So I was just on vacation at Cape Cod with my sister and her husband who were up from Virginia. For the first night's dinner, I brought steak tips to throw on the grill. My sister saw them and said "Steak Tips! I'd forgotten about those!"
I was boggled. She was born and raised up here, but moved away after college, and has never seen them anywhere else. Apparently Steak Tips are a New England thing. And they're wildly popular -- there probably isn't a meat-serving restaurant in New England that doesn't have "tips" on their menu.
So it made me think -- I wonder what wonderful, but regional, cuts of meat I am missing out on, that are not typically found outside of that area? Fill us in on some cuts of meat you get near you that you think we all should know about and how we might be able to get it locally....
Here's the story on Steak Tips for you non-New Englanders:
Steak Tips are a very tender cut of meat -- not at all like stew beef or chunks of round or chuck. They look similar to flank steak. They have a rough texture and the long loose fibers absorb marinades like nothing else. You grill them quickly on a hot grill - the marinades typically have a little sweetness to them to enhance the crusty grilled exterior.
I talked with my local butcher what they really are because there's no "cut" called steak tip.
The actual cut is Sirloin Butt Flap Meat. Chris -- my butcher -- even gave me a label off the bulk case he gets them in. It's also sometimes called "Faux Hanger Steak" -- and might be available outside of NE with that name. If not, show your local butcher the label and he can probably get you the same cut.
Chris also told about how they became so popular. It was Frank Guiffrida -- the guy who owned Hilltop Steakhouse -- who "discovered" the cut. (Hilltop was on Rt 1 in Saugus, Mass., and for 50 years was a really famous steak house that was at one time the largest restaurant in America with 1400 seats. People literally came from all over the world to go there. It closed a few years ago.)
Flap Meat was always considered "junk" meat and was normally just ground up into burger -- Guiffridda realized that it could actually be a very tender cut and had a texture that took marinades well -- so he put it on the menu -- and couldn't keep up with the demand. Soon, pretty much every restaurant with steak on its menu in New England copied the idea.
However, Chris also said that if you see them for anything much below $10/lb, then you're not getting flap meat, probably just chuck and it won't be tender and won't absorb the marinade as well.
Here's a good article and recipes for Steak Tips/Flap Meat.
http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/05/...r-the-grill-part-4-flap-meat-sirloin-tip.html
I was boggled. She was born and raised up here, but moved away after college, and has never seen them anywhere else. Apparently Steak Tips are a New England thing. And they're wildly popular -- there probably isn't a meat-serving restaurant in New England that doesn't have "tips" on their menu.
So it made me think -- I wonder what wonderful, but regional, cuts of meat I am missing out on, that are not typically found outside of that area? Fill us in on some cuts of meat you get near you that you think we all should know about and how we might be able to get it locally....
Here's the story on Steak Tips for you non-New Englanders:
Steak Tips are a very tender cut of meat -- not at all like stew beef or chunks of round or chuck. They look similar to flank steak. They have a rough texture and the long loose fibers absorb marinades like nothing else. You grill them quickly on a hot grill - the marinades typically have a little sweetness to them to enhance the crusty grilled exterior.
I talked with my local butcher what they really are because there's no "cut" called steak tip.
The actual cut is Sirloin Butt Flap Meat. Chris -- my butcher -- even gave me a label off the bulk case he gets them in. It's also sometimes called "Faux Hanger Steak" -- and might be available outside of NE with that name. If not, show your local butcher the label and he can probably get you the same cut.
Chris also told about how they became so popular. It was Frank Guiffrida -- the guy who owned Hilltop Steakhouse -- who "discovered" the cut. (Hilltop was on Rt 1 in Saugus, Mass., and for 50 years was a really famous steak house that was at one time the largest restaurant in America with 1400 seats. People literally came from all over the world to go there. It closed a few years ago.)
Flap Meat was always considered "junk" meat and was normally just ground up into burger -- Guiffridda realized that it could actually be a very tender cut and had a texture that took marinades well -- so he put it on the menu -- and couldn't keep up with the demand. Soon, pretty much every restaurant with steak on its menu in New England copied the idea.
However, Chris also said that if you see them for anything much below $10/lb, then you're not getting flap meat, probably just chuck and it won't be tender and won't absorb the marinade as well.
Here's a good article and recipes for Steak Tips/Flap Meat.
http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/05/...r-the-grill-part-4-flap-meat-sirloin-tip.html
