Kitchen Encounters

~Things to Know about Ground Beef, aka Hamburger~

Hamburgers, sloppy Joe's, meatloaf, chili, tacos,  stuffed peppers, etc.  Unless one is a vegetarian, ground beef, commonly referred to as hamburger because of the iconic all-American 'burger, is used in households all across America.  I'm guessing on this next point, but, ground beef has got to the number one way we Americans buy our beef.  If onef is on a budget or has a lot of people to feed. in today's economy, it's modest price tag makes it even more popular.  

Everyone knows that ground beef is beef that's been ground or finely-chopped.  The grinding process itself tenderizes tough cutswhile adding fat from leaner cuts which reduces dryness and adds flavor to the end product.  What everyone doesn't know is there are four types of ground beef, and, it does matter what kind of ground beef you buy.  Why?  Where the beef is cut from, the ratio of fat-to-lean and the coarseness of the grind all affect the the dish being prepared.

The four types of ground beef:  regular, chuck, round & sirloin.

Regular ground beef typically contains the highest fat content, up to 30%, because it's cut from the trimmings of inexpensive cuts like brisket and shank.  Regular ground beef is also the most economical form of ground beef as well as the juiciest and most flavorful.  The fat content, however, also means that the meat will shrink considerably when cooked.

Ground chuck has a lower fat content, about 20%, and comes from the front area of the animal around the shoulder.  Ground chuck is a great all-purpose ground beef because it is not a fatty as regular ground beef yet still has a lot of flavor.  Ground chuck is often marketed as lean ground beef.  Ground chuck is indeed my go-to ground beef and  choice for making hamburgers.

Ground round is even lower in fat content, about 15%, which also means it's less flavorful.  It comes from the lower end of the cow near the tail area.  If one is planning to cook ground beef into a meat sauce are sauté it along with flavorful vegetables, ground round's lower fat content makes it an ideal option.  Ground round is often marketed as extra-lean ground beef.

Ground sirloin is the leanest form of ground beef.  It contains about 10% fat (and always less then 14%) and comes from the midsection of the animal.  Ground sirloin is indeed the healthiest of all ground beef options, but, it is the dryest, least flavorful too.  That said, for folks on a budget, ground sirloin is, unfortunately the most expensive of the four forms of ground beef.    

~ Ground Turkey vs. Ground Beef -- Know the Pros & Cons ~:

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2023

~Grillmarked -- Things to Know about the Filet Mignon~

Filet mignon.  We are all familiar with this cut of beef, but in case you don't know it's name is French.  In French, the word Filet means a thread or a strip, and mignon means small and pretty. Filet mignon, known worldwide as the king of steaks, when cooked properly, is melt-in-your-mouth tender and can literally be cut with a fork.  It's particularly pricey if your ordering it in a restaurant, but becomes more affordable if you buy the entire tenderloin and cut the steaks yourself.

What part of the cow does the filet mignon come from?

Filet mignon is cut comes from the middle of the tenderloin (also called the short loin)  which is found inside the rib cage of the cow. Long story short, because this muscle is not weight-bearing, the connective tissue is not toughened by exercise, resulting in extremely tender meat. The  technical name of the muscle is poases major.  It sits inside the ribs next to the backbone and gets thicker toward the rear of the animal.

Interestingly each animal (lamb, pork, veal, etc.) has two tenderloins, one on each side of the rib cage.  Filet mignon beef steaks are cut from the middle of the tenderloin, in between the pointy tip near the shoulder and the thick steak at the rear, which is called Chateaubriand. Porterhouse and T-bone steaks (all of which include the filet mignon as the medallion of meat on the other side of their bone across from the sirloin).  Filet mignon steaks are generally cut to a thickness of 1, 1 1/2 and 2 inches and average 2 to 3 inches in diameter.  That said, the true petit filet mignons are no more than 1 inch in diameter and are taken from the tapered end known as the tail.

What's the best way to cook a filet mignon steak?

Feel free to take your filet mignon into the great outdoors to cook it on the grill, but, I don't recommend it.  Why?  The filet, might be cut from the tenderloin, which is the leanest, tenderest cut of beef, but, it is the least likely to succeed over the dry, open flame of any seething-hot charcoal or gas grill grids.  That said, indoors, on a grill pan, where it has a solid, steamy surface to sear itself above its own bubbling juices, the filet graduates at the head of its class -- with perfect, 4.0 grill marks too.  It's also worth mention that because filet mignon is so low in fat, it is also less flavorful than other prime and pricey steak cuts (like the ribeye or NY strip steak).  For that reason is is often served with a flavorful sauce or compound butter to accompany it.  Another common technique is to wrap it around the perimeter with a strip of bacon to imitate a fat layer.

Try my ~ Perfect 12-13-Minute 2"-Thick Grill-Pan Filets ~:

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2023)

~What's a Cowboy Steak and the Best Way to Cook It~

Learning about various steak cuts can indeed be confusing -- filet mignon, NY strip steak, ribeye steak, flank steak, cube steak, etc..  They're all steak, but they're all a different cut of steak coming from a different part of the animal.  Things get more confusing when you find out that one single cut can be referred to, regionally or butcher shop to butcher shop, by more than one name. Which brings me to one of my favorites:  the cowboy steak.  Long story short, the delectable cowboy steak is essentially a bone-in ribeye steak, also known as a tomahawk steak.

Cowboy steaks are huge steaks that resemble a single-handled fireman's ax -- easily enough to feed two people. They are about 18-20 total inches long, 2-2 1/2 inches thick, and, weigh approximately 30-40 ounces each.  Why so long? The rib bone, which they trim to expose the bone is left long for a powerful and pricey presentation.  A cowboy steak is always 2-2 1/2 inches thick because that's how thick the rib bone is.  This is one show-stopper of an impressive steak.

What part of the cow does the cowboy steak come from?

The ribeye comes from the beef rib primal cut.  The ribeye steak is cut from the corresponding roast, the prime rib, which means this steak is sold two ways: boneless and bone-in.  That said, it's worth mentioning, the bone left in a ribeye makes it a bit trickier for the novice wanna-be grillmaster to cook because the meat farther away from the bone will cook faster than the meat closer to the bone (which cooks slower).

The difference between a cowboy steak & a tomahawk steak:

A cowboy steak is a bone-in ribeye that has been frenched (a fancy french word meaning to strip the meat from the bone of a rib or a chop to cleanly expose the bone).  If the bone is bone is less than 5 inches, it is a cowboy steak,  If it exceeds 5 inches it's a tomahawk.

To  perfectly cook a cowboy steak try the reverse sear method:

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2023)

~What is a Cube Steak and How to Cook Cube Steak~

Being a grownup is hard.  My mother peddled cube steak to my brother and I under the name "funny steak".  For a period of years, her schtick worked well for her.  If memory serves me correctly, my little brother giggled at his "silly looking steak" during dinner while my mom pandered to him encouragingly with every forkful.  I just sat there and ate the chewy thing.  I found it to be just plain odd in a silly steak sort of way -- the word "funky" hadn't been invented yet.  

What part of the cow does the cube steak come from?

The cube steak is usually taken from the beef round or shoulder (which  -- both are tough cuts.  That said, it can be cut from any tough cut of beef or pork.  It  gets its name, cube steak, because it has been run through an electric tenderizing machine called a swissing machine or a cubing machine (which was invented in 1941).  It pokes enough cube-shaped imprints slightly through the surface to render it hamburger-esque in appearance.  That said, meat can be cubed at home using the jagged side of meat tenderizer.  In either case, this leads people to think the process must render it tender, but, it does not -- what it does do is make it easier to chew.

What's the best way to cook a cube steak?

Because cube steak contains very little fat or marbling, meaning it is really, really lean, you will find you're not going to get much taste from this funny-looking steak either.  It you want a naturally tender piece of cube steak, make your own at home using a more expensive steak such as a tenderloin or rib-eye -- it's unconventional but they taste great and cook up in literal seconds. 

The whole point of cooking any lean, tough cut of meat is to find a way to make it tender and flavorful.   This means cooking it very quickly or very slowly.  Cube steak can be braised, pan-fried or sautéed. It can be browned then baked in a flavorful casserole or cooked low-and-slow in a slow cooker.  Well-known cube-steak dishes included Swiss steak, chicken fried steak, and, Beiijing beef (along with other Chinese beef stir-fry recipes).  Feel free to be creative, but generally speaking, you either want to cook your cube steak very quickly or cook it very slowly combined with other moisture-filled ingredients like onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, etc. 

"We are all in this food world together.~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2023)

~Grillmarked -- Things to Know about the Flank Steak~

The flank steak is one of my favorite steaks.  It cooks quickly, it's tender and juicy when cooked and sliced properly, and, in terms of the economy, it's less expensive than many other steaks. That said, culinarily, the flank steak is technically not a steak.  It's a tough cut of beef coming from the cow's belly muscles, which is why it's important to take the time to learn how to cook it properly. For me, that's under the high heat of the oven's broiler, or, on the high heat of my grill.

What part of the cow does the flank steak come from?

Flank steak comes from the cow's lower chest or abdominal muscle.  It's about a foot long and about an inch thick.  It almost always gets cooked whole (like any other steak rather than dividing it into smaller individual-size steaks).  That said, a flank steak can be sliced into thin beef strips prior to cooking for use in culinary applications like Mexican fajitas or tacos and Asian stir-fries.  

The cut is known as the jiffy steak, Babette steak, and, occasionally, London broil.  That said, the London broil flank steak is identified by the steak's visible direction of the cross-grain.  Due to it's low fat content, it needs no trimming prior to cooking. It takes to seasoning well, salt and pepper, a dry rub, and/or a flavorful marinade.  Whether your slicing it into strips prior to cooking or after cooking, it's very important that it be sliced thinly, against the grain, while holding the knife at a 45° angle, as slicing with the grain will result in stringy, chewy pieces.

What's the best method to cook a flank steak?  

Experts say flank steak can be cooked low and slow to gradually break down the dense connective tissue, but, as I said above, and because I love my flank steak done medium-rare, my favorite methods are under the high heat of my oven's broiler, or, over the high heat of my barbecue grill grids. It's my opinion that a well-done flank steak is not well done at all.  Period.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2023)

~ Grillmarked -- Things to Know about Ribeye Steaks ~

Card-carrying carnivores love ribeye steaks.  All world-class steakhouses have them on the menu and they are the number one purchased steak by backyard drillmasters.  While I'm not even close to being a drillmaster, in my food world, the ribeye is indeed my favorite steak to grill, followed by the New York strip steak.  It and the NY strip It and the ribeye steak, along with the filet mignon are considered to be the high-end cuts of boneless steaks, but, the filet mignon, which does not contain enough fat is least likely to succeed over the dry, open flame of any seething-hot charcoal or gas grill grids.  The rib eye, with its signature creamy white marbling of fat throughout, is known for its rich, buttery flavor and tender texture -- it delivers mouthwatering, juicy flavor in every bite.

What part of the cow does the ribeye steak come from?

The ribeye comes from the beef rib primal cut.  The ribeye steak is cut from the corresponding roast, the prime rib, which means this steak is sold two ways: boneless and bone-in.  That said, it's worth mentioning, the bone left in a ribeye makes it a bit trickier for the novice wanna-be grillmaster to cook because the meat farther away from the bone will cook faster than the meat closer to the bone (which cooks slower).

If you're wondering what the difference between a slice of bone-in or boneless prime rib and a bone-in or bonelesss ribeye steak is, the answer is how it's prepared.  Prime rib is roasted whole, then sliced and served.  Ribeye steaks are sliced first and cooked afterward.

What's the best method to cook a ribeye steak?

The best way to cook a ribeye steak on the grill is quickly over high heat, although they do well positioned close-up under the high heat of a broiler or in a cast-iron or grill pan on the stovetop.  No matter how you decide to cook them, be sure to let them come to room temperature on the counter for about 60 minutes (or a minimum of 30 minutes) before cooking.  This will ensure they cook evenly at any thickness.  Just prior to cooking, pat them dry in a paper towel, which will ensure they sear quickly.  Lastly, season with salt and pepper just prior to placing on the hot grill grids.  As a guideline, a 1 1/2"-thick ribeye with take about 3-5 minutes per side to cook from rare to medium-rare.  Remove from the heat and allow it to rest 5-6 minutes prior to serving.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2023)