A Butcher’s View on the Ideal Doneness of Different Cuts Of Steak

The following are the recommendations of Tom Mylan, co-owner and Executive Butcher of the Meat Hook, a local/sustainable butcher shop in Brooklyn, New York.

Favorite Cuts to Serve Raw

• Top round
• Sirloin tip

Best Rare

• Flatiron
• Top sirloin
• Paleron

Best Medium Rare

• Ribeye / rib steaks
• NY strip / shell
• Porterhouse / T-bone
• Tri-tip
• Flank steak
• Sirloin flap
• Filet mignon
• Top round (if not raw)
• Hanger steak
• Chuck eye / chuck steak

Best Medium

• Skirt steak
• Chuck short ribs
• Chuck flap

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Silver Jewfish (Siroguchi) Nigiri Sushi

The Sushi

The Fish

Too Much Salt May Damage Blood Vessels and Lead to High Blood Pressure

Eating a high-salt diet for several years may damage blood vessels — increasing your risk of developing high blood pressure, according to research reported in the American Heart Association journal Circulation.

People with this type of blood vessel damage who eat a high-salt diet are more likely to develop hypertension, or high blood pressure . This research hints at the presence of a “sodium amplification loop” in which eating too much salt for a long time damages blood vessels, leading to a greater chance of developing high blood pressure if the high-salt diet is continued.

Researchers didn’t assess the cause-and-effect relationship between salt intake and high blood pressure. But the study’s results “add to the considerable evidence that a diet heavy on salt is closely linked to high blood pressure,” said John Forman, M.D., lead author of the study and a nephrologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass.

“In addition, this study reinforces guidelines backed by the American Heart Association and other professional organizations that recommend reducing salt consumption to minimize the risk of developing high blood pressure,” Forman said.

One gram of sodium is equal to 2.5 grams of table salt (sodium chloride).

A high-salt diet is believed to be responsible for 20 percent to 40 percent of all cases of high blood pressure in the United States.

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Chinese Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients

20 oz pumpkin
16 oz pork bone
2 oz Chinese almond
10 pieces apricot kernel
2 pieces honey dates
10 cups water
light soy sauce and salt to taste

Method

1. Blanch pork bones in boiling water for 10 minutes. Rinse and drain.
2. Peel and seed pumpkin. Cut into large chunks.
3. Rinse honey dates, drain.
4. Add water and all ingredients to a pot. Bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer for 2 hours.
5. Season soup with light soy sauce and salt before serving.

Source: Hong Kong magazine

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