You might find yourself thinking that you already know beef like the back of your hand. It is, after all, a very common food, one of the most widely-eaten around the world in fact, and there is a good chance that you eat it every week, more or less. If you are like most home cooks, you have your own beef dishes that you enjoy cooking every now and then, and you’ve probably become used to cooking in these ways over time.
However, the problem with that is that it can become all too easy to get stuck in your ways, and before you know it you might find that you are not really creating the most delicious possible beef dishes you can. In this post, therefore, we are going to help you out by looking at some of the unique and delicious ways you can prepare beef. All of these are worth trying out.
Braising
You might never have braised beef before, but it is a method of cooking meat that can be amazing, in part because it tends to do very little to the product itself, and it has a way of holding in the meat’s natural juices. It is therefore perfect for something like beef, which is normally quite lean and which can be easy to overcook.
To braise beef, you are going to want to use lower temperatures and longer cooking times. This will help to make it moist and tender, and allow the proteins to develop more completely, allowing for more flavor in each bite. You have probably done this if you have ever done a pot roast, and it’s actually a great way to prepare beef in general. To make it as delicious as possible, consider using a slow-cooker, and make sure you use the right kind of beef, braising beef or chuck meat ideally.
Stir-Frying
A good stir-fry can be a delicious thing indeed, and it’s the kind of process that you are going to need to learn how to do right. Stir-frying beef is a careful process, because as we have said already, it’s possible to overcook beef very easily. However, on the whole this is one of the quickest methods for cooking beef, and one that allows you to introduce a lot of flavors very easily too. Sirloin makes a good choice for stir-frying, but you should make sure that you slice it up as thinly as possible so that it doesn’t become rubbery from frying.
Again, the great joy here is that you can put all sorts of flavor with the beef in a stir-fry, including any Asian tastes that you might be keen on including. It’s up to you, and it’s the kind of cooking process where you can use your imagination and creativity, and come up with some truly amazing results. You might be surprised at how easily and effectively you can do this, and it’s one of those things that you are definitely going to want to think about.
Picanha Steaks
Of course, one of the favorite ways to prepare beef around the world is the steak. There are a lot of kinds of steak out there, and part of the joy is trying out as many of them as possible. Some of them are very well known, such as your rumps and sirloins, and others are much less so. One of the lesser-known steak types is probably the picanha, which is a Latin American form of steak that might otherwise be known as the round, in other words from the back part of the animal.
You can cook it in whatever way you would normally cook your steak, but the point is that a picanha cut steak tends to hold a lot more flavor in it, owing to the slightly higher fat content. So it’s something to consider if you are after a new way to prepare your beef.
Ground
Ground beef can be used in a lot of ways, and it’s one of the most versatile means of eating and preparing beef. With ground beef you have the option of creating your own burgers, or making any dish that you might need to fry mince in, such as a bolognese recipe or anything of the sort. This is very common, but to make it even more delicious you can simply ground the beef yourself at home. This makes it fresher and enables it to pack more of a punch when you go to cook it.
I actually do pot roast sometimes!