Saving money means learning new skills
Sep. 25th, 2010 01:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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cooking
Today my plan was to buy meat to restock my freezer. I found lots of lovely free range pork on markdown which made me a happy camper. Rump steak was also on special, so I'd put a tray of that in my trolley - it was about 3 steaks for $13.99/kilo.
Then I turned to the fridge opposite to find the big chunks of beef. Whole Scotch, whole rump. The whole rump was a mere $7.99/kilo. So I figured, I have a chopping board, some good knives and time, so I decided to be daring and bought some. This chunk was about 3.5 kilos.
I now have steaks, diced steak for curries and casseroles, stir-fry strips and 2 roasting portions.
I have a feeling my cuts weren't ideal. I first cut off one end and halved that for my roasting bits. I immediately discovered that there is a layer of connective tissue running through the rump, which basically separates the whole thing into two layers. I decided to use the bottom layer for strips and chunks and make steaks from the top bit.
I had some flashbacks to uni, I studied biology so I'm no stranger to dissections. Getting some of that fat and gristle off was a hell of a job though and I didn't get rid of it all. Hopefully it doesn't get too tough when I cook it. I also think some of my stir fry strips won't be that good because I was cutting every which way across the grain.
So now. I'm trying to Google for instructions for properly cutting up this chunk of cow, haven't had much luck so far, every hit I get seems to be wanting to teach me how to COOK rump, and I already know that. Anyone got any pointers? I also discovered that my Shun knives are due for a professional sharpening.
And I have a bag of fat and crud like that - any ideas for what I can do with this? I'd hate to just throw it away.
cookingToday my plan was to buy meat to restock my freezer. I found lots of lovely free range pork on markdown which made me a happy camper. Rump steak was also on special, so I'd put a tray of that in my trolley - it was about 3 steaks for $13.99/kilo.
Then I turned to the fridge opposite to find the big chunks of beef. Whole Scotch, whole rump. The whole rump was a mere $7.99/kilo. So I figured, I have a chopping board, some good knives and time, so I decided to be daring and bought some. This chunk was about 3.5 kilos.
I now have steaks, diced steak for curries and casseroles, stir-fry strips and 2 roasting portions.
I have a feeling my cuts weren't ideal. I first cut off one end and halved that for my roasting bits. I immediately discovered that there is a layer of connective tissue running through the rump, which basically separates the whole thing into two layers. I decided to use the bottom layer for strips and chunks and make steaks from the top bit.
I had some flashbacks to uni, I studied biology so I'm no stranger to dissections. Getting some of that fat and gristle off was a hell of a job though and I didn't get rid of it all. Hopefully it doesn't get too tough when I cook it. I also think some of my stir fry strips won't be that good because I was cutting every which way across the grain.
So now. I'm trying to Google for instructions for properly cutting up this chunk of cow, haven't had much luck so far, every hit I get seems to be wanting to teach me how to COOK rump, and I already know that. Anyone got any pointers? I also discovered that my Shun knives are due for a professional sharpening.
And I have a bag of fat and crud like that - any ideas for what I can do with this? I'd hate to just throw it away.
