#MeatCamp - Cooking Head To Tail

The Head to Tail philosophy of eating is, thankfully, one of the fastest growing food trends. At this week's MeatCamp(tm) chat, we held an introductory session on how to identify and cook the not-so-fancy cuts of beef, pork, lamb, and chicken, including offal.

We were joined by a few formal guests including Larry Liang (@DJPegLeg), an avid home cook and apprentice to Becky Selengut (@ChefReinvented - watch for her upcoming cookbook on sustainable seafood) and The Unknown Chef (@TheUnknownChef) of EastVillageRadio. If you don't know these folks yet, you will. Give them a follow!

As usual, participants ran the gamut from Mike Smuckers (@Tweef_32), an artisan butcher in Pennsylvania to those who love offal (@FoodiePrints) and those who don't (too many tripe-haters out there to mention). We had grass-fed and grain-fed beef ranchers, chefs, home cooks, BBQ fanatics, food activists and entrepreneurs, 4-H farmers, restaurateurs, and lots of lurkers.

Much of the comments were on beef (no doubt because that's been my main focus to date) but the principles are the same for all meats. You can read the full transcript here.

THE HIGHLIGHTS

Cuts from the front (Chuck) and back (Round), where the muscles get more exercise, can be a bit tougher than those from the middle, where the well known New York Strip Loin (Kansas City Steak), Filet Mignon, Rib-Eye, and Sirloin steaks are found.

Fortunately, there are easy ways to cook meat cuts from the front and back ends. Dutch ovens, crock pots, and learning to braise and stew are simple and easy.

DJPegLeg For beef cheeks, short ribs, and oxtail I’ll braise them. Oxtail in a chinese style braise: http://bit.ly/9hPYC4 #meatcamp -8:21 PM

DJPegLeg Sure, so braising is essentially cooking something at a relatively low temperature for a long time using moist heat.#meatcamp -8:25 PM

DJPegLeg Typically you sear your meat first to help build some flavor. Braising is good for tougher cuts of meat because it helps break…#meatcamp -8:26 PM

TheUnknownChef @carrieoliver Braising is slow low temp cookin w/moisture always present. Stewing is small pieces submerged in liquid & braised. #meatcamp -8:35 PM

TheUnknownChef @carrieoliver Roastin is dry heat 4not so tough cuts u can do MR. Moist heat is 4 tough cuts that R loaded w/collagen.#meatcamp -8:39 PM

TheUnknownChef Now Braising is ANY situation where moisture stays present. You can braise in a dutch oven with NO ADDED LIQUID & U’ll luv me 4it #meatcamp -8:46 PM

Some don't agree that Chuck & Round cuts are tougher

tweef32 @meatcamp demand is growing for the ends but I think percp is tough but totally not true. #meatcamp -8:24 PM Feb 25th, 2010

Offal is a real challenge, despite some great efforts by individual chefs and some TV shows.

CamBrownJax @andreabakes When I was little I went into the kitchen once to see a giant cow’s tongue on the counter and was horrified,.#meatcamp -8:49

masterbutcher @meatcamp tripe tastes like it smells to me: wet dog. Something I don’t care for. #meatcamp -9:00 PM

Fortunately, some people love it and there are some ways to cook it to overcome barriers.

TheUnknownChef Big flavor OFFAL needs big flavored accompaniments to BALANCE out the richness & intensity of flavor of the meat.#meatcamp -9:09 PM

DJPegLeg I became a heart fan when I had anticucho, which is a Peruvian preparation where they grill the heart after marinating.#meatcamp -8:16 PM

Feastfinefoods @iTweetMeat sweetbreads, pigs ears, lamb brains, lamb tongue, lamb liver are all top notch IMO #meatcamp -8:56 PM

The key barriers to offal include:

TheUnknownChef @carrieoliver freshness is the biggest barrier w/offal. Most often its not fresh at butcher so its even more “gamey”#meatcamp -9:03 PM

DJPegLeg @carrieoliver I think the biggest barrier is the unknown. Not knowing how to cook it or what it’ll taste like. #meatcamp -9:03 PM

tgnh Biggest barrier: not easy to find supply. Will have to make arrangements with local purveyors from farmers mrk #meatcamp -9:04 PM

winemedineme @CarrieOliver I am a bit freaked about messing it up.#meatcamp -9:04 PM

Bev_W @CarrieOliver Could be it has seeds in class struggles. Offal for the poor. With restos doing great stuff w/cheap cuts, ppl see what's poss. #meatcamp -7:27 PM

Asked how we'd make offal more hip led to some great ideas.

Herbguy Make illegal except 4 royality;) clever suggestions on how to make offal & lesser cuts hip (beyond restaurant)? #meatcamp /via@CarrieOliver -9:12 PM

cbsop @CarrieOliver just call ‘em the good bits #meatcamp -9:15 PM

nel1jack Rachel Ray could do it #meatcamp -9:20 PM

fourgreenis @iTweetMeat Took tongue to a potluck, had a great sauce and I only said it was beef. All liked it. #meatcamp -9:12 PM

Finally, some great recipe links:

DJPegLeg I really like this brisket recipe, it’s super easy:http://bit.ly/b9sb8E #meatcamp -8:31 PM

meatcamp If anyone has recipes to share, plz do so. I’ll send my mom’s beef stew. http://bit.ly/cekC6P #meatcamp -8:29 PM

andreabakes Recipe for tripehttp://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/mario-batali/roman-style-tripe-trippa-alla-romana-recipe/index.html #meatcamp -9:03 PM

Please join us every Thursday at 8pm ET on Twitter or use the #MeatCamp hashtag any time. If you have topics you'd like to see covered or would like to be a guest yourself, please contact me or Chris Raines @iTweetMeat.

MeatCamp (tm) and #MeatCamp (tm) are trademarks of The Oliver Ranch Company (tm) and The Artisan Beef Institute (tm). Twitter use is an extension of this education and tasting program designed to create an open, friendly forum in which I and Dr. Chris Raines, Extension Meats Specialist and Assistant Professor at Penn State University's Department of Dairy & Animal Science, seek to demystify meat and to celebrate the great artisan farmers, ranchers, truckers, slaughterhouse workers, butchers, chefs and home cooks who help bring it to our plates.

Pork, The Other Red Meat (TM)

I'm picky enough about pork that I've by and large stopped eating it. The only pork available in my market is indoor raised, bland, and flabby. It has a grayish color, too, or maybe a sort of dirty white or light dusty pink.

In my quest to find the secrets to truly outstanding, clean, humanely raised beef I was perusing the scintillating, fascinating FSIS/USDA Web site and look what I saw in a section called Why is Beef Called a "Red" Meat? "Other 'red' meats are veal, lamb, and pork."

Now I've long known that pork is a red meat but imagine my surprise when I discovered that the US government calls it a red meat, too.

So why should this matter? Have you heard the marketing slogan "Pork, The Other White Meat"? If the government categorizes pork as a red meat, how does this kind of advertising make it past the National Advertising Review Board?

No matter, I love pork. Bacon, chops, hams, I even tried tongue once. But here's something that's important to know: as with beef, the flavor and texture of pork is influenced by the place and conditions in which it was raised and what it ate. In fact, due to the way a pig's digestive system works, pork is probably even more reflective of "terroir."

If you care a lot about taste and texture, I suggest that you look for pork from pigs who've seen the light of day. I am developing a more detailed list of questions to ask but here's a little acid test or mini-cheat sheet, if you will.

1. Ask the butcher or seller the name of the farm.
2. Ask the breed.
3. Ask how it was raised.
   
4. Check to see that it is light red in color.

For the first three you'll probably be met with blank stares. If the seller can't tell you these basic things, you can be pretty darn sure he or she is selling you commodity pork. The flavor will have literally been bred out of it.

If you do see pork that has a red hue, or lord forbid some marbling, don't think something's wrong with it. In fact, you may be looking at be something that will taste absolutely delicious on your plate.