I know full well how important high quality, healthy meat is and also how difficult it seems to be to find it. Honestly, I hated red meat and would avoid it at all costs since it was always awful and it never seemed worth the money or effort. I wondered why my parents ordered steak at restaurants and paid extra for it- I mean I would pay to not eat the stuff!
Over time however I heard more and more about grass fed, organic, no-antibiotic, and hormone free meats. At first it sounded like a great idea but not worth the money, especially for a lowly grad student. However, I was wondering through the Farmer's market one day I thought "Why not just try it?"
So we did. I'll never go back- grass fed beef is not only nutritional superior in all ways to conventional meat, but the animals are treated humanely and the quality and taste of the meat is unparalleled. We are avid fans of our local grass fed beef rangers at Baldwin Farms- Mac and his wife really looked after us when we bought their value "family pack" of 10 lbs of assorted beef cuts (from ground to roasts, ribs, and steaks). This beautiful roast below is from the remains of our family pack. It came with a fantastic marrow bone in the middle which I am saving along with the juice/broth for soup later. Remember to cook the grass fed beef at lower heat since it is lower in fat- you don't want to dry it out.
Easy Grass Fed Beef Roast [Paleo] [Low Carb]
Over time however I heard more and more about grass fed, organic, no-antibiotic, and hormone free meats. At first it sounded like a great idea but not worth the money, especially for a lowly grad student. However, I was wondering through the Farmer's market one day I thought "Why not just try it?"
So we did. I'll never go back- grass fed beef is not only nutritional superior in all ways to conventional meat, but the animals are treated humanely and the quality and taste of the meat is unparalleled. We are avid fans of our local grass fed beef rangers at Baldwin Farms- Mac and his wife really looked after us when we bought their value "family pack" of 10 lbs of assorted beef cuts (from ground to roasts, ribs, and steaks). This beautiful roast below is from the remains of our family pack. It came with a fantastic marrow bone in the middle which I am saving along with the juice/broth for soup later. Remember to cook the grass fed beef at lower heat since it is lower in fat- you don't want to dry it out.
Easy Grass Fed Beef Roast [Paleo] [Low Carb]
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees and spray a large baking dish with nonstick spray. Place the roast in the dish and cover with about 1" of water (or broth with a splash of wine). Season the roast with your choice of spices, sea salt, and pepper. I used sea salt, ground pepper, and a dash of extra virgin olive oil. I garnished the roast with a few potatoes, some fresh radishes, and jalapeños and tossed it all in the oven.
Bake at 250 degrees for about 2 hours or until fork tender. You can cover it with foil if you think it might dry out. You can also cook it in a Crockpot if you have one large enough (we don't!) It's that easy- just plop it in a baking dish, cover with liquid and bake at low heat for a few hours. Yum!!
Have you seen this article about grass-fed beef in today's NY Times?
ReplyDeleteHi again,
ReplyDeleteCan you explain how you store the meat and defrost it? I know this seems really elementary but I'd like to purchase meat from the Farmer's Market while it's still around but have never frozen my meat or poultry. Thanks!
No, I hadn't seen than article-thanks! I became so wrapped up in reading and talking about it that I forgot to thank you for the link :)
ReplyDeleteAs far as storing and defrosting our Farmer's market meat (since ours comes frozen also), I generally just plan to take it out 2-3 days ahead of time and defrost it on the lowest shelf in the refrigerator. If you need a quick defrost then you can place the sealed meat in a large pot of cool water to slowly defrost. I would change the water after a few hours just in case any juices leaked. You can add warmer to hot water either at first or near the end, but I'd steep it in cool or warm water. I'm certainly not an expert in this though! When I do a quick defrost of chicken breasts or tenders I usually run warm to hot water over them for a few minutes and then soak them in warm water for another 7-10 minutes. However, with a large roast I'd be hesitant to do this since the outside will thaw and be in danger of having bacterial multiply before the inner meat can thaw.
I hope that helps!