Beef Tips

No, I'm not posting photos of actual beef tips, just sharing some information I learned in cooking class tonight. This post may be out of order as I may post more on the vegetable and starch section.

Testing for rare, medium or well done steaks. You can use a thermometer and go by temperature or as we learned tonight, touch/feel the steak. Beware, the steak will be hot!!

• If you want to know what a rare steak feels like, touch and push your cheeks from the side. For a medium steak, touch the tip of your nose and push. For a well done steak, touch and push your forehead.
• Another feel method is to touch your index finger to your thumb on one hand and touch the pad under your thumb with the opposite hand for the feeling of a rare steak. Touch your middle finger to your thumb and touch the pad again for the feeling of a medium steak. Touch your ring finger to you thumb, touch the pad and this is the feeling of a well done steak.
  

What to Serve with Beef?

• Garnish: watercress (expensive), fresh horseradish - julienne in long sticks, parsley (typical in restaurants and more affordable)
• Vegetable: a vegetable that stands on it's own, hearty, no gravy, no sauce, just the vegetable. String beans and broccoli are very common. Carrots are not recommended.
• Starch: Most common are baked potato or french fries.
  

Tonight we cooked and tasted - prime rib, NY Strip, Flank steak and brisket. My favorite was the NY Strip and least favorite the Flank stead (super tough, chewy, limited taste).

• Prime Rib: cook low (200 degrees F) and slow (2+ hours) like I've mentioned in previous posts. Also, once you pull it from the oven, let it sit for 20 - 30 minutes in order to allow the juices to settle and not spill out when you slice into it. Remember with prime rib that the center will be the most rare and the ends well done.
• NY Strip: nothing special about this. Only I learned that steaks at restaurants are cooked in butter (lots of it!) and sometimes even serving with melted butter on top of it or almost as a sauce surrounding it, sometimes with sauteed garlic too. So that's why some restaurant steaks taste so good and yet, so unhealthy!!!
  
• Flank steak: had it before class. Do not like it. It will always be a tough, chewy steak, but it's cheap. Often times, it is served covered in a brown sauce - like a mushroom sauce to mask the unappealing texture and look once it's cooked. If you do cook flank steak, slice it SUPER thin to minimize the toughness. My recommendation - use flat iron steak instead. It's close in price and much more tender and flavorful.
  
• Brisket: "Ya ain't had good brisket unless you been to Texas!" I believe brisket is tough and chewy unless cooked properly. Low and slow is the way to go here. Find a good Texan to teach you how to get the right texture and BBQ flavor. When we cook corned beef brisket, we add some specialty seasonings (courtesy of Pa Clinton), bring the water to a boil and ten reduce to a simmer for almost eight hours on our stove submerged in water. The corned beef just falls apart when you slice it up. Yum!!

That's all for now!