Blooms served Jason’s famous Redneck BBQ Riblets at the Food Festival to benefit. We met a lot of great chefs, tasted a lot of great dishes and made some new friends. Thanks for having us.
Monthly Archives: April 2012
What is a Vein Steak?
We always see a lot of Striploin steaks around Trinidad at great prices, but upon closer inspection, they turn out to be ‘vein steaks’. Most people have no idea there is a difference. In order to ensure you get the nice steak you expect, it’s important to differentiate. So what is a vein steak?
A vein steak is from the same primal cut as the Striploin steak, however, it comes from the hip end of the loin. So, same loin just a different ‘area’. Because of the location, vein steaks have one or more connective tissues running throughout the steak, usually down the middle. This tissue is tough and does not break down when cooked, so it’s chewy. In some steaks, this can be a substantial portion of the steak giving you quite a bit of wastage. It is considered a ‘off cut’ to a lot of steak lovers because of this and many restaurants/hotels/retail outlets do not buy these steaks. Producers have a demand for true strips (the other end of the loin) so they have to move these steaks somehow….
This is why they are usually readily available for a very low price from most packers and producers. The steak is not as nice, and therefore, less people want that specific cut of steak. The only problem is that most retailers here in TT do not specify that the “Striploin Steak” you are buying is actually a “Vein Steak”. Luckily, it’s fairly easy to tell the difference. Most Strip Steaks should have one side of fat on a single side of the steak. The rest should look like a relatively consistent piece of meat. If you see several lines running through the steak from end-to-end, these are the connective tissues and most likely a Vein Steak. Above is a picture of a 8oz Vein Steak from major retailer in Trinidad that is labeled as a Strip Steak.
So next time you are at your favorite large retail grocer, do yourself a favor and turn around that ‘NY STRIP STEAK’ and see how it looks.
Cathy’s Sausage, Peppers and Onions Recipe
This Sausage, Peppers, and Onions recipe is a great recipe for a quick/easy dinner or a dish to take down-de-islands. You can plate by itself or put on a hoagie roll as a sandwich. This is also a dish that can be scaled up or down very easily depending on how many people you have. I usually estimate one onion/green pepper/potato for every 1 sausage link.
Step 1
You will need Green Peppers, Onions, Potatoes, Potatoes, Garlic, Olive Oil, Seasonings and of course, sausages from Blooms. Italian sausage is generally used, but you could substitute for Chorizo or Salchicha if you like.
The Sausages!
Italian sausage is generally used, but you could substitute for Chorizo or Salchicha if you like.
Step 2
Cut up your potatoes into medium sized chunks. Too small and they will over cook. Too large and they will not cook enough. Chop your garlic or garlic press a few cloves of garlic into the pan to taste. Sprinkle seasonings, coat with olive oil and mix the entire batch around to fully coat the sides. These go into the oven (at 350 for around: 30 minutes). You are not fully cooking the potatoes here, just getting them started. They take longer than the other elements.
Step 3
Using a frying pan, brown your sausage links. Again, the goal is not to cook fully, just to brown enough to be able to cut the sausages without falling apart. When they are browned on both sides set them on a plate to cool before cutting. Cut the sausages into half-inch pieces. If you are serving on bread as a sandwich, the pieces should be smaller. If you are putting on a plate, they can be a little larger.
Step 4
Cut your onions and peppers into quarter inch wide strips and sprinkle with salt/pepper (any other seasoning you like). Do not chop these. Smaller pieces tend to cook too much and become soggy. You want to avoid the veggies in this dish becoming too soggy/overcooked. Brown these in a frying pan until they have softened a little.
Step 5
Now that you have the vegetables and sausages cut up and cooked, it’s time to add them to the potatoes. Mix the batch around and place back in the oven. You can bump the temperature up to 400 to give the top a little crispiness. Cook until you can tell that the potatoes are soft. Again, don’t overcook the potatoes or they will fall apart.
And…you’re finished!
Serve on a hoagie roll with spicy brown mustard or on a plate all by itself. Add a few eggs to the side and it’s a great breakfast dish. Pepper sauce is a must. Enjoy!
A few notes on cooking ribs…
There are a lot of different ways to cook ribs. Some people pre-boil, some slow smoke and some grill.
The key to properly cooking ribs to create a tasty and tender end result is to cook slowly. This means that whether you are boiling, smoking or grilling, you want to take your time to make sure they absorb flavor and get that tender consistently you are looking for.
The easiest way to accomplish this is to use a smoker. However, most people don’t have ready access to a smoker, but luckily it fairly easy to accomplish the same result on a grill with a cover.
First things first, you want to put a dry rub on you ribs. This can be just about any type of seasonings you like. Garlic, Onion, Paprika, Salt, Pepper, Ground Ginger, Cumin, Chili Powder, etc. It’s really up to you. If you like it spicy, add some pepper flakes or Cayenne powder. Run the ribs down with this dry run, wrap in foil and let them sit for at least a few hours. Over night is the best. Before you plot them on the grill, make sure you let them sit out for a while to get to room temperature.
MOP Sauce: A mop sauce is a sauce that you will be applying to your ribs to help add flavor and maintain moisture. Apple Juice with a little bit of seasoning works great. You can also add vinegar or apple juice to a regular BBQ sauce to get the same effect. Before you put the ribs on is a great time to make your mop sauce.
Pre-heat your grill (or oven) to between 200 to 250. If you are using charcoals, let them cook down and push all of them to one side of the grill. If you are using a gas grill, only light one burner. The goal is to keep the temperature in the grill between 200 and 250 for the entire duration of your cooking. You also want to avoid DIRECT heat hitting your ribs. This will cause the outside to burn before the inside is ready.
Plop your slab onto your grill. If you are using an oven, try to place on a rack above a baking pan. You can put directly on an oven rack, just make sure something is underneath to catch the drip. Now close the lid. Let these puppies cook for a good :45 minutes. You may need to check your grill to make sure you are not getting any flames kicking up and hitting the ribs. After :45 minutes or so, flip the ribs and apply a coat of your mop sauce to the side that has been cooking. It doesn’t have to be a lot because you will be doing it a few more times.
Now, the hardest part of cooking ribs this way is having patience. This is a slow cook process and the slower the better. It will be a few hours before these ribs are done. If you are cooking baby backs, it may take less time as they are already pretty tender. The key is to keep flipping every :30 to :45 minutes and mopping with your sauce. Don’t rush this process!!!!
When the ribs are close to finishing, the bones will start to poke out from the slab and the meat will peel back a little. Similar to the bones on the ends of these slabs. You can see them start to poke out.
When you see this, you can tell they are almost done. Another good way to check is to pick up the slab with a pair of tongs and see if it is ‘limp’. Limp, in this instance is a good thing. If it droops down at the other end, it means that the meat is becoming tender.
Once you feel like they are tender enough, you can cover in a ‘finishing sauce’ if you like. A finishing sauce can be the same as your mop sauce or a thicker version. Once the sauce is covering you can crank up your grill or put your oven on broil. This will caramelize the sugars in the sauce and give you a nice crispy outside.
Take off the grill, wrap in foil and let them site for :15 to :20 minutes until you are ready to serve. Cut the ribs down the bone and go to town.
What goes into making ‘other’ burgers? Why are Bloom’s burgers different?
Bloom’s Burgers are 100% USDA Choice Ground chuck. This means that whole cuts of the some of the highest quality beef is used to prepare each of our burgers. The meat is fresh and prepared in state of the art facilities.
Unfortunately, this is not the case for some lower-cost burgers. In order to provide the consumer with a low price, many times other producers will use ANY part of the cow they can. Scraps from the cutting room can be blasted (sometimes with ammonia to prevent E. Coli contamination) and thrown into a grinder. Sometimes, various parts of the animal are used. This is why you sometimes get those chewy pieces of cartilage when you take a bite.
These pieces are ground to a liquid pulp. Then the fillers are added. Fillers serve two purposes in burgers. One, they help bind this liquefied meat. They need your patty to stay together long enough to cook, so they add these binding agents so that the mush will eventually become a burger. Second, they help in stretching the meat to make more burgers. This obviously changes the taste of the beef and the burger, so spices, flavour enhancers and tenderizers are used to mask the taste of the fillers
Why have Bloom’s burgers been so popular? It’s simple, because our burgers are better! Bloom’s Burgers are made with the highest quality cuts of choice ground chuck. These are whole cuts of beef, not scraps or pieces. We don’t add fillers, tenderizers, additives spices, etc. Bloom’s burgers come out tender and taste like a burger should. We think you should be able to sprinkle with your own seasonings/toppings, instead of having someone do it for you. If you like your burgers medium-rare, you should be able to eat them that way without feeling nervous. If you like them well-done, you shouldn’t have to settle for a tough/dry burger.
We encourage you to try our burgers. Welcome to the Bloom’s Burgers revolution!