40oz prime dry-aged porterhouse from Lobel’s. My usual steak is the fine dry aged beef from Florence Meat Market. You can’t go wrong with that stuff and it’s very reasonably priced. They are a great all purpose butcher as well. But, when special occasions come around, or it’s convenient, or any number of other excuses crop up, I go for steaks from Lobel’s or Bryan’s Fine Foods. You can forget how big of a quality difference there is when you go a while eating steaks that are simply great. But then you have one of these and wonder what it is that you’ve been passing off as beef for the last two months. They really are that good. Also, the rack of lamb I picked up from Lobel’s this week was ridiculously good.

I wasn’t going to take a picture of yet another steak dinner… but then this NY Strip from Bryan Flannery turned out to be the best steak I’ve had in a long time. The truffled mashed potatoes weren’t so bad either. Not a bad way to kick off a period of intense holiday eating!

Filet mignon with black truffle butter. Filets are generally not as flavorful as other cuts, so I usually serve with a flavorful accompaniment such as a gorgonzola butter or green peppercorn sauce or wrap them in bacon. To really punch up the richness and flavor, you can cook the steaks sous vide with a tablespoon or two of truffle butter in the bag. Since the steaks cook at a low temperature, the truffle flavor doesn’t degrade nearly as much as it does if you cook it into a sauce. After the steaks have been cooked to your liking in the water bath, plunge them into ice water for 10-20 minutes to bring the core temperature down so that you don’t overcook them when browning. Then quickly sear them in a very hot pan. Serve with a disk of fresh, room temperature truffle butter on top.

Mishima Ranch Wagyu Ribeye. I very much enjoyed this ribeye from Mishima Ranch as I continued my quest to find all of the best steaks available to the home cook. On their website, Mishima boasts that their cattle are a much higher percentage of Wagyu, genetically, than most of their competitors. That’s great, but not entirely meaningful as so many other factors go into creating a great steak such as the treatment of the cattle, feed, and—since they brought up genetics—the quality of the lines within the breed and even the individual cow. At any rate, the steak was very, very good, although not any better marbled than those from Japan Premium Beef in NYC, and not as good as those from Bryan Flannery or Lobel’s despite carrying a similar price tag.

Brandt Beef “True Natural” prime, dry-aged bone-in ribeye with piles of blistered shishito peppers. I have been meaning to try Brandt Beef ever since Dean and Deluca started carrying it, but just haven’t gotten around to it until now. Brandt is a single-family producer of premium, completely natural beef out of California. A couple of years ago, Cooks Illustrated ran a taste test (here, if you subscribe) and pronounced Brandt as the best of the premium mail order steaks, even beating out Lobel’s.

I thought the ribeye was excellent—tender and flavorful, with particularly delicious fat. I wouldn’t put it on the same level as Bryan Flannery or Lobel’s, but it’s close. And that’s no small compliment.

The shishito come from Lani’s farm, and I usually eat them as an appetizer or snack. But, I recently discovered that the slight sweetness and touch of heat that they deliver make a great compliment to rich meat.

A beautiful porterhouse from Lobel’s. It’s been a couple of months since I’ve posted a steak pic, and I would hate for anyone to think I wasn’t eating my fair share of cow. That’s all.

More Bryan Flannery vs Lobel’s “research.” File this one under the category of It’s a tough job but someone has to do it. This is the second time we’ve done this comparison and this time, we cooked all three steaks sous vide to 120 degrees then seared them on a ridiculously hot grill for about a minute and a half per side. The Lobel’s steak was just a bit dryer than the Flannery steaks but it had incredible flavor. I don’t think we’re getting any closer to a verdict, so I guess we’ll just have to keep researching the problem!

Bryan Flannery vs. Lobel’s prime dry-aged strip steak challenge. Also known as the week of embarrassing riches of beef consumption. A recent survey showed that the average american consumes a little over a pound of beef a week, which seems about right for me. But not last week…

Last week, I finally made my way up to 82nd and Madison to visit Lobel’s and came away very impressed and with a fantastic ribeye (and some Kurobuta pork chops). As I finished the steak, I remembered that just a few days later Steve and Patti would be hosting a dinner that would be supplied with our usual favorite beef from Bryan. Why not do a steak throw down!? A few emails and phone calls later and it was all set up; we would compare one of Bryan’s Californian Private Reserve strip steaks (on the left in the photo) with one of Lobel’s midwestern strips. But more on that in a minute. The night before the steak challenge, I stopped by Steve’s to do some prep only to find one of Bryan’s burger sampler packs waiting to go on the grill. Since I’ve started grinding my own meat for burgers it’s become more and more difficult to impress me, but these were ridiculously good. One blend with applewood smoked bacon was especially delicious.

The next night was the steak challenge. Both steaks were dry-aged in the 5-6 week range, and both Bryan and Lobel’s select only the very, very best of the prime meat that’s available. While I joke that this was a challenge, really it wasn’t possible for there to be a loser in this scenario. Both steaks were of course incredible. Between the four eaters we weren’t able to come to a clear consensus. The Flannery steak was perhaps more beefy while the Lobel’s was richer? This is probably due to the California vs. Midwestern sourcing than anything else. So, on that day, call it a tie. Further research is needed!

I thought my week was done, but somehow only two days later I found myself again way up on the Upper East Side and unable to pass up another trip to Lobel’s. I had tried the strip and the ribeye, so it was time for the Porterhouse. The service was once again a pleasure, and it shouldn’t be a surprise at this point that the steak was incredibly good. I also came away with some thick cut veal chops which I’ll post about soon. 

My arteries and I are thankful that Blue Moon Fish will be back at the Greenmarket next weekend!

Lobel’s ribeye is one extremely good piece of cow. I posted earlier about my first trip to famed NYC butcher Lobel’s, and here’s the finished product carved up to serve two. Rich, full of flavor, and deliciously fatty as the best ribeyes should be. Yes, it’s expensive, but a steak this good is worth the price of admission.  Next up: a Flannery-Lobel’s throw down!

Lobel’s Prime 6-week dry-aged bone-in ribeye, weighing in at around 30 ounces. This was my first visit to Lobel’s given it’s far away location on 82nd and Madison, but I’ll have to find more excuses to get back up there. In addition to the gorgeous array of meats, the staff are incredibly friendly and helpful. I picked up this beauty and a few great looking bone-in Kurabuta pork chops. I’ll report on the steak later.