Steve asked:

>> Our local rancher had freshly-processed beef; I got a brisket, some
>> cross-cut shanks, and a bone-in chunk of chuck. I also got sour
>> cherries, ruby chard, Tuscan kale, arugula, and garlic scapes.
>
> Is fresh beef really desirable? I see you bought long, slow cooking
> cuts so that probably doesn't matter. But I've been told you don't
> want steaks fresh off the hoof. or is this just something the beef
> packers/Cryovac have led us to believe with their "wet-ageing" claims?

I do prefer beef to have a bit of age on it, and it *does* matter even with
the long-cooked meats. Those shanks simmered for eight hours, and the
connective tissue still hasn't broken down. I think I might have to
pressure-cook them to finish.

Speaking of "long, slow cooking cuts" I made a boneheaded mistake last week:
Took a packet of meat out of the freezer. There were two strip steaks in the
packet. I pan-seared one to a perfect rare/medium-rare point and had it with
a pesto made from arugula, garlic scapes, pecorino, and hazelnuts. It was
disappointingly tough. I mentioned it to Lin on the phone that night, and
she said, "We didn't have strip steaks in the freezer. Those were boneless
short ribs." D'OH! Sure enough, that's what they were. Naturally, when the
second piece was cooked CORRECTLY it was delectable.

Bob