Eat New Beef

Seems like we have a beef theme going on this week...

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s Beef Innovations Group (BIG) introduced six new cuts generated from the beef round. You may be thinking, "How exactly do they just come up with new cuts?"

By making new cuts to larger, sometimes cheaper muscle, the BIG has unveiled some new cuts of beef that give consumers even more options to put beef on the dinner table.

The six new cuts include more lean steak and roast options for your delight:

• Santa Fe Cut — similar to a flank steak, perfect for fajitas, stir fry or for shredded beef
• Round Petite Tender — flavorful, best cut into medallion steaks, offers a restaurant-quality experience on a bed of pasta or a roast for two
• San Antonio Steak — ½-inch lean steak, versatile and cooks fast, works well with a marinade
• Tucson Cut — the perfect lean cut for foodservice operations looking for value
• Braison Cut — ideal for any braising application and makes a great osso buco or pot roast
• Merlot Cut — deep red color, lean and flavorful, ideal for a variety of ethnic dishes

Cutting guides and related marketing materials for the new round cuts are available to food service and grocery operators. You can even take cutting guides into your local butcher to ask him/her to learn and make the new cuts. These guides will be available on the BIG Web site by September 30, 2010.

Make a comment on this post about your favorite way to prepare any cut of beef. I will throw your name in a hat to win some free "BEEF" merchandise that I have managed to gather! Send a friend of yours to become a follower of our blog and I'll throw your name in 3 times! Make sure and have them post a comment and give credit to you for sending them our way.

Eating Beef For Dinner Tonight,

Tera Rooney