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It's $7.49 at the moment.

Yes. Even the often touted Sonoran Beef is very lean. We owned a home in AZ just a few miles from the State of Sonora and the herds rely on dry pastures most of year as it's the Sonoran Desert.

I keep it as it comes, I don't trim it at all. It's not just fat, tons of collagen, too. The collagen turns to gelatin when cooked and tenderizes the meat as well. Here is a tried and true recipe. My only change is that I increase carrots, probably use a pound of them, 7 or 8 big ones. https://littlesunnykitchen.com/instant-pot-oxtail/

https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/green-pistachios-recalled-due-salmonella

Pasta al limone with cream from Six Seasons of Pasta by Joshua McFadden p 114. This is another of the classics or “any season” recipes with a little lesson on working with cream-based sauces. I like that this version is all about the lemon. Other recipes in my books add other flavors - anchovy, nutmeg, basil, garlic, shallot, chile flakes - all good, but I appreciated the simplicity of this sauce. He adds a generous amount of lemon zest early on to infuse into the cream but holds the lemon juice to the very end where it’s added off the heat to avoid a cooked lemon flavor. I reduced the amount of pasta and added snap peas and yellow bell pepper so I could call it a meal.

@Tropicalsenior rolled roux logs is a very fine idea. thank you for sharing .

It is that plus the breed of the cattle. They are a Brahma cross. Also, they have no concept of Aging. The beef you buy in the afternoon may have been grazing on that grass in the morning. Do not throw that fat away. It is the most flavorful fat for making roux. I mix equal parts fat and flour and brown it nut Brown. I then roll it into logs and keep it in the freezer. I cut it off as I need it to thicken stews and soups.

@Tropicalsenior there is no marbled beef in Costa Rica , because : the beef is not grain finished ,and is pasture finished on pasture that is marginal ? @gulfporter similar situation ?

@gulfporter, I recently had an escapade with oxtail. At the end of cooking, there's quite a bit of fat which hasn't rendered. Do you keep the fat with the meat or throw it away? Thanks.

Same is true in Mexico as far as larger cuts of beef being marbled. However, there are fatty beef pieces. I buy and IP oxtails in Mexico (colas de res) and they are heavenly!

Ive found that the above Brie , after being opened , does seem to age a bit noticeably more than when sealed in its wrapper.

OK , but that drier will rehydrate w time , getting back to a mouth-feel of tender tough will not get tender by soaking in a liquid .

quick pressure release . . . at lower pressure, water boils at a lower temperature. this is the whole point of a pressure cooker - increase the pressure, boiling point also increases, makes things 'cook faster' at a higher temperature. it's not impossible that quickly releasing the pressure could result in (some) moisture inside the meat 'boiling off' rapidly, leaving the meat dry / drier / tougher.

another way of looking at rapid release of meat might be this : say you pressure cook meat , and the meat is partially submerged in liquid , or not at all : pressure steamed. the PC temp is well above 221 F , sea level boiling. rapid release creates a rapid boil in the pot , and on the surface of the meat . that surface , above the liquid will be dry. the problem is the dry meat will seem tougher than wet meat , but I see no way that can be true dry and wet have different mouth feel . on the other hand , dry meat has mouth feel similar to toughness , but was tender when moist. extreme example : jerky so rapid release will dry meat that's above the ' water line ' but the meat under the water line will stay moist and feel in the mouth tender . one last thought : the dry parts of meat , above the waterline @ quick release , may ' chew ' tought as is , but left in the liquid will re hydrate w time . a tough piece of meat will remain tough in any liquid .

As I said I know nothing about the science behind it so you could be right. I have mainly heard it in reference to making pot roast and other types of meat that would not be covered by a liquid. I've never tried making them in an IP. I've only used it for stews and soups.

@Tropicalsenior I think that is incorrect . fast release, releases a lot of steam , which concentrates the liquid portion of the PC contents by evaporation . I use this feature all the time when making stock . if i start w 3 cups of water , use quick release , there is less water left in the pot. in terms of toughening meat , I cant think of a mechanism for toughening the meat . there still might be one, but I doubt it. quick release might dry the meat , if the meat is not totally submerged in the liquid : the exposed meat will ' boil ' making that portion dry here is a ref. https://www.hippressurecooking.com/meat-openings-pcs/ you have to read it carefully . dryness is not the same as toughness .

I don't know the science behind it but I've always heard that using quick release with meat can toughen it. I can't prove it because I never use Quick Release with meat.

@Rickbern the danger w quick release of P.C.s is 1 ) getting burned w steam 2 ) creating a rapid boil of the contents of the pot , a sort of foaming action . the temperatures in a PC ( high or low pressures ) are well above the temperature issues mentioned in the Kenji article. quick release does not increase the temperature of the pot.

@Duvel I think there’s a lot of approaches to braising. If cooking at a hard boil works for you , more power to you. In my experience, I like to keep the temperature lower, I find the parchment paper helps me out. May not work for you. As far as the pressure cooker goes, there’s danger in quick releasing the pressure, every pc braise recipe I’ve ever looked at encourages natural release, perhaps it’s the same problem kenji was pointing out. I’m not that knowledgeable on the subject. I’ve made brisket in a pressure cooker, it turned out pretty good, I don’t tend to do it so much anymore because I like the lower temperature approach and I’ve gotten away from using brisket all that often. Nowadays my pressure cooker is only used for making stock, just personal preference.

I do it all the time. There's no such thing as marbled fatty beef in Costa Rica. In order to make it edible I have to use the pressure cooker or braze it for more hours than I care to do. The trick to making it tasty and tender is to Brown it thoroughly and not overcook it. Even if it is nicely marbled, meat that is overcooked in the pressure cooker is going to be stringy and tough.

I agree. Plenty of fat, plenty of connective tissue - same success factors as for a good braise. Temperature renders connective tissue into gelatin, and tightens muscle fibers. The equilibrium between both determines your final product. Tenderness can be achieved at any temperature depending on time - and the question of covering the braise ultimately affects the liquid part more than the solids …

I personally think for a P.C. stew to be edible , the meat itself has to be reasonably fatty , if not more so . for very lean meat , top // bottom round , or grass fed , there better be many tasty add-ins for that sort of meat to make a tasty PC. stew . or , you might have to be famished , which would work .

Yeah … How do you explain the surprisingly successful pressure cooker stews ?!

Dinner : Naan-ish pizza described over on the TJ's thread : https://forums.egullet.org/topic/155097-trader-joes-products-2017–/page/69/

I decided it was time to try that Brie from Wisconsin : its been almost a week @ room temp. I had hoped it aged and got runny and very flavorful . It did not. sorry , bad iPhone focus . it has some brie // camembert flavor , but not a whole lot. its ' soft ripened cheese ' for sure , but only hints at B //C . it also did not ' run ' its my understanding that there are Brie //camembert cheezes that are made not to run vs run. Run is always better , for my tastes . what to do ? Naan-ish pizza : iPhone seems to have woken up after its nap. out of the AF add- ons. this was tasty , bu would have been tastier w the Real Deal B. Tj's has one , from FR of course , it has an orangish label , and looks a little beat up in their cheese case . I get the Ooziest one , and home age a bit. next time . what to do with the rest of this cheese ? nothing wrong with it , just not a lot , if any , funky-ness I think Ill make a Bronzo Penne layered bake, using a fresh pot of M.Hazen's tomato sauce , w red onion stick blended in and this cheese .