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Are you wondering how to choose the best beef for your cooking needs? However you choose to cook the beef you select, the same criteria apply to choosing beef. Select meat that is bright red with veins of fat, or marbling, through it. The red color indicates that the beef is freshly cut. The fat running through the meat provides juiciness and flavor. As the beef cooks the fat will run off the meat, separating itself so you are not eating large amounts of fat which is not healthy for you. Fat around the edges of the beef should be white to ivory and firm to the touch. Before cooking your steaks, check for large pieces of fat and trim it away. The fat adds flavor and protects the meat from becoming dry during cooking too much fat remaining in a pan after cooking can affect the sauce or gravy. A good rule of thumb is to trim the fat to about 1/8 inch thick.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) grades beef for meat packers. Marbling is the chief criteria for how beef is graded and priced in U. S. The more marbling throughout beef, the more tender, flavorful, and costly the beef will be. The highest quality, prime beef is rarely found in grocery stores. Most of the prime cuts go to the high classed restaurants. Choice meat which is well marbled and tender can be found at the quality markets and butchers.

Select meat, with contains little or no marbling, is the most commonly stocked grade of beef. For the best taste and tenderness, buy USDA choice beef over select meat. Officially graded beef will carry the USDA designation; otherwise the grade has been determined by the grocery store you are purchasing the meat from.

Grass fed beef is becoming more desirable and available in some markets. As the public becomes more informed about the additives being fed to the beef they are purchasing, the more popular grass fed beef is becoming. Grass fed beef is a bit lower in marbling and fat then corn fed beef. However, grass fed steaks can be quite tender and have a wonderful beef flavor.

For more info on beef and a large selection of beef and steak recipes visit Steak Recipes.

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I have never been able to find a commercially made mince meat pie filling that contains meat. Every one I have tried is all fruit. My mother made mince meat pie every year for the holidays. I would help her make them and some were given away to the neighbors. It was a fun activity with her. Now when I want mince meat pie I do it alone. This is how we would make it.

We used cooked roast beef. Chop 2-cups to pea size pieces. To that add 1/2-pound of finely ground suet. Mix them well then chop about 5-pounds tart apples and add to the meat. Granny smith apples are perfect for this.We would put the apple peelings and cores in a pot and boil with about a quart or a little more of water for ten minutes then strain the water and add to the mixture, or I have used a quart of apple cider instead.

Next grind up 3-pounds of raisins and stir them into the mixture. Now add about 1-cup beef stock, 1-tablespoon canning salt and 2-cups brown sugar. Stir the mixture well and put it to boil in a heavy pot. When it gets to a full rolling boil, turn the heat down and simmer it for 1-hour, stirring frequently so as not to scorch it.

While that is cooking mix together 1-teaspoon mace, 1/2-teaspoon pepper, 2-teaspoons each of allspice, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Now grind an orange and a lemon, peeling and all.

Add the spices to the mixture after it has simmered for an hour. Now I add 1-quart of grape juice, 1-cup of molasses and 3/4-cup vinegar and the orange and lemon. Bring the whole mixture to a boil and boil for ten minutes.

Now I either put the mince meat in jars and a boiling water bath for 30-minutes, make pies or let it cool and freeze. This was my mother’s favorite holiday treat.

Everything I write about is from personal observation and life experiences. I love to cook and prepare foods in different ways. I like sharing my experiences about food and cooking. My website http://www.pothaven.com was created because of my interest in quality cookware and cooking.

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Veal is a calf under one year-old with the teeth of a young animal, weighing less than 600lbs. and of approximately four months of age. Today young calves start eating forages of various type and unfortunately, often with added hormones, quite early. The true veal must have been fed only with milk. This kind of feeding confers to the meats the characteristic delicate flavor and offers to gastronomy one of its delights. The "paiata", an Italian delicacy, consists of the first part of the tenuous intestine that, as soon it is removed from the animal, gets tied at the extremities so that the inner milk does not come out. Lamb and kid "paiata" are delicious too, when they are from milk fed animals.

Boiled, if cooked to perfection, veal remains one of the fundamental dishes of international cuisine, for flavors and for the role played in the preparation of other dishes. Boiled it can be served warm, with the many various vegetables, but it can also be used to prepare salads with herbs and spices, vegetables, olives, eggs, cheeses and anything imaginable. Boiled with crustaceans is one of the best delicacies you can offer to your guests. The resulting stock is indispensable in cuisine: beyond soups it can be employed in risotti, sauces, jellies, polentas and minestrone. In order to roast veal must be certain to enrich it with lard. Ideal for consistency and flavor, extremely thin slices of lard will help to make a perfect roast. Lard, melting during baking, confers flavor and fragrance to the meat. As par beef, another fundamental rule is that the cooking must not dehydrate the meat: if there is fluid in the baking container, the veal was improperly roasted. Not only will the consistency of your preparation be fibrous, but also the taste will be insipid since part of the flavor will have gone with the juices. In order to avoid dehydration some rules should be followed.

First, the meat must be salted when a little external crust has formed which prevents spillage of juices. An other rule is to use pots that allow fast and effective heat conduction: the best tool is the iron frying pan. Moreover it is fundamental that roasting is short (same as beef). Meat slices must be cooked fast on a live fire. Roasts must maintain a pink color inside. Cooking continues when the roast is taken out of the oven, so this also must be considered.

David Russo, VMD, PhD

Veterinary Scientist, Gourmet Lover and Amateur Cook
http://www.high-net-worth-gourmet.com

1830 Pilgrim Ave., Bronx, NY 10461

718 8247308

dgrusso@verizon.net

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