Smoked ribeye appears at most tables only on a cold plate. Yet being a cooked product makes it usable in hot dishes too.
What does being pre-cooked mean?
Smoked ribeye gets smoked at a low temperature after curing.
Its internal temperature reaches 65 to 70 degrees.
The product therefore sells fully cooked.
That produces two consequences.
It can be eaten directly; no further cooking is required.
And added to a dish it needs no cooking; only heating.
Long cooking dries the product and toughens it.
Smoked ribeye therefore goes in at the final stage of a dish; that single rule applies across all eight uses.
How does it work in pasta sauces?
The first use.
The ribeye gets cut into thin strips or small cubes.
The sauce gets made and the cooking completed.
The ribeye goes in two minutes before the pan comes off the heat.
It works very well in cream-based sauces; the smoked aroma balances the softness of the cream.
It gets used in tomato-based sauces too, though the aroma partly disappears.
The product comes forward in plain sauces based on olive oil and garlic.
A spoonful of pasta water binds the sauce and distributes the salt of the ribeye through it.
| Use | When added | Cut | Per head |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pasta sauce | Last 2 minutes | Strips or cubes | 30-40 g |
| Rice | At service | Thin strips | 25-35 g |
| Eggs | Last minute | Thin slices | 30-40 g |
| Soup | On the plate | Thin strips | 15-20 g |
| Sandwiches | Cold | Thin slices | 40-60 g |
| Salads | Cold | Strips | 30-40 g |
| Pizza | After baking | Thin slices | 25-35 g |
| Canapés | Cold | Thin slices | 10-15 g |
Does it belong with rice and grains?
The second use.
The ribeye gets cut into thin strips.
It goes on top of the rice once it has cooked and rested.
It does not cook with the rice; steam dries the product.
It gets used with bulgur pilaf, quinoa and freekeh too.
Browned onion and parsley go alongside.
That use turns plain rice into a main course.
It works in grain salads as well; strips added to a cold bulgur or quinoa salad provide protein and aroma.
How is it used with eggs?
The third use, and the most practical.
The ribeye gets cut into thin slices.
It heats briefly in a pan; thirty seconds suffices.
The eggs then go in.
It gets used in fried eggs, omelettes and menemen.
No extra salt goes into the dish since the product is already salty.
The yolk carries the smoked aroma and the two components meet on the palate.
The ribeye releases no fat in that use; being lean, a little butter or olive oil goes into the pan.
Is it used in soups?
The fourth use.
The ribeye does not cook in the soup; it serves as a garnish.
The soup goes into the bowl.
Thin strips get scattered over it.
Hot soup warms the product and the aroma opens.
It goes well with lentil, vegetable and mushroom soups.
It gets used in cream-based soups too.
The quantity should stay small; the soup is already salted and the ribeye brings more, so fifteen or twenty grams per head suffices.
How does it work in sandwiches and toasties?
The fifth use.
The product gets used cold in a sandwich.
Thin slices go between the bread in layers.
Fresh vegetables and mustard go alongside.
The product warms in a toastie; placing it between two layers of cheese preserves its texture.
Slices touching the bread directly dry and harden.
It gets used in a panini press too; the time should stay short, and two minutes suffices.
Under long pressing the product dries and the most expensive component of the sandwich loses its quality.
Where does it belong in salads and on pizza?
The sixth use is salads.
The ribeye gets cut into strips and goes into the salad cold.
It forms a classic combination with rocket, parmesan and olive oil.
The seventh use is pizza.
The product goes on after baking.
Ribeye left in the oven dries and hardens.
Thin slices laid on a hot pizza warm slightly and the aroma opens.
The eighth use is canapés; cream cheese and ribeye go onto a cracker or a thin slice of bread with a caper on top, ready for standing service.
How is the rule of timing applied?
That rule is common to all eight uses.
Smoked ribeye never gets cooked for long.
In hot uses it goes in during the last minute or two.
Or it goes onto the hot dish on the plate.
In cold uses the product comes out of the fridge twenty minutes before service.
That lets the fat soften and the aroma open.
Long cooking loses three things at once: moisture, aroma and the pink colour; lose those three and the product becomes ordinary dried meat with no return on its price.
What happens to leftover ribeye?
The clock starts once a vacuum pack has opened.
Four or five days in a fridge.
Two routes exist where it cannot be eaten within that time.
The first slices and freezes it; baking paper goes between the slices and they go into a bag.
They keep two months.
The second turns it into a dish; the remaining slices get chopped into a sauce or a soup, and the product serves as a component rather than as a cold plate.
Slices that have dried do not get thrown away either; chopped finely and fried briefly they become a crisp garnish over a salad or pasta.
That third use lets the product create value even at its final stage.
