BarbecueStyle or just , Broiled, Planked, Hamburger Steak

If you wish to plank a hamburger or steak, please, please, do so this way. Many of the planks people are now placing their meat on, and allowing to char during the broiling process, can release deadly carcinogens which then penetrate into the meat being cooked. If you are one of those people that just "has to" char or burn something, in order to get that "authentic" out door smoked cooking experience; follow the recipe below to the point of planking the steak; then take that hardware store bought plank, of your choice--place it on your broiler, and let it char-- to your choice of doneness--then continue to follow the recipe and use the type of plank I suggest. You sill still have your smoked taste and smell; but the food will be a lot healthier to eat and you will get a lot more compliments on your presentation and "chef style".

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds Canadian Russet potatoes
2 Tbsps butter
2 beaten eggs
1 1/2 pounds ground chuck
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
8 small carrots, cooked and buttered
2 cups peas, cooked and buttered
      Minced parsley

Instructions:
Peel and quarter the potatoes. Cook, covered, in boiling salted water till tender, about 25 minutes. Drain well. Add the butter and eggs to potatoes (Duchess); beat till fluffy. Add salt and pepper to taste; set aside.
Shape ground chuck(usually, the ground meat of choice, flavour-wise) into 4 oval steaks about 1 inch thick. In skillet cook steaks till rare, about 5 minutes per side. Place each on a well-oiled seasoned steak plank (they are usually oval shaped, with a groove around the outer edge, and 3/4 to 1 inch thick--some are designed to hold a cast iron steak sizzler); sprinkle with salt and pepper. Brush with butter to "finish". Place Potatoes in pastry bag; pipe onto plank to form border 1 inch larger than steak.
Place 2 planks under broiler or salamander, 4 inches from heat; broil till potatoes brown sightly, about 4 minutes. Repeat with remaining planks. Arrange "baby" carrots and peas (other vegetables may be added, if desired) within potato border; sprinkle with parsley. Makes 4 servings

©Al (Alex-Alexander) D. Girvan. All rights reserved.

Steak "American" and Steak Tartare

 Have you ever noticed that all the older cook books and recipes guarded against the over cooking of ground beef.


Dishes such as the previously mentioned Steak Tartare or Steak American consist of raw, shaved or shredded beef. (Shaved beef is very seldom seen today. It requires a very sharp knife and considerable skill--shaved beef is literally shaved off a larger cut that is kept; just at the freezing point; but not allowed to freeze). Nobody ever got sick. 


Today all cook books and recipes claim that ground beef must be treated like pork and very well cooked. The difference is in the handling. Canadians used to buy their meat freshly cut or ground, often "to order" this happy circumstance no longer exists.While "fresh" meat always was a misconception or myth-that most civilized people would eat or purchase (what was considered top quality meat was always aged, for flavour and tenderness); since  greedy marketers/producers started adding-and disregarding all health  concerns, governments and health boards have allowed pink slime shit-a frozen product that can be a year or more old-to be added to meat products "FRESH" no longer exists. One cut of meat is now virtually the same as another-non of it fresh and containing scraps from where ever/when ever.

Steak Tartare-

 The original hamburger.

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        For each serving allow six ounces freshly HAND SHAVED extra lean beef (usually fillet, sirloin, or round). Handle as little as possible, but arrange each serving in a mound. Make a shallow depression in the top of each mound and place in the depression a very, very,  soft (just barely starting to turn white) coddled egg. Garnish with capers or anchovy fillets. Have available: Worcestershire, mustard, salt, a peppermill, bottled thick meat sauce, ketchup, and separate dishes of capers, caraway seeds, and finely minced onion. Let each guest season his beef to taste. Serve plenty of buttered, thinly sliced rye bread or crisp toast.

Steak American

BROUGHT OUT BY THE U.S.A.; "Steak American" like "Salisbury Steak"is just another one of the"famous" copy-cat products and or recipes that country has built a reputation on; and is so well known for. Notice that the photo images shows a product that  uses GROUND BEEF--NOT SHAVED. Of course, the appearance, taste, and texture will all much different than the classic dish as served in the top EUROPEAN restaurants.

• Prepare Steak Tartare in the normal way and then place a raw egg yolk (yolk only- otherwise you go back to steak tartare) on top.

How Might we Eliminate This Problem of Contaminated Beef, in Supermarkets

How Might we Eliminate This 


Problem of Contaminated 


Beef, in Supermarkets

REMEMBER WHAT IS TRUE FOR HAMBURGER IS TRUE OF ALL GROUND BEEF AND ALL OTHER MEAT AND MEAT PRODUCTS.

The answer is very simple: go back to Canadian and locally owned retailers who actually care about the consumer.    Canadians need to realise, the source of the problem is not the meat, but the processing and handling methods, which are in use today. A butcher once said to a home economics teacher: "Do teach cooks that there are some good cuts of meat other than porterhouse” The customers of this meat dealer made it difficult for him to sell all parts of the animal. When he bought porterhouse or loin, he had to buy the whole hind quarter. For some cuts he had little demand.

          Now days, in the United States, and to supermarkets, most large hotels and restaurants in Canada, only loins or other whole sale cuts are sold. This means the institution has to buy only the cuts which sell. Special cuts are usually shipped to local stores. Because of this policy, beef is no longer freshly ground in store, but rather in the harder to control food processing plants.

          .The Federal labelling laws on fat content still apply. So at least a customer has some idea of where the meat is coming from and exactly when it was ground. Canada must also tighten laws as to re-cutting, re-fluffing, and re- packaging meat, and require that all imported meats or ground products containing previously frozen  or meats of foreign origin be labelled as such. Research has more than proven that the boxes and containers used for all frozen food products greatly contribute to contamination.

          There must also be strict government inspection, not only as to meat quality, but also to bacterial and other chemical content, of all imported meats and especially any thing coming up into this country from the United States.

          Clear-wrap packages, give you more of a visual choice, but as previously explained, are still no indication of freshness or quality. The meat should be red, with fat uniformly mixed. Fresh ground beef can be stored only in the coldest part of your refrigerator and should be used or frozen within two days.

          To freeze ground beef, remove from market packaging and divide into specific recipe portions Wrap in plastic freezer wrap, waxed paper, or foil and then place in airtight, sealed, plastic, freezer bags. Freeze up to three months only.

          When buying packaged ground beef, be sure there are no tears in the packaging and always check the expiration date. Bulk ground beef is now often sold in round, sausage like, chub rolls, vacuum-packed in a wrapper you cannot see through. Don't buy it. With this type of packaging you’re completely at the mercy of the market, since you cannot see the meat to make any visual judgements, and you know it can not be fresh. But since it is usually lower priced, if you do decide to buy some, pay attention to the expiration date(if there is one on the original packaging) and cross your fingers.

          Since E coli 0157:H7 is found in the intestines of animals(ie. in the feces): if all animals were thoroughly washed, just before slaughter, and immediately after evisceration and skinning, there would be little or no chance of this contamination.

Ground Beef Selection

Ground Beef Selection

          For most applications, ground chuck is the best choice (see grinding your own). Chuck comes from an area of the animal that is more exercised, giving it more robust flavour. It has enough fat to make it juicy, but not so much it shrinks down to nothing when cooked keep in mind that the flavour compounds in fat also stimulate saliva flow, hence succulent and pleasurable dining experience.

          Chopped sirloin and ground round do make adequate burgers, but only if cooked to less than medium doneness. Longer cooking renders meat dry and flavourless. Although Canada now recommends all beef be cooked to at least medium doneness many top chefs and gourmets still choose flavour over cardboard and cook to rare or at most to medium rare. Choose your ground beef according to your tastes.

Grind Your own Beef

Grind Your own Beef

          If you really want to know what is in your burger, grind your own. This way you can control the fat content as well as the primal cut. If you have the energy, and can take the time away from the gym, the old fashioned, clamp on, galvanized meat grinder still works just fine. If you have a standard food processor, you can whip up fresh chopped beef in no time flat. But, in most cases, the health conscious person would do well to have a close look at one of the small Hobart or Kitchen Aid food processors now available. While one of these processors will initially cost you in the neighbourhood of five hundred dollars; it will very quickly pay for its-self, both health wise and money wise. I use a Waring "Pro" electric meat grinder which sells for between one hundred and one hundred and thirty dollars.

          When using a food processor or meat grinder, cut chunks of beef and suet into one-inch uniform cubes and chill well. Place meat cubes in processor with metal blade, taking care to process in small (no more than 1/2 lbs, depending on the size of your processor or grinder) batches. Pulse in short 1-to2-second bursts until the desired consistency is achieved, usually 10 to 15 pulses. It is very important to pulse rather than letting it run. Pulsing tends to distribute the pieces for more even chopping and avoids excess heat from the friction that could turn your chopped beef into mush and burn out your machine. If you are adding herbs or spices for a recipe, might as well toss them in before beginning to chop. If using a meat grinder, run the meat through the grinder three and no more than three times--you do not want, the meat to start to warm, or the fat particles to become too small, or to start to melt.

          The amount of fat you add is up to you, but for best results use at least ten percent fat to meat ratio. Just remember, fat is where the flavour is and it also adds moisture for a juicier end result. For burgers a coarse grind is preferred. For meatloaf and meatballs, a finer grind helps meat compact, blend with other ingredients, and hold its shape. Always be sure to follow safe handling procedures.