Based on where we live, our main stores for buying meats are Albertsons and Sam’s Club. If you live in a metropolitan area your shopping options will be different.
Sam’s Club features Choice grade beef and some Prime grade while Albertsons features mostly Select grade and some Choice grade. Because we only shop once a month, we look for bulk, or family, packaging. On a recent trip, we were shopping for ribeye steaks. We went to Sam’s Club because of the Choice grade and asked the butcher to see any rib loins and what would the price be if we bought the entire loin. We ended up getting a good price, however, if you are not prepared to cut the loin yourself, this may not work for you. I prefer a thicker steak than Patty so we were able to cut the loin with 8 steaks to Patty’s liking and 8 thicker ones. We cut them and vacuum-sealed each package with one thicker steak and one a little thinner. We also buy most of our ground beef at Sam’s club as they sell 10 lb. tubes of 80/20 or 90/10. They also sell 1 pound packages of 97/3 that come in a 3 pack. The 80/20 has more fat but makes a better BBQ’d burger. The 93/7 is leaner but will result in a dryer burger. If you want to get technical the 80/20 represents 20% fat content but is usually lesser priced than the 90/10 or 93/7. Often times the 90/10 ends up being the better buy.
HAM
Let’s move on to ham. Around Easter, hams will be featured at sale prices. 
You can choose a shank portion or a butt portion ham. The shank is usually lower priced but has a higher bone-to-meat ratio. Or you can sometimes find the entire ham sale priced. We look for the entire ham. We cut off the butt portion we want and then from the other end the shank portion we want. That will leave a section of ham from the middle for beautiful ham steaks. If you chose to buy the whole ham, you will need a meat saw and at least one good knife. Again, we vacuum seal and freeze.
TURKEY
Moving along to turkeys. Around Thanksgiving, turkeys will be plentiful and usually featured at good prices. Our tip here is to buy a turkey bigger than you will eat at the Thanksgiving meal if you like leftovers. For the two of us, we have found that a 15-pound turkey works for us.
We tend to make a big deal of holiday meals. We go all out at Thanksgiving, making stuffing and all the trimmings. We cook the turkey according to the directions except we pull the bird out of the oven every hour and baste it with butter, turn it around 180 degrees and return it to the oven. When the turkey has reached its final temperature, we take the bird out and set it on the chopping block to rest, and let the juices do their thing.
The first thing is to remove the stuffing from the neck cavity and then the rest of the stuffing from the body. In years gone by, we have put oyster stuffing in the neck cavity. With the turkey resting on the chopping block, we’ll get out a couple of knives. The first being a fillet knife. We use a long fillet knife because of the flexibility of the blade. We’ll proceed to get close to the breastbone and remove one side of the breast. Patty will carve the breast, while I proceed to remove the leg and thigh and go after the dark meat. At this point, we usually put the gravy, potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes, etc. on the table and proceed to have a fantastic Thanksgiving supper. LET’S EAT!!
After supper, we will cover the remaining bird and refrigerate until Friday. Over Thanksgiving weekend, we will often have another meal or two, maybe a turkey sandwich. Usually, Fri. or Sat. we take the rest of the meat off the bones. We will put the bones into a pot, cover them with water, add seasonings and cook the bones down to make broth. Sometimes we roast the bones with some cut-up celery, carrots, and onions until lightly browned. Then cover with water, add some seasonings, and simmer. This makes a richer, more flavorful broth.
STEAK
While not purposely, we have highlighted the Easter and Thanksgiving holidays
which brings us to Christmas. Having had ham and turkey one would think we could serve one or some of each, but not usually. Remember those ribeye’s we bought? That will probably be our Christmas meal along with some shrimp.
There are many ways to prepare steak. Our faveolate way is to BBQ if the weather cooperates. Nothing better than a steak, baked potato, asparagus, and shrimp, all done on the grill.
FISH & SHRIMP
Fish and shrimp are often “what you see are what you get”.
Tip #1 – If it smells fishy when you approach the counter, it has probably been defrosted for a day or two.
Tip #2 – If the eyes of a whole fish are sunken, it’s probably not very fresh.
Tip #3 – Visually inspect the fish to see if it appears dried out around the edges, indicating it’s been there a while.
Don’t be afraid to ask the butcher: “How long has that fish been out in the case?” Usually, a fish that has been in the case for 2 days should be cooked that day. Typically, you would defrost the fish or shrimp on the day you are going to cook them.
When buying shrimp, if you can see into the package, you do not want to see too many ice crystals. If the whole package is one big lump, that would indicate that the shrimp had defrosted some and were re-frozen.
In today’s marketplace, you will often find fish and shrimp pre-portioned, packaged, and pre-frozen.
Be sure to check back soon for reviews and additions.
Patty & Doug
FROM THE GARDEN TO THE TABLE
