Thursday, April 30, 2009
Foods / Retail Food Finds: A Flat Iron Steak by Another Name
Posted by Nicki Wood on Thu, Apr 30, 2009 at 9:03 AM
Meat butchery has had a hold on my attention the last few years, since I discovered during a stint in England that meat is butchered differently there. America butchers for steaks and chops, while Brits prefer roasts. This means you see a lot more steak cuts in America, like round steak and blade steak, that don't really exist in other places.
Last month, Saveur magazine reported on the recent appearance of flat iron steaks. It's a re-architected "blade steak," taken from steer shoulder. Plenty of rich chuck flavor, but blade steak has a segment of unpalatable connective tissue in the center. University of Nebraska professor Chris Calkins figured out a way to cut the meat at different angle to get a fillet-type cut. A flat iron steak was born.
Flat iron is lower in price than other steaks, about $8 per pound. K&S market, source of many delights, has espadilla de res steaks, the same piece of meat as a blade steak and a flat iron, for unbelievable $2.99 a pound. It's sold as "shoulder roast" because it includes the tissue in the center, which you can see in the photo. But now you know it's a steak. Cut out the center and cook the resulting beef strips like steak. Or cook it first then cut out the center.
Butchery. It's what's for dinner.
Comments (3)
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I like the flat iron, particularly as a restaurant steak option. It is flavorful and far less expensive than the standard tenderloin.
I find, however, that many a chef in town are trying to pass this cut off as a hanger steak. The hanger is a ridiculously flavorful cut and looks completely different. Do they not know? Or, are they trying to trick us?
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Although I shop (frequently) at K&S for hard to find ethnic products, the only true, Federally inspected butchers in Nashville are at Reggs Meat Market @ 621 Middleton Avenue (south of the old Sears' building and near Frugal's). They have been in business for four generations and know more about the different cuts of meat than all of the alleged butchers at your local grocery store - combined. I am appalled at the processed foods offered & purchased around town. Does no one cook in this city?
I've purchased meat from Reggs since 1979 and believe me when I tell you, Costco may be cheaper but can't hold a candle to the product you put in your mouth.
A great article along the same lines in last Weds. NYT
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/29/dining/29beef.html?_r=1&ref=dining
