The Cut: Flat Iron Steak

Named for its resemblance to a flat clothes iron, the flat iron steak is a fantastic cut of beef with great marbling and an affordable price tag. At $9.99/lb. at Fleisher's in Park Slope, the flat iron is one of the most cooked cuts of steak in my kitchen. A one pound steak, sliced and served, can feed 3 to 4 people as a main course and the steak can also be easily divided at home for multiple meals throughout the week.

The flat iron steak is cut with the grain, from the shoulder (or chuck) of the animal, producing a cut that tastes good, but is a bit tougher because it's not cross-grain.¹ Butchering a flat iron from cattle consists of removing gristle around the meat and splitting the cut in half. Splitting the cut  reveals additional gristle to be removed as well as helps the butcher remove a tendon which bisects that part of the chuck. Tutorials from butchers (here and here) outline the process your local butcher follows to prepare the flat iron steak you purchase in stores.

A high content of saturated fat and cholesterol make this cut, like most other steak cuts, unhealthy if eaten regularly. With a low sodium percentage and good source of protein, however, a flat iron steak is perfect for the weekend carnivore. Below is the nutrition card for a 6 ounce serving of flat iron steak:



Retreived from http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-omaha-steaks-flat-iron-i127267.

1. Wikipedia | Flat Iron Steak



The Review: Fleisher’s Park Slope



Retreived from http://www.fleishers.com/.

Review


I have been to Fleisher’s in Park Slope several times since it opened in 2011. The quality of their meat and range of products are both outstanding. That said, despite being a “nose-to-tail” butcher, the cuts which they have available are limited compared to most neighborhood butchers or groceries.  Fleisher's steaks are freshly cut and nicely marbled. It is more expensive than your everyday butcher, so I primarily shop here for a big weekend dinner as opposed to a weeknight meal. Their roasts look absolutely fantastic and I cannot wait to find an excuse to splurge and serve one at a big dinner party.

• Call ahead and see what they have on offer in store before trekking over or planning your menu 
• Expect the prices to be higher than your used to but the quality of meat to be better than that of most local butchers

 

Fleisher’s Park Slope

192 5th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11217
718-398-MOOO (6666)

Tues-Sat 11am – 8pm
Sun 11am – 6pm
Mon Closed

 

 

From New York Magazine:

"This upstate nose-to-tail butcher is maniacally strict about the meat they sell at their much-anticipated Park Slope outpost, offering only antibiotic- and hormone-free cuts of humanely slaughtered animals that lived on the pastures of small, sustainable farms and co-ops. All lamb, pork, beef, and poultry come from nearby counties (within a 150-mile radius of the Brooklyn store and 50 miles from the Kingston, NY location) and a daily delivery van loops between the two locations, ensuring supreme freshness. Superlative cuts consist of four-week dry-aged steaks (dry-aged sirloin is the signature cut) and pork tenderloin; other offerings include rotisserie chicken, housemade sausages, nitrate- and nitrite-free house-smoked bacon, and stocks and lard."


From the New York Times:

"Fresh meat from upstate is available as steaks or chops, or cut to order. They also carry organic poultry, 14 kinds of sausages, offal and veal from time to time, and will have turkeys for Thanksgiving. They cure their own bacon. Prepared foods like chili, stocks, pot pies and meatloaf are also sold."


From Yelp:

"Limited selection, high-quality product at a steep price."

"You don't find many places like these anymore, and this place is a shrine: beautiful sirloins, a bevy of stuffed sausages, cups of garlic butter and lard, ground bacon and beef, fragrant cheeses"

The Recipe: Basil Pesto

 

 

 

 

"Pesto is the way a person makes pesto." ¹

 

Basil. It is relatively easy to grow and, unless over-watered or exposed to the cold, basil can thrive outdoors in a garden during the summer months or indoors in a pot year-round. Most people can identify basil by it's distinct taste and smell. Few other herbs play so well with others that they can turn up in both sweets and savories, soups and salads and with pasta, fish and fowl—and neither steal the show nor fade into the background.²

For Italian-Americans like myself, how we consume basil is determined in part by where our family originates in Italy. Naples - basil on pizza or in marinara sauce. Capri - basil in a salad with tomatoes and mozzarella. Liguria - basil in pesto.

Where did pesto come from?

 

Pesto's origins most likely intersect with the many pesto-like sauces found throughout the Mediterranean and beyond: After all, the mortar and pestle is one of the oldest and most ubiquitous cooking tools. The ancient Romans loved their pounded sauces of lovage, parsley, mint, and thyme, and many books about pesto say that it's descended from an old Persian sauce that's made with walnuts and thyme. The Greeks invented skordalia from ground garlic and nuts, and the Spanish have their romesco based on pureeacutees of almonds, garlic, red peppers, and olive oil. ¹

 

Pesto is not the Sunday afternoon staple in my Neapolitan family. The word is borderline blasphemous. Its marinara sauce or marinara sauce or, wait for it, marinara sauce. Every once in a while there is a Bolognese sauce, but you can tell it is really marinara sauce with crushed meatballs. Let them eat marinara! They're missing out.

More than just an accompaniment to pasta or gnocchi, pesto can be served with a number of dishes ranging from minestrone soup to char-broiled steak. Its fresh, clean flavors are a versatile companion to almost any dish you prepare.

There is something to be said about using a mortar and pestle to make the sauce as well. There is an earnestness to the process. It adds a familiarity, a sense that others have done this before and that you too are now a part of that history.

Pesto is about more than the fresh basil taste, pesto is about more than the foods you serve it with, pesto is about the way a person makes pesto.

 
 

 

Recipe
 

   

· 1½ cups of basil

· ½ a clove of garlic

· 2 tablespoons of walnuts

· 1½ tablespoons of grated pecorino romano cheese

· ¼ of lemon

· 5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

· ½ teaspoon of sea salt

 

NOTE: This pesto is an amalgamation of numerous recipes I have prepared over the years.The primary inspirations are: Jamie Oliver's and La Cucina Italiana's recipes. I prefer more basil flavor than cheese flavor as well as a thicker sauce to a thinner one. The recipe below reflects that preference.

 

1 Heat pan over medium-low heat until hot. Add pine nuts to heated pan. Toast for 4 minutes, moving occasionally, until pine nuts are lightly browned. Remove walnuts from pan and set aside to cool. Turn off heat.

2 Roughly chop basil and garlic. Add to mortar and pestle with cooled pine nuts and sea salt. Grind thoroughly in circular motion until mixture has pasty consistency. Add cheese and grind into basil paste until combined.

3 Transfer contents of mortar to mixing bowl. Add extra virgin olive oil and whisk together. Squeeze lemon over pesto.

1 Saveur Magazine | Glorious Pesto

2 WSJ | Cooking With Basil and Its Many Friends

The Concept: Windsor Kitchen

 

I love cooking. From planning a menu to buying ingredients to eating a meal I've prepared, cooking is one of my favorite daily activities. I have been writing a cooking blog for several months now at GroomsGrub.blogspot.com, but I wanted to have an arena to explore more than just my daily recipes. I want to improve my understanding of what goes into preparing a meal, not simply how to prepare it.

 

This outlet is Windsor Kitchen.

The idea behind Windsor Kitchen is to go beyond the typical food blog in order to better understand the food we eat, the recipes we prepare, the kitchen techniques we employ, and the tools we utilize. In order to explore these themes, I will break the posts into five distinct segments which will address each idea individually. The final post will be a dish which pieces together the prior segments. 

The Cut

These posts will discuss where the food from our local grocery stores is sourced. Ideas, such as butchering, harvesting, and manufacturing ingredients, will be explored.

 

The Dish

These posts will tie-in concepts from The Cut, The Recipe, The Technique, and when applicable, The Review in order to create a dish.

 

The Recipe

These posts will provide a history behind the recipe and its ingredients as well as a walk-through of the recipe.

 

The Review

These posts will discuss reviews of restaurants, food events, and kitchen equipment such as pans, knives, and machines.

 

The Technique

These posts will provide a step-by-step guide in various cooking techniques. The posts will also discuss potential recipe ideas as well as helpful tips.

 

 

Windsor Kitchen will focus on sustainable, healthy ingredients that form the basis for some of my favorite foods. From produce to meats to fish to desserts, the goal is to eat fresh, eat healthy, eat well, and, most importantly, enjoy cooking.

 

 

Please feel free get in touch with any questions, concerns, or ideas either through the comments section in the posts or email me directly at cookwithwindsorkitchen@gmail.com.