.

This resting time also gives you just the right amount of time to make a quick pan sauce. But that’s an article for another day.

After being behind-the-scenes as a producer for recognizable names in electropop, Danny L Harle is ready to step onto center stage with his debut LP. The producer officially announced his collection of club-ready songs Harlecore with a soaring new single.

Harle debuted the fluttering track “On A Mountain” Thursday, which boasts euphoric vocals and trance-like synths over a racing beat. The song officially previews Harlecore, which aims to offer a home for ravers who are missing the experience of live music. Throughout 13 tracks, Harle offers his vision of a futuristic club, which each room holding one of four residents with a distinct style of music: DJ Danny, MC Boing, DJ Mayhem, and DJ Ocean.

Ahead of announcing his debut album, Harle has earned a respected name for himself after working on projects with some contemporary pop stars. Most recently, the producer lent a prominent hand in music for the likes of Charli XCX, Rina Sawayama, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Clairo. He also worked as the executive producer for Caroline Polachek’s critically acclaimed debut album Pang.

Listen to Harle’s “On A Mountain” above and find the Harlecore album art and tracklist below.

1. DJ Danny — “Where Are You Now”
2. MC Boing — “Boing Beat”
3. DJ Mayhem — “Interlocked”
4. DJ Ocean — “Ocean’s Theme”
5. DJ Danny — “On A Mountain”
6. MC Boing — “Piano Song”
7. DJ Danny — “Do You Remember”
8. DJ Mayhem — “All Night”
9. DJ Danny — “Take My Heart Away”
10. DJ Ocean — “For So Long”
11. DJ Mayhem — “Shining Stars”
12. MC Boing — “Car Song”
13. DJ Danny — “Ti Amo”

Harlecore is out 2/26 via Mad Decent. Pre-order it here.

Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

If you’re curious as to how a Donald Trump rally quickly turned from political protest to outright insurrection as a throng of the president’s supporters violently stormed the Capitol building, The Daily Show just dropped a new video that should leave little doubt about who’s to blame. Titled “Heroes of the Insurrection,” the damning collection of clips features everyone from Fox News talking heads, members of Congress, the official White House press secretary, and Trump’s own children as they steadily ratchet up the rhetoric from just a few days after the presidential election to the moments before the Capitol attack on January 6.

While nobody escapes the brutal Daily Show segment without a sizable amount of blame on their shoulders, there were clearly some standouts. Freshly elected congressman Madison Cawthorn is seen on video specifically telling an audience in December to threaten lawmakers. “You can lightly threaten them and say, you know what, if you don’t start supporting election integrity, I’m coming after you, Madison Cawthorn is coming after you, everybody’s coming after you.”

Rudy Giuliani also doesn’t look great by demanding “trial by combat,” but things really take a turn for the worse when Trump’s sons Eric and Don Jr. take the stage on the day of the attack. Eric tells the crowd that, “We need to march on the Capitol today,” while Don Jr. really steps in it by threatening those who refuse to overturn the election results. “If you’re gonna be the zero and not the hero, we’re coming for you,” Don Jr. said. “And we’re gonna have a good time doing it.” Republican Congressman Mo Brooks certainly didn’t help to calm things when he takes the podium and says, “Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass!”

But of course, nothing can compare to Donald Trump directly addressing his supporters and instructing them that “we’re going to the Capitol” and to “fight like hell.” Five people were killed in the attack.

It looks like “WAP” rapper Cardi B is truly serious about becoming a movie star. Variety reports the Bronx rap superstar has snagged her first-ever lead role in an upcoming comedy produced by Paramount, Assisted Living. Cardi will play a petty crook who dons a disguise to hide from her former crew and the police after a heist gone wrong. That disguise? An elderly woman at her grandmother’s nursing home. Considering Cardi’s sharp comedic instincts, EW expects Assisted Living to be a star vehicle like Sister Act.

Cardi got her first acting role in 2019’s Hustlers alongside fellow Bronx native Jennifer Lopez. Like Lopez, it appears Cardi is now pursuing a double-threat career as both an actor and a musician. In a recent interview, Chris Rock said before Cardi blew up with the release of 2017’s “Bodak Yellow,” he tried to pitch her as the star of a comedy television show, calling her “one of the funniest people” he knows. Now, Paramount is hoping Chris was right, but that may depend on the film’s other personnel; no director is attached in the report, but the writer is Kay Oyegun of This Is Us.

Cardi also has a role in the upcoming Fast & Furious film, F9. You can see more of her funny insights on her Facebook Watch show, Cardi Tries.

Directors Anthony and Joe Russo have re-teamed with Tom Holland for their follow-up to the highest-grossing movie of all-time. No biggie.

In Cherry, the Spider-Man star plays a U.S. Army medic whose life unravels after he returns home from war. He deals with an undiagnosed case of PTSD with opioids, and he pays for the drugs by robbing banks with his wife, played by Ciara Bravo. It was a heavy role for Holland (he’s not a friendly neighbor anything), but the actor was up for the challenge.

“You get a taste of Holland’s incredible performance in the movie and the range that he displays as an actor,” Joe Russo told Entertainment Weekly. “I think you’re seeing him transform from a teen actor into an adult actor.” He added, “Tom is playing a character who makes some self-destructive choices, but he’s so charismatic and likable. It was important for us that the audience go on a journey with him when he makes those choices.” As for why they went from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to an opioid drama, the Ohio-born Anthony Russo explained, “We’re acutely aware of the existential blight that has gripped the Midwest in a lot of ways and made it ground zero for the opioid epidemic. We’ve known a lot of people close to us who have been hurt by the epidemic.”

Cherry premieres on Apple TV+ on March 12.

Well, that mystery didn’t last long. After only a day of speculation from fans, Ariana Grande has already confirmed that the two guest artists on the remix of her popular Positions single “34+35” are rappers Doja Cat and Megan Thee Stallion. Fans had already theorized the two rappers as possible additions to the track, which seemed to be affirmed by Megan Thee Stallion’s comment on Ariana’s announcement post. Now that they’ve been confirmed, all that remains is the wait until the song drops tonight/tomorrow at midnight ET.

“34+35” became an instant fan favorite from Positions thanks to Ariana’s flirtatious and racy lyrics, so Doja and Megan, who both ply their sexuality to uproarious effect in their own music, make perfect sense as guest stars on the track. Fans were sure that Ariana and Doja were set to collaborate soon due to Doja’s sly post suggesting a hidden significance behind her social media follows after she reset the count to only include a handful of artists, but many thought that the collaboration would come on Doja’s own album which is set for release sometime this year.

Doja did already collaborate with Saweetie on the latter’s new single “Best Friend,” while Megan has been a favored feature artist lately, helping take Cardi B’s “WAP” to legendary status within weeks of its release. Meanwhile, Ariana is continuing to promote her album Positions as she prepares to marry fiance Dalton Gomez.

The “34+35” remix is due tonight at midnight ET.

Earlier this week, The 1975 announced that they were canceling all shows for the tour that they had booked in 2021. However, the group is still holding onto hope that they can play songs from their recent Notes On A Conditional Form release at a smaller, more intimate space later on this year.

The 1975 vocalist Matty Healy took to his Instagram stories, according to a report from NME, to offer fans some hope that a show could be possible at some point this year. “If COVID does clean up a bit and ‘small shows’ are available in like the autumn or winter I will definitely do that shit,” he wrote, adding: “One or two intimate small shows (if possible!)”

The news arrives after the band announced that they were starting to work on their next album in lieu of tour, saying they “look forward to seeing you all at a show as soon as it is safe to do so.” While the possibility of attending a concert seems slims at the moment, Dr. Anthony Fauci recently offered hope for the state of live music in the fall. Speaking about the vaccine rollout, Fauci said: “If everything goes right, this is will occur sometime in the fall of 2021. So that by the time we get to the early to mid-fall, you can have people feeling safe performing onstage as well as people in the audience.”

GOP Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene is continuing her PR campaign to become the most eye-rollingly deranged member of her party this week with her latest stunt: trying to impeach soon-to-be President Joe Biden.

Sure, Biden’s technically not in office yet, and yeah, he hasn’t committed any offense worthy of impeachment — unlike his predecessor who’s made history for being the first U.S. president to be impeached twice — but that’s not stopping the Republican from Georgia. And really, why should it? This is a woman who believes in QAnon conspiracies about Satan-worshipping cabals of pedophiles who currently control our democracy. This is a politician who put people’s lives in danger by spreading false claims about the Clinton’s running a sex-trafficking ring out of a D.C. pizzeria.

And, let’s not forget, this is also a member of our government who publicly murdered the concept of irony by wearing a mask with the word “Censored” stamped on it while she addressed one of the most powerful voting bodies in the world, and voting against Trump’s impeachment after the president incited a mob to attack the Capitol. So of course, Rep. Greene is going to draft up articles of impeachment on Biden’s first day in office for, as she recently tweeted, “abuse of power.”

Honestly, we don’t know why comedy writers even try anymore. There’s no way satire can top this.

After Donald Trump inspired a crowd to attack the U.S. Capitol building last week, which has resulted in his second impeachment, Twitter users went to town on creative ways to remove the outgoing president from the holiday classic Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Suggested replacements included Jabba the Hutt, Dolly Parton, and everyone’s favorite mascot, Gritty. There were also calls to swap Trump with a grown-up Macaulay Culkin.

While the effort to remove Trump from the Home Alone sequel started out as jokes, they may have just gained some serious traction. Not only did Culkin see the Trump tweets, but he’s fully onboard. The Home Alone star was particularly sold on the idea of being the one to replace Trump.

You can see Culkin’s replies below:

Prior to the Capitol attack, Home Alone 2 director Chris Columbus has gone on the record saying he’s not a fan of the Trump scene, which was the result of Trump bullying the production while they were filming in the Plaza. Columbus had every intention of editing out the scene after including it to appease Trump, but to his surprise, test audiences ate it up.

“People cheered when Trump showed up on-screen,” Columbus told Insider. “So I said to my editor, ‘Leave him in the movie. It’s a moment for the audience.’ But he did bully his way into the movie.”

While the very brief cameo might seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things, Trump is very attached to it. He flew off the handle back in December 2019 when he learned that his cameo was cut from a Canadian TV broadcast. Instead of recognizing the reality that movies are routinely edited for time, Trump blamed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. We’d show you the tweet, but it no longer exists thanks to Trump finally being banned from Twitter following the Capitol attack.

(Via Macaulay Culkin on Twitter)