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| Alphabet Soup "X" |
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Welcome to the "X" issue of Alphabet Soup!
"X" Marks The Spot! Where's The Beef? Comprehending all the different cuts of beef can be a little confusing. For example, did you know that a strip steak, New York strip, Kansas City steak, club steak, shell steak, and top loin steak all come from the same section of beef? Who wouldn't be confused with such jargon? The diagram below depicts all the cuts found on your typical bovine. Beef is muscle tissue. The first thing that must be understood is that frequently used muscles are tougher and generally require long, slow, moist heat cooking methods to loosen their connective tissue, while lesser used muscles are tender and need dry heat methods. Moist heat cooking methods for beef include braising, boiling and stewing. Dry heat methods include sautéing, grilling, roasting, and broiling. The chuck, brisket, round and shank are the most exercised muscles and hence, the toughest. A pot roast can be made from chuck via braising, (cooking the meat in a small amount of liquid for an extended period of time). Chuck is also useful for stew meat, making stock, and ground beef. Your average hamburger is mostly ground chuck.
The round includes the top round, bottom round, heel round, eye round, and rump roast. Sometimes ground beef is made from the round as well. Although all round cuts are tough, the top round is the tenderest, relatively speaking. Because of this, it can be roasted. London broil comes from the top round and can also be grilled. All of the others however, do best made into roasts with moist heat methods. One exception is your deli roast beef. Because it is sliced thin, producers can get away with roasting, (dry heat), the bottom or eye round which are cheaper than the top round. Notice that making a "roast" does not necessarily mean that the meat will be roasted. At the risk of belaboring the point for clarification, roasts such as pot roasts from tough cuts, require braising. Roasts made from more tender meat are made by actually roasting. The shank is definitely best when braised as in the classic dish osso buco. It can also be used for stews and stocks. The short plate and flank contain meat of medium toughness. The muscle fibers are relatively coarse but contain sufficient intramuscular fat to maintain tenderness. The short plate gives us short ribs which are braised or boiled as in New England boiled beef. Skirt steak, (from the short plate) and flank and hanger steaks, (from the flank), are delicious when grilled. However, they must not be overcooked, benefit from being marinated, and should be cut against the grain for a softer texture. Mexican fajitas are often made from marinated strips of flank steak. The rib, short loin, and sirloin render the most delicate cuts of beef. Broiling, grilling, sautéing and roasting reign supreme here. Rib steaks, (also known as delmonico or prime rib), rib eye steaks, (without the bone), and rib roasts, naturally come from the rib. The sirloin provides a variety of sirloin steaks differing on where in the sirloin they are cut from. Sirloin can also be ground and mixed with ground chuck for primo hamburgers. Finally, the crème de la crème of beef: the short loin. Picture a porterhouse or T-bone steak. The larger side is referred to by all the names at the top of the article: top loin, strip, New York strip, shell steak, etc. The smaller side is the tenderloin or filet mignon. The porterhouse and the T-bone are the same except that the porterhouse is cut from the larger end of the short loin and thus provides more of the filet mignon. Both the top loin and the tenderloin can be cut into individual steaks, or larger roasts. In the case of the top loin, the steaks may or may not be attached to the bone. The tenderloin is always boneless except when part of a porterhouse or T-bone steak. 
Click here for a printable version of this article! About the Author: Mark R. Vogel received his doctorate in clinical psychology from Yeshiva University and his culinary arts degree from the Institute of Culinary Education, both in New York City. Although he still practices psychology, his deepest passion remains cooking at an Italian/Mediterranean restaurant in NJ and writing about food and wine. His column "Food For Thought" is published in a number of NY, NJ and PA newspapers and food related websites.
RECIPES
"X" Is For eXtreme Heat! 
Popsicle ParadiseRemember when you used to sit on your front steps on a hot summer day eating a popsicle? It was usually red or purple and on special occasions you got a fudgesicle. Remember how you tried to lick the drips faster than the sun could melt them?  Read more...Easy & Fresh Pasta Salads Pasta salads are perfect for summer meals. They are fresh, easy and can be used for dinners or lunches Read more...
Banana SmoothieSmoothies are a wonderful way to cool off in the heat of the summer, or anytime for that matter! Pull out the blender and give these recipes a "whirl"! Read more...Bountiful Berry Harvest With summer comes berries, fresh berries on the vine that is. So what to do with the bushels full of ripe blackberries and raspberries you've harvested? Read more...Citrus Fruit Tart Our friends at the Campbell's Soup Company were kind enough to share this marvelous dessert with us. Try it today for a refreshing change to your summer fare. Read more...
Back to School...um, I Mean HomeThat time of year is rapidly approaching. If it is not so evident in the weather yet, just check out your local store. The stocks of sunglasses and swim goggles are being rapidly replaced by back-packs and notebooks. Yup, snuck up on you, didn't it? It's "Back to School" time! Just not at my house, as of this year. Read more...Does Your Child Lose Sleep When School Starts? High school schedules are causing high school adolescents to not get enough sleep, reports researchers from Northwestern University in the United States. When school begins (for most U.S. children in September) they lose on average two hours of sleep per night. According to a recent survey in the Journal of School Health many elementary and middle school age children are not getting enough sleep. Read more...
School Days Pin These crafts are easy to make and are ideal for back to school. Read more...
 Hints For Canning
Check out more tips in the online Kitchen TipBook! 
Brightening Colors
Wash colored curtains or washable fiber rugs in a saltwater solution to brighten the colors. Brighten faded rugs and carpets by rubbing them briskly with a cloth that has been dipped in a strong saltwater solution and wrung out.
Click here for More Household Tips! Coffee Can Stilts Using two 1-pound coffee cans, turn each can upside down so that the plastic lid is on the bottom. Using a screwdriver, poke two holes, one on each side of the can. Using several strands of yarn braided or twisted together, or some rope, thread through holes in cans. Tie off inside the can. Cans can be decorated if you like. Check out more fun family ideas in our Family FunBook! |
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Let's Get Cooking!
