Meat Of It All: Beef
Maren Caruso
No matter what form of beef you are serving your dinner guests or your date, it must be the centerpiece. Beef is the perfect cross between luxury, indulgence and achieving the “wow factor” as it’s placed in the middle of the dinner table. Beef lends itself to presentation, but taste is the factor that ultimately matters most. When the task is undertaken to roast, grill, or sear your main course, it is imperative you step confidently through the path to rich, tender deliciousness. Otherwise, the result will suffer, and so will your guests’ appetites.
First thing’s first, selection is key. Whether you’re getting your cut of beef from a butcher or the supermarket, you have to know what you’re looking for. As far as straight up steaks go, ribeye or NY strips are your most reliable options. The individual portions are simple to manage and the cuts themselves are lean with minimal fat. If you plan on serving a dish that requires the beef to be sliced into thin pieces, flank and hanger steaks are the way to go. Their flatness and pliability work well for marinating ahead of time. Just remember, do not slice a flank steak along the grain of the meat. You must slice perpendicular to the grain. Otherwise you’ll end up with meat strings. If a dinner party is coming up and you’re expecting to feed several guests, a full cut filet mignon is sure to please everyone’s eyes, ears and stomachs. It’s free of fat, can easily be sliced into individual portions, and is relatively simple to prepare as long as you have a thorough recipe and the necessary tools. This also goes for the standing rib roast, often inaccurately referred to as prime rib. Although containing more fat than the filet, the standing rib roast can be served on the bone, an element of presentation that should always be considered.
Obviously, the most important thing to consider when selecting your cut of beef is the quality itself. Beef that is grass-fed and humanely raised is not just advertised as such to promote eco-friendliness and ethical sourcing. It tastes better… a lot better. Furthermore, grass fed beef is far more nutritious, as it contains far less monounsaturated fat and therefore fewer calories. Of course, the price tag on these products may be higher than their traditional, grain fed counterparts, but providing nourishment to a friend, family member or significant other with the product of your careful preparation is priceless.
Once you’ve selected your cut(s), preparation must be attended to. Don’t forget to wash your hands. The cut you’ve brought home will be slimy to the touch when you remove it from its packaging. Use paper towels to pat the beef dry on all sides. The drier the outside of the meat, the crispier and browner its crust will be after cooking. As far as trimming the fat off your cut goes, this is mostly up to preference. The fat cap on a NY strip, for instance, can be rendered down in a pan just before removal so some of the fat is removed but its flavor will remain. The only trimming that is mandatory in preparation of a cut of beef is the removal of any silver skin. Silverskin can be found on rib cuts and tenderloins and is white and silvery in color. Silverskin does not melt off while cooking like fat does. If left on the meat, the silverskin will shrink and twist, misshaping the meat. Simply slice the silverskin off with a sharp knife and dispose of it.
A very important step in preparing to cook your cut of beef is making sure you have the necessary kitchen tools to do so. There is one more important thing than others, however, and it cannot be substituted by anything else. You need a meat thermometer. So when you read on a recipe, “until the internal temperature reaches ___,” it matters. The internal temperature of your beef is the most crucial aspect of all, more so than having a brown and crusty exterior, more so than the side dishes served alongside it, and more so than the cut you choose altogether. Still, the interior of beef is up to personal preference, but raw meat is never what anyone is looking for. Also, if preparing individual steaks for guests, asking them how they like their steak is a simple, courteous and impressive inquiry to make. It is important to note that the red juice dripping off your cut prior to cooking or giving the finished interior its pink color is not blood, as it is commonly thought to be. It is a mixture of water and a protein called myoglobin. So when you roast your filet mignon to a perfect medium rare, everyone can rest assured they are not eating undercooked meat. In fact, that color is packed with flavor and the more well done the beef, the less flavor there will be.
Now you’ve cooked your beef, you’ve removed it from the oven, grill, etc. and your appetite is ready to be satisfied, but you have to wait a little longer. While there is nothing more that needs to be done before digging in, however, you have to let your beef rest. Whether it’s steaks or roasts or what have you, your beef is not done cooking just because you removed it from the heat. In fact, this resting period is when the heat makes its final lap through the cut and brings everything to the point of enjoyment. Cutting into a cut of beef without resting it will cause all of its flavorful moisture to spill out. Also, the meat will not have a chance to finish cooking, which is why if you cooked a steak rare/medium rare and sliced into it without resting, there will be a deep red bullseye in the middle. It’s understood you can’t wait to dig in, but doing so without resting will ruin the end of this journey from the market to your dinner table. Remember, patience is a virtue.
After you’ve indulged in your production, what to do with leftovers? The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends refrigerating your leftovers and using them within three to four days. Refrigeration does not stop the growth of bacteria, it only slows it down. Before cooking, however, beef purchased in advance of cooking can be safely stored in the refrigerator for three to five days. Freezing your beef ahead of cooking, however, is the best way to keep it from going bad. Just remember to allow it plenty of time to defrost and reach room temperature before cooking it.
A recipe to try: Grilled Steak Tacos with Cilantro and Chimichurri Sauce
Tacos are always a crowd pleaser. These steak tacos have a simple but delicious marinade well worth the minimal effort ahead of time. Taco toppings are always up to preference, but this chimichurri sauce and pickled radishes are very easy ones to make yourself and are far more exciting than typical shredded cheese and lettuce. Regardless, toppings served separately are the perfect way to ensure everyone is getting what they like. Plus, the intangible bonus of loved ones sharing dishes together and passing them around the table can never be topped outside of your own kitchen.
