Saturday, January 16, 2010

Eat Great At Home: The Underrated Meal


Unless you are a huge culinary fan and enjoy cooking at home ( which many people are due to the popularity of shows like Top Chef and avid viewers of the cooking channel) making meals for yourself can seem like a huge undertaking. What should you buy? Where should you buy it from? Do you have the time to cook and clean up the kitchen after a long day at work? All these questions tend to lead people to settling for a quick fast food meal or spending tons of money eating out. Well, I have a great solution for those who get intimidated by the simple task of cooking a meal for themselves. Enter the Flat Iron Steak. This cut of meat is often overlooked by those that feel the Filet is the only way to go and that eating a steak is only for special occasions. The Flat Iron steak is more similar to a Ribeye in nature. Meaning it has a higher fat content and while, not being as tender, provides more flavor (in my opinion). Anyways, the Flat Iron doesn’t look like your typical steak and you don’t eat it in the typical way either. You slice it against the grain so you have flavorful strips of steak to enjoy. Furthermore, you don’t need a grill to cook it up. I live in the city and don’t have the luxury of a grill but this steak does great in the oven. Broil it at a temperature of 500 degrees for about six minutes on each side for a nice medium rare. I recommend medium rare because this steak is not as tender as other cuts. Also, one Flat Iron can easily serve two people however if its just you then save what you don’t eat and throw the strips on a sandwich for lunch the next day. If you are going to be enjoying this underrated cut of meat for dinner, than I recommend pairing it with a few red potatoes and some mushrooms, both of which are extremely easy to prepare. Not only is this meal easy to prepare but it is also cost effective. Your local grocer probably offers the Flat Iron for between seven and twelve bucks and mushrooms and potatoes together will cost you, at most, six bucks. One last note, no seasoning is necessary on this meat. Salt, pepper and cook is all you have to do. Eat great at home, don’t be intimidated. Washing it down with an ice cold beer never hurt anyone either…..

Quick Buy List for Your Convenience:

Flat Iron Steak
Red Potatoes
Mushrooms
Salt/Pepper
Butter (for cooking the shrooms).
Beer (optional, but not really…)

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