DitmasPork
Senior Member
So much to choose from—like them all (some more than others).
Unpopular opinions
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Nice chart! Doesn't list innards, which is kind of a shame.
Tongue: Like it as a cold cut, not as a roast. Also, removing the skin from the tongue is kinda gross, at least to me.
Stomach: I've had all 4, but I understand why only two of them are (somewhat) popular. Big fan of those two. Mmmm, Creole Tripe.
Kidneys: Never had 'em, not really tempted, even though I love pork kidneys. Seems likely they'd be too intense.
Liver: Calf liver is good, full-grown cow liver tastes way too strong to me but I think my dog disagrees
Heart: Never had it. Might be good stewed and sliced very thin
For that matter, we are missing:
Feet: A nice addition to menudo
Oxtail (!!): Only the best stew meat on the entire cow
Cheeks: Creamy and tasty and wonderful
Tongue: Like it as a cold cut, not as a roast. Also, removing the skin from the tongue is kinda gross, at least to me.
Stomach: I've had all 4, but I understand why only two of them are (somewhat) popular. Big fan of those two. Mmmm, Creole Tripe.
Kidneys: Never had 'em, not really tempted, even though I love pork kidneys. Seems likely they'd be too intense.
Liver: Calf liver is good, full-grown cow liver tastes way too strong to me but I think my dog disagrees
Heart: Never had it. Might be good stewed and sliced very thin
For that matter, we are missing:
Feet: A nice addition to menudo
Oxtail (!!): Only the best stew meat on the entire cow
Cheeks: Creamy and tasty and wonderful
DitmasPork
Senior Member
Mmmm, bacon! With filet mignon—I've been wanting to make a 'carpetbag steak,' stuffing the filet with oyster.
You have Kangaroos over there? I always kind want to try them, I mean in someway they are just deers walking on 2 legs.
DitmasPork
Senior Member
Yum, love offal—fun to cook with. Missing a bunch.
Lots of interesting odds and ends in the markets I go to—pig and beef dicks, pig's uterus, beef tendon (took forever to cook the last time I bought them), spleen, chitterlings, burnt cow's feet (a popular Caribbean and Pakistani ingredient), etc.
Sadly, price of tripe and oxtails have spiked in my neighborhood—hearts and kidneys still cheap.
Jovidah
I'll make you a sponsor offer you can't refuse...
Not in supermarkets, but in restaurant wholesalers yes you can find it. Frozen import from Australia. It's not the most commonly eaten meat, probably because people find them too cute, but as a result it's absolutely awesome meat for only 15 euros a kilo.
It's not as gamey as venison... it's more like a good beef.
Another option I always considered awesome value/flavor for money is horsemeat. Taste is slightly different than beef (a bit sweeter, closer to venison), but quality has always been absolutely exceptional; better than anything but the most exceptional beef. Sadly it's become difficult to find it...
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I'd love to try roo meat. I have never, ever seen it for sale, though.
Horse meat...my horseback-riding wife would find that very hard to forgive.
Dan-
Senior Member
Apparently horse is VERY close to veal. It’s not like it’s a dolphin or whale or octopus or even a crow/raven.
Michi
I dislike attempts to rewrite history
Horse is tasty. Not quite as bland as veal, and a bit darker. A more tender version of beef, but with milder flavour, not beefy.
Dan-
Senior Member
Right, and you don’t have the moral quandary of murdering likely intelligent critters to enjoy it.
Unpopular opinion: med rare chuck roast is way better than filet mignon.
I ran across a recipe for med rare chuck roast that was awesome. Sous vide at 130F (54C) for about 24 hours then add rub and blast it in the oven to get the crust. Nice and tender with the sous vide and great flavor. I’m not a regular sous vide user and would have never thought of this. I used 3-5lb roast. Way cheaper than a rib roast.
I ran across a recipe for med rare chuck roast that was awesome. Sous vide at 130F (54C) for about 24 hours then add rub and blast it in the oven to get the crust. Nice and tender with the sous vide and great flavor. I’m not a regular sous vide user and would have never thought of this. I used 3-5lb roast. Way cheaper than a rib roast.
American steak houses are the f’ing worst. Just the worst. I eat at them for work all the time and I hate everything about them. Slab of meat on a plate, your choice of potato or green beans. ZERO creativity. Nothing interesting flavor wise. Super expensive. Unfortunately I now live in the Midwest so they are hard to avoid.
And they are unseasoned too. If you are really out of luck the pretentious restaurant won’t have a salt shaker.
Dan-
Senior Member
When I did the same for work, salt was never an issue. I think the point is that you're paying to taste a great cut of meat prepared exactly correctly.
Food in the midwest is invariable extremely white and has added sugar. Why is everything sweet?
Food in the midwest is invariable extremely white and has added sugar. Why is everything sweet?
While sous vide does some amazing things with cheap meat, it's still not the same as a filet
Dan-
Senior Member
Before going on this veggie-centric diet thing (which really is a challenge in winter), I poached a piece of flap meat in some butter at 125 or so, then quickly seared it. It was up there with the best pieces of steak I've ever had, ever, and I have definitely made the rounds in Chicago.
I get that a nicely cooked pice of meat is the main attraction, but can there be some modicum of creativity in the kitchen?
And they may be able to cook a piece of beef correctly, but every piece of seafood I’ve had has been absolutely hammered.
I don’t know, sometimes I like a baroque old school steakhouse… maybe only once a year and it definitely is sad that it’s the only form of finer dining that can survive in many cities, but sometimes a steak, potatoes au gratin, creamed spinach, and bread pudding are awesome
I’d take some creamed spinach and potato au gratin, but I never see that anywhere. Mash and green bean or asparagus, both of which are steamed with no sauce or seasoning. I suppose I could pay an extra $18 for a side of Brussels that is half bacon…
My bitching about steak houses is in part because we had a large group in a private room at a Morton’s tonight. Because the group was 20 it was prix fixe. $125/person. Menu:
Starter: two types of crostini, one with beef and blue cheese, the other tomato mozzarella. Soggy, tepid, lacking flavor.
Salad: “Morton’s salad”. Chopped egg, anchovy, blue cheese dressing on “mixed greens” that was like 80% iceberg
Main:
Choice of 8oz filet, 16oz ribeye, salmon with burre blanc, or almond crusted chicken breast.
Sides: jumbo steamed asparagus (three of them). No seasoning of any kind. Straight from the steamer onto the plate.
Sour cream mash potato served family style. These were clearly from the vat they must make and were thrown under the broiler to warm them, making them so dry.
Desert:
Chocolate mouse (terrible) or strawberry cheesecake. The lady next to me when the cheesecake went down “whoa, all I can smell is fake strawberry syrup".
Shameful.
Starter: two types of crostini, one with beef and blue cheese, the other tomato mozzarella. Soggy, tepid, lacking flavor.
Salad: “Morton’s salad”. Chopped egg, anchovy, blue cheese dressing on “mixed greens” that was like 80% iceberg
Main:
Choice of 8oz filet, 16oz ribeye, salmon with burre blanc, or almond crusted chicken breast.
Sides: jumbo steamed asparagus (three of them). No seasoning of any kind. Straight from the steamer onto the plate.
Sour cream mash potato served family style. These were clearly from the vat they must make and were thrown under the broiler to warm them, making them so dry.
Desert:
Chocolate mouse (terrible) or strawberry cheesecake. The lady next to me when the cheesecake went down “whoa, all I can smell is fake strawberry syrup".
Shameful.
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Now that is rough
Just like many things there are ones that do it very well and ones that don't. Having lived in may parts of the midwest, I've always been able to find ones ranging from decent all the way to excellent. That said, I dine out essentially never currently so I've got no idea what the landscape looks like currently. Many, many of them make their living off business clients, and as such they tend to shoot for very comfortable, middle of the road, offerings that expense accounts can take care of.
An unpopular and perhaps downright offensive and scandalous statement, sentiment, and possibly thinking to some 'purists':
Imperfectly shaped JNats (or any whetstones) are more fun and interesting than their pristine 90° cornered block head relatives.
Imperfectly shaped JNats (or any whetstones) are more fun and interesting than their pristine 90° cornered block head relatives.
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Haha. I nearly tagged you in that.At least they got the salad right.
user 16756
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maybe it's a generational thing, but I think tenderloin being good is itself an unpopular opinion. I don't know ANYONE personally that actually likes that cut. No one here seems to like it either. Certainly on foodtube you won't find people extolling its virtue.
When I was a child, it had some cachet as being an expensive thing that is good because it is expensive and expensive because it is good, ala roe, foie gras or truffle. See the restaurant scene in The Matrix. But, I think that increased imports of genuinely high quality beef, rather than the heinous garbage the American beef companies were trying to push, and the eventual death of the low fat stuff, has left us in a place where the platonic ideal of a good steak is a highly marbled ribeye or such.
I wish pork would go through a similar shift; it's sooooo lean these days and I hate it.
Here's a genuinely unpopular opinion I bet: I have mixed feelings about beef prices being sky high. As in, I think there is unfortunately some upside to reduced consumption and subsequently farming of cows. If everyone had to cut back in the same way, I'd honestly call it a net positive. As it stands, I'm not sure. But it's definitely not all bad, either.
When I was a child, it had some cachet as being an expensive thing that is good because it is expensive and expensive because it is good, ala roe, foie gras or truffle. See the restaurant scene in The Matrix. But, I think that increased imports of genuinely high quality beef, rather than the heinous garbage the American beef companies were trying to push, and the eventual death of the low fat stuff, has left us in a place where the platonic ideal of a good steak is a highly marbled ribeye or such.
I wish pork would go through a similar shift; it's sooooo lean these days and I hate it.
Here's a genuinely unpopular opinion I bet: I have mixed feelings about beef prices being sky high. As in, I think there is unfortunately some upside to reduced consumption and subsequently farming of cows. If everyone had to cut back in the same way, I'd honestly call it a net positive. As it stands, I'm not sure. But it's definitely not all bad, either.
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That's not offensive -- it's wonderful. It means you can save a lot of money on natural stones. I envy your preference.
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I love a good steakhouse, but I'm not sure any chain is going to provide a high-quality steak house experience. Good steakhouses are individual and eccentric and passionate, not stamped out in some corporate template.
DitmasPork
Senior Member
Sorry you’re disillusioned with steak houses. I hear you.
I love and adore classic steak houses—dig the history, tradition, mammoth portions of good meat and sides at these bastions of carnivores, powerbrokers, et al—NYC has some of the best.
Shrimp cocktail, iceberg wedges, oysters, creamed spinach, baked potato, nicely done quality meat with a glass of wine excites and fills my belly to contentment.
Great memories of budget steak houses growing up—feasting at Sizzler’s and Tad’s.
I don’t expect culinary creativity at steak houses, just good, simple cooking—eating at one is about vibe, ambience, extravagance, indulgence, as well as food. If eating at restaurants were only solely about food—I’d probably just eat at home.
For me, steak houses are a big part of my NYC experience—worked across the street from Les Halles (of Bourdain fame) in the 90s, went there weekly. Many contemporary steak houses have tweaked their menus to accommodate changing tastes, added more finesse to the kitchens—but I treasure the old school joints, with waiters that have been at it for decades.
In NYC, I’ve the luxury of eating at different restaurants for different reasons—classic steak houses fills a need.
