Friday, August 24, 2012
#LoveCDNBeef The 411 on Steaks
A steak is a steak is a steak, right? Wrong.
I actually had no clue about all the different cuts of beef until I married a beef farmer. I'm always surprised at all the new things I learn each day. Okay, the fact that I didn't eat meat for much of my adult life could possibly account for my lack of knowledge when it comes to cuts of beef.
This said, in the past few years, I have become obsessed with good food, trying new recipes, creating new concoctions, throwing dinner parties, and feeding loved ones. It certainly comes in handy, living on a working beef farm!
Another place I visit for all the info on beef is the Canadian Beef site. They've got everything you need to know about beef - from nutritional information to fantastic recipes! Since Hubby and our 3.5 year old daughter are big steak fans, I check out the website frequently for new ways to create amazing steak dinners.
Did you know that steaks fall into three categories?
- GRILLING - can be grilled without any extra prep or effort
- MARINATING - needs to be marinated before you cook/pan sear/grill/broil
- SIMMERING - needs slow simmer in a nice liquid to ensure tenderness
I used to think steak as just to be thrown on the BBQ. I've since learned that there are some amazing cuts of beef that make for the perfect dishes to delight the taste buds of friends and family. The right cut, and the right method of preparing and cooking makes for positive results!
Below is an image I found here about the difference between steak cuts.
Hubby loves a good steak on the BBQ with roasted veggies and potatoes done on the grill. Little One loves her Beef and Broccoli, a quick stir-fry type dish. I love my Korean Beef Bulgogi. I marinate it overnight, but it doesn't have to be marinated for that long. My Korean students marinate it for a few hours. I actually don't know why I like marinating it overnight. As you can see with those three dishes, they are all prepared differently.
One of our favourite family recipes is thinly sliced sirloin marinated overnight with onions, garlic, black pepper, oyster sauce, sesame oil and then cooked with lots of vegetables like julienned carrots, mushrooms, and broccoli florets.
Want to learn how to choose the right cut of beef and cook beef like a pro? Check out the videos here.
You'll want to check out Steaks 101 to find out how to cook each type of steak!
I've got some pretty exciting news to share!
- Canadian Beef and ShesConnected are having a #LoveCDNBeef Twitter Party on Thursday, September 13th at 9PM EST. Follow @CanadianBeef and @shesconnected, and use the #LoveCDNBeef hashtag. Come join in on the fun and get educated on all things steak related!
- Canadian Beef has partnered up with Cutco Cutlery!
As a #LoveCDNBeef Ambassador, one of the things we receive is a set of Cutco Steak Knives! Okay, here's a funny embarrassing story. I was up at 2AM because Little One was having night terrors. I went downstairs to lay in her bed with her and my Blackberry kept flashing. I saw an e-mail from Cutco stating that my order has been confirmed and shipped! Not having ordered anything from Cutco, I freaked out and immediately sent an e-mail to them telling them to please cancel the order because I never placed an order for steak knives!
I was seriously terrified that I was the victim of identity theft!
Laugh if you will! :)
I totally forgot about the exciting partnership! Remember, this was 2AM, I was in total #zombiemoms mode, and was checking e-mail from my Blackberry. Cutco replied, telling me they sent me the knives as part of their partnership with Canadian Beef and that they are excited about getting involved with something so exciting!
Note to self: Even if your Blackberry flashes like crazy in the middle of the night, wait until the morning to reply to any messages! Embarrassing! It's kind of like "Please! I insist! Take back the gift you were giving me. Honestly! Please cancel the shipment". *sigh*
I'm so excited about all the exciting things #LoveCDNBeef and #SCCTO has in store for everyone!
Disclosure: I am a Canadian Beef Ambassador and have been compensated for this post. However, all opinions expressed are my own and have not been influenced in any way by my association with the program.
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City girl moves to the country, falls in love, and marries a farmer. She tries to incorporate her city ways with her new country lifestyle and blogs to keep in touch with friends, family & students who live far, far away :) Can this city girl go country? Watch as she learns all sorts of exciting things about life on the farm and in a small rural community. *UPDATE* We are now parents! Our baby girl was born on Nov. 11, 2008 (at 28 weeks gestation- 12 weeks premature, but she's quite the trooper)!!!
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12 comments:
Haha! Oh Christine, you're too funny!
Although, I must admit (sheepishly) that I had a little moment of "spam alert" panic when I saw the Cutco order/shipping notice in my inbox too! I was also half-asleep, so I guess there's a lesson to be learned by us both about reading emails only when you're fully alert.
Okay, were we all awake when those Cutco orders got processed? Because I had the same confusion because I was half-asleep too.
Stephanie:
Bwahahaha! I'm so happy I wasn't the only one! :) Hilarious!
Alexa:
You too!?!?! :) That's too funny! Apparently, #LoveCDNBeef Ambassadors have more than beef in common! We're also quick to react to e-mails that we think are spammy!
Looking forward to the knives too!
Hubby loves his rib steak and I love a good New York, it's grilling season so we are all about the grilling steaks right now but when it's cool I love making something slow and warm like pepper steak :)
So many different ways to prepare steak! I love how versatile it is :) Too funny about your 2am fiasco! So cool that you get steak knives though :)
P.S. All those dishes have now made me hungry for steak! hehe
Christine, you are honestly the cutest ever! I love steak so much, we just had the most delicious steak last week.
I am going to be making your recipe...it sounds soooo good!
Shayna:
Mmmm! I asked Hubs what his favourite steak is and he said the classic T-bone. Then he went on to list New York, Porterhouse, rib steak, tenderloin, round, flank...LOL! Can you tell he loves his steak?
Brandi:
Bwahahaha! I know. That *was* kind of funny! What I neglected to mention was that I woke my husband up at 2AM, telling him (okay, INSISTING) that I was the victim of identity theft and that someone had ordered steak knives under my name and address! LOL! "OMG!!! They even had my phone number!! WTFudge!?!?" LOL!
TCM:
:) Tee hee! Cute? More like crazy! LOL! :) Ahhh...I need more sleep! :)
My first 'real' job was at Mr. Steak, a family style chain restaurant in the early to mid 80s. I know, you were a child. Shut up. Anyway, I worked there for 2 years. The 2nd year, the owner had financial problems, and his franchise was taken over by corporate, and they came in and (kind of awesome) instead of firing us all, they let us work on the renovation and painting of the place, and they gave us lessons on the different cuts of meat, how to open a bottle of wine, all of that. That, my friend, is when I fell in love with a rib eye. O.M.G. SO GOOD. Salt and pepper is all it needs. Though I do have a recipe with tomatoes and basil that is basically a steak bruschetta, if you're ever trying to seduce your husband, it will totally work. But rib eye is EXPENSIVE. Our local butcher has recently turned us on to flat iron steak, which is very different, and not as good, but when on a budget, really good.
Do you eat steaks from your cows? Or do you have someone else slaughter and butcher them, and sell it, and buy your meat like the rest of us? Personally, I'd rather eat my own cows, even though it would be kind of sad...but knowing they had a good life, ate good food, all of that...it's worth a lot.
I just learned about flat iron steak