The Inexpensive Filet Mignon: Flat Iron

First off I'd like to apologize to anyone following the blog that I've been absent for so long. But the other day I was walking in the supermarket and was excited to see this inexpensive cut of meat among the other cuts and realized this was a great topic to do a blog post about, to help educate others about this very delicious but unknown cut of meat.

This cut of beef comes from the Shoulder area of the beast, particularly in an area not thought to be very tender. You may have seen this steak at your grocery store but not have heard about it, it is usually referred to as "Top Blade Steak". This piece of meat has been neglected for 100s of years until 2002. Researchers found a way to cut the Top Blade section in a way that removes the hard connective tissue that runs down the middle of it. As a result, you get the 2nd most tender cut of beef on the entire cow, after filet mignon. Now, what most people don't realize, is this cut of beef generally sells for HALF of what fillet mignon sells for. Imagine eating fillet mignon for half price??? Why wouldn't you pack your freezer with this meat??



This just looks mouthwatering to me, doesn't it to you!






This is typically how grocery stores are selling them seal tight.






You will have to pay close attention to your beef as most of the time the beef processors don't get all of the connective tissues and silver skin.





I used a simple boning knife to quickly clean up the connective tissues and we had this fabulous steak for dinner for you want to guess how much for? $4 for THE WHOLE THING!




Unfortunately Costco or Sam's Club doesn't sell this cut of meat...yet.

Beef Tenderloin how to cut Filet Mignon Part 2

Clean up flap of fat 
Remove silver skin carefully from heel to tip of the boning knife. 
Be careful not to cut away meat. 
Clean loin of beef
Chain meat. Some people say the time it takes to clean and separate silver skin and fat from meat takes to long and isn't worth it but taking a few extra minutes and being careful can pay off in the long run and give you back a lot of meat to use for stir fry, fajitas, or even burritos. 

Look at all that meat!!!! Well worth the extra 10 minutes it took to clean the chain. 

Beef Tenderloin How to cut Filet Mignon! Part 1

Remove Tenderloin from plastic carefully not to spill blood.
Pat down tenderloin to remove access blood. 
Remove and save chain from main part of loin. 
Set chain aside and remove flap from loin or not if you desire a larger cut of filet. 
Remove fat and bone spurs from bottom of loin, clean up any fat on the bottom.