Reply to: Is it too early for a cheeky glass of vin rouge?

[d000hg]

Stewing steak (or shoulder cut) is right next to the brisket. It is only cheap because there is no demand for the cut, not because it is inferior quality. Casserole heaven I tell ye.

Oh yes absolutely - nothing like a good casserole or stew cooked till the meat is falling apart. Just wondered what part of the cow it was.

[doodab]

Or beef with stock and red wine (with carrots).

Brisket cooked in 500ml stock and 250ml wine for three hours till it's falling part, also the stock and wine give you instant gravy. Throw in some roast spuds and some yorkshire puds, and maybe some veg and yer done

One of the traditional dishes here is Ochsenbrust which is braised brisket served usually with roast potatoes, seasonal veg, freshly grated horseradish & horseradish sauce. It's very nice.

[norrahe]

Oh yes. Boiled beef and carrots with suet dumplings. That's the way to keep warm in the winter.

Or beef with stock and red wine (with carrots).

Brisket cooked in 500ml stock and 250ml wine for three hours till it's falling part, also the stock and wine give you instant gravy. Throw in some roast spuds and some yorkshire puds, and maybe some veg and yer done

[doodab]

Stewing steak (or shoulder cut) is right next to the brisket. It is only cheap because there is no demand for the cut, not because it is inferior quality. Casserole heaven I tell ye.

Oh yes. Boiled beef and carrots with suet dumplings. That's the way to keep warm in the winter.

[minestrone]

What's the cheap stuff they sell as Stewing Steak in supermarkets, that you have to slow-cook?

Stewing steak (or shoulder cut) is right next to the brisket. It is only cheap because there is no demand for the cut, not because it is inferior quality. Casserole heaven I tell ye.

[hyperD]

What's the cheap stuff they sell as Stewing Steak in supermarkets, that you have to slow-cook?

Sirloin steak.

[d000hg]

Nobody buys brisket these days. Everyone demands pure red meat and it became hard to shift marbled beef.

What's the cheap stuff they sell as Stewing Steak in supermarkets, that you have to slow-cook?

[minestrone]

I found that out when I went to my local butcher and asked for brisket and shin of beef and he looked at me funny. Apparently he only sold "popular" cuts.

The shin (or hough as it is know up here) went into the mince as it is the darkest meat, shame really, consumer wants a 25 minutes per pound Delia slab of roast beef cooked to an inch of its life.

Give me roast hough in the oven for 5 hours stewed in red wine rather than a bit of rolled sirloin any day of the week.

[hyperD]

28 day matured, I love to see pieces of meat that are really dark coloured and you know its been hung for quite a while. the farm I get my poultry and game from even hangs their chicken and turkey briefly to give them extra flavour.

That's great, hung chicken for flavour...nice.

My butcher was telling me about an EU Directive that was trying to ban local butchers from hanging their own meat, under the HSE act. Not looked into it, but once again he was complaining.

It is a shame. Most people are so dependent on "sell by date" rather than "nose" and "eye" that I fear quality and flavour will be outlawed by the very nature of EU central bureaucratic legislation.

[norrahe]

Totally agree, and norrahe, you are very lucky to get that source. My local butcher occasionally has things like trotters, but because nobody buys them at the end of the day, he gives them away for free.

Like you say, how cool is that?!?!

However, due to the convenience of supermarkets and their discounted prices for what I honestly say isn't too bad a produce (but in no way as superior and complexed flavoured as produce such as 28 day mature rump steak, salt marsh lamb and less common cuts etc), and the stupidly increased council business rates of the premises, my butcher tells me his business is in dire straits.

It's a shame.

At this rate, I'm going to have to corral animals in my back garden...

28 day matured, I love to see pieces of meat that are really dark coloured and you know its been hung for quite a while. the farm I get my poultry and game from even hangs their chicken and turkey briefly to give them extra flavour.

[norrahe]

Nobody buys brisket these days. Everyone demands pure red meat and it became hard to shift marbled beef.

I found that out when I went to my local butcher and asked for brisket and shin of beef and he looked at me funny. Apparently he only sold "popular" cuts.

[hyperD]

I'm a big fan of slow cooking and the farmer I get my meat off has all those lovely cuts that no one else seems to want and some I get for free. It is nice to get all your produce direct from source.

Totally agree, and norrahe, you are very lucky to get that source. My local butcher occasionally has things like trotters, but because nobody buys them at the end of the day, he gives them away for free.

Like you say, how cool is that?!?!

However, due to the convenience of supermarkets and their discounted prices for what I honestly say isn't too bad a produce (but in no way as superior and complexed flavoured as produce such as 28 day mature rump steak, salt marsh lamb and less common cuts etc), and the stupidly increased council business rates of the premises, my butcher tells me his business is in dire straits.

It's a shame.

At this rate, I'm going to have to corral animals in my back garden...

[minestrone]

Nobody buys brisket these days. Everyone demands pure red meat and it became hard to shift marbled beef.

[norrahe]

Indeed, it's an undiscovered secret that those slices of meat that have the unfashionable or cheap tag, such as pork belly, trotters, cheeks or 28 day matured rump steak, have the most amazing flavours and textures.

I use hoisin marinated left over pork belly as an ingredient to my special fried rice.

But I'm a mere sous chef compared to the Michelin starred norrahe!

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm pork Belly

I slow cook that for 8 hours in cider, herbs and stock and then flash it under the grill for nice cripsy crackling. Unfortunately all the cuts you mention which were once unfashionable are now fashionable and expensive thanks to all the tv chefs.

I'm a big fan of slow cooking and the farmer I get my meat off has all those lovely cuts that no one else seems to want and some I get for free. It is nice to get all your produce direct from source.

[hyperD]

Indeed, it's an undiscovered secret that those slices of meat that have the unfashionable or cheap tag, such as pork belly, trotters, cheeks or 28 day matured rump steak, have the most amazing flavours and textures.

I use hoisin marinated left over pork belly as an ingredient to my special fried rice.

But I'm a mere sous chef compared to the Michelin starred norrahe!