Photos of recipes from the new book Tender Grassfed Barbecue
Photos of recipes from the cookbook Tender Grassfed Meat
7 Grassfed Foods that Can Really Improve Your Natural Functions
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat and Tender Grassfed Barbecue
Grassfed liver is a nutrient-rich ingredient for a meatloaf.
My friends at U.S. Wellness Meats recently mentioned in their newsletter that WebMD had actually posted a list of foods that could improve your health. As mentioned in the newsletter, the very fact that a mainstream site would even state that any food could heal is a huge step forward. True, the list of foods at WebMD did not include any meat, and did not make any distinction between organic (or the equivalent) foods and the pesticide and chemical soaked foods offered by conventional agriculture, but hey, it’s a start.
This has inspired me to offer my own list of seven grassfed foods that greatly improve the natural functions of the body. The natural functions of the body are nature’s way of keeping us healthy, and the better these functions work, the healthier we are.
- Grassfed Beef. This is one of the oldest foods of humankind. Our ancestors thrived on it, and so do we. Grassfed beef and fat are loaded with all kinds of nutrients, such as a perfect balance of omega-3and omega-6 fatty acids, natural CLA, the Vitamin B complex, all the amino acids, many other vitamins, many minerals, and many other nutrients, often known as “co-factors.” Grassfed beef and fat are easy to digest and the nutrients they carry are easily assimilated. I have never heard of anyone being allergic to grassfed beef. If you eat the meat very rare, it is also full of many valuable enzymes that will help digestion and also nourish the body. Grassfed beef was known in Europe as the most effective way of rebuilding a damaged body. An old German saying is beef gives strength. It was eating grassfed beef and other grassfed meats that rebuilt my body back to good health, and I have received many emails from others who have had the same renewing and revitalizing experience.
- Grassfed Bison. Grassfed bison has all the benefits of grassfed meat, and more. Grassfed bison was the favorite and most common food of the Native Americans who lived on the Great Plains of the United States. These native people were known for their robust good health, fantastic eyesight, ability to heal from even the worst of wounds, great stamina, height, strength, and perfect teeth, though they had no dentists. They also had almost no infant mortality, in an age where only half of the babies born in London survived to age 5. These native people were also known for being healthy robust and active even into a very advanced age, and for keeping their teeth and eyesight well into their nineties. Grassfed bison is even easier to digest than grassfed beef. One of my favorite foods is very rare grassfed bison roast or steak, so tender it can be cut with a fork. I feel better with every bite. At the end of such a meal, I feel renewed and revitalized. Unfortunately, grassfed bison has become very expensive as the demand is much greater than the supply, but it is worth getting as a very special, nourishing treat as finances permit.
- Grassfed Lamb. This is one of the world’s very favorite foods, though lamb is not popular in the U.S. This may be because the U.S. is one of the very few countries to feed grain and soy to lambs, which ruins the taste, in my opinion. But fortunately, the U.S. still has some ranchers who raise wonderful grassfed lamb. Grassfed lamb is also an ancestral food, containing the same invaluable nutrients as grassfed beef and grassfed bison. Grassfed lamb was used by our ancestors to relieve digestive difficulties. This ancient wisdom was invaluable for me a few weeks ago. I had eaten at a restaurant and suffered from indigestion and similar complaints within a day. Natural remedies did not help much. I was doubtful, but I roasted a rack of lamb medium rare, and ate some of it with the fat. Within hours, all my digestive difficulties were gone. Grassfed lamb can be absolutely delicious if properly cooked, tasting nothing like the conventional lamb so many Americans hate.
- Grassfed Bone Broth. Whether made with the bones of grassfed beef, grassfed bison, grassfed lamb, or any combination of them, grassfed bone broth is one of the most nourishing and comforting foods you can eat. Rich with easily assimilated minerals, these delicious broths are also full of natural gelatin and other substances that are vital for the natural functioning of our bodies, and help preserve and strengthen our bones and joints. These broths help stimulate and ease the digestive system, which is why broth was served as a first course or with meals all over the world. Bone broths, brimming with nutrients, are a universal remedy for colds and all kinds of illness. I also think of them as the perfect mineral supplement, as the nutrients in broth are very easy to digest and assimilate.
- Grassfed Liver. Whether from grassfed beef, grassfed bison, or grassfed lamb, grassfed liver is one of the most nutrient-dense foods you could possibly eat. Hunters all over the world, for uncounted thousands of years, would eat the raw livers of the animals they killed. Lions and other predatory animals will also eat the liver first. Grassfed liver is particularly rich in B vitamins, Vitamin A, Vitamin D, Vitamin K, magnesium, and many other nutrients. Grassfed liver also contains substances that help the human liver function much better. Other substances in liver reduce fatigue and improve brain function. Contrary to popular belief, grassfed liver is not full of toxins, but is full of nutrition. I have not yet been able to do it myself, but friends who regularly consume small amounts of raw grassfed liver report wonderful results. I get very good results from cooked grassfed liver.
- Grsssfed Heart.The hearts of grassfed animals were prized all over the world, as it was felt that eating them would strengthen the human heart. This belief was common even into the twentieth century, where country doctors would often prescribe it to their patients as a way to avoid heart disease. Grassfed heart is perhaps the best natural source of coenzyme CoQ10, which is vital to maintaining a healthy heart. Grassfed heart, whether from beef, bison, or lamb, is loaded with many nutrients, and is believed to contain substances that will strengthen the human heart.
- Grassfed Kidney. This organ meat was also a favorite of traditional cultures, from Europe to Asia to Africa to the Americas. It is very dense with vitamins and minerals, and contains substances that are believed to improve the natural functions of the kidney. Wild predatory animals will usually eat the kidneys after they finish the liver.
If you do not want to go to the trouble of cooking the organ meats, you can still get the benefits of eating them, in one wonderful product—U.S. Wellness Meats Grassfed Liverwurst. This wonderful grassfed beef product is 25% grassfed liver, 25% grassfed heart, 25% grassfed kidney, and 25% grassfed beef and fat. This is the easiest way I know to get the benefits of organ meats, and the combination of all these nutritious organs gives a new meaning to “nutrient-dense.” This is my favorite sausage of all time, and I make it in many different ways. Tender Grassfed Meat has some of these recipes. But you can also eat it straight out of the wrapper.
These traditional animal foods are some of the superfoods our ancestors knew and thrived on, and we can enjoy their many benefits today.
This post is part of Monday Mania, Fat Tuesday, Real Food Wednesday and Fight Back Friday blog carnivals.
Related Posts
The Benefits of Organ Meats
Grassfed Bone Broth—The Traditional Mineral Supplement
Health Benefits of Grassfed Meat
CLA—Another Great Reason to Eat Grassfed Meat, the Fatter the Better
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat and Tender Grassfed Barbecue
This picanha (New York tip) roast has a great fat cap, full of CLA.
Where do you find the nutrients our bodies need in these days of industrial agriculture? We are given nutritional advice by the powers that be which is motivated by profit only. Food is not what it used to be. Hybrid varieties are developed for shelf life, not nutrition. Meat animals are fed unnatural feeds (as well as growth hormones and antibiotics) to make them fatten faster and to increase profits. Factory food has made it hard to get essential nutrients. Soils depleted and contaminated by pesticides and artificial fertilizers compound the problem.
My solution is to eat the pure foods of our ancestors, unmodified, raised and cooked in traditional ways. Eating this way has brought me back to good health and greatly increased my enjoyment of food, because real food tastes so much better. Many other people have found the same solution. Every now and them, research comes through that supports the real food way of eating, and science confirms what instinct and feeling good has already told us—real food is good for us, and gives our bodies what is needed to support the natural functions that keep us healthy and strong.
However, many people have turned to using nutritional supplements as a solution. These supplements vary widely in their content and purity. Let me put it this way. What if a substance was developed that would give the following benefits?
- Increases the metabolic rate
- Increases muscle mass while reducing fat
- Decreases abdominal fat
- Strengthens the immune system
- Reduces the risk of cancer
- Reduces the risk of heart disease
- Reduces the risk of diabetes
- Reduces the risk of hyperthyroidism
- Normalizes thyroid function
Would you want to take a supplement that contained this very beneficial substance?
Well, you do not have to. Various studies have shown that all of the benefits listed above come from eating food containing Conjugated Linoleic Acid, more commonly known as CLA.
The very best source of CLA is grassfed meat and fat, which are rich in this wonderful nutrient. CLA is a very useful nutrient that is used by the natural functions of our bodies to create all of the benefits listed above.
CLA is found in its most digestible form in the fat and marbling of grassfed animals. This is yet another reason to eat the fat on and in grassfed meat, and to get well-marbled grassfed meat, rather than the leaner grassfed meat.
The CLA from grassfed animals is not the same as CLA from plant sources, or in supplement pills based on plant sources. CLA is much more abundant in the meat of grassfed and grass-finished animals than in feedlot meat. Almost all meat animals are started on grass, but are finished in a feedlot, eating foods that are not natural for their species, such as processed grains, GMO-corn and GMO-soy, and a host of other things that were never part of the natural diet of any herbivore, often including such substances as chicken manure, cement dust, restaurant plate waste, and even plastic balls. Studies have shown that grassfed meat contains three to five times more CLA than factory meat. The fattier the grassfed meat, the more CLA it contains. (Source What Is CLA?)
Not only does grassfed meat and fat contain 300% — 500% the CLA of feedlot meat, the grassfed meat also contains many substances that promote the absorption of the CLA. It is not known whether factory meat contains these substances, or in what amount. It has been shown that feedlots can cause the amount of nutrients in the meat to greatly decline. For example, the amount of omega-3 fatty acids in meat almost vanishes by a typical stay in the feedlot. (Source Health Benefits of Grass-Fed Products)
While CLA can also be found in dairy products from grassfed and grass-finished cows, I believe that grassfed meat and fat are the richest source, and the easiest to absorb.
This post is part of Monday Mania, Fat Tuesday, Real Food Wednesday and Fight Back Friday blog carnivals.
Why Grassfed Meat Is Better
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat and Tender Grassfed Barbecue
Grassfed Butter Steak, Tender Grassfed Barbecue, page 76
One of the questions I get asked most often is this—“What is different about grassfed beef?”
Many people seem to think the only difference is that grassfed beef is “always tough,” and that grassfed beef lacks the “great flavor” that is supposed to come from “corn feeding.” I have found that properly cooked grassfed meat is very tender, has much more flavor, and a much better texture than conventional beef.
There are many important differences between grassfed and conventional meat. The very composition and content of the meat is very different.
Because of the vast difference in the qualities of the meat, grassfed meat is best when cooked differently than conventional, “corn-fed” meat.
How Grassfed Meat Is Different
Grassfed Meat Is an Ancient Food
Grassfed meat, coming from herbivorous animals eating their natural diet of grass and meadow plants, is one of the oldest foods of mankind, maybe the oldest. This means that the human body has adapted over uncounted thousands of years to digest and process this meat. Our bodies know the composition of grassfed meat, and how to absorb nutrients from it, and expect to find all those nutrients there when they digest the meat. Conventional meat has a totally different nutritional profile, and had not been eaten by humans until the twentieth century. Grassfed meat, fat, and bones are perhaps the most primal of foods.
Grassfed Meat Has Superior Nutritional Value
Grassfed meat has the proper balance of omega-3 fatty acids to omega-6 fatty acids, containing far more omega-3s than conventional meat. Grassfed meat is also rich with CLA, a valuable nutrient that has many benefits. Conventional meat has a much higher ratio of omega-6 fatty acids, one that does not occur in naturally-fed meat. Conventional feedlot beef has far less CLA and omega-3 fatty acids than grassfed meat. Grassfed meat is also richer than conventional meat in many other nutrients.
Grassfed Meat Has Far Less Water and Should Be Cooked Differently
Grassfed meat is denser than conventional beef, and shrinks far less in cooking. Conventional meat is often quite watery, and that water cooks away when the meat is cooked, resulting in much more shrinkage. The need to deal with the water has led to the development of modern meat-cooking techniques, which will ruin grassfed meat. Because grassfed meat has far less water, it is best when cooked differently than conventional beef.
Grassfed Beef Tastes Much Better
Properly cooked grassfed meat is not tough, but tender, and has much better flavor than conventional meat. I can no longer stand the taste and texture of conventional meat, because grassfed meat tastes so much better. Grassfed meat from different breeds and producers taste different, in many wonderful ways, providing a wonderful variety of deep, rich flavors. The best comparison is with the many varieties of fine wine, which have many different tastes. Conventional beef always tastes the same—blah.
Grassfed Meat Cooks Faster and Easier
Grassfed meat cooks much faster than conventional meat, and is much easier to cook. This statement may surprise some people, but grassfed meat has so much flavor that it needs far less in the way of spices and sauces to be absolutely delicious. When you know the right techniques for cooking grassfed meat, it is very easy to cook. Tender Grassfed Meat: Traditional Ways to Cook Healthy Meat and Tender Grassfed Barbecue: Traditional, Primal and Paleo are both full of easy ways to cook delicious grassfed meat.
There are many other differences, but these are the major ones. Tender Grassfed Meat and Tender Grassfed Barbecue both cover the subject in detail, pointing out the many differences in the composition and cooking qualities of grassfed and conventional meats.
This post is part of Monday Mania, Fat Tuesday, Real Food Wednesday and Fight Back Friday blog carnivals.
My New Podcast at the Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore!
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat and Tender Grassfed Barbecue
By Stanley A. Fishman
I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Jimmy Moore about my new book, Tender Grassfed Barbecue: Traditional, Primal and Paleo. We had a blast talking barbecue, the grassfed kind!
We talked about many things, including: how traditional barbecue avoids the factors that create carcinogens, how traditional barbecue differs from modern grilling, and is ideal for grassfed beef, bison, lamb and pastured pork. About how grassfed meat is ideal for Paleo and low-carb diets, and how the book supports those diets in the best possible way—delicious food. And we discussed “The Jimmy Moore” and many other things. Here is a link to the podcast:
518: Authors Stanley Fishman and Norm Robillard on Barbecue and Heartburn
Presenting Tender Grassfed Barbecue: Traditional, Primal, and Paleo
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
Tender Grassfed Barbecue: Traditional, Primal and Paleo
I am happy to announce the availability of my second book, Tender Grassfed Barbecue: Traditional, Primal and Paleo. It is now available at Amazon.
Traditional
This cookbook adapts traditional methods of barbecue to modern times, making it easy, yet so delicious. The recipes are specifically designed for grassfed beef, bison, lamb, and pastured pork, using a wide variety of traditional flavorings and marinades from all over the world.
Grassfed meat is different from factory meat, and should be cooked differently. This is even more true in barbecue than other cooking methods, because charring a grassfed steak over a very hot fire will ruin it. The methods in this book are adaptations of traditional methods of barbecue that work beautifully with grassfed meat, bringing out its naturally wonderful flavor and tenderness.
Traditional peoples cooked with fire very differently than modern Americans. Tender Grassfed Barbecue adapts some of their methods to modern times. These methods are actually safer and easier to use than modern techniques. The book explains how to use these simple methods in great detail, using clear illustrations to demonstrate exactly how the coals, meat, drip pan and grill should be arranged, and providing clear and precise instructions as to how to barbecue this way. Even if you have not barbecued before, the clearly presented methods used in this book will make it easy!
The recipes in this book use traditional flavors from many cultures, ranging from Ancient Rome and China to the Native Americans, Koreans, French, Italians, Sardinians, Romanians, and many more. This includes several “lost” barbecue secrets that have been rediscovered, and were used traditionally by many peoples. These wonderful flavors give a wonderful enhancement to the great natural taste of barbecued grassfed meat, resulting in tender meat that is absolutely delicious. The book also offers different traditional ways of preparing American barbecue favorites such as brisket and spareribs.
Primal
The flavor of meat cooked with fire is one of the oldest human flavors, enjoyed over countless thousands of years, stimulating our taste buds in a way no other food ever does. The traditional cooking techniques in Tender Grassfed Barbecue create this primal flavor, using lump and hardwood charcoal to awaken the primal taste memories, imbuing the meat with the unforgettable tang of wood flavor. Many of the recipes are simply seasoned to bring out the primal flavor of wood and charcoal. Methods for using herbs and wood to provide a deeper smoky flavor are also included.
Paleo
The meat of grass-eating animals cooked with fire is one of the oldest human foods, eaten widely in the Paleolithic period and earlier. In contrast, the grain-feeding of grass-eating animals was not adopted until the 20th century and created a meat that is very different in composition and content from the meat enjoyed by humanity over most of history. Most of the meat recipes in Tender Grassfed Barbecue are very useful for those on Paleo diets, as they are designed for barbecuing grassfed meat. The ingredients used for flavoring are very basic foods, and allowed on most Paleo-style diets.
Lower-Carb
While this is not a low-carb cookbook, most of the recipes are very low in carbohydrates. A section on low-carb side dishes is also included.
Weston A. Price Style Diet
The recipes in this cookbook are faithful to the teachings of Dr. Weston A. Price. Sugar and soy are not used in the recipes. Refined food ingredients are rare, and the benefits of using animal fats in cooking are not only discussed, but shown in a number of recipes. Butter is a key ingredient in a number of recipes, and modern vegetable oils are not used.
Safer Barbecue
There have been a number of studies that raise health concerns about barbecued meats. The traditional techniques used in Tender Grassfed Barbecue avoid the risk factors identified in the studies.
Compared with Tender Grassfed Meat
If you liked Tender Grassfed Meat, you will enjoy this book if you barbecue. All the recipes are brand new, as are the techniques and cooking methods. The marinades in this book could be used to cook indoors as well, using the timing for roasts and steaks contained in Tender Grassfed Meat. One major difference is the inclusion of recipes for pastured pork, which was not included in Tender Grassfed Meat.
I am very happy to present this book. You will find cooking and barbecuing tips here that are just not available elsewhere. The recipes are easy to prepare, nourishing, and delicious. My family and I have been enjoying the recipes in this book for most of the past two years, whenever the weather allowed barbecuing. I hope that you too will enjoy the wonderful flavors and tastes in Tender Grassfed Barbecue.
Related Post
Traditional Barbecue Methods Are Worth the Effort
This post is part of Fat Tuesday and Real Food Wednesday blog carnival.
Becoming a Grassfed Farmer
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
Grassfed sheep grazing at Broad River Pastures.
Good food starts with good farmers. The knowledge of how to raise healthy animals on grass is priceless. Good farmers know their land, their animals, their plants, and how to manage them so that everything thrives.
Factory farming relies on “one size fits all” formulas and schedules to do everything. Factory animals are given drugs, antibiotics, and supplements on a particular schedule that is usually the same for all of them. They are fed on grass for the same amount of time, given supplemental feed containing the same ingredients, shipped to the feedlot at a precise age, and kept in the feedlot for a time that does not vary from cow to cow. No wonder their meat all tastes the same—bland, greasy, and dull.
Grassfed farming depends on the actual conditions on the farm, and knowledge of how to use those conditions to produce healthy animals with enough fat to be tender. Often the knowledge of how to do this is passed on from parents to the next generation of farmers.
But what if someone who did not grow up on a farm tries to learn how to raise grassfed meat?
Jon and Cathy Payne had successful careers in urban America. Jon had been in the security business for 35 years. Cathy had spent 38 years in elementary education. Instead of retiring to a life of comfortable idleness, Jon and Cathy decided to become farmers, producing real food on good soil, food of the highest quality.
Jon and Cathy recently bought some sheep, and plan to raise grassfed lamb. I had the pleasure of interviewing Cathy today.
Neither Jon nor Cathy came from farm families, and neither one of them knew anything about farming. They have learned a great deal by talking to local farmers, attending farm conferences, talking to people at buying clubs, and using Internet resources such as Yahoo Groups and various farming forums—and their own constantly increasing experience.
The motto of their farm, Broad River Pastures, is “promoting nutrient dense food and preserving heritage breeds.”
Heritage breeds are animals that are particularly good for specific purposes, which have been developed by careful breeding over hundreds, if not thousands of years. They are an important part of the human heritage. Yet many of these breeds are in danger of dying out as they are replaced by new industrial breeds that serve the purposes of the large industrial agriculture companies.
Jon and Cathy are preserving heritage breeds by raising them at Broad River Pastures. One of the breeds they are preserving is known as the Gulf Coast Sheep, or the “Gulf Coast Native Sheep.” These sheep are descendents of the sheep brought to the Gulf Coast by the Spaniards hundreds of years ago. They were allowed to roam the forests, and have completely adapted to the sandy soil, local forage, and heat and humidity of the region. They are immune to the local parasites, which will kill other breeds of sheep when they are still lambs. This hardy animal produces rich milk, tasty meat, and wool. These sheep need no assistance with lambing, and are able to deliver their own lambs right in the pasture. The Gulf Coast Sheep is in danger of extinction, but Jon and Cathy are raising some of them at Broad River Pastures. These sheep, purchased in June, are thriving at the farm. They will breed, and lambs will be born, and, if all goes well, some wonderful grassfed lamb will be available next year.
Raising grassfed sheep is much harder than the industrial version. The sheep get almost all their nourishment from the grass and meadow plants on the farm. Cathy told me that you need healthy soil to have healthy meadow plants, and you need healthy meadow plants to have healthy lambs, and you need healthy lambs to have healthy, delicious grassfed meat.
This means that Jon and Cathy, like all grassfed farmers, must monitor the condition of their soil, and enrich it with the minerals and manure and other substances that make the soil healthy. This can be a huge amount of work, and very expensive in buying the materials required. Jon and Cathy have fenced their pastures, so they will be able to practice rotational grazing, which will enrich the soil, but that takes time and a sizable herd, so they have had to invest a lot of time and money into soil enrichment. This time and money will ultimately be worth it, because the rich soil will support healthy grass and meadow plants that will feed healthy lambs.
Jon and Cathy have obtained an English Shepherd, yet another endangered heritage breed, to herd and act as general farm dog. Jon and Cathy are using another heritage breed of dog, a Great Pyrenees, to protect their herds from predators.
Jon and Cathy are raising other heritage breeds of other animals, and are planning to raise all kinds of fruit and crops along with the grassfed lamb. If you would like to support them in their endeavors, you can purchase some very healthy liver treats from them for your dogs. Here is the link to their farm, Broad River Pastures, where there is a contact page.
I am grateful to Jon and Cathy for becoming sustainable farmers, for saving heritage breeds, and for raising grassfed lamb.
This post is part of Monday Mania, Real Food Wednesday and Fight Back Friday blog carnivals.
Grassfed Fat — the Lost Delicacy
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
Grassfed sirloin roast, with a delicious, nutritious fat cap.
I love to eat grassfed beef fat. I actually will put a large piece of crisp, hot, grassfed beef fat in my mouth, and eat it with great enjoyment and satisfaction.
Animal fat used to be the favorite food of most of humanity. But that has changed.
Fat is taboo. Especially animal fat. Animal fat is supposed to be the ultimate poison. Even looking at it could cause a heart attack, or so people seem to think. Well, I do not believe this anymore, especially where grassfed fat is concerned.
Grassfed fat has a very different composition than the fat of factory meat. Factory meat has far too much omega-6 fatty acids, and is lacking in CLA and various fat-soluble vitamins. Grassfed fat has a perfect omega-3 to omega-6 ratio, and is full of nutrients like CLA and fat-soluble vitamins. The healthy peoples studied by Dr. Weston A. Price ate plenty of animal and fish fat. But nutrition is not the only reason I eat grassfed fat.
Grassfed meat is delicious, but the grassfed fat on the meat can be even tastier.
One of the ways I research my books is to read old novels. Often they contain detailed descriptions of traditional meals, and how they were prepared. Time after time, I read of how the characters enjoy biting into a crisp piece of hot, roasted fat. One day, I decided to try it myself. It was absolutely delicious, crisp on the outside and melting on the inside, and so satisfying. Now I make sure to have some hot crisp fat whenever we have a grassfed roast, or pastured pork roast.
I learned that I am following an old tradition.
Some of the world’s greatest traditional delicacies consist of animal fat. Peking duck is made for the crisp skin, which is the high point of the meal. Several Asian cultures deep fry duck pieces, so the skin comes out hot and crisp. The crisp, hot, brown fat of a prime rib roast used to be prized in England. Sausages all over Europe and Russia used to be full of pastured animal fat. The taste of the hot, juicy fat squirting into the mouth when the sausage was bitten into was so prized that poems were written about it. The Native Americans prized all kinds of animal fat, not only adding it to their stews and pemmican, and using it to baste their roasted meats, but often covering their bodies with it. A steamed roast pork belly is still a festive dish in parts of China, and the fat is the favorite part. In parts of Italy, pork fat of the highest quality is spread on bread like butter. Middle Eastern skewered meats had chunks of fat on the skewer right next to the chunks of meat.
I like beef fat best when it is crisp and hot. There are several varieties of grassfed beef fat, and I like them all.
Prime rib fat has a unique, rich flavor, with a hint of sweetness.
Sirloin fat, including picanha fat, crisps up beautifully when grilled or roasted, and gives an explosion of flavor when bitten into. You can see this terrific fat in the photo above.
Caul fat (which is taken from an area near the kidneys) has a wonderful crispness and flavor all its own, and just might be my favorite.
I also love bison fat, when I can get it. It has a wonderful crisp texture when roasted, and a rich, sweet flavor.
Grassfed lamb fat is another favorite. It should be only eaten when it is very hot, as it can get greasy when lukewarm, but it has incredible flavor and a very delicate crispness when served hot.
Pastured pork fat has a nice, delicate, crisp texture on the outside, but it is the rich, creamy inside that has incredible flavor and literally melts in your mouth.
Grassfed fat and pastured pork fat can make vegetables delicious beyond belief. I will place plenty of sliced grassfed animal fat in a pan, and put it in a hot oven until enough of the fat has melted to coat the pan. I then add all kinds of vegetables, including carrots, celery, onion wedges, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and zucchini, in almost any combination. I will roast them together until the vegetables have caramelized beautifully in the melted fat, and are rich with concentrated flavor that is just wonderful to eat.
If you do not mind the carbohydrates, you can do the same with potatoes, or apples, or both. Not only will they be over-the-top delicious, but the melted fat that penetrates them and intensifies their flavor will provide some protection against the glycemic effects.
If you have never had vegetables roasted this way, you will not believe how good they taste. Just be sure to eat them hot. And, best of all, you will have a number of crisp, flavorful pieces of fat in the pan that are also a joy to eat.
Grassfed animal fat is full of nutrition and is absolutely delicious!
This post is part of Monday Mania, Real Food Wednesday and Fight Back Friday blog carnivals.
Finally! Modern Study Proves the Benefits of Grassfed Meat
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
Eating this delicious grassfed steak will increase the omega-3s in your bloodstream. Much tastier than fish oil!
I have been convinced for a long time that eating grassfed meat is much healthier than eating feedlot factory meat. Our ancestors ate grassfed meat, and thrived on it. The healthy peoples studied by Dr. Weston A. Price ate grassfed and wild meat, and thrived on it. Many studies have shown that grassfed and grass-finished meats have much higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids, a perfect balance of omega-3 fatty acids to omega-6 fatty acids, and a much higher level of CLA.
But the factory meat industry has been able to produce other studies claiming that the difference in omega-3 fatty acid content between grass-finished and feedlot meat is minimal. It has also been claimed that any difference is meaningless, since the omega-3 fatty acids are supposedly destroyed when cooked.
Yet there has been no study on the issue of whether people actually get more omega-3 fatty acids when eating grassfed and grass-finished meat instead of feedlot meat. Until now.
An Irish study, reported in the British Journal of Nutrition has shown that people who eat grassfed meat have significantly higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids in their blood when compared to people eating feedlot meat.
The study was of healthy people. All the meat eaten by one group was grassfed and grass-finished. All the meat eaten by the other group was feedlot meat. I assume the meat was cooked, as the abstract of the study would have mentioned if the meat was raw. After four weeks, the blood of the two groups was tested.
The blood of the group that ate grassfed meat showed significant increases in omega-3 fatty acid levels. It fact, the increase was so dramatic that it was comparable to the omega-3 levels of people taking fish oil capsules. The omega-3 levels in the blood of the group eating feedlot meat were much lower than the grassfed group.
This is very important, because the Standard American Diet (SAD) is totally unbalanced in favor of omega-6 fatty acids. Most Americans have a large imbalance of omega-6 fatty acids.
An excess of omega-6 fatty acids has been associated with a substantially increased risk of cancer, heart disease, obesity, rapid aging, and many other problems. Many doctors advise their patients to take fish oil capsules to help with the imbalance, as a proper balance can help reduce the risk of all these illnesses.
I would much rather enjoy the wonderful taste and tenderness of grassfed meat, as a delicious way to increase the omega-3s in my blood.
In other words, I will continue to eat grassfed meat as a way to support the natural functioning of my heart and body. I will also continue to eat grassfed meat because it tastes so much better.
Now we finally have a well-conducted scientific study that confirms the lessons of history, tradition, and common sense—grassfed and grass-finished meat is much better than feedlot meat.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday, Fight Back Friday and Monday Mania blog carnivals.
Grassfed Meat and Fat are Ideal for Paleo Diets
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
Barbecued Grassfed Prime Rib with a Garlic Marinade from my upcoming book.
The Paleo diet has been adopted by many people, and the numbers are growing. The idea that we should eat like our ancestors makes complete sense, as our bodies have evolved to eat and process the foods they used over tens of thousands of years. While there are different variations of Paleo diets, one thing is true for all of them—grassfed meat is ideal, especially when barbecued.
What is Paleo?
I did not know about the Paleo diet when I wrote my first cookbook, Tender Grassfed Meat. As I followed news of my book on the Internet, I came across a number of comments on Paleo websites that praised my book and talked about how it was great for people following a Paleo diet. These comments inspired me to learn about Paleo.
The Paleo concept is both simple and profound. The idea is that we should eat the same foods that our distant ancestors ate, before agriculture was developed. The argument is a powerful one—agriculture is only a few thousand years old, but humanity has existed for tens of thousands of years, or much longer.
The foods eaten by humanity over these tens of thousands of years included the meat and fat of ruminant animals, the meat and fat of other animals such as wild boar, the meat and fat of a huge variety of birds, wild fish, and seafood. Nuts, berries, wild roots, and plants were also eaten. Meat was eaten on the bone whenever possible, and bones were cracked open for their marrow, and formed the basis of early broths. Because humans have been eating these foods since the beginning, they are ideal for our bodies, since we have evolved to eat and digest them.
The food of agriculture, such as grains and dairy, as well as all of the modern processed foods, are new to our bodies and can cause problems with digestion and absorption, as well as allergies and other problems.
Therefore, a true Paleo diet would avoid all modern foods, and many traditional foods, including all grains and dairy.
I personally eat lots of dairy, but only in its traditional forms. Humans have been eating traditional dairy for about ten thousand years, and my body does fine with it. I avoid most grains, and find that I can easily do without them. I avoid all modern processed foods. But the food I enjoy and crave the most is Paleo—grassfed meat and fat, cooked in front of burning coals.
But it is not enough just to eat meat and fat. Modern industrial meat has a totally different nutritional content from the meat eaten by our ancestors. Grassfed meat and fat is as close as we can get to the meat that nourished our ancestors (with the exception of wild game).
The Price–Paleo Connection—Modern Examples of a Real Paleo Diet
Dr. Weston A. Price, spent ten years studying the diets of the traditional peoples who were free from the chronic diseases that plagued the modern world, such as tooth decay, heart disease, asthma, cancer, allergies, birth defects, and just about every chronic modern illness. He did not read reports or studies, but actually travelled to where these people lived and met them, taking detailed notes on what they ate and how they lived.
Three of the healthy peoples studied by Dr. Price were eating a Paleo diet, in that they had no agriculture and no dairy. They lived completely from hunting and gathering. Their traditional diets had not changed for many thousands of years. These peoples included Alaskan Eskimos (Inuit), Australian Aborigines, and Canadian Native Americans.
When these peoples ate their traditional Paleo diet, they were healthy. When they ate modern foods, they were riddled with all kinds of chronic disease, and died in large numbers from diseases such as tuberculosis.
These peoples all ate the meat, organs, and fat of grass-eating animals, as well as other animals. Those who lived by the sea also ate huge amounts of wild seafood and fish. While all of these peoples gathered and ate a variety of nuts, berries, and plants, their diets focused heavily on meat, organs, and fat, both from land and sea animals. All of the animals they ate were eating a species-appropriate diet such as grass and meadow plants for herbivores.
Grassfed and Paleo—a Perfect Match
Most of the foods eaten by early humans are not readily available to us. But we can find and eat foods that have a similar nutritional profile. The major food of these people was the meat and fat of animals, especially ruminant animals. We can get an almost identical set of nutrients by eating plenty of grassfed meat and fat, as well as the organs of grassfed animals.
Grassfed bison meat, from bison grazing their natural habitat, is just about identical with the bison that was eaten by early humans.
Grassfed beef is very similar, even though the breed and characteristics of the animals have changed from the wild varieties available before agriculture.
Grassfed lamb and goat also have a similar nutritional profile.
Pastured pork, from pigs who have been allowed to root in the forest like their wild ancestors, is another meat that is close to the meat eaten by early humans.
Grassfed Barbecue and Paleo—an Even Better Match
While the peoples studied by Dr. Price ate some of their meat raw or fermented, much of their meat was cooked, and it was almost always cooked in front of a fire.
I do not know if any nutrients are enhanced by the barbecue process, but the taste certainly is. The mouthwatering smell and taste of charcoaled meat appeals to most people on a primal level. The smell of meat roasting in front of a fire, the flavor added by the burning coals, is one of the oldest human pleasures, one that has been enjoyed for ages.
By barbecuing grassfed meat in a traditional manner, we can enjoy this primal taste, as did our ancestors.
This article was taken from my upcoming book on grassfed barbecue.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday, Fight Back Friday and Monday Mania blog carnivals.
I Am Grateful for Grassfed Meat and Real Food
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
Roast grassfed Spring lamb with organic asparagus and potatoes.
I am grateful for grassfed meat and real food. Thanks to the ranchers and farmers who raise real food. Thanks to those who spread the truth about food.
I was sitting quietly last night, thinking about my life. The life that was supposed to have ended eight years ago. The life that is free of pain and illness. The life that is drug-free, medication-free, doctor-free, and symptom-free. The life that is full of joy and love and purpose. The life that is full of wonderful, delicious, nourishing food, the food that made life itself possible.
And I thought about the people who spread the word, giving me the knowledge that saved my life and made the health and joy I experience every day possible.
I am deeply grateful to those who raise the food, and to those who spread the word.
From There to Here
As discussed in detail in the “About” section on this website, I was very ill for most of my life. After getting a medical death sentence in 1998, and being told I had no more than five years left, I realized that the medical profession could not help me. I searched for another way, and found the teachings of Dr. Weston A. Price, as demonstrated and presented by the Weston A. Price Foundation.
My path to health was nothing more or less than eating the right food, and avoiding the wrong food. The right food is the unmodified food eaten by our ancestors, designed by nature to make us strong and keep us healthy. The wrong food is modern factory food and artificial ingredients, designed by greedy men to make money.
The right food includes the meat and fat of grassfed animals, pastured animals, wild fish, and vegetables grown in good soil, without chemicals. The right food also includes traditional foods like butter, full fat cheese, pastured eggs, unmodified and unprocessed milk, fermented foods like sauerkraut and other lacto-fermented vegetables, organ meats from grassfed or pastured or wild animals, and many other traditional foods. The right food is demonized by the government, the media, the medical profession, the drug industry, industry, the educational system, and big agriculture.
Why do they demonize the food we need to thrive and be healthy? Because people who eat the right food and avoid the wrong food have little or no need for doctors, drugs, or industrial agriculture.
When I avoided the wrong food and ate the right food: my health returned, as did my eyesight, sense of smell, energy, joy of life, enthusiasm, and many other qualities associated with youth. Last night, I enjoyed a wonderful feeling of total well-being, health, and contentment—at age 59.
None of this would have been possible without two very wonderful groups of people. Those who spread the word and those who raise the food.
Thanks to Those Who Spread the Word
My first thanks goes, with all my heart, to Dr. Weston A. Price. Dr. Price spent 10 years traveling around the world to learn the truth about nutrition. He succeeded, and recorded his findings in Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, a book that explains and documents this truth. I am a living example of the truth of his teachings, as are many others. The last words of Dr. Price were not about himself, but his calling – “You teach, you teach, you teach!”
My second thanks goes to Sally Fallon Morell, the founder and President of the Weston A. Price Foundation. Nobody has heeded the call of Dr. Price better than her. She made the teachings of Dr. Price far more understandable and accessible, posting a free library of nutritional truth at the Foundation’s website, writing a magnificent cookbook and nutrition resource entitled Nourishing Traditions, and selflessly spreading the teachings of Dr. Price throughout the world through the Foundation and her own travels. The website of the Weston A. Price Foundation gave me the knowledge I needed.
My third thanks goes to the many others who spread the teachings of Dr. Price, and/or other nutritional wisdom, often through blogging, writing books and articles, and giving seminars and lectures. The list of these people is just too long to include by name.
My fourth thanks goes to everybody who had the courage and wisdom to actually try real food, and to share their experience with their families, neighbors, and friends.
Thanks to the Ranchers and Farmers
Knowing what to eat is not enough. You have to be able to find the food. Raising real food is much more difficult and requires far more knowledge than raising factory food. My deep gratitude to all who raise grassfed meat and other real food, without chemicals, in accordance with the laws of nature.
I will thank those wonderful farmers and ranchers who raise the food eaten by my family, including John Wood and all the folks at U.S. Wellness, Glenn and Caryl Elzinga of Alderspring Ranch, Ed Wimble and his partners at Homestead Natural Foods, Reed Anderson of Anderson Ranches, Lee and Mary Graese of Northstar Bison, Leland Mora of Humboldt Grassfed Beef, Chris Kerston of Chaffin Family Orchards, the farmers at the Danville and Walnut Creek Farmers’ Markets, and everybody else who has had a part in raising the wonderful food we are so lucky to eat.
I owe my good health to two magnificent groups of people—those who spread the truth, and those who raise real food.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday and Fight Back Friday blog carnivals.