How To Carve Beef . . . .

Carving is one of the most important steps to creating a great beef meal. If you carve beef too quickly after cooking, your steaks can be dry and your roasts tough and stringy. Always let beef recipe stand for a couple of minutes after cooking. Letting the beef stand will make all the difference to ensure that natural juices are redistribute throughtout the beef recipe and will also reduce moisture loss.

How long should you let your beef recipe stand?

Steaks - wait 1 to 2 minutes

Roasts - wait 10 to 15 minutes, keep covered

Carving Tips:

Whenever carving a beef roast or steak, always use a sharp knife. You can use a butcher's steel to ensure sharpness.

To prevent slipping while carving, place the beef roast or steak on a wooden cutting board.

Whenever possible, carve the beed roast or steak into slices by cutting across the grain.

** Slow Cookers and Food Safety ** From The USDA/FSIS

Opening the front door on a cold winter evening and being greeted by the inviting smells of beef stew or chicken noodle soup wafting from a slow cooker can be a diner's dream come true. But winter is not the only time a slow cooker is useful. In the summer, using this small appliance can avoid introducing heat from a hot oven. At any time of year, a slow cooker can make life a little more convenient because by planning ahead, you save time later. And it takes less electricity to use a slow cooker rather than an oven.

Is A Slow Cooker Safe?
Yes, the slow cooker, a countertop appliance, cooks foods slowly at a low temperature—generally between 170° and 280° F. The low heat helps less expensive, leaner cuts of meat become tender and shrink less.

The direct heat from the pot, lengthy cooking and steam created within the tightly-covered container combine to destroy bacteria and make the slow cooker a safe process for cooking foods.

Safe Beginnings
Begin with a clean cooker, clean utensils and a clean work area. Wash hands before and during food preparation.

Keep perishable foods refrigerated until preparation time. If you cut up meat and vegetables in advance, store them separately in the refrigerator. The slow cooker may take several hours to reach a safe, bacteria-killing temperature. Constant refrigeration assures that bacteria, which multiply rapidly at room temperature, won't get a "head start" during the first few hours of cooking.

Thaw and Cut Up Ingredients
Always defrost meat or poultry before putting it into a slow cooker. Choose to make foods with a high moisture content such as chili, soup, stew or spaghetti sauce.

Cut food into chunks or small pieces to ensure thorough cooking. Do not use the slow cooker for large pieces like a roast or whole chicken because the food will cook so slowly it could remain in the bacterial "Danger Zone," between 40 and 140 °F, too long. If using a commercially frozen slow cooker meal, prepare according to manufacturer's instructions.

Use the Right Amount of Food
Fill cooker no less than half full and no more than two-thirds full. Vegetables cook slower than meat and poultry in a slow cooker so if using them, put vegetables in first, at the bottom and around sides of the utensil. Then add meat and cover the food with liquid such as broth, water or barbecue sauce. Keep the lid in place, removing only to stir the food or check for doneness.

Settings
Most cookers have two or more settings. Foods take different times to cook depending upon the setting used. Certainly, foods will cook faster on high than on low. However, for all-day cooking or for less-tender cuts, you may want to use the low setting.

If possible, turn the cooker on the highest setting for the first hour of cooking time and then to low or the setting called for in your recipe. However, it's safe to cook foods on low the entire time -- if you're leaving for work, for example, and preparation time is limited.

While food is cooking and once it's done, food will stay safe as long as the cooker is operating.

Power Out
If you are not at home during the entire slow-cooking process and the power goes out, throw away the food even if it looks done.

If you are at home, finish cooking the ingredients immediately by some other means: on a gas stove, on the outdoor grill or at a house where the power is on.

When you are at home, and if the food was completely cooked before the power went out, the food should remain safe up to two hours in the cooker with the power off.

Handling Leftovers
Store leftovers in shallow covered containers and refrigerate within two hours after cooking is finished. Reheating leftovers in a slow cooker is not recommended. However, cooked food can be brought to steaming on the stove top or in a microwave oven and then put into a preheated slow cooker to keep hot for serving.

Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 25 to 30 Minutes
Ready In: about 45 Minutes with standing time
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:
2 lbs. ground beef
1 cup uncooked macaroni
1 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon basil
3/4 cup water
1 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon sugar
1 small bay leaf

Directions:
1. Cook macaroni according to package directions; drain and set aside.

2. Meanwhile, in a non-stick skillet, brown the ground beef with the mushrooms, onion and garlic. Pour off the fat.

3. Add remaining ingredients. Simmer gently about 15 minutes.

4. Add the cooked, drained macaroni. Simmer 5 minutes.

5. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. (Remove bay leaf prior to serving.)

Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: about 45 Minutes
Ready In: about 55 Minutes
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:
2 whole boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 to 2 teaspoons Creole or Cajun seasoning
Salt to taste
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped (about 3/4 cup)
1 small onion, chopped (about 3/4 cup)
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) Cajun-style tomatoes
1/4 cup white wine (optional)
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley (optional)

Directions:
1. With a sharp knife, cut each chicken breast in half so there are now 4 peices; them make 3 to 4 parallel slashes in each piece of chicken.

2. Rub with seasoning mixture and salt, getting seasonings into slashes.

3. In large skillet over medium heat, heat oil.

4. Add chicken and cook 5 to 6 minutes per side, until browned. Remove and set aside.

5. Add pepper and onion to skillet; sauté 2 to 3 minutes until softened.

6. Stir in tomatoes and wine.

7. Return chicken to pan, meat-side down. Partially cover with lid and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer 30 to 35 minutes, until chicken is tender and cooked through. A meat thermometer inserted in thickest part of breast should register 170°F.

8. Sprinkle with parsley.

Prep Time: 50 Minutes
Cook Time: 2 Hours and 30 Minutes
Ready In: 10 Hours
Makes 10 to 12 servings

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
salt and pepper to taste
6 pounds pork loin roast
4 tart apples - peeled, cored, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 red onion, chopped
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 cup apple juice
2/3 cup real maple syrup

Directions:
1. In a small bowl, combine the sage, thyme, rosemary, marjoram, salt and pepper. Rub over roast. Cover, and refrigerate roast for 6 to 8 hours, or overnight.

2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

3. Place roast in a shallow roasting pan, and bake in the preheated oven for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Drain fat.

4. In a medium bowl, mix apples and onion with brown sugar. Spoon around roast, and continue to cook for 1 hour more, or until the internal temperature of the roast is 160 degrees F (70 degrees C). Transfer the roast, apples and onion to a serving platter, and keep warm.

5. To make the gravy, skim excess fat from meat juices. Pour drippings into a medium heavy skillet. Stir in apple juice and syrup. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until liquid has been reduced by half, about 1 cup. Slice the roast, and serve with gravy.

Prep Time: 2 Minutes
Cook Time: 2 to 2-1/2 hours for medium rare; 2-1/2 to 3 Hours For Medium
Ready in: 2 to 2-1/2 hours for medium rare; 2-1/2 to 3 Hours For Medium
Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:
4 to 6 lb. holiday roast
1 large clove garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
1 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoons pepper
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon olive oil

Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 325° F.

2. In a small bowl, combine the garlic, allspice, rosemary, basil, thyme, pepper, dry mustard and olive oil to make a seasoning rub.

3. Then rub seasoning evenly onto surface of holiday roast.

4. Place the holiday roast on a rack in a shallow baking dish. Insert meat thermometer into center of roast, away from any fat.

5. Place the baking dishing with the holiday roast in the oven and bake for approximately 2 to 2-1/2 hours for medium rare; 2-1/2 to 3 hours for medium.

DID YOU KNOW?: Haverhill Beef's meat packages are made from the fresh, high quality meats you would buy from our display cases. Never put up and frozen; always packed when ordered. The meat packages are suitable for freezing.

Haverhill Beef stocks its deli with the finest quality products which are brought in fresh several times a week. All our deli meats and cheeses are cut fresh to order so you get the freshest product with the best flavor.

Having a party, reunion or family gathering?

Try one of Haverhill Beef's deli platters. We have various sizes to fit every occasion. All of our deli platters are made fresh to order for guaranteed satisfaction.