What’s Your Beef?

Workout Tips

Tenderloin
a.k.a. filet mignon, tournedos, or beef medallions
Saturated fat: 2.7 grams (g) per 3-ounce serving
Distinguishing characteristic: Velvety tenderness
Restaurants have access to higher grades of meat than consumers do, according to Ben Benson, owner of the New York City steak house that bears his name. But you can trust filets, no matter the source. “Mostly, filet is a safe bet in terms of consistency,” he says.

Brisket
Saturated fat: 1.9 g per 3-ounce serving
Distinguishing characteristic: A Texas barbecue all-star
Brisket comes in three cuts. You want the ‘first' or ‘flat' cut, says Sara Moulton, host of the Food Network's Sara's Secrets. “It's leanest,” she says. To break down the connective tissue, prepare it with a long, slow roast. If your grill is in storage, cook the brisket in broth or wine, she advises.

Flank
a.k.a. London Broil (the name of the dish in which this cut most often appears)
Saturated fat: 2.6 g per 3-ounce serving
Distinguishing characteristic: Flavor
‘It's one of the great beef cuts–very lean and with a lot of flavor if you know how to cook and slice it,' says John Jobbagy, of J.T. Jobbagy, a New York City meat purveyor. Don't cook it past medium rare, or it'll toughen up faster than a mama's boy at military school. Then slice it across the grain.

Rib Steak
Saturated fat: 3 g per 3-ounce serving
Distinguishing characteristic: Nice marbling with fat
This means it'll cook up nice and juicy on the grill. Here's how to buy one: “If meat is a bright orangey red, it's very fresh,” says Benson. “Although fresh sounds good, you want something darker that's been aged for extra tenderness.”

T-Bone
Saturated fat: 3.0 g per 3-ounce serving.
Distinguishing characteristic: Contains both strip steak and filet mignon
“A T-bone is a bit of filet mignon hugging the bone, and the other side is a strip loin steak,” says Jobbagy. Don't confuse it with a porterhouse, though. A porterhouse contains a full strip steak and full filet on either side of the bone.

95 % Lean Ground beef
Saturated fat: 2.5 g per 3-ounce serving
Distinguishing characteristic: Barely-there fat
Ultra-lean ground beef can dry out fast. Keep the meat moist with vegetables, Moulton advises. Try onions, red peppers, and mushrooms. Add them raw or sauté them in a little bit of oil to soften them up, then cool and mix into the meat.

Round Tip Roast
Saturated fat: 1.9 g per 3-ounce serving
Distinguishing characteristic: A tough beef cut that needs tender love
Slow, moist cooking brings out the best of this tougher cut. Moulton's recipe: Brown the meat and vegetables in a skillet; then put them in the pot along with some wine and broth. ‘Make sure the liquid comes halfway up the roast,' she says. Go to work. Return home. Eat the wholesome meal that's sitting there waiting for you.

Eye Round Roast
Saturated fat: 1.4 g per 3-ounce serving
Distinguishing characteristic: A fryer favorite that deserves better
“It's a dead ringer for a tenderloin,” says Moulton. “Except it's so much cheaper.” Which is why you should take an approach healthier than the fryer: “Cook it like roast beef, to medium rare, and slice it very thin.”

Workout Tips

The post What’s Your Beef? appeared first on Workout Tips.

http://ift.tt/1ecX7ad