Meat

A succulent ham is one of the reigning centerpieces of holiday feasts, and rightly so. It’s an easy main dish with virtually no cooking required, and it serves a crowd. But since there is nearly no cooking (depending on the type you buy), all the work of a ham lies in the choosing. How do you decide what kind of ham to get? Where do you buy it from, and what should you look for? Read on — we have the answers! Ham comes from the back leg of the animal.

What you need to know to make beef stew like a pro.

Flexibility in use landed this method in the top spot.

Flank steak and skirt steak are both long, odd-looking cuts of steak. Wonder if you’ve ever eaten either of them? If you’ve ever had fajitas, then chances are it was skirt steak. In most recipes, they can be used interchangeably, so how are these cuts actually different from each other? The flank is located at the cow’s bottom abdominal area, while the skirt is a thin, flavorful cut located in the diaphragm area.

You'll be bound for greatness with this one!

Avoid these common mistakes for better burgers every time

I think we can all agree that bacon is pretty irresistible as is. That crispy, crunchy texture and smoky flavor can liven up breakfast plates and add an extra oomph to salads and sandwiches. Which is precisely why it’s time to up the ante on your next batch of bacon with the help of a few rich, sweet, spicy, and savory upgrades. Even though it doesn’t necessarily come with a mild flavor, bacon is a total blank canvas.

Here's how to plan so that you're not going to be swimming in leftovers, or leaving anyone around the table starving.

With the onset of spring, I’ve been happy to push hearty stews and braises to the back burner and welcome leaner cuts of meat into the kitchen. While it’s not something most of us cook on a very regular basis, lamb is a springtime favorite. Between its larger size and higher price tag, it can certainly prove an intimidating cut of meat to prepare. But this perfect-for-spring meat is a lot easier than it seems — especially when you know the common missteps to avoid.

Although short ribs used to be seen as a less desirable cut of beef, they’ve risen in popularity, causing prices to also increase for this cut that used to be fairly inexpensive. So if you’re now spending more for short ribs, it makes sense to get to know the two popular ways that they’re cut, flanken and English style. The difference can come down to thickness of the cut and cook time for your desired meal.

Boneless country-style pork ribs are a bit strange — they’re rib-like strips of meat but are in fact boneless. If they don’t have any bones or ribs in them, why are they still called country-style pork ribs? Interestingly enough, boneless country-style ribs don’t actually come from the ribs, thus the confusing naming convention. Maybe the name stems from the fact that the meat has a texture and flavor similar to meat around the ribs?

For starters, one is a roast and the other is a steak.

Recent food movements to make use of all parts of an animal and eat “snout to tail” have brought offal back into forefront of cooking. Even so, unless you grew up with it or are a particularly adventurous eater, offal still might not seem very…appealing…to you. Where do you stand?Offal is the broad term for the organ meats and other parts of the animal leftover after butchering.