Or use the breast, and make sure you ask the butcher to bone it for you. Some new customers who have never bought meat where that kind of service is included in the (typically higher) price can discover other benefits. They can arrange to bring in their own herbed breadcrumb and garlic mixture, and the butcher will stuff, roll and tie the roast. How many home cooks can handle a length of butcher’s string as deftly, quickly and neatly as the person behind the meat counter?
To make the most of the animals, the Meat Hook’s butchers went to France for two weeks last spring to learn how butchering is done there and discovered little portions of succulence that could be ferreted out of parts of a steer, like the merlot steak and the oyster steak. (Remember that it was the French who popularized the hanger steak, which now is sometimes sold in better supermarkets.)
While the best way to buy fish is to see what looks good in the market that day, it pays to call the butcher at least a day in advance to find out whether a particular cut is available, to ask what else might be suitable and perhaps to place an order.
This phenomenon is not limited to New York City. In other cities, butchers are also opening, including Barbara Lynch’s Butcher Shop in Boston, the Local Butcher Shop in Berkeley, Calif., Smoking Goose Meatery in Indianapolis, and Chop Butchery and Charcuterie in Portland, Ore.
Soak the dried morel mushroom and the dried porcini separately in water for 24 hours. The next day, wash well and pour out the water. Mince the morel mushroom and the dried porcini separately.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a heavy casserole large enough to hold lamb. Add onion, saute on low until softened, and stir in Aleppo pepper, cumin and cinnamon. Add garlic and rosemary leaves (no stems) from the marinade. Add 1 ½ cups of the marinade and boil down until nearly evaporated.