Classic Carpaccio

• Unless you can coax your butcher to pre-slice the beef, creating the perfect sheerness for carpaccio can be a challenge. Buy the most tender meat -- beef tenderloin is a good choice -- and freeze the plastic-wrapped steak for 1 hour. Then cut it as thinly as possible with a freshly-sharpened knife. If the slices are still thicker than your ideal, wrap each slice in wax paper and pound it with a mallet.

Elegant Arrangements

• Carpaccio creations differ from one another in how they are arranged and topped. Your topping choices range from a simple oil-and-vinegar concoction to a mustardy vinaigrette to fruit salsa, and beyond. The main constant is that the topping usually contains vinegar. Aside from that tradition, the meat can be topped with shavings of hard cheese, pine nuts, herbs, capers, olives or a light green salad. Alternatively, some of these elements can surround the slightly overlapped beef slices.

Beefing Up Safety

• Not surprisingly, safety is paramount when serving raw meat dishes. Carpaccio is not recommended for vulnerable populations, which include the elderly, the very young, pregnant women and people with immune system issues. For everyone else, you can ease possible health concerns by searing the meat on all sides before slicing. A 12-minute session in the hot pan will leave the meat cooked, but rare in the center of each slice. The seared, then cooled, tenderloin then goes into the freezer for one hour before you slice and pound it.

Refined Roasting

• To make the best roast beef for sandwiches, choose top sirloin. A 5-pound roast will yield plenty of sandwich meat, but won't take forever to cook. The only ingredients you'll need are a small amount of olive or vegetable oil to sear the beef on the skillet, along with salt and pepper to season it. Use a heavy-bottomed skillet on the stove and a shallow roasting pan with a rack in the oven for roasting.

Meaty Methods

• Home prepared roast beef starts by searing roast beef in a skillet over medium high heat for at least 10 minutes, making sure that all sides are browned. For tender, easily-sliced sandwich meat, slow cook it in a 200 degree Fahrenheit oven for 3 to 3.5 hours, or until it reaches an internal temperature of 145 F. Some recipes will give a recommended final internal temperature of 130 F for the juiciest outcome, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture specifies 145 F for safety. Roast beef is most easily sliced after chilling it in the refrigerator.