The Porterhouse Steak

Porterhouse steaks consist of a T-shaped bone with meats 
on both sides. The larger side contains meat from the strip 
loin, the smaller side contains the meat from the 
tenderloin.

Porterhouse really is just a large T-bone steak, if the 
diameter of the tenderloin is 1 1/2 inches or larger it 
is called porterhouse, anything less is a t-bone. It is 
cut farther back in the animal than the T-bone steak. 
The porterhouse has well-balanced flavor and texture 
and is a great grilled steak recipe.

Because both the loin and tenderloin are quite forgiving a

Porterhouse can be cooked any way you like. It is perfect

grilled but can also be broiled, sauteed or pan-fried.

Use light seasoning and try not to cook it beyond

medium at the most!

The Porterhouse Steak is the ultimate steak for some aficianados.  This monster was just over five pounds, with a tenderloin side that was easily four inches wide and a beautiful strip loin side!

I let this huge lump of meat dry age in the bottom of the fridge for seven days, when it came out I trimmed off the dry meat and readied it for the grill.

Thats over five pounds of organic beef sitting there.  That is a normal sized teacup in the background.  This piece of beef was a very large lump to say the least!

You can see the tenderloin on the left hand side and the strip loin on the right.  I like to keep the seasoning simple for these organic steaks, just salt and pepper and olive oil.  I love to taste the buttery texture of this meat without a lot of extraneous flavours on the outside.  I sear it on the highest heat I can get out of the grill, then move it off of the charcoal and onto the indirect side of my fire and put the lid on my Weber and leave the lump till it hits about 115 F internal on the thermometer.  Then off the grill it comes for a nice rest before getting cut up for plating.

Here it is right off the grill, resting for 5 minutes to redistribute the juices.  This monster hunk almost eclipses a dinner plate.  Now that is a wonderful thing!!!!

A steak this large can be cut into the two sections, tenderloin, and strip loin, then slivered and served to four peeps.  Giving each person a taste of both sections.  Here is the final plated result.  Served with potatoes and asparagus with a shrimp side!

Thanks again to Agustin the Butcher for cutting this one for me!!!

You can visit Agustin Monday - Saturday at

Caribana Wholesale Meat

441 King Street East
Hamilton, Ontario
L8N1C5

Phone: (905)522-5671

Roast Stuffed Pork Sirloin

I like to get the rib half of the pork sirloin, the center half is good too, but it has a big flap in it where the shoulder socket used to be...... the rib half is one solid lump you can easily butterfly then roll back up.

First I butterfly the whole sirloin, then I stuff it with apples and bread and salt and pepper and thyme. I roll the whole thing up and score the fat in a criss cross pattern, cutting right through the fat down to the meat, the resulting diamonds look great when it is done..... then I tie it up with butcher's twine.
Season the top with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. The stuffed roast is now ready for the Oven!

350 degrees F for about an hour and a half then start checking the internal temp... looking for 155 F

Pull it out of the oven at 155F and tent with foil, the roast will climb up to 160 F in no time at all.

There it is in all its Glory...... ready to be carved for the table.....!!!!!

I leave the strings on and cut right through them, then pull them off the meat I am going to plate.
Ready to slice!!!!!!!!!!
Fantastic........... the finished product !!! Makes great sandwiches the following day as well!!!!!!

The Flat Iron Steak!

Flat iron steak is the American name for the cut known as "butlers' steak" in the UK and "oyster blade steak" in Australia and New Zealand. This cut of steak is from the shoulder of a beef animal.^[1] The steak encompasses the infraspinatus muscles of beef, and one may see this displayed in some butcher shops and meat markets as a "top blade" roast. Steaks that are cross cut from this muscle are called top blade steaks or patio steaks. As a whole cut of meat, it usually weighs around two to three pounds; it is located adjacent to the heart of the shoulder clod, under the seven or paddle bone (shoulder blade or scapula). The entire top blade usually yields four steaks between eight and 12 ounces each. Flat iron steaks usually have a significant amount of marbling. Anatomically, the muscle forms the dorsal part of the rotator cuff of the steer. This cut is anatomically distinct from the shoulder tender, which lies directly below it and is the teres major.

Restaurants, particularly upscale, have recently begun serving flat iron steaks on their menus. Especially popular are flat irons from Wagyu beef, as a way for chefs to offer more affordable and profitable dishes featuring Wagyū or Kobe beef.^[2] To make it more marketable, the steak, which has the fascia dividing the infraspinatus within it, has, in recent years, been cut as two flatter steaks, each corresponding to one muscle, with the tough fascia removed.

In the North American Meat Processor (NAMP) meat buyers guide, it is item #1114D Beef Shoulder, Top Blade Steak. The NAMP lists it as the second most tender cut, after the tenderloin, and followed (in order) by the top sirloin center cut, the ribeye and strip steak center cut, and finally beef shoulder, arm.^[1]

I got this Flat Iron Steak from Agustin the Butcher...... I have heard about them for ages but have never seen one up close. This piece of meat was not seperated into two steaks so I left it that way and cooked it whole. It was a very odd cook since I did not get it out of the freezer in time for it to thaw before the cook.... so the outside was cool and the inside was really frozen. I seared both sides in the cast iron pan at about 800 degrees then popped it into the Moffat oven at 350. Took almost 45 minutes to finish off the interior to rare lol!!! Anyway the meat turned out very well, tender, juicy and easy to eat. Lots of flavour in the meat as well. In the third photo you can see the fascia dividing the infraspinatus, this is where you could have cut the steak in half and made upper and lower pieces, cutting each of these into two, to get four smaller 12 oz steaks out of the lump.

I finished the pan juices with some butter and salt and pepper, cut up some blue cheese for the top of the slivered Flat Iron Steak and poured the pan juice all over the meat. Potatoes and mushrooms of course, and a couple of good friends, wine and latte to finish.

Thanks again to Agustin the Butcher for suggesting this one!!!!!

You can visit Agustin Monday - Saturday at

Caribana Wholesale Meat

441 King Street East
Hamilton, Ontario
L8N1C5

Phone: (905)522-5671

If you can get ahold of a Flat Iron Steak give it a go!!!!!!!!

Smoked Pork Shoulder

I got a fabulous Pork Shoulder from Agustin the Butcher.......... 25 pounds of sweet pork shoulder..... The shoulder consists of two roasts ... the picnic and the boston butt.... both are great cuts... but left as one ..... it becomes a feast for 40 peeps........ !!!!

I dragged this monster home and rubbed it good with my fave Pork rub...... mostly brown sugar and a lot of other seasonings......... and let it rest overnight in the refrigerator ........ then it was destined for the Master Forge Double Door Propane Gas Smoker. No mean feat let me tell you...... 225 F ........at one hour per pound..... thats a 25 hour smoke....... it came out beautifully.... then it went into some heavy duty aluminum foil, wrapped twice... then wrapped in a couple of towels .... then into the cooler for 4 hours of finishing.......... when it came out of the cooler to get pulled apart for the sandwiches, it was still way to hot to handle by hand..........

What a great way to share some food with good friends ......... pulled pork, baked beans, fresh baked buns, bbq sauce, corn on the cobb!!!!! Fantastic.......................................!!!!!!

Yorkshire Pudding

Want to know how to make the perfect Yorkshire Pudding for your Roast Beef diners?

The Recipe

equal parts

eggs, flour, and milk

and a pinch of salt

I break two room temperature eggs into a measuring cup and determine how much fluid I have. I tip these into a mixing bowl. Then I add an equal amount of milk. I use 2% but you can use whatever you have. Next measure same amount of all purpose flour. Mix all ingredients, the batter will be quite loose, add a pinch of salt. Rest in the fridge for half hour or so if you can, if not go ahead and use it right away. Batter will still rise unrest-ed.

 Heat about a quarter cup of canola or vegetable oil in a large baking pan to 450 F. Make sure the oil is to the point of smoking hot. A 10 inch cast iron skillet works very well for a single large pudding!

You are going to cook your pudding in two stages.  First 10 or 12 minutes at 450 F, so the batter will rise.  Then turn back the oven to 350 F, to dry out the pudding so it will hold it's structure!!  The whole cooking time needs to be about 25 minutes.

The timing of this pudding is crucial, you really have to make it at the very last minute and serve immediately.  If you cook it to early it wont be nice when you eventually serve it. If you leave it too late then your plated roast is going cold.  Since the roast is in the oven cooking at 350 or so I like to heat up the counter top convection oven and cook my Yorkshire in there!  If you are going to use the same oven as you are roasting in then do the following.  Cook roast to completion, remove from oven and tent with tinfoil and rest it for the next twenty five minutes.  Then turn the heat up to 450 F and get your oil smoking hot and cook off your Yorkshire while the roast rests.  This is also the time to make your pan gravy. Good luck! It helps to have a sous chef with you! If not do your best! The Yorkshires once poured into the hot oil need no more tending.... just turn the heat back at 10 minutes!

 Pour batter into pan cook for 10 minutes or until golden brown.  After 10 or 12 minutes turn the oven back to 350 F to dry the pudding out.  The puddings will puff up and look good at the ten or twelve minute mark, but don't be fooled.  If you pull the puddings out at this point they are still too wet and will collapse, you need to leave them in for 15 more minutes, the full 25 minutes so they can dry out a bit and hold the puffed up structure.

This is a really good recipe for Yorkshire Pudding, I like to make it in one large Pudding. You can do the same in a muffin tin, if you want separate puddings.

More glorious single serving Yorkshires!!!

Ahhh perfection!!!!!!!