THE BETEO COOKBOOK

WTB · **Joined:** 27th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 14497

Oh my! I think I know what my breakfast is going to be on Saturday.

WTB · **Joined:** 27th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 14497

Also, I noticed some "mince" discussion in Bits and Bobs.

If I wanted to buy a mincer and make my own mince, what would be the best sort of beef to throw in the thing? I'm talking for stuff like bolognese, chili, etc.

BikNorton · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 10078

The cheapest, fattiest cut the butcher can provide, that isn't covered in sawdust.

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32619

Modernist Cuisine has four different recommended mixes of cuts for making burgers. One of them is, IIRC, 75% filet mignon and 25% ribeye

Edit -- also, ask your butcher if they'll make your mince for you from your chosen cuts. Less work, no need to buy a machine.

WTB · **Joined:** 27th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 14497

What do In-n-Out use?

MrHobbs · **Joined:** 24th Jul, 2011 **Posts:** 232

I used to work in a butchers, the mincer was out the back area and well away from customers eyes.

You could ask for ribeye mince, it ain't what you'd probably get though!

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32619

WTB wrote:

What do In-n-Out use?

100% ground chuck, says its website. Serious Eats reverse-engineered double-double uses "fresh beef chuck with plenty of fat". The just-the-facts recipe is here. They worked out it was 60% meat, 40% fat.

The onion frying technique on that first page is well worth a look, incidentally.

SE also has a roundup of beef mixtue for home grinding. It ends up at:

Quote:

6 ounces beef sirloin, trimmed of gristle, and cut into 1-inch cubes
5 ounces beef brisket, trimmed of gristle, and cut into 1-inch cubes
12 ounces oxtail, fat and meat carefully removed from bone and trimmed of silverskin, bones discarded or reserved for another use (about 5 ounces of combined meat and fat)

Edit -- I like his philosophy too:

Quote:

In choosing cuts of beef that could go into the burger, I first made a broad decision: This was to be an everyman's burger. Fancy-pants burgers exist, but they are contrary to the spirit of the sandwich. There would be no dry-aged cuts, no special breed cows, and nothing that is more suited for a steakhouse in my blend. Burgers, like good charcuterie, are about taking the cheap and ordinary, and converting it into the sublime. For this reason, I set an upper limit of $8 a pound for the cuts in my mix, which narrowed down my options to eight cuts: sirloin, chuck, short rib, skirt steak, hanger steak, flap meat, brisket, and a surprise entry—oxtail.

WTB · **Joined:** 27th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 14497

Cor! Cheers Doc!

Is it silly to want to go to the US just for a burger?

edit: Actually, looking at that link I don't need to any more!

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32619

Having now read too much of http://aht.seriouseats.com/, I want a burger for lunch. My choices for this in Cwmbran are: McDonalds. Bollocks.

MrHobbs · **Joined:** 24th Jul, 2011 **Posts:** 232

Flap meat sounds appetising.

:spew:

WTB · **Joined:** 27th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 14497

Heh! I'm now thinking about my cheese and pickle sarnie packed lunch and wishing for something better.

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32619

MrHobbs wrote:

Flap meat sounds appetising.

It's the American name for skirt (apparently), which Craster won't shut up about being a great cut. Why each country has to invent its own conflicting language for meat cuts is beyond me. I have a hard enough time dealing with "cups" in all the US recipes that clutter my house and the Interwebs.

Squirt · **Joined:** 31st Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 6516

Huh, I though hanger was the US word for skirt. I don't think I've had that, but by all accounts it's super-tasty-awesome.

MrHobbs · **Joined:** 24th Jul, 2011 **Posts:** 232

Skirt is nice for casseroles and stuff, you say flap is another name for skirt but its mentioned in that list also?

MrChris · **Joined:** 1st Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 30498

Tartyflette.

devilman · **Posted:** Wed Aug 03, 2011 12:13

Doctor Glyndwr wrote:

Having now read too much of http://aht.seriouseats.com/, I want a burger for lunch. My choices for this in Cwmbran are: McDonalds. Bollocks.

McDonalds sounds a better place than Bollocks, but it's a close-run thing.

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32619

MrHobbs wrote:

Skirt is nice for casseroles and stuff, you say flap is another name for skirt but its mentioned in that list also?

Oh yeah. Dunno then, googling seems to throw back contradictory answers :shrug:

Craster probably knows.

Cras · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 49232

MrHobbs wrote:

Skirt is nice for casseroles and stuff, you say flap is another name for skirt but its mentioned in that list also?

Doc is confusing flap and flank. Flap is a part of the sirloin, whereas skirt, flank, and hanger are all from the abdominal muscles.

Cras · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 49232

Also, those are the US nomenclatures. In the UK, we call hanger skirt.

WTB · **Joined:** 27th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 14497

That's what I like about Craster. He's not afraid to call a hanger a skirt.

Zardoz · **Posted:** Wed Aug 03, 2011 13:02

Doctor Glyndwr wrote:

MrHobbs wrote:

Flap meat sounds appetising.

It's the American name for skirt (apparently)

I thought that was Broads.

Cras · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 49232

I done made a chart

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32619

Aren't there two types of onglet? Or three, according to something else I read?

Mr Russell · **Joined:** 6th Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 12244

You need one name: beef.

Mr Russell · **Joined:** 6th Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 12244

Or better still: MEAT.

sdg · **Posted:** Wed Aug 03, 2011 13:14

According to Larousse Gastronomique, US flank is French flanchet is UK flank. So that's no help :DD

sdg · **Posted:** Wed Aug 03, 2011 13:16

It also says French bavette is US flank steak rolls which is still UK flank. The UK seems to be a lot less ambitious, this says we have 15 cuts compared to the French with 24 and the US with 17.

Cras · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 49232

Gilly wrote:

It also says French bavette is US flank steak rolls which is still UK flank.

That's what my chart says!

BikNorton · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 10078

We need pictures like the one my local butcher has on the wall. But from all three countries, obviously.

sdg · **Posted:** Wed Aug 03, 2011 13:31

Craster wrote:

Gilly wrote:

It also says French bavette is US flank steak rolls which is still UK flank.

That's what my chart says!

oops.

BikNorton wrote:

We need pictures like the one my local butcher has on the wall. But from all three countries, obviously.

That's what Larousse Gastronomique has but as I said it identifies not just the name, but the cuts differently. So the French may have four cuts in one area of cow whereas we have one. I wonder if the diagrams are recreated online?

FAKE EDIT- this is the French one.

Zardoz · **Posted:** Wed Aug 03, 2011 13:32

Just cut its horns off and wipe its arse.

sdg · **Posted:** Wed Aug 03, 2011 13:32

in that diagram, 17 is bavette for stewing, the unnumbered cut above is 16-bavette for grilling or frying and 18 is flanchett.

sdg · **Posted:** Wed Aug 03, 2011 13:33

Whereas in the UK diagram, the whole section under 14 is one cut and is called flank.

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32619

Gilly wrote:

That's what Larousse Gastronomique has but as I said it identifies not just the name, but the cuts differently. So the French may have four cuts in one area of cow whereas we have one.

Yes, this is the heart (pun intended) of the matter -- not all these cuts translate because they may not exist in the other systems.

Don't the Ozzies have their own terminology, too?

Doctor Glyndwr wrote:

Aren't there two types of onglet? Or three, according to something else I read?

Which I can link to now I'm back at my desk, and I meant bavette:

Quote:

Onglet = hanger (or hangar) steak
Bavette d'aloyau = skirt steak
Bavette de flanchet = flank steak
...
Great answer. The only things I'd add are that (1) the problem stems from the different approaches to butchering the animal, which produces cuts in one system that don't exist in the other (though onglet is exactly the same cut as hanger steak) and (2) French butchers actually distinguish between three bavettes: bavette d'aloyau, bavette de flanchet and bavette à pot au feu, a stewing cut that surrounds the bavette d'aloyau "like a sandwich" (according to the Centre d'information des viandes).

There's a nice Flash cut picture here but it's only for the French terms. Someone needs to redo that, but with all the countries.

BikNorton · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 10078

Doctor Glyndwr wrote:

Don't the Ozzies have their own terminology, too?

Yes. "Prawn", "banger", "chuck" and "steak". All "thrown" on the "barbie".

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32619

I have a pack of (pre-cooked) prawns in the fridge that need eating tonight. I don't fancy stir-fry, I had that earlier in the week. I also have a couple of mini sweet peppers and some cherry tomatoes that need eating, now that I think of it, and I can buy any other ingredients from Asda at lunchtime. Pitch me ideas for things to cook, Beex.

Prawn and corn fritters sound nice, although I'm not sure what I'd serve it with. Roasted tomatoes and peppers would be a start.

Cras · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 49232

Jambalaya.

BikNorton · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 10078

Sushi.

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32619

Craster wrote:

Jambalaya.

I like your thinking.

Curiosity · **Posted:** Thu Aug 04, 2011 11:55

Prawn and pepper salad.

I am that lazy

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32619

Doctor Glyndwr wrote:

Craster wrote:

Jambalaya.

I like your thinking.

You have been overruled by my wife-to-be, Cras. Prawn and corn rostis it is.

(I think she always choose stuff with corn in over stuff that doesn't have corn in. You can take the girl out of the midwest...)

Cras · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 49232

Put the corn in the jambalaya, man!

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32619

It's like you don't understand what "overruled" means.

(Jambalya will happen next week.)

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32619

Pan-fried scallops, roasted peppers, porcini and portobello pilaf. by PenLlawen, on Flickr

http://objection-salad.com/post/8698016134/scallops

Grim... · **Posted:** Tue Aug 09, 2011 22:19

That looks very good (although I don't like scallops).
Its there any difference between pan-fried and fried?

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32619

Grim... wrote:

Its there any difference between pan-fried and fried?

Pretention level.

Edit -- although, joking aside, I suppose "fried" breaks down into "pan fried" and "deep fried".

sdg · **Posted:** Wed Aug 10, 2011 0:19

You got great colour on those scallops. I have cooked scallops twice I think. Both times I was so nervous about overcooking them although they turned out well. Didn't manage such good colour though! Did you just use butter? Do you have a gas hob? My house I an electric hob :'(

MrHobbs · **Joined:** 24th Jul, 2011 **Posts:** 232

I get that kind of colour when I shallow fry them in butter. On an electric hob, you just need it smoking hot

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32619

Gilly wrote:

You got great colour on those scallops. I have cooked scallops twice I think. Both times I was so nervous about overcooking them although they turned out well. Didn't manage such good colour though! Did you just use butter? Do you have a gas hob? My house I an electric hob :'(

Thanks! Gas hob, high heat, cast-iron grill pan, and butter was my method. Electric hobs are the devil.

I don't trust the seasoning on my new pan yet so I melted a little butter and dipped one side of the scallop in it before putting them in the pan. Gave it a minute, poured a little butter over the back of each scallop, and flipped them over. Gave them another minute and serve. Like you I was concerned about overcooking them so I was super-cautious about cooking times. They turned out fine.

I want to do scallops wrapped in bacon now, thought it appears to be fairly tricky to get the cooking time just right.

BikNorton · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 10078

Doctor Glyndwr wrote:

Edit -- although, joking aside, I suppose "fried" breaks down into "pan fried" and "deep fried".

Also shallow-fried; I think of 'pan-fried' as 'the smallest amount of oil, probably onto the food rather than the pan'. Shallow-fried is how a proper fried egg is made - a decent layer of oil to semi-submerge the food.

It's ultimately little more than snobbery though.

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THE BETEO COOKBOOK Lush Spanish Omelette first!

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THE BETEO COOKBOOK
Lush Spanish Omelette first!