Charcuterie 101: Dry Aging Beef

OK, so maybe this is not exactly the definition of charcuterie, but is is all about the preparation of meats. Since charcuterie is about preserving meats, you may question a process that is really the controlled ‘spoiling’ of meat ! But trust me, if you have the patience to ‘spoil’ your meat in this fashion, you will be amply rewarded.

It occurred to me, that to enjoy a dry-aged steak at a restaurant normally required spending about $40 on the steak alone ! Even buying dry-aged beef at Whole Foods was a $25 a pound proposition. So I asked the question, “How do you do it”? The answer, which should have been obvious, was simply to let the meat ‘rot’. OK, maybe not rot, at least not all the way, but to allow it to spoil in a controlled fashion. Here is the painfully simple method. I have done this 4 time now, with zero ill effects. So as risky as it may seem, this is pretty much the exact same way fancy restaurants make the dry-aged steak you pay so much for !

Ingredients (and tools)

• One giant chunk of meat (I use a whole ribeye)
• 2 tablespoons of salt
• Large dish rack
• 1 box Baking Soda
• 1 container of Damp Rid moisture control product
• 1 extra refrigerator

Take the whole ribeye, and using a very, very clean towel, dry the outside of the meat. Take the two tablespoons of salt, and light coat the outside of the meat, all around. Do not use any more salt than this – we are not trying to ‘cure’ the meat !

Set the whole ribeye on a large dish rack, or any other kind of rack, making sure the the meat is elevated and air can circulate all around the meat.

Take the whole rack and place it in a spare refrigerator. This CANNOT be a refrigerator you use all the time ! It must be one that is a ‘spare’ and is opened infrequently. This limits exposure to ‘bad stuff’. In the refrigerator place the box of baking soda, opened, and the open container of Damp Rid. The Damp Rid will keep the moisture level down, inside the refrigerator, and facilitate the drying process.

Shut the door, and leave the meat in the refrigerator for at least 21 days, or wait for 28 days for even stronger flavor.

After the 21 days are up, remove the meat from the refrigerator, and place it on a very clean surface. The surface of the meat will be quite dry and hard – basically rotten. This is what you will be getting rid of. Slice the end of the meat to begin with, usually about 1/4 of an inch. This meat is all rotten. The slice the remaining meat into steaks, each about 1/2 to one inch think, based on your preference. Wash the knife you use to do this after cutting each slice, to prevent contamination.

For each slice, use your knife (again, cleaning the knife in between trimmings) to trim away the hard, discolored meat around the edge of each steak. It will be very easy to tell the difference between the ‘good’ meat and the ‘bad’ meat ! In the above photo, you see the result of the harvest. Your exact yield will vary based on the size of the piece of meat you start with and how long you let it age. I usually end up with about 12 8 ounce ribeyes. Most of them are then vacuum sealed for later use, but of course, some are eaten right away ! My average cost for dry-aged ribeye prepared this way is about $8 a pound, a third of the cost of buying it at a grocery and about 1/5th the cost of getting it at a restaurant.

The intense beef flavor you get from doing steak this way is unbelievable. I use just a little salt and pepper before grilling. Not one thing else is needed.

Roasted Marrow Bones

Also keeping with a theme of simplicity is a dish that few ever eat, but proabaly more would, if they gave it a first try – beef marrow bones. Julia, who has long liked bone marrow, described these as “rich, decadent and sensous” and suggested I post the recipe as a Valentine’s Day special. I decided “why wait?”, as I belive they can be enjoyed at any time, without the need of a special occasion.

Indeed, the only thing ‘special’ about this dish, is that, depending on your access to a butcher, the bones may be hard to come by. Most gorcery stores do not display or carry them, but if you ask, they may be found in the back area, or available as a special order. Try to get evenly sized bones, and, if they are of the longer variety, try to have the butcher cut them in half lengthwise. Either way, be prepared for the amost ‘butter-like’ goodness the bone marrow will offer.

Ingredients

• Beef Marrow Bones (6-10 pieces per person)
• 3 Garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
• salt
• black pepper
• olive oil

Start by making an herb paste. Finely mince the garlic cloves, thyme, and rosemary. Pleace them in a samll bowl, and add a little olive oil to form a paste.

Place the bones on a wire baking rack with a drip pan. For the short bones, as in the picture above, place them on the rack with a flat side down. For long bones sliced lengthwise, set the bones with the cut side up.

Drizzle the bones with a little olive oil, sprinkle them with salt and pepper, and then top with a bit of the herb paste.

Place the bones in an oven which has been heated to 450 degrees, and let the bones roast for about 20 minutes. Turn the oven off, but leave the bones in, to finish the cooking process. After about 10 minutes remove a bone, and test for doneness. The marrow should be easy to remove from the bone, and should be medium rare to medium in doneness. If not quite to your liking, leave the bones in the oven for a bit longer, but at a lower temerature of 350 degrees, checking occasionally for doneness. Be careful not to overcook the marrow – it could melt right out into the drip pan, destroying your efforts !

Serve with a simple salad and potatoes, but make sure you have some toast points available – the marrow is wonderful spread on toast, like butter.

Balsamic Beef Stroganoff

Beef Stroganoff is one of those meals that is easy to prepare, and for some odd reason, most people seem to appreciate. If you think about it, beef,onions,mushrooms and sour cream (!) would not, at first glance, seem to be very harmonious. But it does work.

In this preparation, however, I am not using sour cream. Instead I use heavy cream, which has been ‘soured’ by the addition of balsamic vinegar. It accomplishes the same general effect, but adds a depth of flavor that you do not get by using sour cream alone.

Ingredients

• 1 pound of steak
• 8 ounces of white button mushrooms, sliced
• 8 ounces crimini mushrooms, sliced
• 8 ounces shallots, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup beef broth
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
• balsamic vinegar

Let me say first that I use more mushrooms than is typically called for in most stroganoff recipes, as 1) I like mushrooms, 2) They cook down to almost nothing anyway, and 3) they add umami. Feel fee to lower the amount of mushrooms as you see fit.

Start by preparing the steak for cooking. Thinly slice the steak into 1/8 inch thick strips. For mine, I used a strip steak, which slices up perfectly across the width of the steak. I also partially froze the steak, to make it easier to slice into thin strips.

In a large saute pan, melt the butter and begin cooking the shallots over medium heat until they begin to turn translucent. Then add the sliced mushrooms and begin to cook them down as well. When the mushrooms have cooked down by half, add the beef broth and turn up the heat. The object is to reduce the liquid in the pan by about 2/3rds.

Now reduce the heat back to medium and add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, and the sliced steak. Cook for about 7 minutes until the steak is fully cooked.

Add the cup of heavy cream, and mix throughly. You want to cook long enough to allow the mix to reach a smooth consistency. When this is down, begin adding the balsamic vinegar, 1 tablespoon at a time. After each tablespoon, mix throughly and sample the sauce. How sour it is will be a matter of personal preference. For me, I used 3 tablespoons, you may use more or less according to your tastes.

When done, serve over, what else, wide egg noodles.