Hamburgers aside, there are two key types of beef suitable for grilling: most of the tender cuts and a few of the tough cuts.

The tender cuts great for grilling are the loin steaks: rib eye, T-bone, Porter House, New York Strip, Sirloin, and Filet Mignon. These cuts are naturally tender and should be well-marbled with fat. In general, all steaks should be grilled over medium heat. For a ribeye, Chef Erika recommends seasoning with salt & pepper or a rub if you like. Cook for 5-6 minutes each side. Your final internal temperature will be 130-135 for medium rare and 140-145 for medium. Be sure to rest for no less than 5 minutes before serving.

Instead of fat, the tough cuts suitable for grilling have lots of striated connective tissue in them: Flank steak, Hanger steak, and Flat Iron steak. The trick to these latter cuts is to cook them very quickly on the outside, serve them no more than medium rare, and slice them very thinly across the grain. The odd beast in this menagerie is the tri-tip.

Tri-tips are actually a small roast and originated as a cut in Texas, but didn’t find popularity until reaching Santa Rosa, California where it became hugely popular. It gains its name from its triangular shape and that results from being cut from the end of two different muscles. It can be tough, so look for plenty of marbling, but is packed with beefy flavor.

We hear more and more about the merits of grass-fed versus grain-fed beef. This is literally “a matter of taste.” Grass-fed beef usually has a deeper, richer flavor than grain-fed beef and is higher in good fats and lower in bad fats, but it’s usually not as well-marbled and not as tender (the breed of cattle can make a big difference here: Angus and Hereford are the best choices for grass-fed beef). La Cense is one well established brand of grass-fed beef that ships directly to consumers. Grain-fed beef is uniformly more tender, partially because the cattle are kept in small lots and can’t exercise, but also milder in flavor. The best beef in world - Kobe and Wagyu from Japan - graze on grass but are also fed some grain.

Welcome us to your backyard!

Chef Rod Woodley is ChefsLine’s resident grill master. Subscribers to ChefsLine’s premium membership can book live phone or webcam consultations with him to learn the finer points of charcoal and gas grilling techniques. Rod also hosts a Fish and Seafood Grilling class that you can purchase and experience - it’s just $15.95!

Chef Jackie offers a cooking class on Homemade Oils, Rubs, and Marinades - that is a great way to explore adding flavor to a whole host of cuts of beef for grilling.

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ChefsLine’s goal is to help each of our members feel more confident and secure in their kitchens and to become more accomplished, better home cooks. From the cost savings to the health benefits and the lasting value of time spent with family - home cooking has its rewards.

On Monday, June 2, 2008 at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel, ChefsLine Chef Nate Auchter will be preparing dishes for Philadelphi’a Taste of The Nation event. More than 25 of Philadelphia’s finest restaurants will join together for a one-night-only, culinary extravaganza! Enjoy delightful food and cocktail tastings, browse exceptional auction items, and mingle with the area’s hottest chefs, including award winning guest Chef RJ Cooper from Washington DC’s Vidalia. LEARN MORE >

For most Americans, 15% of our income goes to food and drink and making the most of those dollars today is more of a challenge than ever before. Nearly every food staple has seen a double-digit percentage increase over the past year, including a 38% hike for a dozen eggs, to $2.16, and a 19% jump, to $1.78, for a loaf of white bread. At ChefsLine, conversations between our chefs and members have veered pretty drastically in the direction of menu planning on a budget, how to stretch food dollars, and how to cook in less time.

Unfortunately, children are the Americans most heavily impacted by our nation’s economic insecurity. By the end of the year, more than 12 million children in America will worry about when their next meal will come.

A Solution: Taste of the Nation

Taste of the Nation is an incredible program that harnesses the energy and commitment of our country’s chefs to directly help improve the lives of children. At a Taste of the Nation event, 100% of your ticket purchase (usually around $75) goes to a high-impact anti-hunger organization that is working to end childhood hunger in America. Another of your rewards as a participant is an evening of food and fun spent with neighbors and your community’s best chefs. ChefsLine consultant Nate Auchter is just one of the over 2,000 chefs who have contributed an incredible amount of time and energy as volunteer hosts and fundraisers for Taste of the Nation events in more than 55 cities over the past 20 years. If you have not yet participated in a Taste of the Nation event yet, this is the year to do so.

To find your local Taste of the Nation event by visiting:
The Taste Club.

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We hope you have had the opportunity to consult with Chef Nate about a dinner party on ChefsLine.

ChefsLine first introduced you to Chef Nate upon his return from Puerto Rico where he cooked with and has since introduced some unusual and exciting fruits and vegetables to ChefsLine members, CIA students, and diners in favorite restaurants around Washington DC. (See our Celebrate Puerto Rico Cooking Guide for the incredible photos and recipes!)

Always focused on how to incorporate authentic cooking techniques and ingredients into his own repertoire, Chef Nate is now helping our nation preserve and celebrate Native American cooking at the National Museum of the American Indian. Nate has shared an exclusive recipe with us to try at home - Slow Braised Wild Sturgeon with Wilted Watercress, Caramelized Fennel, and Himalayan Red Beans. The fish pictured for his recipe was caught just the day before off the coast of Washington State by Native American fishermen from Quinault Pride.

Chef Nate was also recently featured in D’Artagnan’s newsletter where he presents an exciting recipe, Pan-Roasted Squab with Morels. Nate is a big fan of the pigeon - he first cooked with it as an apprentice to the legendary Chef Lacroix of Fountain Restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel in Philadelphia.

Congratulations Chef Nate to your success and thank you for always presenting our Cooking Blog readers with new and exciting ingredient and dish ideas!

Did you know that ChefsLine Premium Members are coached by Chef Nate one-on-one for their at-home dinner parties? Chef Nate is available by appointment AND on the culinary hotline. Join today and experience cooking live with a great chef!

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Have you ever heard a mom say ‘I’d appreciate a little help in the kitchen’? Well why not reward her instead with a professionally trained kitchen assistant who wants nothing more than for her to truly enjoy cooking that meal!

That’s ChefsLine. Every day our chefs give the support - from brainstorming menus, to reviewing recipes, and coaching through new cuisines - that means our members feel great in their kitchens.

Our ChefsLine Premium Membership is a great gift for your mom and gives her the ultimate experience of having unlimited guidance and instruction from our team of twenty five top chefs plus a cooking class AND customized menu every month.

Visit our Gift Subscription Page to buy now.

Premium ChefsLine Membership Start at $34.95. Our gift certificates can be purchased online and include a personalized message from you. We’ll then send off your Mother’s Day gift via email straight to Mom or to your inbox for printing.

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They say that if you grab a thistle quickly enough its barbs won’t sting you - no one is actually fast enough, but it’s a great trick to play on city slickers. Personally, I prefer savoring my thistles and lingering over each bite. And by “thistles” I mean artichokes, which are the flower buds of a large thistle that originated in the Mediterranean and are particularly popular in Italy and France.

Selecting
A tough vegetable, artichokes can put up with a lot of abuse and keep well in the fridge. Ideally an artichoke should be very tight (a loose artichoke indicates it getting ready to bloom and will be tough). The color should be olive green and don’t be overly concerned with brown/purple splotches on the leaves - you’ll peel those off and discard them anyway - but do look for and avoid artichokes where the leaf tips are shriveled.

Eating
Typically these large globes are steamed, often over water flavored with lemon juice and white wine. Artichokes are usually served whole and the leaves (petals, actually) are peeled off, dipped in a sauce, and then you scrape the flesh off of the inedible leaf between your teeth. At the center you find a mass of spines that need to be cut out leaving you with the piece de resistance, the heart and stem.

The most common sauce is melted butter and lemon juice - often flavored with herbs. But Hollandaise, aioli, and even plain mayonnaise are popular sauces.

Serving

My quick artichoke sauce:
1/2 cup mayonnaise (Hellmans or Best Buy)
2 cloves pan-roasted garlic, minced
1/2 - 1 tsp hot Spanish paprika

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Chef JoAnna was recently interviewed at the TechCrunch/PopSugar event in LA by Christine Perkett. She talks about her business, ChefsLine, and the importance of social media and networking to her success.

PerkettPR Interviews JoAnna from ChefJoAnna.com.

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Earth Day will be celebrated next Tuesday, April 22. I thought it would be a good time to ask some of the other ChefsLine team to suggest some steps we could take in our home kitchens to have a positive impact on the environment… or at least to tread a little lighter. WOW, they came up with some really great ideas! The cool thing is that these adjustments are simple enough that you can put them into action immediately.

ChefsLine’s Suggestions for Earth Day (…and every day!)

• Chef Richard: Prepare a One-Pot meal. You’ll conserve energy by using only one burner on the stove, and save water because you have to wash only one pot that night.
• Chef Robyn: Treat yourself and support healthier cows with a milkshake or smoothie made with organic milk, or even better, yogurt and local fruit! Your body and taste buds will feel like a million bucks.
• Chef Adrienne: Be certain that your used plastic bags from the grocery store are in a place where you can grab and go so you can reuse them. Even better, bring your own bag to the market.
• Melissa: If you wash dishes by hand, do it right away and you’ll use less water. If you use the dishwasher, make sure that it’s completely filled up before running it, and use an environmentally friendly detergent.

And here are a few ideas that I’d like to contribute:

• Buy fresh, local produce. Not only does it taste better, but you might not realize that frozen food requires a lot of energy to keep it frozen, and usually travels futher, which uses gasoline and creates carbon emissions.
• Consider purchasing your staples in bulk. (rice, beans, flour, etc.) buying food in packages requires the use of paper, cardboard and plastic and other materials that need to be recycled. Recycling’s great but it still takes energy!
• If you eat meat, you don’t have to go vegetarian to be environmentally friendly. Just eat less of it. It takes about 4 pounds of grain to raise 1 pound of beef, plus something like 2500 gallons of water! So if you’re used to eating an 8 oz portion, eat 4 oz instead, and eat more vegetables. A good book you can read about this is The Omnivore’s Delimma.

Sometimes it just takes looking at an idea from someone else’s perspective to see how easy it is to make a few small changes to your day-to-day life, and it’s empowering to see how subtle adjustments to how you get things done can make an impact on being “green”.

~ Chef JoAnna

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As a Jewish chef who is also a vegetarian, I must share my Passover Seder menus and their inspiration with our readers. For years, come spring, my train of thought was this: “Cooking for Passover is a drag. I guess I’m doing brisket again. I’ll just make the kugel, etc.” I was in a rut, and maybe you are too.

Like many moms, I have always looked forward to religious and secular holidays as a time to share with family and create memories. Passover Seder is the ultimate expression of this incredible opportunity for Jews—a religious festival uniquely focused on the ritual of the meal. But for me, well, I’ve always wanted to celebrate with something a little more exciting and personal—and less meaty! Even though my friends and family always expect me to create really remarkable meals, I just did not have the courage to break from the dishes that were tried, true and easy during Passover.

Passover Seder 2008
Cream of Root Vegetable Soup
Roasted Salmon with Marinated Fennel and Thyme
Potato Kugel
Lemon Cake with Lemon Topping and Berries
Pecan Meringue Cookies

Fortunately, my daughter invited me to attend a meeting and I had the opportunity to meet an incredible chef, cookbook author, and activist – Phyllis Glazer, the author of The Essential Book of Jewish Festival Cooking. Her excitement about her recipes and the process of cooking for the holidays was just what I needed to not only embrace cooking for Passover again, but to really help me find my own creative chef voice in these important meals.

ChefsLine’s Passover Menu Collection and Live Cooking Help
I’d be thrilled to inspire you to mix it up with some new recipes this next week. The ChefsLine Passover Menu collection includes Quick and Easy Seder, Passover Do-Ahead, “small plate” recipes to serve with leftovers, lunch recipes featuring dishes such as Tarragon Scented Goat Cheesecake and Walnut and Herb Stuffed Eggplant Rolls. As you will see, most of my menus feature recipes by Phyllis Glazer because almost all of her dishes are so exciting—with great combinations of fruits, vegetables and herbs and spices that are irresistible. And if for any reason you take a look at your box of matzoh and think, “what now?” you must call ChefsLine at 1-800-977-1224. As I can attest, everyone needs inspiration in the kitchen sometimes.

~ Chef Paulette

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