Cooking Questions & Answers: Beef Butt, Pork Butt and an Egg Substitute
We're all currently being challenged to prepare many meals a day and trying to stretch what we’ve got on hand in our fridges, pantries, and freezers. You started reaching out with questions and seeking cooking advice, especially about cooking meat, including cuts that you've never made before. So we set up a Q&A questionnaire form for you to put all of your questions in one place. Fill it out and we’ll get right on answering them. Here are a few questions you’ve recently asked, and our answers.
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Question: I recently purchased a product labeled beef filet butt. It had the word “butt,” so I figured it had to be good. How do I cook it?
A: Ah, beef butt. That’s the thick end of the tenderloin. It cooks best with high heat so pan-fried or on a grill is your best bet. Be careful not to overcook. Here's a pretty simple recipe. We'd love to see what you end up making.
Question: I have some cuts I don't normally make in my freezer. They’re not very big and I need them to feed five people per meal; we are a family of four and now my mom is living with us, too. With two jobs and two kids now in school at home, I don't have time to look up recipes. I’m only cooking what I know how to do by heart. What do I make with small amounts of meat I’m not familiar with for five people? I have less than a pound of steak, two pounds of cross-cut beef shank, and a tiny piece of pork belly.
A: The best way to stretch a small amount of meat, like if you have a pound of steak and five people to feed, is to use our perfect steak recipe, which is simple and the sort of thing you might know by heart. Then slice the meat and place it over noodles or rice and serve with a lot of vegetables. You can marinate the steak to mix up the flavor. A small amount of cross-cut beef shank can go a long way when you cook it like a stew with a lot of root vegetables, then serve it with large portions of starch like polenta or even bread. And the next time you make a pot of beans, throw that pork belly in!
Question: I have pork cutlets and want to make this panko-crusted chicken recipe, but realized we are out of eggs for the next few days. What can we sub in?
A: If you have yogurt, it works well as a binding agent to bread pork -- or other meat and poultry. Give it a shot.
Question: How do you cook bone-in pork butt?
A: We love pork butt and have many recipes for making it right here on our blog from some of our beloved community members. There’s Sarah Copeland's magic pork shoulder, Julia Turshen's recipe, and a staff member’s mom's pernil. Josh Applestone likes to cook pork butt in his oven overnight in a heavy enamel cast-iron pot for about 8 hours at 225 degrees F. Slice it or shred it to make pulled pork.
