[Sca-cooks] re: Steak/beef was Dinner Tonight

[Nick Sasso]

> From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
> OK.  The pork chops I can see.  I've even eaten something like that.
The
> other two.  Ewww...why the heck would anyone want to do something
like that
> to a perfectly good piece of beef??  I have seen these things in
diners and
> wondered and hoped to heck anyone with me would never order one.  I
do not
> think I could honestly sit at the same table with something like
that.
> ick~patootie  Olwen, squeemish about mangled foods.

I can understand your not wanting to eat 'Pre-chewed food".  I figure
that "cubing" machines were originally geared up for those pieces of the
carcass that aren't very tender at all.  It is like beating a piece of
meat with the ridged meat mallet till it begins to fray a little.  I
would guess round, bottom sirloin, that sort of cut would be targets for
this treatment.  Also, a cut of meat with a significant and tough sinew
in it would be a target cut.  I've gotten some recently that was either
really good meat, or was sirloin . . . very tender meat.  Think of it as
frugality and finding a way to use unuseable meat . . . it wasn't so
much "perfectly good" originally.  Though, since it is such a popular
item in Atlanta markets I frequent, it ain't just cheap meat, since it
goes for $3.49 (US) or more per pound.

Incidentally, you can get ungraded, select and choice cubed steak.  Go
figure.  when the price goes to $1.99 (US) or lower per pound (1.88 is
better), we usually stock up to the tune of 20 pounds for the freezer.
Protein for less than $2 is hard to pass up if decent quality.  Don't
buy poor cubed steak; you'll regret it.  BTW, Peanut Oil is tastier than
Corn Oil for this meal.  It will grill okay as well, but high heat and
short cook time.

niccolo difrancesco
(grind it for hamburger or run it through the tenderizing machine)