Something different.

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You all, probably, know I love ribeye.  And I do!  However, with beef prices seemingly about hitting on par with buffalo or ostrich meat... if you can find those... I am having to rethink things.  No, extending my protein sources into other expensive meats is not the way.  I've had to pull back as if my fingers were burned.  That was actually my wallet, if the reaction was the same.  Even when I can find ribeye they have been terrible, as if they were ridden to market.  Tough, poorly fatted, and with a green nature to them that is to be avoided.  Not that I ever purchased truly aged beef.  Though it was common to let beef stand a bit, between this stage of processing and that.  It seems that is no longer the case.  So... I started considering other sources of meat and other cuts of beef.

Pork is okay.  It will never be my favorite.  It is a good secondary source though.  And it prices well.  Though even it has increased at a spooky rate.  It used to be more like chicken.  I suppose as beef prices skyrocketed, pork being the next real animal meat with any viable availability, increased in demand.  However, the prices really should have gone back down...  Prices go up, hog farms increase production, after a few bobs back and forth the price evens out.  Even fuel prices have gone down, so that isn't it.  I suspect, somehow, somewhere, the government is involved.  Central planning always has and always will fail.  Anyway...

As for cheaper cuts of beef?  Tonight was an experiment.  Flank steak.  I have tried it before, if without really knowing what I was doing.  This time I did a bit more research.  How to cook it, how to handle it post cooking, if I haven't really looked at what else to do with it.  Sure, I suppose you could put it on a salad, make tacos or burritos, or any of a number of things.  Actually, I wanted to try two things with the cut first.  I wanted to taste is, cooked and bias cut, all by itself.  That was quite good!  Now I can begin experimenting with other recipes, or meal plans using it actually.  The other thing I want to do is to figure out how to reheat planks of it.  I had three, pretty much 5 x 5 by 1 1/2 plackets which I cooked.  I sliced one, eating it with just a bit of salt and a glass of milk.  I am hoping to heat another placket, heat beans, and make tortillas... handmade, yet tonight.  Well, if I do the dishes and at least put a load of laundry back and fold or hang half of what is done, then put those away.  Quite an incentive actually.  Oh, and I have lemon and lime to drizzle on the bias cut meat bits, once warmed well.

Why do I keep using his vids?  He is more mannish.  Plus his puns rival how awful mine are... which means I am stealing ideas.  He keeps his recipes, relatively, simple.  Too many people try to make everything too complex.  In this case, I also have that same tortilla press.  Never have used it.  When I saw this video I decided to clean it up, bring it out, and begin using it.  Further, I'll be making two portions.  One for tonight, one for the freezer.  Yes, I am experimenting with things.  Making in some sort of bulk, ahead of time... plus home cooking... plus cheaper cuts.  It all adds up... or down?  *sigh*  I know nothing.

Food is becoming so expensive that I am really looking at ways to eat well, just more inexpensively.  Making your own break or tortillas really saves.  Choosing less expensive cuts and learning how to work that helps.  Every little bit.  What I am focusing on, as well, and more generally, is how to use what I have.  Waste is just that.  It is rather difficult, learning how to buy just what will be used.  I think, in the end, that will require a much deeper consideration of meal planning that I can do alone.  Still, to be mindful does help.  And, yes... even now, even as things are going, I suspect I can eat more like a king than a pauper, and more as I alter a few techniques and add in planning at least a bit.

Later.