A NICE BIT OF SKIRT!

No not a pretty female but a cut of beef. Once common and now rarely heard of this valuable and inexpensive cut is versatile and delicious. Perfect for a meat and potato pie it is lean and,if properly butchered free from any gristle or chewy connective tissue.

Today I placed my three slices (about a lb in weight) in an oven proof dish with a sliced onion,a stock cube, a little salt and a pint of cold water. Covered with foil the meat cooked for about two hours at 185oC,after that all I needed to do was thicken the lovely stock to make onion gravy and the job was done.

I served it with roasted potatoes,Yorkshire puddings and mushy peas, mashed potato is the best accompaniment as it helps to soak up the delicious gravy which this dish always produces.

The addition of a few sliced carrot,parsnips and swede would,in the same amount of time make a wonderful casserole which could be served with suet dumplings.

The cost of the meat,enough for three generous servings was £2.75 from my Grimsby butcher....and thereby hangs the tail...or is it tale?

Supermarket butchers tend to bundle this cut of meat in with the totally different shin beef and call it stewing steak. Since the shin beef takes longer to cook eating the resulting dish is redolent of chewing rubber bands!

Supermarket meat is almost invariably a sub standard product,over priced and over packaged not to mention  the poor farmer who is continuously being shafted by the big chain supermarkets.

I know that butchers shops can be hard to find and, particularly in the south of England expensive.

Try an on line butcher,preferably a northern one.

We order meat about four times a year for the freezer and because we order over a hundred pounds worth we pay no carriage charge,the meat is always fresh and of the best quality and a good deal less expensive.

I know I go on about this but in these difficult times I hate to think of anyone spending their hard earn money on the rubbish that is peddled by supermarkets.

One word of caution however,some on line butchers are just huge warehouses which dispatch any old rubbish all over the place. Choose a family butcher with an online presence and good reviews,I promise you there is nothing quiet like the excitement generated by the arrival of the meat box. Try it and see for yourself