Let's have a little food education
Let's talk Dry aged beef
We have been dry aging our own beef in house since opening. We here at Heywood' prefer to use bone in cuts and cuts that have a very even distribution of fat. Also only the higher grades of beef can be dry aged. This is the main reason that you do not see dry aged steaks in places other than the best steak houses and butcher shop like yours truly. Even then most of these place do not handle this process themselves; they buy the already dry aged product directly from their meat purveyors.
What happens during the aging process?
The process changes the meat in a couple of ways. The natural enzymes in the meat begin to break down the connective tissue that can make the meat harder to chew and the second, our favorite part, is it intensifies the natural flavor of the meat. This happens through the process of evaporating the moisture from the muscle tissue.
One other thing to know about dry aged beef is that during the aging process it will begin to grow a couple of strains of mold on the exterior of the meat. They do not cause spoilage but form a protective crust of sorts that aide the natural enzymes break down the tissues. No worries, you won't get any of those cultures on your steak because we trim that portion off before bringing it to the case.
We currently are dry-aging a Short Loin (Porter Houses and T-Bones) and a Bone In Rib Eye.
Come by this week end and give one a try on the grill. ...
Note: These have not been cut yet but will be by Saturday.
Ok that's done.
Let's talk Sopressata...
Sopressata is a Southern Italian specialty. There are a number if types, each named for the area of their production. Calabria, Puglia, Basilicata and Toscana. Although Sopressata di Toscana is more like Head Cheese than the other salumis.
Sopressata is coarsely ground and and well spiced; usually contains a good bit of hot pepper. After stuffing the salami in hung to dry anywhere from 3 to 12 weeks depending on the size of the casing.
Sopressata can be used for anything from charcuterie platters to topping for pizza. Our suggestion is that if you use it for a pizza topping that you do not put it on your pie until it has come out of the oven to really enjoy all of it's flavor on a pizza. Make a pizza Margherita then toss your sopressata on the piping hot pie as it exits the oven.