Teres Major Steak

I remember back in the day (2006-2007) catering in East Texas finding out about this muscle in the cow between the shoulders or shoulder blades called terse major. It is a seldom used muscle second only to the tenderloin filet in tenderness. It is also referred to as a shoulder tender. If sliced into medallions, they are appropriately named petite tender medallions. Also known as (AKA) petite beef tender, beef filet, chuck tender steak...the list goes on. But with great beef flavor, a good chew/bite that's tender, and a fraction of the cost of tenderloin you can't lose on price and flavor!

Back then we bought it for $2.80 a pound. And it was a hit! It's said you can cook it all kinds of ways but the most successful way we found to do it was to rub it down (whatever rub mix or seasoning you want to use) and sear it on the grill or in a pan, finishing it in the oven to a medium rare. At that time a major meat company (and family) that we knew told us the price was about to go up! Apparently two nationally know restaurants were about to make very large purchases of the meat for their fajitas and other beef dishes. ~ fast forward to today.

I recently started doing some beef dishes and now that I am in Alabama it's a harder 'sell' for beef than chicken or pork. Remembering the teres major I asked my local meat supplier what the going rate was for it and it was $3.90 a pound un-trimmed or $5.40-65 a pound trimmed. Although you have to buy at least 65 pounds if the un-trimmed or 25 pounds of the trimmed for those prices. Still not bad at all considering the popularity of it has died back down and it's 7 years later! Not to mention the current price of beef tenderloin!

You can currently buy this meat at Sam's Club under the name petite tender beef filet, 2 in a package, already marinated in different flavors at $5.48 a pound. Which runs around $20 a package.

After serving this at a banquet hot (with a separate mushroom gravy) I served the leftovers cold as part of a sandwich platter at a luncheon. A few people were at both events and though they raved about it at the banquet, they later said it was even better cold with a horseradish sauce I had prepared!


I prepared the meat by searing it in a pan with a garlic herb mixture rubbed into it, then in the oven for 20 minutes at 350. After that it stayed in a warmer for 30. It was in a chafing dish for another 20 minutes. Which brings me to my last advantage of this meat, it stayed a nice medium-rare, to medium pink inside the meat thru this whole process. The picture on the bottom of this post is of the slices I used on a platter.

There doesn't seem to be a down side to the teres major!

Thoughts on Coffee

I have traveled quite a bit on ships, trains, planes, and automobiles thru the Caribbean, Central American, Europe, Africa, Canada, and of course the U.S.. I have also tasted and visited a few coffee places, estates, fields, and shops. That being said I will not call myself and expert except on the subject of my own palate. So for a moment lets knock out any one-off coffees and talk about chains and corporate. Here is what I found for my tastes...

Although I am from the South and Krispy Kreme seems to be the doughnut king when the light is on...it's coffee is lacking. Starbucks is great for specialty coffees and maybe buying their coffee and making it at home but why does their house brew always taste bitter, burnt, or harsh? My wife and I LOVE Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf both specialty and regular cup of coffee but this place is not found to many places in the USA, some high traffic cities and mostly California...and oddly enough a bunch of them in Malaysia! So still no everyday options for me. Waffle House has good coffee that is pretty consistent from coast to coast (because it is made the same) but lacks that inviting atmosphere and is not available for purchase at home. From what I remember Tim Horton's was pretty good (Canada) but that was a distant memory. Illy coffee imported from Italy is hands down my favorite coffee that my palate loves straight from the French press but OH does it cost a pretty penny.

But as I sit here today in the first of many Dunkin Doughnuts coming to my city in the South I am reminded of my trips to Boston and New York where every corner seems to have one on it. it also reminds me of why I love their coffee so much. I get just the regular coffee with cream and sugar (they add it) and the mix and taste seems to be just right for me every time. The price does not break the bank. Their take-home bags of coffee taste just as great when you make them at home and are affordable...and I guess their doughnuts aren't to bad either! (Wink!) But don't tell Krispy Kreme I said that.