I like a good steak but sometimes I pick one up at the meat counter,look at the price and go"Oh my God!". What is the best steak for the price? As well, I am confused because the same cut of steak sometimes goes by different names in different places? How do I know what I am buying?
As well, we like red, dry, robust wines. We haven’t picked any wine as our own “house wine” yet. Any ideas in the $10 to $15 range?
Fillet is considered by many to be the best steak; it is certainly the most likely to be free of fat and gristle, but it is a little lacking in flavour, still, I’d choose it first myself.
After that, I’d choose rump and I wouldn’t bother with sirloin at all.
Of course it is all highly subjective; the only really sound advice I can give is try everything and repeat buy what you like best, if you can afford it; I’d rather go without than eat something that I consider poor eating.
(For the record, there is a difference in terminology between the USA and the UK, but I can’t remember what it is specifically; I think it is that what we call rump, you call sirloin, but I can’t be sure).
Can’t help you on the wine; I like it all and I can’t tell any objective difference in quality between the really expensive and the (so called) rough.
I once had a butcher tell me that rib steaks are what butchers pick for themselves. You can get better steaks, but not for near the same price. In my area they often go on sale as a loss leader.
The steak question depends on you want to cook them and what you’re willing to do for a marinade. I’ll agree with the above comments about fillets and ribsteaks and will toss in my vote for new york strips, very yummy. All three come out nicely when cooked on a grill, either on their own or with a strong marinade. Whenever I grill fillets I always wrap them in bacon, it adds a real nice flavor and keeps them from drying out.
As for the wine in that price range I can recomend pretty much everything coming out of Oz over the last couple years. In particular Penfold’s and Rosemount have some fine wines for that price. Personally I wouldn’t get anything younger than 2000 (for any red) right now, though in another few months I’ll start buying 2001s too.
In no particular order some of my favorites:
Penfolds Koonunga Hills Cabernet Shiraz
Penfolds Bin 128 Shiraz
Penfolds Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon
Rosemount Diamond Merlot
Rosemount Diamond Cabernet Sauvignon
Of these my favorite is the Koonunga Hills Cabernet Shiraz, particularly the '98 vintage. Look at www.penfolds.com for more inforomation on all sorts of yummy wines from Oz.
Since this is a cooking question, I’ll move this thread to Cafe Society.
bibliophage
moderator GQ
For value for money, I’d go with a New York strip. They’re what I get when I want a good steak and don’t want to buy a filet. This is a theme that resonates through my experience of friends who cook seriously.
If I were to start giving wine suggestions, though, you’d shortly find yourself clutching a paper bag while sleeping in an alley. My suggested red wine is beer.
Just a note, but if you’re going to give a $ price range it might help to indicate if you’re in the U.S., Canada, Australia, or wherever else they use those. It can make a serious difference.
Porterhouse is the best steak, IMO. You get a chunk of the fillet, and a chunk of strip, and since it’s cooked on the bone, you also get flavor (which you don’t get with the fillet).
Fenris
T-Bone blows everything else out of the water.
I like the fat, so sirloin is my best choice, and it’s cheaper than fillet.
Anything cheaper isn’t worth cooking as a steak (by which i mean grilling or flash frying- i’m probably one of the few people alive who likes my steak blue) without some serious marinading.
Chump, rump and chuck are for stewing, stir-fries and stroganoffs.
I
damn hamsters.
I don’t know if you can get it where you are, but the Gato Negro range of Chilean wines has a very good Cabernet Sauvignon and an excellent Merlot.
Yum. The wife and I went out for porterhouses last night (her boss offered to buy us a night out since she’s been working her tail off). Went to Flame’s Steakhouse in Westchester, which is supposed to be comparable to the King Daddy of porterhouses, Peter Luger’s in Brooklyn (which I still haven’t had a chance to try).
My view: Luger’s is safe, at least based on what I’ve heard. But it was still a damn tasty steak. Yum, yum, yum.
I also like the New York strip, and it’s not too terribly pricey. To accompany, I favor Parducci petit syrah, though while robust, it may not be dry enough for your liking.
Porterhouse is excellent, but it shouldn’t be a one-person steak…the best porterhouse is cut about three inches thick and grilled, then sliced before serving, and should be enough for four.
For my money, the best steak is a rib steak, bone in. With the bone cut away it’s called a ribeye, and is more expensive per pound, because you’re not paying for bone. But the bone makes for great chewing after the meat is gone.
Rib steak is rather fatty, which makes for a juicy steak, but my wife dislikes it for health reasons.
Four what? Four mice? Four chipmunks??
< Texas accent >
Ah’m a real man, with a real man’s appetite: Th’ porterhouse steak ah had last week was 17 ounces (bone in), about 2 1/2 inches thick, grilled to perfection (crispy brown on the outside, hot and red on th’ inside) an’ ah ate it ALL!*
Porterhouse: a big steak for a big man!
< /Texas>
Fenris
*Um except for the chunks I gave to my parents and younger brother who wanted to taste, and the big slab I took home for leftovers. But other than that, Ah ate it ALL!
17 ounces? I’ve seen off a 32-ounce specimen (it’s one of those things you should do once).
My wife’s Aussie cousin, who is a little slip of a thing, watched this feat of gluttony with mingled awe and horror. By the time I’d polished it off, I was almost going “moo”, insofar as by this time I felt as though I was largely composed of beef.
That was a rump. I think we use the expression for the same part of the animal. I like T-bones, though, and it was a great relief when they lifted the beef-on-the-bone ban. 
17 ounces? not to bad. What did you have for the main course?
Personally I usually end up with T-bones. They are often at rediculusly low prices for the quality of the meat.
Some other decent bargains in the robust red wine category (imho):
Wolf Blass Yellow Label cabernet
(haven’t had a bad Aussie wine yet…)
-better if it’s 3-4 years old.
Fetzer Seven Oaks Cab.
Concha Y Toro Cab.
Don Miguel Torres Cab.
Brolio Chianti Classico
(or any other “classico” chiantis you can find)
Nice to see other folks liking this end of the spectrum. My better half and I were beginning to wonder if were strange for not liking the merlots…
Cheers.
It’s true that chuck is normally at its best stewed or roasted in liquid over a long period of time.
However…
On some chuck roasts you might see this bit, usually surrounded by fat, that looks suspiciously like a little, rudimentary rib-eye. If separated from the surrounding chuck, sliced inch-thick and cooked as a steak, this is extremely bitchin’. At our store we called it a “market steak”, though you might see it elsewhere as a “chuck-eye.” I haven’t seen it at too many other stores, so it might be one of those “talk to your butcher” kind of things.
For wine? People around here have been buying Rex Goliath Cabernet Sauvignon by the case…apparently it’s real cheap and real tasty. My personal preference is beer, however, and…well, you didn’t ask but here’s my recommendation anyway: Mendocino Brewery Eye-of-the-Hawk or, if you’re a serious hop-head, Lost Coast Brewery Indica Pale Ale.
Note to Fenris: I’ve made yourBBQ Sex Pork three times now and so far everyone just wants to sleep with you! 
Help!