Mystery Meat: Can you identify it?

December 23, 2010 10:46 PM

Mystery Meat. My aunt gave me this meat a month ago. I can't remember what she said it was. I vaguely remember the word "breakfast." What kind of meat is it and how should I prepare it?
posted by sallyseashore to Food & Drink (6 answers total)

Sorry - of course there's a photo. I think its more in the deer/elk category than anything else, in which case you can prepare it like you might most beef dishes.
posted by blaneyphoto at 11:03 PM on December 23, 2010

Might be back bacon rashers?

I'd call her and ask. If it's venison or something, you'll be sad if you handle it like pork.
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 11:17 PM on December 23, 2010

Looks like a red meat that has been vacuum sealed and frozen. There seems to be large streaks of fat but it is hard to tell how well marbled it truly is from the picture. Looks like it is a "steak" flat cut against the grain.

Even if it is wild game like venison, elk, caribou or moose you will need to be sure not to overcook.

Though it might be ostrich that too is a low fat, red meat so the same applies.

Treat it like beef. If it is as lean as a round steak then quick cooking is preferable. If it is fatty and well marbled like prime rib then you have some options but again be cautious about the over cooking because you can undercook then do some corrective cooking, but there is no way to recover from overcooked meat.
posted by jadepearl at 3:43 AM on December 24, 2010

Looks like salt beef! Which in Newfoundland is the integral component of Jigg's Dinner, and you soak it overnight and then boil it in a pot with root vegetables.
Is it extremely salty? If so, get in touch, and I will further explain all of the wonderfulness that can come of this present you've received.
posted by whalebreath at 8:11 AM on December 24, 2010 [1 favorite]

The fact that it's kept well for a month, unfrozen, makes it even more possible that it's salt beef. This is how beef was preserved in my province before refrigerators came along.
posted by whalebreath at 8:12 AM on December 24, 2010

Could it be bison? There doesn't seem to be much fat in the pictures you showed.
posted by KB.Boston_implant.By way of NY at 9:23 AM on December 24, 2010