Truly Happy Meat
Dec 30, 2008 cooking, farming, groceries, sustainable agriculture
I’m only singling her out because she made a post about something I’d been meaning to comment on previously but, in the forum thread “Food Related Goals for 2009“, Merridith wrote:
…I want to restrict my meat eating, as best I can, to sustainably produced, naturally raised, animals. First choice will be to buy direct from the farmer, if I need it fast, I will buy it from the organic grocery.
The idea of this is absolutely great, but the reality is that even meat at an organic grocer isn’t really all that happy because terms like organic, free range, and pastured have all been picked up by agribusiness and distorted wildly. You can have “organic” pork that was confined just as you can have “pastured” beef that is really just pumped full of corn. And that’s not to say I don’t occasionally buy meat in a store like Whole Foods,
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: American Grass Fed Beef, Local Harvest, Riverfront Times, sappington farmers market, Whole Foods, Winslow's Home
Benne’s Best Meat
Feb 11, 2008 groceries, sustainable agriculture
I’ve mentioned this farm before, but I thawed out a sirloin tip roast I’ve had in my freezer over the past couple days, and I just wanted to comment about them again because the meat is a bit cheaper than many of the other spots people are buying “happy meat” from locally
The cost reduction is partly because the Benne’s family does grain-finish their beef as the Benne family themselves prefer the taste, but their animals are pastured.
They sell at the St. Charles Lions Club Farmers’ Market every other week during the growing season, and you can buy from their farm during limited hours Monday-Saturday year round.
It’s really interesting when you visit their farm because you are literally driving down Highway 94 in St. Charles before making a turn onto what is basically a sub-division entrance. You then drive off that road onto a dirt road, cruise past their lake surrounded by wading cows, and up to their home where the chickens scramble out of the way as you park your car..
When you stand outside their door, with all its billboards you can literally see highway 94 less than a mile away and to me it’s a bit surreal to know that right in the middle of St. Charles their is a farm tucked away holding onto what all that land once was.
Here’s a brief cost breakdown for a Sirloin Tip Roast for comparison:
| Benne’s (grain finished | $4.99lb |
| Hinkebein Hills Farm (grain finished) |
$4.50lb (website price) |
| American Grass Fed Beef | $6.66 + Shipping |
And of course here’s the finished roast…
Benne’s Best Sirloin Tip Roast, Berger Bluff Farms Celeriac, Carrots, Yukon Gold Potatoes, Vegetable Gravy
Tags: American Grass Fed Beef, Benne's Best Meat, carrots, celeriac, grain finshed beef, Hinkebein Hills Farm, pot roast, sirloin tip roast, yukon gold potatoes
In regards to the forum, you were right!
Feb 2, 2008 chefs, offal watch, restaurants
So, um, yeah, I had no idea the forum would take off like that.
In basically three weeks 47 people have posted 835 articles, and while a nice chunk are from only four of us (and you know who you are), we have everything from magazine editors, to a wine rep, to local chefs.
This morning, one of them who we will call Josh Galliano, walked away with the award for greatest post (by about twenty fold) in this thread about offal. One of Josh’s tasting menus at the moment is completely comprised of offal like cockscombs and honeycomb tripe, and he took pictures of a lot of it to not only explain to us what he’s up to, but show us as well.
The pic above is actually beef hearts from American Grass Fed Beef, and it’s An American Place’s amuse for the weekend. I don’t know which I like more, that they’re getting away with serving beef heart, or the fact that he titled the pic “two hearts” and I can’t stop laughing because of that goofy eighties song.
So thank you everyone for posting and showing me that there is a core group of people in St. Louis that get it. I’ve never been more proud to live in St. Louis.
Tags: American Grass Fed Beef, An American Place, beef heart, beef hearts, cockscombs, grass fed beef, honeycomb tripe, Joshua Galliano, offal
Dinner Triumphant!
Oct 27, 2007 farmers' markets, general food
I suppose because of my years cooking, I have a tendency to aim high when cooking dinner at home. While that in and of itself isn’t a problem, what is a problem, is that I’m rusty. Rustiness, coupled with my being particularly critical, means that I’m more than a little unenthused with most of the food I make.
Take last Friday for instance. On call at work and having to respond within fifteen minutes, I was forced to stay around the house for most of the weekend. Having known this well in advance I decided to do it up big for dinner after spotting some celeriac earlier that week at the Berger Bluff Farms tent at the Maplewood Farmers’ Market. I also still had the beautiful carrots I’d picked up in Kansas City at the Farmers Community Market at Brookside and not wanting them to go to waste, I knew they would make perfect sides to what Ellie and I had been craving all week: pot roast.
So as previously mentioned, at lunch last Friday I headed off for Whole Foods to pick up an American Grass Fed roast. But alas, it was one of the cuts that were no longer available. I instead picked up a larger rib eye for us to share.
That proved to be my downfall as I overcooked the beef a little in my frenzy to finish passing the celeriac puree through a sieve and get everything onto the plate hot. I was clearly trying to do too much at once, and I was doubly irritated because it had been such a fine cut of meat.
 |
| American Grass Fed Beef Rib-Eye, Berger Bluff Farms Celeriac and Bellews Creek Farm potato puree, Kansas City Center for Urban Agriculture carrots, Claverach Farms chioggia beet greens, Our Garden butter |
But thankfully, while my story does technically end there, it began with one of my greatest home-kitchen culinary triumphs — my appetizer.You see, my other reason for going to Whole Foods was because I’d thought they were going to have the Bell’s Best Brown Ale. They however did not, and knowing The Wine & Cheese Place did, I knew I’d be making the quick trip around the corner to yield that delicious brew. It was then that I also remembered that they now have salumi from Mario Batali’s father’s shop in Seattle, and that I could finally buy some of that as well.When I did work in kitchens, I was always what I referred to as a “flavor wheel cook.” While there are some chefs that truly can think outside the box and create flavors that are new and challenging, I didn’t possess that sort of raw talent. Just as I make up for my lack of natural athletic ability in my running now with sheer mileage, I made up for my lack of talent in the kitchen by literally reading the hundreds of cookbooks I have. When you do this, you start to see patterns. There are foods that clearly go together, and a spin of the flavor wheel of pork for instance, will yield things like rosemary, sage, thyme, cranberries, apples, honey, mustard, onions, juniper berries, and walnuts.
With that knowledge in hand, while you won’t be breaking new ground, it is possible to make phenomenally good food rooted in solid techniques and classic flavor combinations.
So before leaving Whole Foods I grabbed a 12 month aged manchego because the flavor wheel of most any cheese includes cured meats. Because of the strong flavors Salumi’s salumi has, I gave the next spin to the cheese. Manchego, a Spanish cheese, would go with things like sausage, garlic, mustard, sherry vinegar, onions, thyme and olives. It was at this point that the hand of brilliance reached out and touched me.
Manchego is a sheep’s milk cheese with a similar texture and fat content to Pecorino — I could make the budino substituting manchego for the pecorino. With an additional helping of good fortune, The Wine & Cheese place had Salumi’s mole salami. With a nice touch of heat, a dash of cinnamon, and the richness from the added chocolate, it would go perfect with my plan.
Not to pat myself on the back, but it really did turn out beautifully, and we devoured every bit. The richness of the budino cut beautifully through the heat of the salami and the slight addition of some fresh lemon juice in my vinaigrette gave the whole thing a zippy freshness that really worked, and for a change, I was completely pleased with something I’d made.
 |
| 12 month Aged manchego budino, Claverach Farms mesclun, Salumi mole salumi, Bellews Creek Red Onion, with a sherry vinaigrette |
Tags: American Grass Fed Beef, beet greens, Bellews Creek Farm, budino, celeriac, chioggia, Claverach Farms, salumi, urban agriculture, Whole Foods
American Grass Fed Beef at Whole Foods
Oct 23, 2007 farming, slow food, sustainable agriculture
Last Friday while picking up some supplies for dinner at Whole Foods, American Grass Fed Beef was in the store sampling their hamburger. Obviously I hustled right over, and with the mandatory sample out of the way, I took the oppurtunity to strike up a quick conversation and see if I could get answers to some questions I’ve been meaning to email them for some time.
As it turned out, I couldn’t have asked a better person as I was speaking with owner Mark Whisnant and I believe his wife, Dr. Patricia Whisnant, who was also with him.
The beef Whole Foods buys was shipped frozen and thawed for sale correct?
I’d always been under the impression that Whole Foods got their beef in frozen just as Cornerstone Nutrition in Chesterfield does, and just as you would if ordering directly for home delivery. Whole Foods, however, brings the meat in never frozen.
Every couple weeks they buy an entire side of beef, and American Grass Fed processes it at their facility before shipping. So, what you see in the case represents one side of one head of cattle. That’s why some things go quick (like the roast I was trying to buy) and others are in there a little longer (ground beef) as there was more of it to begin with.
Can we get it fresh (never frozen) to our homes?
Typically, no. However, since St. Louis is so close to their farm, if you arrange ahead of time, they can handle this request by putting the beef on dry ice for shipment. It would ship on a Monday and arrive to you on Wednesday.
What happens to hanger steaks (onglet), cheeks, tongue, etc and can we buy them?
Almost everything is available for special order. Contact them via the info on their website and they’ll get you a price quote for whatever it is your heart desires (if available).
The steaks I typically see in stores are thin, can we get thicker cuts?
Another special order that they’re happy to take care of. The Monday for Wednesday shipping applies.
Pastured/Grass Fed vs Grass Finished
Those were the only questions I had time for as I had to get back to work, but we did quickly discuss the marketing terminology of other farmers claiming their beef to be grass fed or pasture raised but still being finished with corn. I knew in advance that they are not remotely the same because it is the grass finishing which most effects the nutritional content and flavor of the beef.
They were very passionate about this point, and it was here that you could really see the pride they take in their product. Genuinely pleased that I was already well aware of the differences, it seemed to be a lot of what they were talking about with the other customers unfamiliar with grass fed meats.
Definitely inquire when buying grass fed meats if they were grass finished. There is a big difference.
Corn-Fed Marketing
Before leaving I did brake off on one last tangent regarding my favorite topic in the Grass Fed beef story: marketing ploys to convince consumers that corn-fed/grain-fed beef is in fact superior. A quick example would be when you see a sign that says something like “Prime Aged Corn-Fed Angus Beef.” It’s always slipped in in such a way that many consumers actually believe they’re purchasing a superior product.
Without getting side-tracked into talking about the fact these are all upscale chains, let me give you some real examples from places that claim they have the finest steaks in the land:
Ruth’s Chris: The most tender cut of corn-fed Midwestern beef.
Fleming’s: USDA Prime Beef: corn-fed, aged up to four weeks…
Morton’s: We’re talking USDA prime-aged, Midwest grain-fed beef…
My personal favorite is Morton’s because not only do they skate around using the word corn, but that line comes just a few words after touting “We love steak at Morton’s”
Then why all the corn?
To explain it another way: When is the last time you saw a cow grazing in a corn field?
Obviously you haven’t, and that’s because cows aren’t supposed to eat corn. They’re supposed to graze on grass and foliage. That’s why, if you were one of the kids that paid attention in high school biology class, you’d recall cows have multi-chambered stomachs.
While Grass Finished beef is definitely harder to come by, if you can find it, it’s worth seeking out.
Admittedly, I haven’t had much myself as I was previously unaware of the real differences and benefits. Taking into account all that I have had, however, I can tell you that the American Grass Fed ground beef is the best I’ve ever had. Its taste of grass is incredibly intense, and if you want to truly experience the difference between grass-fed and corn-fed beef for yourself, pick some up. I find it’s most noticeable in the hamburger because it’s such a simple item. At $6.99 per pound, while it’s certainly more money than what you’d spend at your regular grocer, you will be paid back many times over in FLAVOR.
Side Note: I’m realistic enough, to realize that converting all cattle to being grass finished is a virtual impossibility. There are certainly a number of reasons but, to only use one, considering the number of cattle crammed into feedlots, that never move about freely, it would take far more grazing land than we probably have to offer in the US to maintain our current level of production.
But then that raises the question of whether we’re maybe eating too much beef in the first place?
Tags: American Grass Fed Beef
Slow Food Feast
Oct 4, 2007 events, general food, slow food
Over the weekend at the Slow Food Kitchen Clutter Pot-Luck in Kirkwood Park I had the pleasure to unexpectedly meet Alanna. It was only two weeks prior that we had introduced ourselves online having exchanged a couple emails regarding her trip to the Niman pig farm in Iowa. If you’ve ever read her blog, A Veggie Venture , it’s obvious she is a great cook, so I was excited to try one of her creations. She brought mac ‘n’ cheese and challenged us to guess it’s secret ingredient.
I was puzzled. It had a sweetness not typical to mac ‘n’ cheese that I wasn’t able to place. I tasted nutmeg, and I couldn’t shake the thought of what other mysterious spices I might be tasting. Kimberly on the other hand was sporting her super palette, guessing right that it was butternut squash. High five — butternut squash indeed! It wasn’t grated cheese on top, it was grated butternut, and it was spectacular.
Had I not forgotten my camera I would show you a picture of the event. There was plenty of great food on hand, including a Hinkebein pork butt and hamburger graciously donated by American Grass Fed Beef , and although it was small, it was a great evening spent in the company of people who have all had their souls touched by food.
People need food not just for the nutritional content, but for the pleasures and companionship sharing a meal brings. It’s no fluke that a holiday celebration’s climax is centered around a meal, just as it’s no wonder Slow Food adopted the Latin word convivium, meaning feast, to refer to their chapters.
Eating is something you do to survive. Feasting on the other hand: it’s eating with joy and companionship — eating to touch your soul.
From the mountains of Panama and Ethiopia, to the urban-jungles of Portland and Chicago, journalist Michaele Weissman takes us behind the scenes for a look at the world of third-wave specialty coffee. How did we get to Starbucks, and where we go from here?