Be Careful Slicing Beef

It is no secret I love beef the best, enjoy it the most, have it most often, and like foul mouthed Anthony Bourdin, “still want more”. So beginning with St Patrick’s Day, and a lucky score on a small store bought Corned Beef Brisket and then again this past weekend with one of my favorite and inexpensive steaks (the Tri Tip), I discovered just how important it is to slice these two cuts of beef properly once cooked. The problem was not with me knowing to slice across the grain but rather taking to time to look and actually do it. The lucky score on Corned Beef came about when my Step Son bought a Corned Beef (very small) and dropped it by for me to cook him some of my BBQ he and wife Anna loves so well – not knowing it’s not the same. At the last minute just before St Patrick’s day arrived, I hit a couple of stores and they were out – what to do? Simple, just pick up a real brisket for his BBQ, which is what he really wanted anyway and use his Corned Beef, which I rinsed off, and soaked overnight in water to provide a milder Corned Beef flavor. I had a short trip to make that afternoon and stopped by home to put it on to cook while I was gone and decided to go with a Dutch Oven cook with onions, potatoes, carrots, glazing the meat with a little garlic powder sprinkled on top, whole grain mustard, and brown sugar. With meat glazed and placed in the pan and surrounded by veggies, I poured a can of O’Doul’s non alcoholic beer and enough water to reach about half way up on the meat and cooked at 275 to and internal of 200, covered (about 3 hrs), added cabbage during the last 30 min and all was well till I forgot to slice ACROSS the grain. We have the Tri Tip quit often because, like the Corned Beef it serves a dual role in that, one Tri Tip provides enough for a steak dinner for two with enough left over for a Roast Beef sandwich Made In Heaven the next day. If your not familiar with this cut of beef, it is in a shape that will make you want to slice it based on it’s shape rather than check the grain of the beef first and once you do you’ll most likely find it runs just the opposite from what you would think. Thankfully I can end by saying, in just under two weeks time, I have redeemed myself on both counts and have probably made the scale creep up slightly as a result, but I don’t care. Click HERE and you will find some fine information about the subject and at the bottom of that page if your interest there is also some great info on cooking steaks.