Adventures with Grass-Fed Beef Part I

Happy cows come from California (and Hawaii for those in this pic)!

As I make my way through the last of my second half a cow of grass-fed beef *sniff* *sniff*, I have found the need to catalog what I can do with the different cuts.  So this series will serve as a resource for us to find great ways to cook grass-fed beef.

Through trial and error, I've wandered the relatively uncharted territories of cooking different cuts of grass-fed beef (a very different meat than conventional beef).  One difference between grass-fed and conventional grain-fed beef (ubiquitous in the US) is that grass-fed is healthier.  It's packed with healthy omega-3 fatty acids, CLA, vitamins, and minerals instead of chemicals, pesticides, antibiotics, omega-6 fatty acids, and remnants of their dietary grain (they are what they eat).  Grass-fed is also leaner, which fatphobes jump on as reason enough to partake, but to the less naive, fat is not really the issue since fat is good for us, especially saturated fat.  However, bad fat like that which is high in omega-6 isn't good for us, another tic against grain-fed beef.  The fat of grain-fed cattle is also toxic since fat is the storage site of many of those chemicals pumped into grain-fed cattle to get them to survive their deadly diet and abhorrent feedlot conditions.  For more about why we should eat meat and why it should be grass-fed, pastured, or wild-caught read my Starter Series: 1. Eat meat and if you are still confused about fat, read my Starter Series: 3. Eat fat.  UPDATE 4/15/2010: Fitness Spotlight just posted a great reference for why grass-fed trumps grain-fed: Advantages of Grass Fed Beef and Dairy.

Think it is okay to keep eating grain-fed beef because grass-fed is SO expensive?  Not sure it really matters all that much anyway?  Read this: "'Growing Concern' over marketing tainted beef" recently from USA Today.  Choice bits:

Beef containing harmful pesticides, veterinary antibiotics and heavy metals is being sold to the public because federal agencies have failed to set limits for the contaminants or adequately test for them, a federal audit finds.

Sound yummy?

Some contamination is inadvertent, such as pesticide residues in cows that drink water fouled by crop runoff. Other contaminants, such as antibiotics, often are linked to the use of those chemicals in farming. For example, the audit says, veal calves often have higher levels of antibiotic residue because ranchers feed them milk from cows treated with the drugs. Overuse of the antibiotics help create antibiotic-resistant strains of diseases.

This story is not alone.  Look into it and you'll be nauseated.  Read The Omnivore's Dilemma and you'll be in tears.  Now are you convinced grass-fed beef is worth every penny?  If not for the sake of the animals, then for the sake of your health.  I think it pays to know your meat and follow your common sense: eat food that nourishes, not harms.

It also saves to buy in bulk and invest in a large freezer.  For roughly the price per pound of grass-fed ground beef (just over $6), I get roasts, ribeyes, NYs, ribs, filets, flat irons, and all the less expensive cuts (stew meat, ground beef, skirt steak, tenderized round, etc.) and 160lbs of it if I buy half a cow.  I buy from a local source: Morris Grassfed located in North-Central California.   The cattle graze on coastal grasslands like those in the picture above.  They are slaughtered humanely--check out the FAQ (definitely one of my considerations).  They are never fed grain or given hormones or sub-therapeudic antibiotics.  Morris Grassfed also has a cute video series about how their food production is helping to recreate grasslands as a holistic management system.  Here is the first part:



You can find your own sources for grass-fed beef at Eat Wild, a great resource for finding local, sustainable, pastured meat.

So here are past recipes with my grass-fed beef:

The Easiest Meat Preparation Known To Man: Seared Steak
--usable with nearly any steak cut from jewel of the cow ribeye to filet to skirt steak and even that dreaded tenderized round (still haven't figured out the optimal preparation for that yet)

Not Your Mama's Pot Roast
--great with chuck roasts and briskets

Basic Meat Sauce
--one of the myriad of uses for grass-fed ground beef

(updated 1/11/11) And newer recipes:

Noodle Nosh
--an easy, Asian-inspired kelp noodle stir fry

Slow Cooker Coconut Curry Pot Roast
--saves you time with an easy prep and unattended cooking time and creates a DELICIOUS meal to feed  the whole family with leftovers

Today's recipe is for that lunch meat staple: roast beef.  It is useful to have enough meat in the house to get you through the week without running into emergency situations where limited options might jeopardize your paleo-style eating.  Of course, I have a grocery store meal ideas post and a dining out post, but the more meat we can stock the fridge with, the better our chances of success.

I came upon this recipe through trial and error with the lean sirloin roast.  When I tried using it for my pot roast, it came out so dry I couldn't eat it.  Even soaking it and serving it in broth couldn't save it.  Dry as dust.  Okay, the lack of intramuscular fat did me in.  Nothing to melt into the meat to give it a buttery deliciousness.  Second try: dry roasting using this recipe from allrecipes.com.  Success!  While I overcooked the meat, it was still tender and juicy and the seasonings gave great flavor.  I put a little too much cayenne in the mix and set my mouth on fire eating it, but it was good...so good.  So trying again, I mixed up the seasonings to something I like even better than the first attempt and pulled the meat out while on the rare side.  Damn near perfection, and reached it once I served it with raw, grass-fed butter on top :)

So in addition to the Roasted Turkey Breast recipe of yesteryear giving you lunchmeat for a week, try this easy-prep, couple-of-hour-no-fussing roasting of grass-fed sirloin roast.

Roast Beast: Dry-roasted Grass-fed Sirloin
Easy, homemade deli-style roast beef that is just as good for dinner as leftovers and lunch meat for the week.  
Cooking Time: 1-2hrs depending on size of roast and desired doneness

Ingredients:
1 sirloin tip roast, tied with twine, 2-4lbs (more of less, just adjust cooking time as needed)
1T kosher salt (or 1/2T would be fine if your roast is on the smaller side)
1T garlic powder
1T dried oregano
1T dried thyme
1/4t cayenne pepper
1t or about 25 grinds of black pepper
3T extra virgin olive oil (or enough to make a thick paste)
optional: dried basil and onion powder or anything else you like--feel free to experiment!

Method:
Allow your roast to come to room temperature (I'll leave it out while I prepare breakfast and it's ready to go after).  While waiting, prepare a sheet pan with foil or parchment on its surface (easy cleanup!).  Place roast in the middle of the sheet pan.  Mix the spices with the olive oil in a small bowl.  Rub them on the roast (all over and under the twine) and let sit as long as the oven takes to preheat to 350 degrees (make sure you have a rack set in the middle of the oven).

After preheating, whack 'er in and let 'er roast for about 45min-1hr before checking with the meat thermometer.  You are looking for 120-125 degrees for rare, but I would take it out at 115 to 120 to allow for carry-over of 5-10 degrees during resting.  The first time I made the roast, I let it go until 145 degrees, and that was overdone and dry.  You be the judge and remember, you can always whack slices in the microwave or heat in a skillet (say, with some butter?) if you feel it is underdone.  Better to err on the side of underdone rather than overdone, since only a thick sauce can really hide overdone meat.  The taste of meat is exceptional and something most of us have lost; so be wild and try it rarer than you normally would to get the most flavor and juiciness.

Okay, after you find the temperature you want, take it out and let the roast sit for at least 15 minutes before slicing.

Serving Suggestions:
Dare I say it...with a pat of raw, grass-fed butter melted on top?  OMG, heaven!

You can also slice this up and wrap around avocado or mango or fill with guacamole for a delicious anti-sandwich.  Works well sliced into a salad too.  Experiment and let me know what you like best!

South of the Border Goodness

When I found the website of the Homesick Texan, I was enthralled.  Her food photography is amazing, and her recipes are even more so.  However, I can't eat more than half of them!  Here is my take on one of them that has forever changed my relationship with pork.  I thought bacon was the end all, until I met Carnitas.

My Darling Carnitas 
inspired by Carnitas, Houston Style
Feeds two quite well with leftovers but feel free to double or triple the recipe to feed a crowd
Cooking Time: 3 hours start to finish (or four if you double/triple the batch)

1 3lb boneless pork butt or shoulder (same thing, but I prefer butt since I watched too much Beavis and Butthead as a kid)--make sure you DO NOT remove the fat!
1 C acidic fruit juice (I have tried orange juice, apple juice, lemon juice, and pomegranate juice with success, just make sure you get 100% juice)
water
1 T cumin
1 T garlic powder
1/2 T salt
1/2 T pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper

To prepare the meat, DO NOT REMOVE THE FAT--that is what makes carnitas.  If you don't want a fatty meat, don't try carnitas.  This is not an everyday meat, but a delicacy.  Cut meat into long strips about an inch wide and 3+ inches long.  Add to a big, deep pot--such as a dutch oven (no lid needed).  Best method: season the meat now while dry by adding cumin, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper and massage into meat.  Will do method: add seasonings after liquid and try to move the pork around.  Either way, the liquid will mix with the spices and the pork will have its seasoning.

Once the pork is in the pot, seasoned or not, add the juice and then add water to just submerge the pork (the water always varies with how much meat you are using and size/shape of your pot--tap is fine).  Crank the heat up to high and come to a good boil (watch carefully since it could foam up and make a mess).  Really wait until you get a good, clear boil going.  The surface should be a tempest!  Then, turn the heat down to low slowly so you don't lose all of the bubbling (start at medium low or 4 on the dial then reduce to 3 or perhaps even 2 as long as you can keep a simmer) and simmer for 2  hours uncovered (3 for larger batches).  DO NOT TOUCH THE MEAT during this time.  Your fussing will just make it into pulled pork, which although good, is not what we are going for at this stage.

After 2hrs (3 for larger batches), crank the heat up to medium high and let her go for a good half hour before checking for browning at the bottom.  During this last hour, the liquid will reduce down to fat and fry the meat on the bottom.  Reaching this stage happens fast--you can have bubbling liquid reducing and no brownage one minute and burnt meat the next, so after a half an hour, check back OFTEN to look for frying.  Once frying, now you get to SCRAPE the bottom (be careful if using non-stick--I destroyed too many non-stick pans and now use a big stainless steel pot that I can take the metal spatula to--but it is tough work!) and turn the meat to brown it as much as you feel comfortable with.  All the small bits will blacken, but they aren't carbon--they are caramelized meat from the fruit juice and pretty damn tasty--but you don't want your whole batch of carnitas to be black.  The scraping can get labor-intensive if you have a sticky pot, but your work is definitely worth the effort!

Once you have a desired degree of browning, remove from the heat and strain the meat from the fat (a wire mesh strainer works well--but don't go crazy straining all the juices out too, use a light squeezing with the back of a spoon). And DON'T throw away that fat!  Store it in another container for cooking eggs and plantains (see picture below).  It is delicious!  The cooled meat will store for a week in the refrigerator in a covered, air-tight container (and the fat can last even longer).  But there won't be leftovers for long!

Pork Carnitas