Lobel's Meat Bible

It's fun to give a big slab of beef the royal treatment in everything from a Brazilian cachaça marinade to a generous helping of piquant chimichurri. But here's my advice: if you ever get your hands on an ultrapremium dry-aged prime steak, don't do much to it at all.

After educating myself on beef cuts from their Meat Bible, I recently tried out a piece of all natural grain- and grass-fed beef from New York butcher Lobel's.

To highlight the beef's quality flavor, I didn't fancify the steak and made sure not to move the meat around. My reward? A perfect piece of beef with a tender texture and rich, marbled flavor. For the best simple steak recipe, read more.

I have a confession to make. Although a good number of you are vegetarians, and even more of you eat less meat now that we're in a recession, I still crave meat on a regular basis — whether it's a lamb chop, slice of jamon Iberico, or charcuterie. So when I received a copy of Lobel's Meat Bible ($40), a new book by revered New York butcher brothers Stanley, Evan, Mark, and David Lobel, I couldn't wait to check it out. See what I thought of it when you read more