Syzygies Posted 16 hours ago Report Posted 16 hours ago (edited) As is an annual tradition, I planned a brisket for a dear friend's birthday party. After I'd sourced the meat, she canceled. No party, everyone had the flu. Marin Sun Farms at Rockridge Market Hall confidently told me this would be a great brisket. The cautionary tale I had in mind: In Think Like a Chef, Tom Colicchio has a stellar recipe for braised beef cheek. I tried this with a California beef cheek, and it was like Charlie Chaplin’s stewed boot. We figured organic cattle smile too much. The cautionary tale I should have had in mind: Berkeley Bowl once tried to sell me a cyrovac pork shoulder. The symmetry was unsettling. I realized still in the store that it was a pair of pork butts. I was being a clod, thinking more of the first story than the second, and didn’t react to the unusual shape. I’ve never seen a brisket this tall and squat. I got one thing right: Rather than going to Las Montañas for generic chiles, I just used up my hoard of chiles from Boonville Barn Collective, and ordered more. Best rub I’ve ever made. I never would have made the party; after eleven hours at 275 F this meat was nowhere near done. An Akaushi Wagyu brisket this size would have needed 8 to 10 hours. Slicing a hunk off the end for dinner, the flavor was great, but no collagen or marbling to suggest further cooking would help. And it didn’t look at all like brisket. No deckle. So I parsed the rest into pieces to use as an ingredient various ways. Chinese noodles? Hash? I’m thinking Borscht. I’m guessing this was a legendary cut that I’ve never been able to find before, that was sold to me by accident. I’ll hold back my guess in hopes others will weigh in. Edited 16 hours ago by Syzygies 1
Tyrus Posted 7 hours ago Report Posted 7 hours ago (edited) You know Syzygies deja vous, I recently popped a roast out of the freezer unlabeled and was wondering the same. My curious eye seems to think that it's a Chuck roast, has the cut & shape, grain and color, similar and in the same neighborhood. You can eliminate the flat, it has the markings and some orentation of being the point in the raw, but I'm leaning towards a tender chuck roast having seen something similar recently at the market and just purchased. Well, if your disappointed in the texture hold your head up high on appearance and a fabulous bark. I'm thinking a packaging mishandle, label or the new butcher on the block, happens to us all, don't despair and be thankful it wasn't bear. It might yet remain a mystery, however we can definitely rule out rib eye and tenderloin. When in doubt, ask the family dog...they gotta nose for these things. Edited 1 hour ago by Tyrus 1
tony b Posted 6 hours ago Report Posted 6 hours ago 41 minutes ago, Tyrus said: When in doubt, ask the family dog...they gotta nose for these things. 🤣 1
Syzygies Posted 2 hours ago Author Report Posted 2 hours ago AI (our new family dog) says its a beef clod heart. 1
Tyrus Posted 1 hour ago Report Posted 1 hour ago 28 minutes ago, Syzygies said: its a beef clod heart. I'll be, if that don't beat all. Makes sense, you can't even lie or your going to get caught. Not that I was trying to pull a fast one, but they are helpful...even sometime when you don't want them to be. I remember Steve Raichlen doing a shoulder clod {the whole beast} on an offset, it was a long cook, then again it was ginormous. It still must leave you wondering, "what the hell happened, thanks pal."
