how to prepare grass-fed beef

It occurs to me that now that I have delivered most of our beef for 2010 that I did not include any instructions for preparing this beef. I guess I took it for granted that everybody knows how to cook beef. But our beef isn't just any old beef from the grocery store. It is gourmet beef.

To enjoy your grass-fed, heritage breed beef to its fullest you need to cook it low and slow. It is best enjoyed when it is cooked to medium rare at most. If you enjoy your steaks well-done, you will need to prepare it a little differently prior to grilling. Try marinating your steaks in milk or other favorite marinate. Of course if you enjoy your steak medium rare, as I do, just sprinkle a little salt and pepper and gently place it on your wood fired grill...mmmm. Propane will work too, but not as nice as wood!

The exception to this rule is for your roasts. Grass-fed beef loves slow cookers! Pick your favorite recipe and put your roast in the cooker and let the aroma waft through the house all day...you will love how this beef just falls apart and melts in your mouth.

Not sure how to tell if your beef is medium or well-done? Try this easy trick. Touch your thumb to each of your four remaining fingers and feel how hard the thumb muscle is. Compare the feel of your muscle to the feel of the meat cooking. Thumb to forefinger is rare. Thumb to pinky is well-done. This way you don't need to prick the meat and dry it out as it cooks...slick!

beef update

Cindy picked up the boxes of frozen beef today from Cardiff Meats and Sausage. Tonight the two of us split up the beef into shares of 50lbs each. Each 50 lb share is filled with approximately the same cuts and amounts. I was trained as a retail meat cutter many years ago so I am familiar with the cuts and their corresponding culinary value. We made sure to include about the same cuts of stew, burger, round cuts and rib cuts in each share. Tomorrow we will be phoning those of you who have ordered beef to arrange the deliveries this week! Enjoy!

GMO problem...again

An article from a UK paper. GM gene loose in environment
Just another example of what happens when we allow our governing bodies to decide what is best for us. Those agencies are lobbied by ultra large corporations and decisions are made that are best for the corporation...not the people.

First there was round-up ready canola growing wild in Minnesota. Now we have pesticides leaching into the ecosystem...not from spraying though...from plant residue. "The insecticide is the product of a bacterial gene inserted into GM maize and other cereal crops to protect them against insects..."

It frustrates me to no end when I see research like this come to light. This is the tip of the sword when it comes to ecological damage that will occur when companies like Monsanto are allowed to control policies in our government. GMO will continue to grow in our food chain because company led research says it is ok. When will we have had enough of this intrusion? 

beef is ready

For our customers who bought a share of the steer for 2010 you will be happy to hear that the beef is ready! I will be picking up the beef sometime this week from Cardiff Meat and Sausage, possibly today, and then I will be contacting each of you to arrange to meet for delivery!

I am excited to taste this beef this year. We have been out of beef for some time now and my mouth is watering for the smell and taste of a roast in the slow cooker. There is nothing better than spending the day out working in the cold and coming in the house tired and chilled. To smell the wood stove and feel the warmth hitting me as I take off the insulated coveralls. Then there is the smell of the slow cooker. Comforting and familiar.

Of course for all of the above to happen I need to have a house! Still working on it. Almost finished with the ceiling. We installed pine tongue-and-groove ceiling throughout the house, and in the bathroom...cedar. It looks great. Tomorrow the propane will be installed to the house and perhaps the plumber will have the in-floor heating completed. Right now we have our little wood stove installed but without insulation in the attic and a gaping hole in the ceiling in the mechanical room, it just barely keeps up. We have already purchased the insulation and received a free blower rental from Home Depot with that purchase. Once the ceiling is complete, we can go ahead and blow in the insulation. Then the heat will be rockin in the house.

steer processing

Well, we have slaughtered our one and only steer for 2010. Everything went smoothly and the sides of beef are now hanging in the cooler at Cardiff Meats and Sausage. The beef will be cut and wrapped sometime around the 18th of November. I didn't take any footage of the slaughter process. It is something that I may consider in the future, but for me the whole process has a lot to do with respect for the animal and is not something that makes me want to stop to take pictures.

This is how we move cows around Gold Forest Farms. When I said "prodding" in the video I didn't mean electric prod! I meant that I sometimes have to go and give them a little push with my hands or shoo the more wild ones to just get them moving. Once they move, they almost always just follow along with me calling once in a while.

2010 steer

For our customers who have ordered beef...or a share of a cow, this is the 2010 steer. He has been a healthy and vigorous animal throughout his life.