The Little, Simple, Forgotten Things - Meat and Fish Part 2!

Back on to part two of this blog post series.

The next item I want to talk about is a great cut that is definitively under used and I feel makes for great stews and braises is oxtail. Oxtail is exactly what it sounds like, its cows tail. Now don't get me wrong you yield much off of oxtail to start out with but its something when done right, can be one of the best things leaving you with a great food memory.

Something that I recently found out while reading another blog I like to read called Ideas in Food (link is here: http://blog.ideasinfood.com/) they were talking about how some people have managed to figure out a few new cuts of beef from the chuck (the shoulder). There has always been the classic Delmonico Steak (the tail end of the ribeye) but they've coined a cut called the "Denver Steak" which resembles that of a striploin steak and a "Sierra Steak" which resembles that of a flank steak. Now I think this is great! The chuck is typically used all for grind but now that they have gone forth to give more to chuck than making it just grind. It allows the market to open up and since these are relatively new and probably cheaper cuts (for now until they gain popularity) this could for sure make an operation unique.

I want to move to pork, nothing is more delicious than pork. It's one of my favorite protein items but is also a guilty pleasure in our world because as most cooks know best, bacon makes alot of things taste good. What's so great about pork is that its the most utilized out of most four legged animals. So much can be used and for so many things, leftover fat can be turned into lardo (cured pork fat), you can cure, smoke, preserve just about any part of a pig let alone turn it into tasty sausage. Its endless with pork. But you get left with a head and though crispy pig ears are mighty tasty theres alot more you can do. You can cook the whole head and make a treat called headcheese. Theres no dairy what so ever, but cooking a pigs head in a super flavorful stock or broth, picking all the meat from the heat and because a pigs head is full of cartilage, natural based gelatin forms that all together. Take all your meat and broth/stock and press it in a terrine mold and magic, you've got head cheese. Another thing to do is take the pork jowl (cheek) cure it into guancile and have a cured product suitable for eating on a cure meats platter or as a substitute for bacon.

Its all what you can do, but taking the time and having the space. Next blog we'll move into some seafood and poultry.

-Garrett