Stainless steel pansThis is an old, old topic of discussion on sci.chem--why do metals smell, especially when wet and especially when the surface is disturbed. There are a large number of...
Jane Gillett
Jane, we don't have skirt steak here, nothing even looks like it. I eat it at Argentinian steak restaurants in NY. I shall see if I can find out what they marinate it with. It is rigorously served rare, presumably because it does not have much interior fat.
Absolutely I agree. Spicy and long-cooked things should not be tender cuts! I use ribs sometimes for similar Italian dishes, but they are fattier, so it is usually something I can go over by hand and remove a lot of the fat when it's done. Meantime, the connective tissues and bones have added flavors impossible with loin etc.
Make sure what ever you cook that you shorten up the length of the muscles before cooking.
I of course haven't a clue what comprises stewing steak in the UK. I think we used round steak to make many things like that, which has little connective tissue or fat. It was beaten to make it edible-chewable. The big deal, I think, is not using really high temps on meat that tends to go stringy. My mother loved pot roast and seared it at white hot temperatures before braising it. Sunday lunch some smart alec would ask, "Anybody short a shoelace?" It made a toasty rich gravy, but the meat has put me off potroast forever.
