Meat has always confused me. To the point where I'd often sift through the prepared cuts—hygenically sealed by somebody, someplace—in the meat section of the foodstore to avoid feeling like a complete dolt in front of a butcher. Filet, tenderloin, loin, same thing? I knew I had to do something about it—perhaps study the charts of segmented cows and pigs to try to make sense out of hunks of meat that have always looked the same to me. Then my wife and I found Patrick's course and we kicked off the New Year by checking off one of our big to-do's: learn something about MEAT!

We have a great butcher! I started going to him after he helped me find a giant Thanksgiving turkey! Not only does he have a beautiful little shop in the heart of a quaint village, he exudes so much passion for his business and his selection of meats. 

Last weekend we went to visit him, and for the first time ever, we knew what we were going to ask for! We've had plenty of Rib Eye steaks in our life, but they could have given us hanger steak in the past and we wouldn't have noticed. But this time, we wanted to try the End Cut of a Rib Eye. We watched as our butcher pulled out a hunk of meat, the whole rib-eye steak. It looked just like what Patrick showed in the video. He told us the meat was from Argentina and it would be amazing, "butcher's guarantee." He showed us the cut and I immediately recognized the cap meat and the walnut fat! You can see the cap and walnut fat in this shot:

Before cooking it, I made my wife admire the beauty of the marbling. We were excited to taste-test the different sections of the meat. I wanted to let the flavours of the meat speak for themselves, so I simply seasoned with a little bit of kosher salt and fresh pepper before searing:

The finished product was—as my butcher friend guaranteed—awesome. We've had rib eye before, but remember, I've always been blind to the cuts within a rib eye steak. So now we've checked off the End Cut! Although, it won't be the last time we ask for that!! Thanks for opening our eyes, encouraging us to learn from our local butcher, and introducing us to the wonderful world of MEAT!