Gravy's Cooking Thread

Chipotles packed in Adobo are one of the greatest things on earth.

chaos_sl said:

And yes, high heat!

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Enlighten me~

What is your preferred way to cook skirt?

Medium rare

If you like spicy food I highly recommend the Chili Tepin. It's the dried version of a pepper that grows like weeds In Guatemala. It's got an intense roasty heat but doesn't linger forever. They pack a punch.

Now I'm hungry.

Soygen_sl said:

Grilled medium rare(closer to rare) and cut against the grain. It's got awesome flavor and when sliced properly it's very tender and easy to eat. Not sure how it's good for 'certain types of dishes'. It's great all on its own. Honestly, I wish more peopledidn'tlike it, as its price has skyrocketed in the last couple years.

My favorite cut is probably bone-in ribeye, but skirt steak has been one of my favorites for a while.

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Primarily texture and presentation is what I was referring to regarding certain dishes. It specifically lends itself better to certain dishes than others, ie fajitas or other thin sliced against the grain style entrees vs. as a primary solo presentation. Admittedly I haven't gone out of my way to order it in recent years, and I only worked with it professionally a little over a decade ago. But it was definitely regulated to fajita meat or incorporated into a dish and never served on its own as if it were a more traditional cut, at least in my experience. You learn something knew every day, I guess hah.

BrutulTM_sl said:

Yeah, it hasn't been too common in restaurants and such just because it's an unusual presentation and not what people think of when they order a steak. It's fucking great though, and unfortunately the word is out on it so it's not cheap anymore.

Another thing I almost never see in Montana supermarkets is tri-tip. In California that shit was everywhere. There is only one tri-tip per cow so I guess somebody decided that California gets them all? Down there most restaurants have tri-tip on their menu, but in the rest of the country most people don't even seem to know what it is. I had some at a banquet last week and they had smoked it like it's fucking brisket. Very disappointing. Definitely one of the things I miss from California.

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For some reason it is mostly a SoCal thing. Costco always has it but you will have a hard time finding it other places. It can be labeled as Newport Steaks or Bottom Sirloin if they cut it and they end up grinding the odd shaped pieces for ground sirloin.

I don't know about Montana but many grocers are catching on that they can charge more for the Tri Tip then they were for the other labeled cuts. It's a very slow process to change shit in the grocery industry until it's proven they can make more money.

To my understanding every Costco carries tri-tip as a cut.

Khane_sl said:

Now I'm hungry.

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And I'm horny. awesome.

BrutulTM_sl said:

Yeah, it hasn't been too common in restaurants and such just because it's an unusual presentation and not what people think of when they order a steak. It's fucking great though, and unfortunately the word is out on it so it's not cheap anymore.

Another thing I almost never see in Montana supermarkets is tri-tip. In California that shit was everywhere. There is only one tri-tip per cow so I guess somebody decided that California gets them all? Down there most restaurants have tri-tip on their menu, but in the rest of the country most people don't even seem to know what it is. I had some at a banquet last week and they had smoked it like it's fucking brisket. Very disappointing. Definitely one of the things I miss from California.

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I could see it being on the menu as a primary entree (talking about skirt again~) on a "slaughterhouse" style menu where they basically just offer you a whole cow but all sliced up for various prices. But yeah, I would agree that restaurant wise it isn't common at all, at least not in Cali. In a decade I honestly don't think I've seen it anywhere aside from the uses I mentioned, and in the last 8 years of working 4-5 diamond places I haven't seen it even then.

I may have to give it a try this coming weekend and see how it fairs vs. my usual ribeye/NY style steak that I roll with when I'm feeling... steaky. Which as a poultry/fish guy in general, isn't all that often =| I did get some 4lb sword filets that I plan on grilling Friday (I live near the water in SoCal, and I abuse the shit out of my former restaurant cohorts/companies =|) and I'm already salivating at making a dill aioli for them with a side of lightly grilled asparagus. Skirt might round out my Sunday pretty well.