David Ross

I know, I thought the same thing about the Walmart steak, i.e. 'marinating it in an herbed balsamic vinaigrette.' Hmm, a poor grade steak doused with vinegar? I actually thought it was funny when I saw that cooking suggestion printed on the label of the Walmart steak. Do most people who buy steaks at Wal-Mart also buy fresh herbs and balsamic vinegar? Do they know what balsamic vinegar is and how to use it in cooking? It's sort of like asking a guy who welds pipes if he wants a Bud Lite or a vintage, first-growth red wine from Bordeaux with his cheeseburger. I shop at Walmart for certain things so I'm certainly not a Walmart snob, I just won't buy a steak there again.

Since I started this topic, I figured I had an obligation to everyone by following through to answer my initial question of "Supermarket Steaks vs. Ye Olde Butcher Shoppe" with an actual taste test. A taste test is subjective because it only reflects the personal tastes of the person eating the steak-two people might take bites out of the same steak and come up with totally opposite remarks about the texture and flavor of the steak. John may like the supermarket steak and Jane may prefer the butcher shop steak. And as we've discussed here, John may prefer grain finished cattle while Jane prefers the earthy taste and texture of cattle fed a pure diet of meadow grass. But in order to at least resolve in my own mind where I should buy steak and the grade of steak I should buy, last Friday I set out on a shopping trip to two supermarkets and one traditional butcher shop with the intent of buying 4 Ribeye Steaks and then taking them home, cooking them exactly the same, then tasting each steak. I'll have to leave the questions of animal husbandry, (how the cattle are raised) and the issue of grass-fed vs. corn-finished, on the "to do in the kitchen" shelf. The first supermarket I went to was Albertson's. Albertson's markets their beef as "Blue Ribbon." Their website says that "Albertson's Blue Ribbon Beef is hand-selected and trimmed to be juicy and delicious.....Our expert butchers will be delighted to cut it your way." Well, not exactly. I saw a customer approach the teenager who was unpacking boxes of packaged steaks and asked him if he could cut a steak for him. The poor kid was very apologetic to the customer, but he couldn't oblige because he wasn't able to cut meat. The guy who cuts meat apparently doesn't work on Friday mornings at 10am, although it's a busy time at the store. Albertson's website goes on to say that "all of our Blue Ribbon steaks are carefully naturally aged using our exclusive aging process so they're the most tender, mouth-watering steaks you've ever had." OK, but what exactly is your exclusive aging process? And by the way, if your beef is so good, why don't you tell the customer what grade it is? Is your beef USDA choice? I didn't seem to find that on your website or on the package of the steak I bought. Here's the Albertson's "Blue Ribbon" Beef Ribeye Steak, Bone-In. It was only $5.49 per pound, by far the cheapest of the 4 steaks I tested: Here is the Albertson's steak unwrapped. It had an odd smell, like the smell of hamburger past its 'best before' date. There were grayish brown spots running throughout the steak. Next up was a trip to Walmart. Now Walmart doesn't seem to post information on their website about the beef they sell. And one of the 'beefs' I have with Walmart is the same 'beef' I have with Albertson's in terms of the labeling of their meats. Walmart, like Albertson's, doesn't always put the grade of steak on the label. Shouldn't that be law? I couldn't tell if the Ribeye I was buying was USDA Choice or Select. The only indication that the meat had been inspected by the USDA was a small circle that said "inspected and passed by Department of Agriculture." That's it. No indication on any label of the USDA grade of meat.Here is the basic Walmart Ribeye at $8.38 a pound. Here is the basic Walmart Ribeye unwrapped. It was a beautiful red and smelled of nothing, which is good. Now if you are so inclined, Walmart also sells "Genuine Steak House Choice Beef." These are steaks that are "hand-selected, hand-trimmed and packaged using our signature fresh-sealed process to give you the ultimate steak house restaurant experience." Not exactly. I don't work for Walmart so I can't argue that these steaks are or aren't hand-selected and hand-trimmed. I know they aren't hand-trimmed at my store. I bet they are trimmed and packed back at the home-base in Arkansas but I really don't know. What I do know is that the "fresh-sealed process" did not give the finished cooked steak a "ultimate steak house experience." More on that later. This Ribeye sold for $10.15 a pound. Here is the second, supposedly 'better,' Walmart steak unwrapped. It had a clean smell but wasn't as red as the other steak. Maybe the other Walmart steak got more 'gas' before it was packaged. Most supermarket meat is 'gassed' before it is packaged so that it has staying power in the meat case. The "fresh-sealed process" that Walmart used on this steak seemd to shape it into a softball of meat-it didn't have clean, sharp edges or streaks of fat running through the steak. Finally, I took a drive up to the 'South Hill' area of Spokane. The South Hill was traditionally the home of the old-money families of Spokane. And while the character of the area has slowly changed to a more general demographic, some of the traditional shops and stores have remained-including Egger's Better Meats-one of the few traditional butcher shops in Spokane. I had not been up to Egger's in about seven years-a horrible mistake on my part and one that I will only get over in the coming years when I regularly patronize Egger's for my meat. Their website gives you a glimpse into the history of this traditional butcher shop: "Started by our uncle John, Egger’s Better Meats has been family owned/ran since 1935. There are currently four Egger’s meat markets in Spokane and Deer Park. Each individually owned and operated, and each having its own unique characteristics. All the Egger’s meat markets strive for the best in customer service, quality meat, and the best smoked products, home made the old fashioned way in our own smoke houses. Egger’s Better Meats and Seafood was started by our father (Bob Egger) in 1962, and is located on the South Hill in Spokane, Washington. Today dad still owns the market, however, I, Jeff Egger (smoker, sausage maker), and my brother Steve Egger (butcher), still run the show with the rest of our family." When I walked into Egger's I was immediately greeted by Steve Egger who was behind the counter cutting up meat on a huge wooden cutting table. Steve was directing four or five other guys around the shop. The first clue that Egger's was going to be the answer to my quandary over supermarket steak vs. ye old butcher shoppe were the hand-written signs hanging from the ceiling-"we cut and wrap your wild game, venison, elk and other game." And I especially liked the sign that said "we make our own bologna, salami and three kinds of bacon-regular, pepper and maple." Now trust me when I tell you any butcher who still cuts and wraps a mule deer harvested in the hills out of Spokane probably knows what he's doing when he makes his own bologna, smokes sides of pork belly or cuts you a ribeye steak. The moment I saw the 'Prime' label on the steaks in the meat case Mr. Egger piped up to tell me he was the "only guy in town who carries Prime steaks." He went on to tell me that he doesn't even have to advertise he carries prime beef. His customers instinctively know it's always available and he never has to worry about selling his prime cuts. I didn't ask him where the prime beef was raised, what breed of cattle it was or how it was fed. One look told me it was probably a great steak. I bought a prime ribeye for $16.99 a pound. So for just under twenty bucks I got a prime ribeye. That's actually a value compared to what prime steaks cost in one of the high-end steakhouses in Las Vegas. Expect to pay about $50 for a prime ribeye at Craftsteak at the MGM. A beauty for sure. It was a deep red color with clean white fat. There wasn't a hint of odor in the meat. My God-doesn't it just look delicious? The picture of this perfect steak makes me think back to those days in the 60's when I would go with my Dad to the 'Red Steer' steakhouse at the Portland Stockyards. They served delicious, fresh steaks on sizzling platters and I especially liked the little wooden stake in the shape of a steer that told you your steak was 'medium-rare.' This is the Albertson's ribeye in the skillet. The four steaks were all prepped and cooked exactly the same: 1-rubbed with olive oil and seasoned with sea salt, fresh ground black pepper and a dusting of Cajun seasoning. 2-seared for exactly 4 minutes per side in a hot, old-fashioned cast iron skillet. 3-the skillet with the steak put in a hot, 550 degree oven and the steak roasted for an additional 2 minutes per side. 4-the steak taken out of the skillet and rested on a rack for 2 minutes before tasting. Here is the Albertson's ribeye on the plate. It got a nice, crusty char on the outside. The steak was only about an inch thick so it cooked a bit beyond my desired medium-rare doneness (emphasis on the rarer side of medium-rare). Here is a close-up of the Albertson's ribeye. It was juicy and beefy but the off-putting odor I had smelled when I opened the package remained after the steak was cooked. I'd give it a grade of B-. Here is a photo of the Walmart ribeye #1, the cheaper of the two ribeye's from Walmart. Even though this steak was seared in a cast iron pan and cooked exactly the same as the Albertson's steak, look at the results-the steak is grey and there is barely a hint of a nice, black char on the outside of the steak. Maybe the 'gas' treatment on pre-packaged steaks prevents them from getting a good sear? This is Walmart #1 cut. Oh God that looks awful-grey, yellowish, sick, sick. The steak was actually tender and juicy and had a fair amount of beef flavor. It just looked sick. Grade C-. This is Walmart #2, the steak they call "Genuine Steak House Choice." Yes, believe it or not this steak was cooked using the exact same method as the two previous steaks. It was by far the worst of all 4 steaks I tested. It looks like globs of beef muscle from a chuck roast. Like it's Walmart brother #2, #2 did not come close to getting a nice crusty outer char. #2 cut. The taste was pretty much the same as Walmart #1, tender, juicy and decent beef flavor. You just had to take each glob of meat separately. Both Walmart steaks had a soft, almost gel-like texture, not the strong fibers you'd find in a good steak. Both Walmart steaks left about 2 tablespoons of what I'd call 'juices' in the pan. I imagine it is that 'nine percent solution' I read on the label that was drained into the pan. Sorry Walmart, another C-. This is the prime ribeye from 'Ye Olde Butcher Shoppe.' The prime grade steak cooked the best-it got an incredibly crusty char on the outside very quickly and didn't leave any accumulated juices in the cast iron skillet. The prime steak proclaimed "Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up now!" (excuse me Ms. Gloria Swanson for stealing your line). And what a closeup-a juicy, peppered, prime ribeye that looks so delicious you can't stand it. The cut prime ribeye. This was by far the best of the 4 steaks-it cooked better than the other 3 steaks and got a nice, black crust the quickest. The prime ribeye didn't leave behind a cloud of yellowish juices in the skillet like the Walmart steaks. The prime steak had a stand-up, firm texture and fiber, yet the meat was juicy and tender. And finally, the flavor. It was that same flavor that I remember from steaks my Grandmother used to grill on the family ranch in Prineville, Oregon-steak that tasted like beef. It's hard to describe a good steak like a fine wine. If steak can be rated like a fine Merlot and it has 'bouquet' and the taste of 'chocolate and spice,' then this steak would rate in the 90's. I'd give the prime ribeye from the traditional butcher shop an A+. And so it goes. If I buy steak, I go to the old-fashioned butcher shop. Will I ever buy a supermarket steak again? Maybe. I cooked a fine choice grade New York a week ago that I bought at the meat counter at a nice supermarket in town. But I certainly won't be buying any pre-cut and pre-wrapped supermarket steaks again. If I want bacon that tastes like it came from jolly old fat pig, sliced bologna to slather with mustard on white bread or a prime New York strip, I'll go vist Egger's Meats on the South Hill.

I find that some of the 'staples' of Asian cooking are the items that are far cheaper than the same type of items in the supermarket, and those are the items I go for. The best example I can find is Toasted Sesame Oil. My Asian market sells about 4 different brands, all imported from different countries in Asia. I can buy a large bottle for under $5. But the local supermarkets usually only offer one brand of toasted sesame oil for about $3.50 for a small bottle. The quality, quantity and price of the larger bottle in the Asian market is the better buy for me. A few of our supermarkets also offer an upscale, organic toasted sesame oil from a US producer, but it is really expensive. So while many US cooks are buying sesame oil today, it is still probably not a big seller in the supermarket and as such, the price is pretty high. In terms of fresh foods-I can only buy Pork Belly at my Asian market. It is so cheap I just think I'm stealing it from the market-only $1.99 a pound. I can buy fresh duck leg quarters for $1.69 a pound which I use to make duck confit. Again, a steal in terms of price and the supermarkets don't even sell pork belly or duck legs. But again, these meats are regularly used by Asian cooks and with the exception of foodies like us, I don't think many Americans would buy pork belly if it was in the meat case at the supermarket.

My oh my that duck looks delicious. I can just taste that crispy skin. Nice photo.

Right now I am in the midst of cooking 4 ribeye steaks. Tommorrow I will post some photos and give you a detailed recap on the results of my cooking and taste test of 'Supermarket Steaks vs. Ye Olde Butcher Shoppe Steaks.' I think you'll find the results interesting but not surprising.

Thank you so much. It is an easy recipe and very appropriate to the summer season. Here is my recipe: Pastry Crust Base 1 cup, all-purpose flour 1/3 cup, powdered sugar ½ cup, unsalted butter, melted Heat oven to 350°. Sift together flour and sugar in a large bowl. Add the melted butter and combine the mixture into a loose dough. Pat the mixture into a 9" square non-stick pan. Bake the pastry until just browned around the edges, about 10 minutes. Filling 2 eggs 1 tsp. fresh grated lemon peel 3 tbsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice 1 cup granulated sugar 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour ¼ tsp. baking powder 1 cup fresh blackberries Whole fresh blackberries for garnish Powdered sugar for garnish Heat oven to 350° again. In a mixing bowl, add eggs, lemon peel, lemon juice and sugar. Beat at low speed until mixture is thick and smooth, about 5 minutes. Combine flour and baking powder in a bowl. With mixer running, add flour and baking powder and mix until well-blended, about 3 minutes. Pour the filling into the pre-baked pastry crust base. Place whole blackberries throughout the filling. Bake the lemon bar mixture in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the mixture is set. Remove from the oven and let the pan cool on a rack for 30 minutes. Place whole fresh blackberries on top of the lemon bar base. Sift powdered sugar over the top. Cut the pastry into bars and serve with either chilled, whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Last night I made Blackberry Lemon Bars. I used my standard lemon bar recipe but added fresh Oregon blackberries. During the summer I make these lemon bars with blackberries, raspberries and when I can get them-loganberries or Marionberries. I make a standard shortbread crust then pour a layer of lemon custard on top of the crust. I just add fresh whole blackberries to the custard layer. As the dish bakes, the blackberries soften into the custard base. After the dish cools, I add whole fresh blackberries on top and dust them with powdered sugar. It's a great way to use fresh summer berries.

Last night I made Tandoori Prawns served with Basmati Rice and a Cucumber Salad. I made a tandoori paste with yogurt and a lot of spices including cardamom, ground coriander and cayenne pepper. Then I marinated the prawns in the paste and broiled them in the oven. I've gotten back to using the broiler in the past year and it gives meats and seafood that wonderful char. I added diced zuchinni and tomatoes and some fresh mint to the rice. I use a Japanese style slicer to cut the cucumber into ribbons and then dressed it with olive oil, dried dill, lemon juice and salt and pepper. I would do this dish again, but I let the prawns get a bit overdone and dry. I would probably thin out the tandoori paste with some milk or more lemon juice next time. The paste was a bit thick and sticky for my taste. For dessert I made what I call Blackberry Lemon Bars. I have my own standard lemon bar recipe and in the summer I change it up a bit by adding berries. In this case i added whole blackberries to the lemon custard so the berries would bake down into the custard. Then I added whole fresh blackberries on top of the finished lemon bars.

How delicious looking! You are off to a good start. Just reheat your oxtails, reduce the sauce and serve with some steamed rice. That looks very good.

I prepare oxtails like most of the other suggestions-slowly braised. The meat is deliciously beefy and tender when slow-braised, and if you have left-overs, which is rare, shred the meat and stuff it into little pockets of pasta and you have 'Oxtail Ravioli.' I start by choosing oxtail from the larger end of the tail so to speak. I dust them with flour and sear them in olive oil in a Le Cresuet pot to get them nice and brown on both sides. Then I remove the oxtails from the pot and add a bit more oil. I add carrots, celery, onions and garlic cloves. Let the vegetables saute for a few minutes, then deglaze with red wine. Then add whole peppercorns, fresh thyme sprigs, a bit of salt, some whole black peppercorns and I add some crushed juniper berries. If I am out of juniper berries I might add some whole cloves or a tangerine peel. Add some beef stock and cover the pot. Chuck the pot in a low oven at 250. Yes, that sounds low, but I let the oxtails braise for at least 6 hours on the low heat. Carefully take out the oxtails from the braising liquid, then drain the vegetables out of the liquid. I return the braising liquid to the stovepot and boil it down to reduce it to a gravy. I serve the braised oxtails with either mashed potatoes or buttered egg noodles with poppy seeds. Serve the delicious braising gravy on the side. God I wish Fall was here. This is a classic cold-weather dish. By the way, I use the same basic recipe for Pot Roast. Delicious.

That sounds delicious. Can you share the recipe for the Salad with Mackeral? Do you use smoked mackeral? Do you think smoked eel would be an ok substitute in your salad?

Fantastic photos and thank you for the insight into the butchering of Mr. Beef. I've been searching some websites that sell purely grass-fed beef. I may break down and buy one of the beasts and do a bit of my own butchering. I may need to call you if I get to a part of the animal that I can't figure out how to cut!

What's so puzzling to me is why I have such a plethora of great meat markets here in Minnesota, most of them breaking down the carcasses by hand, and doing their own version of charcuterie (more on the order of smoked and raw sausages which are not cured, but all them with their own bacon). I drive the 258 miles to our cabin up north, or go 100 miles south, and if I wanted slight detours, I could visit more butcher shops than one could count on the digits on my hands and toes, plus the digits on my family's hands and toew. So, what's going on up here that isn't going on elsewhere? Oh, and everyone of these butcher shops are lively and bustling with customers. ← I'm wondering if it is because Minnesota and Wisconsin have a large Scandanavian and European population that supports so many good butcher shops and the tradition of sausages and wursts that go along with a good German shop?

If you get a chance, I would love to see a side by side comparison between your Angus steaks and a steak from on of the Welsh Black Beef Cattle that you refer to. That way we could see the difference in the marbling. Thanks for your insight into the issues of supermarket beef vs. butcher shop beef. Sounds like both the UK and US have seen a decline in traditional butcher shops. But I am glad that we both countries seem to be seeing a renewed interest in farmer's markets and good quality beef showing a resurgence. We may never see the old days of butcher shops with sawdust on the floor here in the US, but I do think we will see more and more good quality beef in our supermarkets and an increase in the profitability of the remaining traditional butcher shops.

How did you like the taste of the grass-fed beef? I've been writing a thread about supermarket steaks vs. butcher shop steaks over in Food Traditions and Culture and we've had quite a discussion about grass-fed beef.

Ted-I would love to have the recipe for your port wine reduction sauce.

I would like to think that in a perfect world that your suggestion of recruiting and training butchers in the traditional meat cutting trade would be ideal. But I doubt that will ever happen in America. I don't think we can ever break the economic reality of today's supermarket meat cases-it is cheaper to hire someone to unpack boxes of beef and put them in a meat case. At best, many of the people employed at the mass markets in the US-aka WalMart, unpack cases of meat in the back room, repack it, price it and put it in a case out on the floor of the store. They don't do much actual cutting of meat. For those of us serious cooks and anyone serious about the beef we eat, I think we have to be resigned to taking a bit more time, effort and maybe drive a bit further to seek out a reliable butcher or good meat counter within the supermarket. But you do have an interesting point and one that I think would be quite profitable-a traditional butcher who markets their shop much like a fine wine shop. It would a 'Beef Sommelier' if you will-someone who can choose beef at its peak of flavor from properly fed cattle and cut the meat to draw the greatest flavor out of each cut. That is something that would certainly sell in the U.S., albeit in a high-income demographic that would support that type of butcher shop.

Confusing yes. Another part of the confusing issue of supermarket beef vs. butcher shop beef is the side issue of which breed of cattle produces better beef. Where I live one of the supermarkets sells only 'Certified Hereford Beef.' About 5 years ago they ran an ad campaign with a cowboy on a horse herding some herefords in a pasture North of Spokane. They claimed that all the beef sold in their local supermarkets came from "their own ranch of hereford cattle." Well the 20 or 30 hereford's in the commercial probably didn't supply them with a fraction of the beef needed to supply their stores because a few months later, the slogan was changed to remove the 'home-grown' claim and now stands as "we only sell Certified Hereford Beef." But they only sell the Certified Hereford at the meat and seafood counter. The stuff that is pre-packaged in the meat cases isn't 'Certified Hereford.' There is an Albertson's supermarket a block away that sells the regular meat case stuff, 'organic' beef from Colorado and then a small corner of the meat case sells 'Pure-Bred Certified Black Angus' beef. The Angus is only graded choice, nothing further down on the chain of meat grades. Last Fall I was the emcee for a wild game and beef cooking event in Portland, Oregon. I worked with a new beef production company in Eastern Oregon and a chef in Portland who only cooks with their meat. The gentleman representing the beef producers told me that it wasn't so much the breed of the cattle-they run a mix of Angus and Hereford-but how the animals are raised. In their case the animals graze on grass and alfalfa pastures and are kept on the pastures longer than most cattle. They want the cattle to fatten up on pastures as long as possible before they send them off to finish up in the feedlot. Right now most of their beef is going straight to the restaurant trade and isn't offered in supermarkets. You are right, the best tack on this discussion is to find a reliable butcher or meat counter and if what you put on the plate is to your tastes, keep going back to that person for your meat.

Thanks for the insight. It is interesting to me to note that while we are thousands of miles apart, many of the issues that we face in America regarding the issue of Supermarket Beef vs. Ye Olde Butcher Shoppe beef are the same issues you mention are happening in London. Yes, certain pockets of the US have good ethnic markets who have good meat counters. Some areas of our country may have many good local butchers, and yes, we do have cities that have good meat counters within the supermarket. A few lucky cities have upscale markets selling prime beef. But I think overall, there are far fewer butcher shops in America than there were say 50 years ago, and probably even 10 years ago. I don't have facts to back it up, but from what I read and see in the media, the old-fashioned butcher shop trade continues to shrink away. Sadly, I think that the trend of family-owned butcher shops and seafood markets closing has been felt the most in mid-size and smaller American cities. I agree with you that two of the main factors are the cost of doing business and the lack of demand. Another factor is that younger generations of the families who owned these businesses are not interested in continuing in the family tradition of cutting meat. This is exactly the same scenario facing many traditional family farms-younger generations are leaving the farm for college and not returning after they graduate. They can make more money in a professional position than baling hay. The metro area of Spokane where I live is upwards of 300,000 people but we only have 1, count it 1, fresh seafood market. This is an old-fashioned seafood market. The man who owned the market and ran it with his wife for many years retired last year. Their kids and grandkids had no interest in continuing in the family business. Thankfully, a young man stepped in and saved the market and he has actually expanded the business. But the business probably wouldn't survive on its own by just selling seafood. A large percentage of the revenue from the shop come from the sale of wine because the markup on wine is greater than the margin of profit on seafood. We do have a very good Mexican market in Spokane that has a fresh meat counter that I just discovered. I'll be visiting them often in the future. But we only have 1 traditional butcher shop. And remember, this is Eastern Washington and cattle are one of our biggest sources of revenue. This is the West where beef is supposed to be king. The butcher shops has three locations in the area. What is interesting is that one of their shops is attached to the seafood market I mentioned above. The location is not great. The shops are located in an old strip mall that is tucked back behind some fast food restaurants off a main street. If you didn't know they were there you'd drive right by and you'd be in the parking lot of a large supermarket. I guess that is the trend in my area-the old-fashioned way of life and how we used to shop for food has faded into the past. The butcher, the fishmonger and the baker have morphed into a one-stop shopping center under one roof. My original argument about Supermarket Beef vs. Ye Olde Butcher Shoppe Beef is really more than a disccussion about a bad Porterhouse and a good New York Strip Loin. For me it's also about a loss of a way of life and the old days of shopping at small, family-owned shops for the fixins for dinner. But what is also interesting in this discussion about supermarket beef and butcher shop beef is that I have found that there is a trend in America to get back to our roots in terms of our food and how it is raised, marketed and bought by consumers. I think that is a good thing. Farmer's markets seem to be much more popular than they were 20 years ago and have actually boomed in my area. And if the meat counter at one of our supermarkets is selling pure-bred Angus beef steaks cut by hand, good. I won't buy steaks in a plastic package that have been transported 2,500 miles anymore. I'll take the time to see the one butcher shop in town and work on really building a personal relationship with them. They are only about 5 miles from my home so I have been stupid not to visit them more. I still have some questions though. Do any of you have a preference for meat from a certain breed of cattle? Is it just a ploy of the Beef Marketing Council to trick consumers into thinking Angus beef is the best? Is it justification to raise the price of certified Angus beef by a couple of dollars per pound over the average per pound price of beef? The main breed of choice of ranchers years ago in the Northwest was the Hereford because they were suited to grazing on the vast, dry rangelands in the Eastern part of Oregon and Washington. My Grandfather raised mainly Herefords and then a few Black Angus. My Great Uncle only raised Shorthorns. We always called them Shorthorns for 'beef' because in those days, a lot of Shorthorns were raised as dairy cows. My cousins raised a mix of different breeds-Hereford, Black and Red Angus and shorthorns. I think most of the beef in the basic supermarket case are cross-bred steers to keep the per pound price down. You can find pure-bred Angus beef in the supermarket, but I think most consumers pass it by since it is more expensive. Another downfall for supermarket beef vs. butcher shop beef. What do you think?

Very, very nice. Did you add any mushrooms or anything else to the crab and linguine? It looks delicious.

I so agree with you. I also believe that we are moving back to raising animals and fruits and vegetables like our forefathers did in the days before the mega-producers. I have some distant cousins who have continued the cattle ranching tradition in our family. They own and operate one of the largest feedlot operations in Eastern Oregon and Washington. Earlier this year my Mother and Father visited them and my 3rd cousin mentioned that at the time they had 80,000 head of cattle in their feedlots. Imagine that many cattle feeding at one time. While they are mass-producers of beef, I give my cousins kudos for preserving a measure of integrity in terms of the ranchers they work with who supply their feedlots with cattle and for the care they take to insure the animals come to them healthy and properly fed and raised humanely. They carry that ethic into the feedlot. To their credit, they have a large contract with Whole Foods Markets and as you know, Whole Foods has stringent standards for the beef that they sell in the market. Whole Foods wouldn't even think about signing a contract with a meat distributor who didn't provide them with the high-quality beef that their customers demand. While not all the cattle that are in the feedlot are fed to the standards of Whole Foods, they are all treated and fed properly. I so miss my Maternal Grandfather's favorite meat-roast pork with a thick layer of cracklin fat. The only thing close to that pork roast today is the pork belly that I have to go to the Asian market for. It's the only pork I can get with that extra thick layer of fat. I do think we are moving toward getting back to our roots in agriculture. It has unfortunately taken scares, and deaths, over tainted spinach and undercooked and infectious hamburger to force many to realize that. I sure won't be buying anymore pre-packaged individual steaks anymore I can guarantee you that. Everytime I think about that bad Porterhouse I realize how important it is to stop and take a few moments to consider the food one is buying. The hand-cut Strip Loin steak was so much better.

I haven't been to London for about 15 years, but when I was there I seem to remember many small traditional butcher shops. Are you finding the tradition of English butchers is withering away? It is getting harder and harder for us to find traditional butchers in America. Also, is Lidgate butchers still in London? I remember that was one of the butcher shops I visited and they had a large selection of traditional meat pies.

I think this is a good discussion. While I started with the topic of supermarket steak vs. old-fashioned butcher shop steak, certainly the issue of the breed of cattle and the way the cattle are fed comes into play in this discussion. I've heard a lot of talk lately about the grass-fed/grass-finished issue as opposed to the old method of grass-fed/corn-finished cattle. It all seems to be a part of a move on the part of ranchers, retailers and the general public to take back some control of our beef supply from the mega-factory beef production companies. And it seems to be paying off in the availability of better quality steaks in the market. The porterhouse I cooked that turned out so bad was an example of beef from the mass-market distributor. I think it was a steak that came from a mixed-breed steer that wasn't given a proper diet, probably processed before the steer was finished fattening up-or after the steer was past his prime. The steak was probably cut, gassed, packaged and transported miles from where the animal was born. That isn't to say that this type of processing doesn't deliver a good steak, but I think it is more susceptible to giving consumers poorer quality beef than the old-fashioned way of raising cattle. The delicious strip steak I showed in the photo above is an example of a local producer selling beef to a market that cuts choice quality steaks from whole strip loins. That's the old-fashioned way. When I was a kid my Grandfather and Great Uncle raised both Shorthorns and Hereford cattle in Prineville, Oregon in the central part of the state. They had small operations and those were the days when many ranchers had small feedlots on their own farms. The cattle spent the winter feasting on the alfalfa we had baled the previous summer. In spring the cattle fed on a fresh crop of alfalfa in lowland pastures on the ranch. and then spent the summer's high up in the mountains of Eastern Oregon grazing on federal lands. They didn't take the cattle off their pasture lands and ship them to a huge feedlot miles away. Many of the ranchers had their own small feedlots where they fattened their cattle before they were shipped off for processing. As ranching moved into the 70's, my Great Uncle could no longer afford to run his own feedlot so that is when he started to ship his cattle to a commerical feedlot and the feedlot then sent the finished cattle on to a processing plant. From what I remember that is about the time we saw the mega-feedlot/production houses take over. Fast forward to today and here we are, cattle ranching is coming back to its roots. Many small operations are getting back to the methods of raising and feeding cattle that my family used decades ago. And so it seems to go with our beef today, and our spinach, our radishes and our chickens. If we buy quality products that are raised properly and fed a proper diet, we should have a tasty New York Strip Loin on our dinner plate.

Last night I did a Lemon Pound Cake that I served with fresh local raspberries and blackberries that were soaked in Orange Curacao and Chambord Liquers overnight. The Pound Cake was more 'pudding-like' in texture than a basic pound cake-probably because I doused the cake with more of the orange curacao!

Anna-thank you so much for the info. I totally agree with all of your points and I really appreciate your insight. I've often thought of doing my own butchering. I consider myself a pretty informed foodie and knowledgeable about a lot of products, including beef. My family has a history in the cattle business and I know how to cook meat. But I had not really devoted the time and energy I should have in the past when buying steaks. I have heard all of the press that locally raised, grass-fed beef raised naturally results in better a better steak. i just never took the time I should have to see if that was true. Now I know it is. The bad porterhouse I cooked was due to rushing to fast through the meat case at a supermarket that didn't have a meat counter staffed with a human being. I selected a poor steak that was more pink than red, I didn't examine the fat marbling to insure there was a good ratio of fat in the meat, and I didn't examine the label closely enough to check on the grade of the steak. After opening up the garbage sack in 102 heat yesterday afternoon and examing the label from the porterhouse package, I realized it was a poor grade-select and the steak was at its 'best before this date' age. So I rushed to buy a porterhouse without making sure it was really fresh, thick, marbled and at least 'choice' grade. The 10% added solution injected into the steak didn't help. I think I answered my original question of 'supermarket beef vs. ye olde butcher shoppe' with a little test I did yesterday. I still bought a steak at a supermarket, but this market has a butcher counter with trained butchers. They buy local beef and cut the steaks by hand. They only sell choice grade and will order prime grade on request. Their steaks are as thick or thin as you would like them, and the meat is not injected with preservative solutions. So I learned my lesson and in the future I will always buy steaks from this particular store or buy it at the source from a local farmer and cut the meat myself. Don't stop commenting here even though I think I solved my steak dilemma. I'm still interested in your thoughts. Here are a few photos: This is the Strip Loin Steak I bought from the meat counter. Thick and with plenty of marbling, graded USDA 'Choice.' The steak is seasoned with olive oil, cracked black pepper and a dusting of Cajun seasoning just before searing in a cast iron skillet. This is the steak after cooking. I seared it on high heat in the cast iron skillet for 4 minutes per side, then into a 550 degree oven for another 2 minutes per side. I let it rest on a wire rack for about 3-4 minutes before serving. The finished Strip Loin Steak.