Continue reading »]]> Selecting beef is the grocery store can be an overwhelming task. What can be even more overwhelming is trying to figure out what to do with that cut once you get it at home. Hopefully I can decrease your anxiety today by giving you some ideas on what to do with a flank steak.

What is a Flank Steak
A flank steak is a long and flat cut of meat. It comes from the abdominal area of the cow, located underneath the short loin. It can be a tough piece of meat if not cooked properly. But if cooked right and then sliced against the grain, then it can be one of the best things you ever ate!

Broiling a Flank Steak?
The most common thing that I do with flank steak is broil it. It’s that type of meat that needs to be cooked fast if you are using a dry cooking method. In your oven’s broiler all you need is 3-4 mintues per side and it’s dinner time. As said above it’s important to slice it against the grain (which is why I am saying it twice!). This makes it easier to chew, so more tender in your mouth.

Before I broil a flank steak, I always marinate first. Because of the way a flank steak is designed it makes for one of the best cuts of beef to marinate. I like to use some soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, olive oil, and garlic in my marinade. The flavors get into the meat so easily and provide a burst of flavor in your mouth.

If you run out of time to marinate, you can always try a dry rub with things like mustard seeds, black pepper, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, etc.

Flank Steak Makes Great Fajitas
Another way to use your flank steak is in making fajitas. Slice thin against the grain (third time!) along with all of your favorite fajitas fixings is a great way to go. Sunny Anderson from Food Network has a recipe for flank steak fajitas you might want to check out.

Other Flank Steak Recipes
Below you will find a list of some recipes that I found around the World Wide Web.

Rachel Ray’s Flank Steak Pinwheels
Blackened Flank Steak
Cuban Flank Steak
Slow Cooker Flank Steak Faijtas

Continue reading »]]> When it comes to selecting a steak, the grocery store can be a confusing place. There are so many different names. My goal is to teach you what these steaks are and how to prepare them. Today I will look at the ranch steak, also known as the more complicated boneless chuck shoulder center cut steak (grocery stores saved a lot of money in ink by just calling it a ranch steak!)

Where Does a Ranch Steak Come From (What Part of the Cow)?
Whenever selecting a steak it’s important to know where on the cow that steak was cut from. This will tell you how tough or how tender the steak is. The ranch steak comes from the chuck primal. This is the section of the cow closet to the head. Steaks cut from this section can be tough if overcooked. But there is good flavor to be had and enough fat to keep the meat from drying out. Excess fast is normally removed by the butcher. Ranch steaks are typically no bigger than 10 ounces and are about 1 inch thick.

How to Prepare a Ranch Steak
Braising is a good option, but I choose to grill mine so that is what I will talk about here. You can marinade this steak, but it isn’t required. It has enough flavor on it’s own to be good with just kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. If you like your steak well done, then this isn’t a good choice for you. If this steak is cooked past medium it becomes quite tough.

To grill, bring the steak to room temperature, by leaving it out for 30 minutes (don’t worry it won’t spoil on you in that time). This will allow the steak to cook faster and more evenly. I sprinkle the steak with kosher salt when I take it out. This will draw moisture and protein out of the steak that will help in the searing process. I grilled my steak on a Lodge Cast Iron 12-Inch Square Grill Pan. This is the next best option to outdoor grilling. When it comes to grilling time, there are a lot of things to factor in. So I think that is best uses through trial and error as well as learning what a perfectly cooked steak feels like. My particularly experience on my grill pan, took about 3-4 minutes per side to cook. I was going for a medium steak. When a steak is medium, it should be slightly firm but with some give when press down on it. A steak that doesn’t give much when you press on it, is most likely beyond medium.

Is a Ranch Steak Worth Your Money
At $4.99/lb a ranch steak is a good bargain. It has a good flavor and is good for those on a budget. While I don’t think it tastes as good as a sirloin or ribeye, it’s a nice alternative that is worth checking out. I do have to point out one downside is that there is a small, silver colored streak in the steak that will not melt or soften up. So you will just have to eat the meat around it and cut that section out. At least in mine, it was only a small fraction of the steak.

Continue reading »]]> In the last week, the topic of what is ground beef has been a hot one, thanks to Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution. This show airing on ABC, brought up the topic of pink slime. Pink slime is pieces of meat that were once considered only good for animals, but now is used as a filler in much of America’s ground beef (Check out my earlier post to learn more about pink slime). I thought this would be a good time to talk about different types of ground beef, so you can better know what you are buying.

Hamburger
This is made from what leftover beef a butcher has. I don’t not recommend buying hamburger as you never know what you are getting and I think there is a high chance you will end up with at least some pink slime. The USDA allows for up to 30% fat to be added to hamburger.

Ground Beef
You may see beef just labeled as ground beef. Again you are not quite sure where on the cow that meat is coming from, so you need to be cautious. Ask the butcher, if there is one present to ask. The USDA says you can have up to 30% fat in ground beef, but no fat can be added.

Ground Chuck
Anything labeled ground chuck must contain nothing but meat from the chuck primal. This area is located towards the head of the cow. It’s where we get cuts for delicious pot roasts! It’s a pretty fatty cut, but that fat helps make a juicy burger. Ground chuck typically contains between 15-20% fat. This is the type of beef Jamie Oliver used to make his Revolution Burgers.

Ground Round
Anything labeled ground round must contain nothing but meat from the round primal. This area is located towards the back of the cow, near the tail. It’s a cheap area of the cow, but the meat can be tough. Ground round typically contains between 10-15%

Ground Sirloin
Anything labeled ground sirloin must contain nothing but meat from the sirloin area. Sirloin steaks are cut from the short loin, near the middle of the cow. This area produces some of the most tender and expensive steaks (like the Porterhouse and Filet Mignon). The downside to ground sirloin is that it is more expensive than ground chuck or round. It is also leaner which is good health wise, but ground sirloin can dry out really easy. Ground sirloin typically contains between 8-10% fat.

Things to Keep In Mind
1. Whenever you see a number on ground beef, it is indicating the amount of fat. 85/15 ground beef would contain 15% fat.
2. Grass-fed ground beef is made from cows that eat a natural grass diet. Many people notice a difference in taste (it tastes better!)
3. To be sure of what you are getting your meat, grind it yourself. The quality will also be better if you do it yourself (that is of course you start out with good quality beef). You can use a hand meat grinder or if you have a stand mixer, you can buy an attachment.

Continue reading »]]> Last night I was watching the season premiere of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution. One of the points in this episode was to learn where your food comes from. This led him to the topic of pink slime. What is pink slime? Whenever a cow is butchered there are pieces that are cut off that aren’t considered for human consumption. There is a greater risk for E. coli and other nasty stuff in those parts of the cow. It use to be mainly just for pet food. A dog’s stomach can handle the kind of stuff ours can’t. However now this pink slime is ending up in our foods. Using a centrifuge they can separate the fat from the meat. Once they salvage this meat, there still is the concern of potential illness in humans. So to make sure that won’t be a problem, they pull out a chemical – ammonia. Yes, the meat industry actually uses ammonia to kill anything that might be in the meat and the FDA is perfect ok with this. In fact, they are so ok with it that no one has to list on their labels that ammonia was ever used. The meat industry convinced the FDA, that the ammonia is just a “processing agent”. There is some limits put on pink slime. You can’t use more than 15% of it in ground beef. So it’s basically just used as a filler, but the filler saves the meat industry some serious dough.

I am not a scientist, but I can’t imagine putting ammonia in your body can be good for you. So how do you avoid this kind of beef? Good news is that McDonald’s, Burger King, and Taco Bell have all stopped using pink slime (which means they were using it in the first place). But that doesn’t mean all fast food places stopped using it. You may also encounter it at the grocery store. You should never ever buy ground beef labeled as hamburger. That is almost a guarantee that you will be getting some grounded up pink slime in there.

How Can You Tell if You are Getting Pink Slime?
You really can’t tell when you are getting it, but you can tell when you are not getting it. Companies aren’t required to say they used pink slime in a product. So the only way to read that something 100% from whatever part of the cow (100% ground chuck or ground sirloin for example). And if can’t be guaranteed that it’s 100%, the way to know for sure, is to have a butcher grind the meat for you, right in front of you, so you can see what is going in it. There are places they will do this. Another option would be to grind the meat yourself. You can get a hand powered meat grinder or if you have a KitchenAid Stand Mixer you can buy an meat grinder attachment. It’s important to know what is really in your food. Don’t take it for granted. And when in doubt, grind it yourself or with the help of your neighborhood butcher.

For more on pink slime, check out the food documentary – Food Inc. Also check out this report from a CBS news.

Continue reading »]]> Corned beef has become the traditional dish to enjoy each St. Patrick’s Day. The question is why? You might assume because that is what they eat in Ireland on this day. But the truth is eating corned beef on St. Patty’s Day is as American as apple pie. Beef was only eaten by the rich in Ireland. The corned beef tradition began when Irish people moved to the United States, particularly New York City. They were looking for a substitute for bacon joint. On our side of the pond, beef was more affordable. So they treated the beef as they would have their bacon joint. Over time this started becoming a traditional meal on St. Patrick’s Day. It’s still not popular in Ireland. The only places you will find serving up corned beef in Ireland today are those places that are catering to American tourists, who think they are having an authentic Irish meal. Don’t let this information stop you from enjoying your corned beef. It still is a tradition, an American tradition.

Continue reading »]]> Corned beef has been around for quite a while, since the 17th century. But why is it called “corned” beef? Back when beef was first corned, we didn’t have those delightful sweet ears we all enjoy. Corn just meant a small particle. So to corn beef was to pack it with a small particle – salt until the salt replaces the moisture in the beef, thus preserving it. The beef is typically pickled, that is put into a wet brine that contains salt, sugar, and spices. Those spices can include things like mustard seeds, juniper berries, allspice berries, peppercorns, cinnamon, bay leaves, and ginger, . Some manufacturers add potassium nitrate (saltpeter) to give the beef it’s pink color. Corned beef is made from brisket (click here to read more about brisket) that needs a long time to cook, so there is no way it will be pink without some help, that is where the saltpeter comes in. Some reports show the nitrates can lead to cancer, so some people look for uncured corn beef that is nitrate free.

Continue reading »]]> Ah, the beef tenderloin! A lean, flavorful, melt in your mouth, morsel of beef. It also can be expensive if you don’t know where to shop. Buy it whole, use every portion, and save some serious dough (click here to read more about buying whole cuts of meat). I like to cut to my tenderloin into steaks for filet mignon and a nice chunk to roast. For the roast, I use Alton Brown’s method. Below you will find my notes from his recipe. For the full recipe, visit Food Network’s website.

1. I used my Lodge Cast Iron grill pan to grill the outside of the meat. Alton uses a cast iron grill pan with a removable handle. It took me about 8 minutes to grill it all around.

2. The seasoning for this roast is pretty basic: salt, pepper, and cumin. The cumin is a nice, unexpected addition. I use whole cumin that I grind in a coffee/spice grinder.

3. After grilling the roast goes in the oven. Alton says 15-20 minutes to get to an internal temperature of 135 degrees which is medium rare. We like ours somewhere between medium rare and medium, so we cooked ours closer to the 140 degree mark.

4. Last time I made this I served it up with some peas and Anne Burrell’s Garlic Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes.

This roast isn’t a lot of fuss, but it is full of a lot of flavor. The sear on the outside makes for a delicious crust. Make sure when you buy a whole tenderloin to save some for this simple, delicious roast.

Recipe Grade: A-

Continue reading »]]> There are a lot of words to describe the meat you find in your local grocery store. You may see words like choice, select, all-natural, grass-fed, angus, etc. In this post we are going to look at what the grades: prime, choice, select, and certified premium mean. Knowing what these grades mean will help you on your next grocery trip.

First off, you have to know that grading is not required. The USDA requires inspection of the entire meat process but they do not require the farm to grade their meat. Niman Ranch known for some of the best meat in the country does not grade their meat, but meat that is graded will have value based upon that grade.

Factors that go int grading beef are: the color, it’s weight, meat-to-bone ratio, fat-to-body ratio, age of the cow, and other physical characteristics. Here is the explanation of each grade with a little analogy.

Prime
This is the top of the line stuff. This beef comes from a young steer. The meat is nicely formed with a great deal of marbling in it and there isn’t a great deal of fat around the outer portion of the meat. The color of the beef is a nice light red with no dark spots. There is also a high meat to bone ratio. Prime beef is hard to find in the grocery store, as most of it goes to restaurants. The name “Prime rib” is usually applied to any rib cut roast, but unless it is made from prime beef it is really not prime rib.

Analogy: This beef is like the tuxedo that you rent for a wedding you are in.

Choice
This is still good meat but has one or more flaws in it, keeping it from being prime beef. Those flaws include less marbling, but still some. It has more fat around the outside. It still has a good meat to bone ratio. Even though is less marbled it is leaner. This is the best beef for your buck. It’s cheaper than prime, but still of good quality. Choice beef is easy to find in the grocery store. Alton Brown, from the show Good Eats, says he prefers choice beef for the price and he thinks it has a more beefy taste.

Analogy: This beef is like the suit you wear to a wedding when you are not in the wedding party. You still look nice, but you don’t outshine the groom.

Select
This meat has a poor meat to bone ratio. It does not have much in the way of marbling, so while it might be leaner, it can be too lean. Also you may find a lot of connective tissue. Select beef is typically only used for stew meat where connective tissue can be broken down through a slow cooking process. Most butchers only carry select beef for this purpose.

Analogy: This beef is like the outfit you picked out at the last minute because you didn’t have anything better to wear. With the right knowledge you can still make it work, but if done poorly people will turn up their nose at you.

Certified Premium
This is also choice beef but it is the best of the choice beef. It’s a grading program where choice beef is examined and the cuts considered the best are given the certified premium label. Different organizations grade the beef to be certified premium, based on their requirements. One example of this is beef that is labeled “Chairman’s Reserve® Certified Premium Beef”. In this case the organization, Chairman’s Reserve has determine that this beef meets their guidelines for certified premium beef.

Continue reading »]]> What is a Charcoal Steak?
Whenever you visit your local mega mart’s beef case you are confronted with a wide array of choices. Steaks have so many different names. It can be hard to keep them apart. My mission is to help sort out some of these names, one steak at a time. Up today is the charcoal steak. What is a charcoal steak? Why is it called such? A lot of steak names can be based on the region in which they are sold. The best I can do is tell you what a charcoal steak sold in Saline, Michigan is. My research online did not provide any concrete answers, so I have to turn to my past history with beef. The cut is likely from the chuck primal. The chuck is the area of the cow located closed to it’s head. This area produces some of the best finger licking good cuts, like chuck eye which is great for pot roast. This area is also home to the flat iron steak, which is growing in popularity. The flat iron steak lead me to my conclusion as the charcoal steak I purchased looked much like the flat iron. In fact, I could have been easily fooled into thinking what I was getting is a flat iron steak. However upon eating it I can tell you that this steak is tougher than a flat iron. I cooked it close to the medium rare – medium threshold and I had to do a little more chewing than I liked. The flavor was still good though. So learning from this experience here is how I would cook it next time.

How to Cook a Charcoal Steak
I still think you can grill this steak, but I would use a marinade first. The marinade must contain an acid. Why is this important? Well acids cause our tongue to produce saliva. Saliva contains enzymes. Enzymes will help to tenderize the meat as we eat it, thus making the meat easier to chew. The most commons acidic ingredients to use in marinade are citrus (lemon or lime juice), wine, or vinegar. But you don’t need a lot. In fact it should only take up a small part of your marinade, say 1 part acidic solution and 3-4 parts other liquids (soy sauce and olive oil are good choices). The marinade can also contain things like peppercorns, red pepper flakes, cumin, fresh garlic, shallots, etc.

How long to soak the meat in the marinade? Charcoal steak isn’t that thick so you won’t need long. Hour is the minimum and I won’t go beyond two hours. When it comes time to cook, you can cook it on your grill or sear it in a nice hot cast iron pan (this is what I did). I cooked my steak for 3 1/2 minutes on one side and 3 minutes on the other and it was perfectly done for me. But that might be different in your setting. Using a thermometer and learning to know how the meat “feels” when cooked to your desired temperature is how to learn to cook your perfect steak. I would not recommend cooking this cut of beef past medium, it will be too tough.

Continue reading »]]> Looking for a dish to warm you up on a cold day? Try some beef & barley soup. You get the warmth of the broth, the nutrition of the barley, and the flavor of the beef. The dish can easily be placed in a slow cooker and left to cook while you work. Below you will find my recipe for this delightful soup.

Ingredients
3 1/2 – 4 cups Beef broth (enough to cover the meat)
1 1/2 – 2 pounds beef stew meat
1/3 cup pearl barley
3-4 carrots, peeled and sliced into bite size pieces
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

To start, you need a some good beef broth. Homemade would be best. I used Alton Brown’s recipe for beef broth. As for the stew meat, it’s best if you can find a butcher who will custom cut some beef for stews. This way you can know exactly what beef you have. Many butchers will just mix up extra leftover chunks and throw them in a package and label them beef stew meat.

In a slow cooker, combine all the ingredients. Save the salt and pepper to add in the end to your own taste. Set your cooking to a medium setting and let it cook all day. If you are home for this then, I like to add the carrots with an hour to go, so that they are not complete mush when you eat them.

Your soup will be done when the beef is fork tender. Serve and enjoy! Refrigerate any leftovers as soon as possible and try to finish in 1-2 days.