Servings Per Pound Boneless cuts: 3-4 servings. Bone-in cuts:

Servings Per Pound

Boneless cuts: 3-4 servings.

Bone-in cuts: 2-3 servings.

Very bony (backribs, short ribs, etc.) 1-1-1/2 servings.

Care and Storage

Refrigeration: When you bring your beef home from the store, place it immediately in the meat compartment or coldest part of the refrigerator. Keep prepackaged fresh beef, unopened, up to four days; ground beef, no more than two days. Wrap or cover cooked beef and refrigerate within one hour after cooking. Cooked beef keeps best if left in large pieces; then cut when ready to use, within four to five days.

Freezing: If you don’t plan on usingthe beef cuts you buy within four days, freeze them. Fresh beef may be frozen satisfactorily when properly wrapped, quickly frozen and kept at 0 degrees F. or below.

Cookery

It’s important to choose the proper cooking method to produce flavorful, juicy and tender beef entrees. Your choice depends on the tenderness of the beef cut itself.

Cook tender cuts — rib, short loin and sirloin — by dry heat methods. Some less tender cuts — chuck, round, flank and brisket — can be prepared by moist or dry meat methods, depending on beef quality and the cooking time and temperature used.

Quality is influenced by the age of the animal and by marbling. (In general, the younger the animal, the more tender the beef, and the higher the degree of marbling, the greater the flavor and juiciness).

The combination of lower temperature (300 degrees F.) and longer cooking time enables some less tender cuts to be prepared by dry heat cookery methods.

Swiss Burger Steaks

3/4 pound ground chuck

1/2 cup soft whole wheat breadcrumbs

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/4 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

4 (1/2-ounce) slices low-fat Swiss cheese

Combine first six ingredients, mixing well. Divide into eight thin patties. Place a slice of Swiss cheese on each of four patties; top with remaining patties, and seal edges. Grill five inches over hot coals 3-5 minutes per side or until desired degree of doneness. Garnish with chopped parsley. Yield: 4 servings (217 calories per serving).

Note: Patties may be made ahead of time. Cover and refrigerate until time to cook.

Teriyaki Flank Steak

1-1/2 pounds beef flank steak

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened pineapple juice

1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons chopped green onion

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 clove garlic, crushed

Trim excess fat from steak; place steak in a shallow container. Combine next eight ingredients, stirring well; pour marinade over steak. Cover and marinate in refrigerator avemight.

Remove steak from marinade, reserving marinade. Grill steak five inches over hot coals 5 to 7 minutes an each side or until desired degree af doneness, basting often with marinade.

Steak Kabobs