Here’s a couple of examples of the beef portion of a couple of grassfed beef meals. In these cases, I did not use anything like almond, coconut, or potato starch to thicken the sauce (and it never takes much — usually less than a teaspoon), and I did add quite a bit of fat in the form of butter, lard, and duck fat to both (but in different ways).
At any rate, here’s the grassfed burger, which was just amazing. The sauce is primarily beef broth reduced, with blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries added, and 1/3 tsp or so of cinnamon, which was a great choice. It was strained before serving.
Grassfed Beef Burger
Next up were the two fillets I got from La Cense. Very tasty, but, quite expensive pound for pound. Plus, I usually like more than 5-6 ounces of meat in a sitting. This sauce is more garlic, red wine, onion and I can’t remember what all else.
Grassfed Beef Filets
One thing I always hear from people is how they like their meat cooked (blue, rare, m. rare, medium, m. well, well, etc.). I used to be a medium rare guy, myself, but could certainly enjoy rare or medium. Then as I began doing this more and more, I realized that different cuts of meat called for different cooking. Thus, a nice filet can be anything from something like seared ahi to a nice rare to medium rare. But a ribeye? Well, I have found that for me, a ribeye is tastiest when the fat is melted, and that seems to take place somewhere between medium rare and medium.
I had the presence of mind to snap a photo of one of the filets, above.
Grassfed Filet of Beef
Some would call that rare, some medium rare, but I think it’s between the two. It was sure good.
Hello,
I am avid follower of your blog and appreciate your candidness. I have tried to no avail to make a good reduction. Can you please give a step by step on how to do it (how long, what to use etc.)? Yours look so good. Can you consider a reduction for dummies or something? Like your wife, I need something on my meat. Thank you in advance.
Jim:
I will try to remember to do that soon.
Thank you for considering it. I LOVE your pictures and recipes and just cannot get a good reduction no matter how hard I try. My partner keeps asking me why mine does not look like your photos. He won't eat it till it does he claims.
Looks awesome.
If you haven't had lamb burgers you should try those as well. I got grassfed NZ ground lamb at Whole Foods for $6 p.p., making a very affordable meal last night. Some mushrooms fried in coconut oil and some heirloom tomato topped the burgers off. And a little jalapeno jack cheese.
To the meat mix I typically add some chopped shallot (also fried in coconut oil), salt, pepper, garlic, and paprika. My husband claims he hates lamb and he devoured those burgers last night. he couldn't believe it was lamb. :) Of course, grassfed lamb is far fattier than grassfed beef, which is what makes it so singularly delicious.
Hmm, lamb burgers. Gotta keep that one in mind.
LaCense is expensive. Hangar and ultimate grill steak are the cheaper cuts.
but they are still pricey.
Food looks good!
Marc
I'm drooling over that filet!!! Perfectly cooked in my opinion! :)
Delicious as usual – I too would appreciate your techniques for reductions. I think you are on to something about varying cooking times for different cuts. I think you have a cookbook inside of you just waiting to get out.
I also like horse radish on nice cuts of beef, apart from prime rib – not far from primal.
Richard, have you had Kobe beef? Hardly primal – their cow existence is about as far away from natural as possible although I understand they do not use growth hormones or antibiotics. I recently had a small amount for the first time when I ate at the chef's table at a great local Sushi restaurant. The food was fantastic and one dish had small raw strips of Kobe beef we briefly “cooked – warmed” on a small stone grill.
The meat was somewhere between uncured cow bacon and foie gras – very good as a small treat – strange but good if you appreciate fat. The obviously talented chef was very proud of the “healthier” nature of this beef which apparently has much higher levels of PUFA's – imagine that! I briefly contrasted that with my perspective on PUFA's and omega-6's in particular.
Sigh – my fat-fearing, aerobic-loving sister-in-law did not appreciate the sample. I am intrigued and would have Kobe beef again. It is certainly not nature's take on a cow – not at all primal. I would not be having it regularly even if I could afford it!
Richard, I have to agree with johncampbell on his cookbook comment. I've been thinking for awhile that you produce some pretty great-looking (and I'm sure, great-tasting) preparations. You might not think of yourself as a cookbook writer, as I know you don't really like recipes, but you could cobble together a paleo/primal cooking ebook and I know you would have people buying it. Instead of recipes you could even just provide templates and techniques if that would suit your style more. It seems like so many people have so many questions when it comes to paleo/primal cooking and eating. I think that especially folks who are intimidated by cooking could really learn a ton from your approach. It seems like the paleo/primal cooking-guide niche still has room for growth!
Richard,
I discovered your blog several weeks ago and have become an avid reader. I live in Montana, where most folks eat a paleo diet without necessarily calling it that. Very few fat or obese people around here!
From all the reports I've heard, La Cense produces spectacular beef, although I haven't tried it myself. They're located in Dillon, several hundred miles from us, in some of the most spectacularly beautiful country you'll ever see. It is, however, pretty expensive. Your readers might be interested in the following link to some smaller Montana natural grassfed beef producers whose products are also excellent and the cost can be considerably less than La Cense: http://www.eatwild.com/products/montana.html. The drawback here is that most of them require that you purchase larger quantities (1/4 of a beef or more). Disclaimer: I'm not involved with the beef industry here, except that I've done a fair amount of cowboying for friends who have ranches in our area.)
My wife and I get our grassfed beef from a local rancher about 30 miles from us who has a small family run operation; just his wife, three daughters and him. He raises Galloway cattle, a small shaggy and hardy Scottish heritage breed. The individual cuts are small– the hanging weight of these cattle is about 300 pounds, barely more that a third of the weight of commercial, factory produced cattle. We like the New Yorks, ribeyes, top sirloin, and flatirons. His production is quite small, and not all cuts are available all the time, but the quality is superb. If you live nearby you can go visit and get acquainted with your dinner before before they're slaughtered!
This is the real deal. Definitely worth giving these folks a holler; I believe they'll ship. http://www.coonsagefarm.org/index.html.
Wow, those are some decent prices.
Nice to have so many choices.
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. We may be getting 1/4 Jersey beef soon from the farm where we get our milk, pork and eggs, averaging out at $5.40 per pound for the after-slaughter weight, which is extremely cheap for grassfed beef. It's baby beef, and Jersey in particular is supposed to be tender.
Richard — any idea what breed LaCense uses? I've thought of ordering from them now and then, but seems too expensive for me. I'd be willing to try it if it's “out of this world” good, though. :)
No idea the breed. So far, we've only had the NY and filets, so I
don't know yet about my overall impression, but will report.
I believe that La Cense raises Black Angus. About 90% of the cattle raised on Montana ranches is Angus, with the remainder made up of the so called exotic breeds, such as Charolais (a French breed), Piedmontese (Italian), and Simmental (Swiss). Charolais beef is really excellent, but not many ranchers want to deal with them because they are large, aggressive, and somewhat dangerous to work with. I owe a torn ACL to a particularly nasty Charolais cow who nailed me during a branding.
See here for different cattle breeds: http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/cattle/
I always get e-mails from La Cense boasting “free shipping”, etc… and I have always been so curious as to how the meat they sell tastes but haven't ever tried it because I am religious to my supplier in WI! ha ha! Looks absolutely delicious though, gotta love my red meat: and just like you – I like my meat in larger portions that just 4 to 5 ounces!
Love the info thanks. Just recently found out there is a grass fed certified organic farm 30 kays up the road and offer free delivery. About to order a quarter
Near the town in No. Arizona where I hope to move in another year, there is a ranch which produces chicken, goats, and sheep, and they sell meat, chickens, eggs, and goats’ milk. I hope to become a customer of theirs once I’ve moved. Eventually I want to try grassfed beef too.
Let me first say that the sauce you mentioned sounds absolutely delicious and I look forward to trying it myself! Secondly, I noticed that many of you mentioned La Cense Beef. I actually work with La Cense Beef and while I know that many of you mentioned it being somewhat more expensive, many more of you mentioned that it was delicious! La Cense produces, packages and delivers 100% Grass Fed Beef directly to consumers. The quality of meat we deliver is our most important concern and we guarantee your satisfaction! When you purchase La Cense you can rest assured you will receive the highest quality grass fed beef which is a healthier as well as more environmentally friendly option. Grass fed beef has a much smaller carbon footprint than traditional grain fed cattle operations and is rich is omega 3 acids and beta-carotene!