Photos of recipes from the new book Tender Grassfed Barbecue
Photos of recipes from the cookbook Tender Grassfed Meat
Grassfed Goodness—One Roast, Many Meals
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat and Tender Grassfed Barbecue
This grassfed beef stir-fry was made with organic shallots, onions, and Italian peppers.
The United Kingdom in the nineteenth century was perhaps the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth. One of the ways in which the British people of the time enjoyed that wealth was to eat plenty of meat, often grassfed beef. Beef was relatively affordable and plentiful in England at that time, as opposed to the rest of Europe, where meat, especially beef, was a very rare treat.
Yet even the English middle and working classes had to watch their money, and they came up with a way to make beef go further.
They invented the tradition of the Sunday Roast. A large roast of beef would be roasted on Sunday, and would be used as the basis of meals for most of the rest of the week.
These meals would include cold-sliced meat, hash, curries, minced beef, broth, and meat pies, all from the same roast.
Contrary to popular belief, leftover beef can be wonderful when twice or even thrice cooked, with a very deep and wonderful flavor. A bigger roast will often taste better than a smaller roast, but as there are three people in our immediate family, we did not make large roasts unless we had company.
I decided to try reviving the tradition, but with a tastier selection of secondary dishes. This would also give me the excuse to make a large roast.
The results were delicious, and surprisingly frugal.
Sunday
We made a large center cut shoulder roast, about five and a half pounds. This cut is also known as cross rib in the western United States. The roast was suitably marinated, and roasted, until fairly rare in the middle. The hot, juicy meat was wonderful, and satisfying, with a more developed flavor that comes from cooking a bigger piece of meat. It was so satisfying that we had most of the roast left over.
Monday
I cut a large, single piece of the leftover roast and cooked it as a pot roast. The twice-cooked meat was so tender, with a wonderful deep flavor. It was fork tender, and no one would have thought it came from leftovers. It was very satisfying, and we had a fair amount of leftover pot roast and gravy.
Tuesday
I took more of the leftover roast, the part that was made very rare, and sliced it into thin pieces for stir-frying. They were marinated with an oriental style marinade, and stir-fried with delicious organic peppers, shallots, and onions from our favorite vegetable farm. You can see a photo of this wonderful meal at the top of this article. It tasted even better than it looks, and no one would have imagined it was made from leftovers.
Wednesday
I took some more of the leftover roast, cut it into small chunks, and made it into a stew with plenty of vegetables and Hungarian spices. It came out great, so tender and flavorful. Not like leftovers at all.
Thursday
I took the leftover pot roast, sliced it thin, and reheated it gently in the leftover gravy, enhanced with a sautéed onion and some more beef broth. Many traditional European recipes call for cooking a pot roast one day, and reheating it later. This is done so the flavor can develop in the refrigerator, and I must say that this reheated pot roast was over-the-top delicious, with a more complex and beefier flavor than the original roast. These slices were actually thrice cooked—first as a roast beef, second as a pot roast, and third as reheated pot roast slices.
At this point, there was only about a third of a pound of scraps, including some sinew, left from the various meals. They went into the freezer to become part of a future homemade broth.
By following the tradition of re-cooking the leftovers of a large roast, we had five wonderful meals, and some meat for soup. A complete success, moderate in cost, and absolutely delicious.
Tender Grassfed Meat contains a number of recipes for roasts, pot roasts, and stir fries. It is simple to modify one of the beef roast recipes for a larger roast, simply continue cooking at the lowest temperature in the recipe, until done to your taste. The pot roasts can be made from a large chunk of leftover roast. The stir-fries can be made from leftover rare or medium rare roast beef. The cooking instructions are the same, although a pot roast made from leftover beef may be ready sooner. Remember, when the fork goes in easy, the pot roast is ready.
There is a reason why something becomes a cooking tradition–it works!
This post is part of Monday Mania, Fat Tuesday, Real Food Wednesday and Fight Back Friday blog carnivals.
Related Post
How to Find Steak in Pot Roast, and Save!
How to Find Steak in Pot Roast, and Save!
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
Seven-bone pot roast cut from the chuck.
One of the biggest problems people have with grassfed meat is the cost. All meat is expensive, and grassfed meat is usually more expensive than factory meat. But knowing your meat can result in paying pot roast prices for tender steaks. I do it regularly.
The ordinary chuck pot roast, also known as a seven-bone pot roast, contains several different cuts of meat. Two of them make wonderfully tender and delicious steaks that you can easily cut from the pot roast.
So, get ready to find steaks in that pot roast.
How to Find the Steaks in the Pot Roast
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and seeing is believing. The top photo is of the typical seven bone pot roast, cut from the chuck. Can you see the tender rib steak and flat iron steak in the picture?
Unless you are a butcher, probably not. But they are there.
Rib steak, chuck pot roast, and flat iron steak.
The second photo shows the same pot roast, cut into three pieces.
The top piece, which has a bone on top, is a bone in rib steak. That is right—the meat is the same in flavor and tenderness as a rib steak that would sell for at least three times the price of the pot roast. The bone gives incredible flavor to the meat.
The piece of meat in the middle is the chuck pot roast, a tough cut of beef that is suitable for pot roasts or stews, not steaks.
The piece of meat at the bottom, below the long bone, is the flat iron steak, a very tender and flavorful piece of meat that makes a very popular and delicious steak. Flat iron steak sells for at least twice the price of the pot roast, often more.
It takes me about two minutes, or less, to separate the steaks from the pot roast.
How I Save Money on Steaks
First, I look at the pot roast carefully before buying. Some seven-bone pot roasts have a much larger rib steak and flat iron portion than others. It all depends on the exact area of the chuck that the roast is cut from. I select the pot roasts that have the biggest rib and flat iron portions. Fortunately, the larger rib portions and flat iron portions occur together. In other words, the bigger the rib, the bigger the flat iron.
I will buy several of these pot roasts, and separate them into three parts, as shown in the second photograph. I group the same cuts together, and now have several meals of rib steak, flat iron steak, and pot roast. All for the price of pot roast. I wrap each meal size portion in natural wax paper coated with extra virgin olive oil, place it in a gallon-sized freezer storage bag, and freeze what I am not going to make in the immediate future.
There is another saving you get by selecting grassfed meat. Grassfed meat has far less water in it that factory meat, and you end up with more meat and less water after cooking, as there is much less shrinkage.
Tender Grassfed Meat has some great recipes for rib steaks and flat iron steak, as well as pot roasts. These steaks are absolutely delicious, and you can have them for the price of pot roast!
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday and Fight Back Friday blog carnivals.
A Class Worth Taking
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
I am doing something I have never done before. I am recommending an online cooking course. Why? Because it is not enough to know WHAT to eat. It is just as important to know HOW to cook it. If you are going to eat real food, you will have to learn how to cook it, because you can’t get it in a package, or a fast food joint, or 99% of restaurants.
The only practical way to get real food is from a skilled home cook, and that cook might as well be you. Less than a third of the people in the United States know how to cook anything from scratch, and very few of those people know how to cook grassfed meat, wild seafood, and grassfed organ meats. This course is a rare and wonderful chance to learn a lot of the basics of how to cook grassfed meat, wild seafood, and grassfed organ meats, knowledge that everybody should have.
The course is entitled Surf & Turf, and is being given by Ann Marie Michaels of the Cheeseslave blog. Here is a link that provides a description of the course and place to sign up: Surf & Turf.
I am not an affiliate of this program, and I will not get a penny from the fees you pay for the course.
The Teacher
Ann Marie Michaels is better known as Cheeseslave, and has been blogging about real food for some time now. Like me, she is a devoted follower of the teachings of Dr. Weston A. Price, and cooks and eats according to those principles. She is a meticulous researcher. She does not just advocate the benefits of real food, she eats it. And she knows a lot about cooking it. The many delicious recipes on her website are clear, well organized, and they work. Her recipes are faithful to the nutritional principles taught by Dr. Price, and provide wonderful nutrition. She cooks from scratch several times a day for her family, almost every day. I have communicated with Ann Marie a number of times, by telephone and email, and I have learned a lot from her.
The Course
In addition to her own vast experience and knowledge, Ann Marie has consulted with a number of experts in developing Surf & Turf. The class will include podcasts with some of these experts, including a podcast with me covering the cooking of grassfed meat.
The course concentrates on how to cook grassfed meat, poultry, and wild seafood. It has a definite low-carb emphasis and is faithful to the teachings of Dr. Price.
The class will also include a number of videos, and printable recipes. There will be 13 lessons in the class, for an average cost of approximately $9.00 a lesson. A number of these lessons will include podcasts with experts. A short summary of what is included in the lessons is as follows:
Lesson 1
Covers the need for high quality protein, health benefits of proteins and fats, why grassfed is better, and the need for healthy fats.
Lesson 2
Covers smart shopping for quality meat and seafood, the health benefits of grassfed meat and wild fish, the equipment you will need for the course, and how to really make the purchase of grassfed meat affordable.
Lesson 3
Covers safe and healthy grilling of grassfed meat and wild fish, with information on grilling equipment, fuel, and a number of video and printable recipes, including better grilling methods.
Lesson 4
Covers the preparation of raw seafood, the health benefits of raw seafood, and safety issues. Raw seafood was one of the most valued foods of the healthy peoples studied by Dr. Price, and is full of vital nutrients. A number of video and printable recipes are included.
Lesson 5
Covers the cooking of wild seafood, also valued by the healthy peoples studied by Dr. Price, including video and printable recipes.
Lesson 6
Covers the making of real bone broth, one of the basic foods of the healthy peoples studied by Dr. Price. I really like the emphasis on using filtered water, and why only filtered water should be used. More recipes are provided.
Lesson 7
Covers the cooking of healthy soups and stews, using grassfed meat and wild seafood. Even more recipes, video and printable.
Lesson 8
Covers the roasting and braising of grassfed meat and poultry, with attention given to making delicious meals out of economy cuts. Will include a podcast with me on cooking grassfed meat. More recipes, both video and printable.
Lesson 9
Covers pan frying and deep frying with the healthy fats used by our ancestors, including grassfed beef tallow. You guessed it, even more delicious video and printable recipes.
Lesson 10
Covers the making of healthy salads and sandwiches, with a number of recipes.
Lesson 11
Covers the health benefits of organ meats, and many methods of making them palatable, even delicious. All the healthy peoples studied by Dr. Price valued organ meats. Modern science has confirmed that organ meats are one of the most nutrient-dense foods available, and this lesson provides badly needed knowledge of how to prepare and cook them. More recipes, both video and printable.
Lesson 12
Even more recipes for healthy organ meats, with an emphasis on wonderful, nutrient-dense pâtés.
Lesson 13
Covers the making of healthy snacks, side dishes, and appetizers, with recipes.
Registration for the class ends on August 14, so it would be best to check it out in the immediate future. Surf & Turf is one of the few good resources available for learning how to cook grassfed meat, wild seafood, and other nutrient-dense food that nourished the healthy peoples discovered by Dr. Price. I highly recommend it.
I should disclose that while I am not an affiliate and will not receive any share of the money paid by anybody for the class, the podcast I appear in will be publicity for my book that could result in sales, which would result in my receiving some financial compensation.
Multiple Meals from the Traditional Sunday Roast
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
English Style Prime Rib, recipe on page 86, Tender Grassfed Meat
Once it was traditional for even a middle class family to have a large roast on Sunday. This was the main meal of the week, and was eagerly anticipated. This tradition was very popular in England, Ireland, and the United States. The attraction of a large roast of tender, juicy, delicious meat is obvious. But what is not so obvious is that the leftover meat could provide several additional great meals.
One Roast, Four Meals
Using the leftovers from the Sunday roast for other meals became so much of a tradition in England that there was even some verse on the subject – “Roast on Sunday, Cold on Monday, Chopped on Tuesday, Pie (Shepherd’s) on Wednesday.†The tradition of having several meals from one roast has been reinstituted in my family, but we have found tastier choices than cold, chopped, or pie. It really is a money saver to have one roast provide four meals, and we do it whenever we have a large roast. The additional meals we cook surely do not taste like “leftoversâ€â€”they are just delicious.
The European Tradition—Twice Cooking Meat
Meat was far too expensive to waste in old Europe, so the Europeans developed a number of ways of reheating cooked meat into a delicious new meal. In fact, many old cookbooks suggest that a pot roast is at its best reheated, not fresh. These books actually advocate cooking a pot roast on one day, letting it sit overnight, then slicing it and reheating the slices in the gravy. Cooked meat can develop even more depth of flavor and become more tender when it rests in the refrigerator. One of the most famous examples of this tradition is Bigos, which is considered by many to be the Polish national dish. Bigos is a combination of pork, sausage, mushrooms, sauerkraut, fresh cabbage, and many other ingredients. It was reheated each day, and was said to reach its peak flavor on the seventh day. The point is that leftovers can be turned into delicious meals.
What Roast to Use?
The favorite cut for the Sunday roast was, without question, prime rib of beef. This is a truly magnificent roast. Crowned with a superb cap of flavorful fat, resting on a natural rack of beef ribs, tender and juicy, possessing a unique flavor of its own, this is truly a special roast. Alas, nowadays, it is truly an expensive roast, one for special occasions. The Sunday roast we usually have is a nice piece of center cut shoulder (also known as cross rib, or shoulder clod). This cut is far less expensive. In fact, center cut shoulder is usually relegated to the crock pot by most grassfed websites and producers.
I have learned how to make tender, terrific roasts out of this very economical cut. My cookbook, Tender Grassfed Meat, has no less than eleven delicious recipes for roasting center cut shoulder in the oven. Grassfed center cut shoulder usually has most or all of the fat trimmed off, but I have found ways to compensate for this, which are covered in the recipes. Properly roasted, this cut makes a wonderful roast, often so tender that you can literally cut it with a fork.
“Tastes Too Good to Be Leftovers†Meals
After we have eaten our fill of the Sunday roast, there is a lot of leftover meat because grassfed meat is so satisfying. I will divide the leftover meat into two unequal portions. The largest portion, in one piece, is destined to become pot roast. The smaller portion, the rarest quarter of the leftover meat, will be turned into a stir-fry or hash. Tender Grassfed Meat has five recipes for pot roast, and I have made all of them successfully with leftover roast. That is one additional meal. We always have leftover pot roast, and that is refrigerated overnight, sliced, and reheated slowly in the flavorful leftover gravy, in the old tradition. That is another additional meal. Finally, we will usually stir-fry the reserved meat with various vegetables, using one of the three stir-fry recipes in Tender Grassfed Meat, which gives us our third additional meal.
Following the old tradition of getting several meals from the Sunday roast has really helped us get more delicious meals from one piece of meat.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday Blog Carnival at Kelly the Kitchen Kop.
Frugal, Delicious Hungarian Hash
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
Ingredients: grassfed meat, bacon, potatoes, eggs, onions, and paprika.
What to do with leftovers is often an issue. The very word “leftovers†is unattractive. However, leftovers can be the foundation of some absolutely wonderful and frugal dishes. Meat was so valuable and scarce in traditional Europe that it could never be wasted. The Europeans developed many traditional dishes based on leftover meat, usually adding many ingredients to stretch the meat. This recipe is based on this European tradition, and is very tasty and nourishing.
The word “hash†comes from the word “hache,†which means “to chop†in French. There are many variations, from Sweden, Denmark, Germany, England, and other countries. All of the recipes include meat, potatoes, onions, eggs, and plenty of fat. I have tried many of these versions with grassfed meat leftovers, and they were all good. But my very favorite is this one, which I based on the traditional Hungarian flavor combination of bacon, onions, and paprika. I continue the European tradition of cooking potatoes with plenty of fat. This dish is so good that there is nothing “leftover†about it. In fact, when my family eats this dish, nothing is left over.
Serves 4
1 to 2 cups of leftover grassfed meat (beef, bison, or lamb, or any mixture of the three), cut into small cubes, approximately ½ inch
1 large or 2 medium organic onions, sliced
4 medium organic potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes.
6 slices natural uncured fat bacon
1 teaspoon paprika, organic or imported from Europe, preferably Hungary
4 eggs, preferably pastured
- Place the slices of bacon next to each other in a cold 12 inch frying pan, preferably cast iron. Put the pan on the stove, turn the heat to medium, and cook the bacon, turning as necessary, until most of the fat has been rendered from the bacon. The bacon should be fairly crisp at this point. Remove the bacon from the pan and reserve, leaving the rendered fat in the pan.
- Add the sliced onions, and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 4 minutes. Add the paprika and stir it into the onions. Continue cooking for another 4 minutes.
- Add the potatoes, and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring and turning the potato cubes.
- Turn the heat to low, cover the pan, and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Add the meat, and stir until the meat is browned, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Crumble the reserved bacon and stir into the dish.
- Carefully break the eggs over the hash, and cook just until the yolks set.
Serve and enjoy this very nutritious meal.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop.
This post is part of Pennywise Platter at the Nourishing Gourmet.
Frugal and Delicious: Traditional Ways to Stretch Grassfed Meat
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
Ingredients for Traditional Burger Mix: ground grassfed beef from U.S. Wellness Meats; pastured eggs; and chemical-free sourdough spelt bread.
Many people who eat grassfed meat have trouble affording the higher cost. Grassfed meat is more expensive than factory meat, in a per pound cost. However, there are many ways to reduce the cost of grassfed meat, such as buying a whole, half, or quarter animal, joining a CSA, searching the websites of trusted providers for specials, making a good deal with a local farmer, and other similar methods. But there is another way to make grassfed meat feed more people and provide more meals, which was developed over the centuries in Europe and elsewhere. Add wholesome and less expensive ingredients that literally enable you to stretch the meat, while adding a delicious taste and texture. Done right, these dishes can actually taste better than a dish made up only of meat.
The ordinary European had a hard time getting meat, so they made the most of it. Meat scraps were made into stews combined with many different vegetables. Chopped or cubed meat was often added to grains such as wheat, rye, oatmeal, rice, kasha, and barley. Sausages often contained a large number of non-meat ingredients such as grains, fat, sometimes blood, and sometimes all three. Onions, chopped, or sliced, or pureed, were added to almost every meat dish other than roasts or steaks, and often to those dishes as well. Herbs, fresh and dried, were added for flavor, as were spices such as pepper, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and others. Spices were usually added in very small amounts, because spices were expensive. The use of small amounts meant that the spices did not overwhelm the meat, but blended with the other ingredients to create a wonderful taste.
Ground meat is usually the lowest priced form of grassfed meat available, especially in bulk. Traditional European cuisines had many recipes for ground meat, almost always stretched by the addition of other ingredients, both for economy and taste. The added ingredients often included eggs, onions, milk, cream, stale bread or bread crumbs, small amounts of various spices, and always some of the fat of the animal. Ground meat was cooked in the form of meatballs, meatloaves, as part of the filling for pies, in sausages, as part of a filling for all kinds of pastries, and in dumplings. These methods and flavors work very well with modern grassfed beef. Adding traditional ingredients to ground meat can result in a hamburger, for example, that is much tastier than an all meat burger.
I want to make a distinction between the traditional use of stretching meat with other ingredients, and the modern factory food method of making more money by adding ingredients such as soy protein, water, and all kinds of other filler materials to ground meat before the meat is sold. The traditional practice of adding other ingredients to ground meat occurred only when the meat was actually cooked, not when it was bought. Any ground meat I buy is 100% grassfed and grass finished, with no ingredients except meat and meat fat.
The following is my version of a typical European meat mixture for hamburgers. There are hundreds of different versions. This one contains many of the typical ingredients used to stretch ground meat in Europe and is delicious. It is intended for grassfed hamburgers. The mixture can be grilled, sautéed in a frying pan, or cooked under a broiler. It should be cooked thoroughly, with medium rather than high heat. Stale bread does not appeal to me, so I have substituted fresh bread crumbs.
Traditional Burger Mix
1 pound grassfed ground beef
2 slices chemical free sprouted or sourdough bread of your choice
1 small organic onion, very finely chopped
2 pastured or free range organic eggs
1 teaspoon coarse unrefined sea salt, crushed
1/2 teaspoon organic freshly ground pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground organic cloves
- Chop the bread into cubes, and crumb in a blender.
- Break the eggs into a small bowl, and beat lightly with a fork until well combined.
- Add the crumbs, eggs, and all other ingredients to a large bowl, and mix until well combined. Traditionally, this would be done with your clean hands, but it is a sticky experience, and it can be hard to wash the mixture off your hands. A large spoon is a very practical alternative.
- Form into hamburgers and cook, or refrigerate until just before cooking. This delicious mixture should be used within 24 hours of being made.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday Blog Carnival at Kelly the Kitchen Kop.
Read more frugal real food blogs at Pennywise Platter Thursday at the Nourishing Gourmet.