Gear Patrol

Every kind of meal has its own purpose, its particular ritual and significance. Burgers are meant for tailgating; road trips run on fast food; French restaurants seem fit for special occasions like anniversaries and third dates where you’re really trying to get some. Chief among dining rituals is the steakhouse dinner, when friends and colleagues…

There are sacred destinations for people of all faiths, religious and otherwise: Mecca, Islam’s holiest city; Paris or maybe Milan for the fashion set; Kona for triathletes. But what about those who follow the beef creed — at which temple do they gather and pray? We’ve been hot on the trail for a full month,…

Next to a steak, anything is a side dish. Serve a beautifully roasted capon on the same table as a steak and you’ve got a side of capon. Traditional accompaniments for steak like garlic mashed potatoes, creamed spinach and sauteed mushrooms are altogether nothing to scoff at. But this being the Month of Beef, and…

There’s more than one way to skin a cat, the saying goes. The same is true for cooking a steak. Most of the time the way we cook at home is dictated by circumstance: grill when the weather permits; pan fry if it doesn’t (or if we live in an apartment); broil, uh, when the…

We’ve given you a beef baptism in buying beef online, the rules of store-bought beef, beef’s lesser-known cuts and even beef you can drink. Kicking things up a notch (BAM!), let’s explore the breeds of cattle that end up on your plate — putting a face on things, so to speak. Get your breed on…

We’re no tartare noobs: Under the guidance of chef Wes Whitsell, we concocted a spicy steak tartare that would send even the most elite of dinner party snobs into a beef tailspin. But in the beef pecking order, the butcher always pulls rank. Need further proof? See above, one of a series of videos produced…

Raw food seems somehow un-American. Maybe it wasn’t always this way. But today, a byproduct of industrialization in the food industry — which prizes efficiency, mass production and a homogenous product with little chance (in theory) of food-borne illness — is a broad uneasiness about undercooked or uncooked food. Growing up, a pink pork chop…

People always ask us, “How do you find time to read when you’re busy eating all that beef?” We kill two steer with one stone — that’s how. The market for beef books is robust, so we’ve winnowed the list of our favorite beef-related cookbooks and resources to only five. That should be easy enough…

You know the rib-eye, T-bone, porterhouse and NY strip, but how about the tri-tip, bavette or flat-iron? Expanding your repertoire of steak choices graduates you from a one trick pony to a culinary stallion of meat mastery. The tenderloin, that prized cut from which the filet mignon comes, makes up half of one percent of…

We can remember a time when cooking a brisket was a gamble of the highest order. Sometimes mom lifted the lid off the pot and produced a cut of meat so tender you could spread it like pâté. Other times, a tough piece of meat produced a quiet, collective disappointment rivaled only by mealtime in…

There’s something to be said for the adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. We believe in it. Meat plus bun plus ketchup is a very good meal, indeed. On the other hand, anyone who’s walked into Mr. Bartley’s Gourmet Burgers in Cambridge, MA, and sampled the brain-thwacking assortment of burgers, can surely attest…

Buying a steak to grill is as easy as trotting into the Piggly Wiggly, Vons or Safeway down the street and grabbing one of many plastic wrapped Styrofoam packages, right? Not so fast, kemosabe. If you’re the shy type looking to avoid eye contact or a conversation, that might be the way to go. You…

We promised to leave no steak unturned during our month of beef, and we’re men of our word. As it happens, beef’s got a thespian side that The Academy repeatedly fails to acknowledge. Our budget for gold statues was blown on jerky and skillets, but that won’t stop us from proposing a new award category…

Ground beef has fallen on hard times in the public eye. It started with the October 3, 2009 New York Times cover story, “The Burger That Shattered Her Life” about a woman infected by E. coli from a frozen Cargill burger patty. Since then: more stories, many recalls, and debates about the safety of “pink…

You can purchase nearly anything online in the year 2012. Jeans and vintage watches, virtual assistants, unicorn head costumes for Halloween (a guy we know) — even brides, though it’s a rather complicated transaction (again, a guy we know). Beef is no exception. From traditional mail-order companies like Omaha Steaks to farm-direct sellers like Crystal…

Update 2: Well fellow Beefeaters, it’s been a long and arduously delectable Month of Beef. You’ve learned how to braise, order beef online and match your cut with your preparation. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed yourself, tried new things and maybe even gained a few pounds of beef weight. What you’ve also done, for the benefit of…

Our suspicions were correct: you do love your beef — some of you are even budding beef photogs. Our Month of Beef photo contest is in full swing and a mess of juicy photos have rolled in: plump ribeyes, succulent Beef Wellington, beef stew, beef tartar and even a few fat burgers. We’re so proud…

Update: Well folks, it’s about that time. Grill ‘em if you got ‘em. Put all your beef down on the table. More specifically, send in your beef photos. We pick five winners tomorrow, and you can’t win if you don’t try. So rush to the supermarket. Bomb over to your favorite butcher shop. Get beef,…

Martin Scorcesse makes our list once again with Goodfellas. Based on the non-fiction book Wise Guys, it follows the life the Henry Hill, an Irish-American who dreams of being a gangster growing up in Brooklyn. Eventually he earns his way into the mafia, and works his way up through the ranks. Heavily involved in the…