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Tender Grassfed Barbecue: Traditional, Primal and Paleo by Stanley A. Fishman
By Stanley A. Fishman
Link to Tender Grassfed Meat at Amazon
By Stanley A. Fishman

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DISCLOSURE AND DISCLAIMER

I am an attorney and an author, not a doctor. This website is intended to provide information about grassfed meat, what it is, its benefits, and how to cook it. I will also describe my own experiences from time to time. The information on this website is being provided for educational purposes. Any statements about the possible health benefits provided by any foods or diet have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

I do receive some compensation each time a copy of my book is purchased. I receive a very small amount of compensation each time somebody purchases a book from Amazon through the links on this site, as I am a member of the Amazon affiliate program.

—Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat

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Grassfed Fat — the Lost Delicacy

By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat

Grass-fed sirloin roast with a delicious, nutritious fat cap.

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

Tender grass-fed Porterhouse steak barbecued by Stanley A. Fishman

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 by Stanley Fishman

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 Spring Grassfed Lamb with Asperagus and Potatoes--Recipe by Stanley A. Fishman

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.

Corn Shortage? Let Them Eat Grass

By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat

Cows on a hillside eating green grass.

Grass—the ideal food for cattle

A meat shortage is coming. I hear this a lot from butchers and ranchers. The price of meat is already rising. The demand for meat is much greater than the supply, and the supply will not increase because of the rising price of corn. You would think that corn is necessary to raise livestock.

Corn is not a vital part of the diet of cattle, bison, or sheep. In fact, corn is an unnatural food for all of these species, which were designed to thrive on grass. My solution to the corn shortage is simple—let them eat grass.

The Price of Corn

The price of corn has been rising steadily in recent years. This has resulted in record corn crops, but the increased supply has not lowered prices. Why?

The answer is ethanol. The United States government supports the production of ethanol as an alternative fuel. Many other countries also favor the use of ethanol. While ethanol could theoretically be made from any plant matter, the U.S. has decided to support ethanol made from corn. Many farmers and large agricultural operations now grow corn solely for the purpose of making ethanol. These farmers invariably use massive amounts of artificial fertilizer, which requires substantial amounts of oil to produce and transport. The profitability of making ethanol has led to huge profits. It has also caused the cost of corn for animal feed to skyrocket. The use of corn for ethanol is blamed for a substantial increase in food prices all over the world.

The increase in the price of corn has made it much more expensive to raise animals in feedlots.

The Feedlot System Depends on Cheap Corn

Corn is an important component of the feed given to animals in feedlots, along with soy. The whole feedlot process is dependent on corn. The feedlot system was developed to make it much cheaper to raise and fatten meat animals. Cheap corn raised on artificial fertilizer was the basis of the whole system.

The feedlot system came about as a result of World War II. The war caused a huge demand for explosives, which created a number of large companies to fill the demand. These large and wealthy companies faced ruin when the war ended, because the demand for their product was greatly reduced. A plan was devised to use explosive products as artificial fertilizer. Farmers were sold on the idea that artificial fertilizer would enable them to grow huge amounts of corn. Of course, a market had to be found for all that corn. The feedlot system was the answer, as it was found that cattle could be fattened much faster if they were confined to a pen and fed huge amounts of corn. The U.S. government supported the new system with subsidies, and nearly all meat production in the U.S. was quickly switched to the feedlot system. Meat became cheaper and more abundant, and profits became higher.

But there was a hidden price—grass eating animals like cattle and sheep were not designed to be stuffed in a stall for six months, eating corn. They were designed to graze on grass and meadow plants. Large amounts of antibiotics were used to keep them somewhat healthy. The corn growers used massive amounts of pesticides and weed killers. These poisons, along with the artificial fertilizers, killed much of the life in the soil, depleting its mineral value.

Corn feeding in feedlots, later supplemented with soy and other unnatural feeds, greatly reduces the nutritional value of the meat. Eatwild.com has an excellent description of this process: Health Benefits of Grass-Fed Products. The taste and texture of the meat were also affected, as feedlot meat lacked flavor, was watery, and had a mushy texture.

The industry dealt with this problem by an intense marketing campaign designed to convince the public that corn feeding resulted in better meat. This campaign succeeded, and it became almost impossible to find beef that was not finished in a feedlot. Cooking techniques were invented to deal with the watery, flavorless meat. The very knowledge of how to cook grassfed meat was lost to most Americans, and most ranchers lost the knowledge of how to raise tender grassfed meat.

The traditional ways of raising grassfed meat used by humanity, developed and perfected over thousands of years, were almost completely abandoned in the rush for profit.

Now the very heart of the feedlot system—cheap feed—is being threatened by the high price of corn.

In the long run, this may be a blessing in disguise, as grassfed meat is a far superior food, and proper grassfed ranching restores the land, rather than depleting it.

The Grassfed Solution

Grassfed beef, grassfed bison, and grassfed lamb have the proper balance of nutrients that our bodies expect. Grassfed meat shrinks much less in cooking, has much more flavor, satisfies the appetite, and can be very tender if properly cooked.

Raising and finishing grassfed meat requires no corn. It requires grasslands and skill. Many ranchers have rediscovered how to raise terrific grassfed meat. There are huge amounts of unused grasslands in this country that can be used for grazing. In fact, proper rotational grazing actually restores and enriches the land. Innovative ranchers in this country have been successful in increasing the richness of their soil. See Grassfed Farmer Renews the Land.

Cooking grassfed meat also requires knowledge and skill. That is why I wrote Tender Grassfed Meat. Cooking tender and delicious grassfed meat is actually simple, and it tastes so much better than the feedlot variety.

I call on all ranchers to learn how to raise grassfed meat, drop the feedlots, and free themselves from their dependence on corn.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday and Monday Mania blog carnivals.

Finding Grassfed Fat, and How to Add Good Fat to Lean Meat

By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat

Grass fed steak coated with pastured butter.

Lean grassfed steak coated with pastured butter before cooking.

All too often, when shopping for grassfed meat, I find myself asking, “Where’s the fat?”

The ugly truth is that far too much grassfed meat has all the visible fat trimmed off, and has very little fat in the meat.

The most nutrient-dense component of grassfed meat is the fat. The fat of grassfed animals is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), and many other nutrients.

The fat also gives great flavor and enhances tenderness. The Weston A. Price Foundation advises always eating meat with fat. Traditional peoples, from the peoples of old Europe, to the Native Americans, to the Chinese, always ate meat with plenty of fat.

Yet many producers and sellers of grassfed meat trim off all the visible fat from their meat, and some deliberately raise their beef to be lean. For me, the most frustrating part of buying grassfed meat is getting meat with enough fat.

The key is to buy meat that comes with enough fat, both visible and internal. This involves careful shopping and lobbying producers. But sometimes, no matter what I do, the meat is just too lean. I have learned to compensate for this, just like our ancestors did.

If the fat is not in the meat, then you can bring the fat to the meat.

Tips for Buying Fattier Grassfed Meat

There are several indicators you can look at to find fattier grassfed meat. Here are some of them:

The Breed of Cattle

Genetics have a lot to do with the fat content in beef. Breeds that have been raised for meat, such as shorthorns and Angus, are much more likely to have more fat. Breeds that are noted for leanness, such as Galloway or Charolais, are much more likely to be very lean.

The Time of Year the Beef Is Processed

Traditionally, cattle were processed for meat in the late spring or early summer, after they had been eating the rich green grass of spring for as long as possible. This was the best natural way to put fat in the cattle, and meat processed at this time has more fat, more flavor, and more tenderness.

There are a number of ranchers and producers who only process their beef at that time of year, and freeze it. If you have enough freezer space, that is a particularly good time to buy a large quantity of meat.

I have also found bison and lamb processed after feeding on green grass for a while to be fattier, more tender, and more tasty.

The Philosophy of the Producer

The attitude and belief of the rancher actually raising the meat animal has a huge impact, as there is much they can do to make the meat fattier or leaner. If the producer brags about how lean and fat free their meat is, the meat is going to be very lean.

If the producer talks about the benefits of grassfed fat and why it is good to leave some fat on the meat, then your chances of getting fattier grassfed meat are a lot better.

If the producer praises the virtues of grassfed fat, and also praises the leanness of their meat, you may have a choice.

Ask!

Many producers and butchers carry both lean and fattier grassfed meat. I have found that just asking for the fattiest grassfed cuts they have makes a huge difference. Asking for fattier meat also tells a wise producer that the demand is out there, and may well increase the supply of fattier grassfed meat.

How to Add Good Fat to Lean Meat

Often, no matter what I do, the meat that is delivered is just too lean, or the meat available is just too lean. Fortunately, our ancestors often faced the same problem, and developed some solutions. Here are some of the solutions I use:

This grassfed steak was cooked with a coating of butter

The same lean grassfed steak (as shown above) after cooking with a coating of butter.

1.      Butter. Pastured butter is the best friend of lean meat. You can coat the meat with softened butter before cooking. You can sauté the meat in butter. You can baste the meat with butter. You can put butter directly on the hot meat when it is served at the table. All of these methods will improve the meat and give you the fat that should be eaten with it.

2.      Beef tallow, lamb tallow, and bison tallow. Tallow can be placed directly on roasting meat, so it can baste the meat as it cooks. You can also sauté meat in melted beef tallow. You can melt some tallow and use it to baste the meat as it cooks. You can melt some tallow in a roasting pan and roll the meat in the melted tallow before cooking.

3.       Bacon. You can place fat slices of bacon directly on a roast, or render the fat from bacon and use it for sautéing.

4.      Natural, unhydrogenated lard. You can rub softened lard all over the meat prior to cooking. You can sauté the meat in melted lard. You can place lard directly on top of a roast, and baste during the roasting.

Tender Grassfed Meat contains a lot of information on how to add fat to meat, and how to cook meat with the right amount of fat.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday, Fight Back Friday,  Monday Mania, and Fat Tuesday blog carnivals.

Beware the Changeling Business!

By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
Faerie.  030/365
Creative Commons License photo credit: //amy//

European folklore tells of changelings. The fairies would steal a baby from its parents and place another baby in the crib. The new baby would look like the real baby, and would have the same name. But it was not the same baby. A similar thing can happen to a good business, without the knowledge of its customers.

Sometimes you find a wonderful business that has a great product. Usually, it is a family business that has developed something really wonderful. It may be a business that is absolutely honest and does wonderful work. It may sell a particularly high quality food, or cooking ingredient. These businesses often would hire local people who were skilled, friendly, and competent. Often these businesses would be experts in their field, providing the very best quality and service. Can you trust that these businesses will remain as good as they were? Can you trust the good name of the business? Unfortunately, you can’t. It is an ugly fact of modern life that even the finest small business can be bought by a big corporation or soulless venture capitalists. All too often these entities are interested only in squeezing as much money out of their customers as they can. Wonderful becomes bad; competence is outsourced and lost; the best ingredients become the cheapest; and all quality is lost. Yet, the name of the business is the same; no announcement is made about the change of ownership; or the change in policy; and the customers whose trust was earned by the original business are betrayed.

From Great Milk to Swill

It has happened several times that a small dairy has produced milk of wonderful quality. The cows were raised on pasture, grazing on green, living grass, with a tranquil, peaceful life. Their milk tasted wonderful, and made you feel good. The business grew and grew, as word of its quality spread. The superb quality of milk gave the dairy a large base of loyal customers who faithfully purchased their milk.

Sometime after this point, a big corporation or venture capitalists purchased the dairy. They do not notify the customers of the new ownership. They completely change the way the cows are raised and fed, so they can cut costs and make even more money. The cows are moved from pasture to confinement, and never taste green, living grass again. They are fed grains, garbage left over from making biofuels, and other products, and their milk is no longer wonderful. In fact, the milk bears no resemblance to the original product. The milk is highly processed to keep from spoiling, often by ultra-pasteurization.

Yet, the carton or bottle looks exactly the same, with no indication that anything has changed. The loyal customers of the original dairy still think they are getting milk from cows raised on green, living grass in a pasture. The good reputation of the original dairy is used to sell enormous amounts of milk that is not even close to the original, wonderful product.

From Grassfed Goodness to Grain Fed Greasiness

Once, there was a company that sold only grassfed lamb. This lamb was available at some markets, and was delicious, with a nice clean taste, and great mouthfeel. I always felt good when after eating that lamb. I used to buy that lamb regularly.

After a couple of years, I bought a leg of lamb from this company that looked different. The meat was a different color, and the meat felt squishy rather than firm. I cooked it in one of the usual ways. The meat left an unpleasant greasy taste in my mouth, and had a mushy texture. The flavor was different, with the unpleasant flavor that so many people associate with lamb. I felt bloated and uncomfortable after eating it. I was very surprised, because the lamb from that particular company had always been so good. I decided that the market must have made a mistake, and improperly labeled the lamb.

The next time I bought some lamb, I specifically asked the butcher to make sure it was from the right company. He did, and showed me the packaging it had come from. The lamb was the same color as the bad lamb I ate the last time. The butcher told me that color could vary for all sorts of reasons. I took the lamb home, cooked it, and experienced the same greasy taste, mushy texture, unpleasant flavor, and bloated feeling.

I talked to the meat department manager, and finally asked him what the lamb was fed. I learned that the company had been sold and the lamb was now finished on “grain.” No wonder I did not like the taste. I contacted the company, and found that the “grain” contained the standard mix of GMO corn and GMO soy. They said they changed the feed because customers liked the way it made the lamb taste, according to “Studies.”

The name of the company was the same, but the lamb had changed from tasting great to tasting terrible.

How to Ruin a Restaurant

Once, there was a small chain of wonderful restaurants that produced some of the most delicious barbecue you could eat. The meat was cooked over real hardwood coals, and basted with a mixture that was based on a traditional Native American recipe. This mixture was so secret that only a few people knew how to make it. The meat was very high quality, always tender, and always delicious, with a wonderful natural flavor.

Then, one day, the meat became tough, the flavor became mediocre, and 50 years of wonderful, quality barbecue disappeared. But the name of the restaurant remained the same. Something unique and wonderful had become boring and mediocre.

What happened? A large corporation had purchased the restaurant chain and cut costs so they could make more money.

Any Business Can Become a Changeling

The above three examples were taken from my life, and I could give you many more. The point is that you cannot expect that a business that has been good in the past will stay that way, because any business can become a changeling, even though it keeps the same name.

Sometimes a business can be improved by new owners, who care about quality. These are almost always a family, or a small group of friends. These are not the new owners I am talking about. I am talking about the corporations and venture capitalists who see every business as an asset to be squeezed in order to produce the largest possible amount of profit, and could care less about quality (except for its impact on profit).

The best solution I can think of is to regularly investigate a business before I use it, no matter how satisfied I have been in the past. If something appears to have changed, I will contact the business and make sure that it is still producing the same quality products that I have enjoyed in the past. When it comes to food, I will investigate if I notice any difference in taste, texture, or the way I feel after I eat it.

It is truly a shame that a business that was wonderful in the past can be changed completely by a new owner, while retaining the same name. We cannot trust the name of a business to mean quality. It is better to carefully watch what it actually does, rather than rely on its name.

This post is part of Monday Mania Blog Carnival at the Healthy Home Economist.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop.

Don’t Trim the Fat—It’s the Best Part!

By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat

Grassfed Herb Roast

This beautiful fat cap helps make a wonderful herb roast.

The half chicken arrived on my friend’s plate, with a wonderful aroma. It was grilled over hickory to browned perfection, the crisp skin redolent with a wonderful spice rub that promised taste heaven. My friend picked up his knife and fork, carefully removed every trace of the magnificent chicken skin—and discarded it.

The prime rib roast looked great on the website photo. The meat was a beautiful cherry red color, crowned by a thick cap of gleaming fat that promised great taste and nutrition. I ordered this magnificent roast, anticipating how wonderful it would look and taste. The roast arrived. Every bit of the magnificent fat cap promised by the photo on the website had been trimmed off.

I ordered a cut-to-order bison Porterhouse for a very important occasion. I made sure to instruct the seller to leave a thick coating of the bison fat on the meat, as bison fat gives incredible flavor. The steak arrived. It was a magnificent piece of meat—except that almost all the fat was trimmed off.

Each of these events point out one of the most insane aspects to our society. We have been trained to discard and throw out one of the most nutritious substances known to humankind—saturated fat from grassfed animals.

Saturated fat from grassfed animals should not be trimmed off and discarded. It should be used in cooking and eaten, just as humankind has been doing for hundreds of thousands of years.

Animal Fat Has Been Unfairly Demonized for Profit

Why does almost everybody fear saturated animal fat? The answer is simple—marketing. The sellers of artificial fats and artificial oils would have no market if people continued to use saturated animal fats that have nourished humankind for eons. The only way to get people to give up these tasty and wonderful foods would be to either come up with something better, or make people afraid to use them. They could not come up with any artificial food that was better or even close to being as good as those developed by nature. This left fear. Adolph Hitler said that if you repeated a lie often enough, and loudly enough, and repeated it with enough fervor, people would come to believe it.

It would be hard to find any concept that has been repeated as much, or stated so loudly, or advocated with such fervor as the “saturated fat is bad” untruth. The truth is that saturated animal fat from naturally fed animals is one of the most beneficial nutrients know. See the following article for more information: Know Your Fats Introduction. A good description of how America was misled is contained in the article The Oiling of America.

Saturated Animal Fat Supports the Natural Functions of the Brain and Body

Your brain is made of fat. So is mine. So is everybody’s. The right kind of fat is crucial to the proper functioning of the brain. A deficiency in fat can lead to mental and physical problems. The right kind of fat is—saturated animal fat. This fat, especially the fat from grassfed animals, contains a huge amount of vital nutrients. Animal fat, including the fat found in organ meats, is the only source of real Vitamin A. (Plants have beta carotene, which is not Vitamin A, but a precursor that a healthy body can use to make vitamin A.) Animal fat is by far the best source of essential fatty acids, which are crucial for nutritional support of the brain and many body functions. Animal fat contains substances that effect digestion, blood sugar, regulate the body’s production of hormones, enable the various parts of the brain to communicate effectively with each other, regulate the weight and metabolism of the body, and provide high-quality energy fuel that our bodies have been using for hundreds of thousands of years. Our bodies and brains are unbelievably complex organisms that are able to deal with almost any physical or mental challenge that is likely to arrive—if they have the nutritional fuel needed to function properly. This fuel includes saturated animal fats. A more detailed examination of the benefits of saturated animal fat can be found in this fine article: The Skinny on Fats.

Traditional Peoples Knew the Value of Saturated Fat

Dr. Weston A. Price spent ten years studying the diets of traditional peoples. The healthy peoples he studied were free of the chronic diseases that ravage our “civilized” world—such as cancer, heart disease, allergies, infertility, asthma, birth defects, etc—as long as they ate their traditional diet. These traditional diets contained far more nutrients than ours. While there was a lot of variety in these diets, all of them included a huge amount of saturated animal and/or fish fat.

This fat, from animals eating their natural diet, has been perhaps the most valued food in the history of humankind. People, from ancient Rome to 19th century Russia, used to write poems celebrating the blessings of animal fats. When animals were sacrificed to the pagan gods, the most valued part of the animal—the fat—was offered. Many peoples had a tradition of having a lot of food after a funeral. Whether it was the Jewish custom of sitting Shiva, or the Irish custom of having a wake, or any of the others, foods high in animal fat were always served. These traditional people knew that these foods would calm the mind and help people deal with their grief. “Living off the fat of the land” was a famous saying that meant living the good life. Modern science has discovered many of the benefits of this most valued food: Some Recent Studies on Fats.

Animal Fat Is Wonderful in Cooking

Meat roasted with a covering of its own natural fat is far more tender and delicious. The fat bastes and cooks into the meat during the roasting process, keeping it tender, and adding superb flavor. Pot roasts and stews also have their flavor and gravies enhanced by this wonderful fat. Sausages and ground meat are much better, both in taste and nutrition, when they contain a healthy portion of life-giving animal fat. Steaks cooked with a rim of their own natural fat are more tender and have superb flavor. In fact, it is commonly accepted in cooking circles that most of the flavor of meat is in the fat.

Traditional peoples cooked with animal fat, with natural pork lard being the most widely used and popular cooking fat in human history. Lamb fat, beef tallow, bison fat, chicken fat, in fact, fat from every kind of meat animal, were also widely used.

I personally use saturated animal fat for cooking grassfed meats. Whether it is beef tallow, or butter, or natural lard, or duck fat, all of them are perfect for frying, basting and sautéing. But nothing can do more for the flavor and tenderness of cooking meat than its own natural coating of flavorful fat.

So I have a favor to ask from meat sellers, butchers, ranchers, and retailers – don’t trim all the fat off. Leave at least one quarter inch on the meat. Just one quarter inch. That’s all I ask.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday Blog Carnival at Kelly the Kitchen Kop.

This post is part of Fight Back Friday Blog Carnival at Food Renegade.

This post is part of Monday Mania Blog Carnival at the Healthy Home Economist.

Frugal, Delicious Hungarian Hash

By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat

Ingredients for Hungarian Hash Recipe: leftover grass-fed meat, bacon, organic potatoes, pastured eggs, organic onions, and Hungarian paprika.

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Add the potatoes, and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring and turning the potato cubes.
  4. Turn the heat to low, cover the pan, and cook for another 5 minutes.
  5. Add the meat, and stir until the meat is browned, 3 to 4 minutes.
  6. Crumble the reserved bacon and stir into the dish.
  7. 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.

Mushroom Cream Sauce Makes Luxurious Leftovers

By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat

Little Mushroom
Creative Commons License photo credit: Tazmany

Grassfed meat is so filling and satisfying that we often have leftovers. I have just discovered a new favorite way to enjoy leftovers. In fact, this is so delicious that you may find yourself eating less just so you can have more leftovers to reheat.

The secret to luxurious leftovers is this traditional recipe for mushroom cream sauce. Forget about the stuff that comes out of a can, this is the real deal, made from scratch in this simple, but absolutely delicious recipe. This sauce is perfect for leftover beef, lamb, and bison. It is also excellent with any kind of ham, and could be used to reheat any meat. This is the tastiest way I know to reheat previously cooked meat. Just make sure the meat is sliced very thin. This sauce is so good that we make sure that every bit of it is served and enjoyed.

Traditional Mushroom Cream Sauce for Leftovers

2 tablespoons pastured butter

1/4 pound fresh mushrooms of your choice, sliced, (I prefer crimini, but any good fresh mushroom will do)

2 more tablespoons pastured butter

2 tablespoons organic sprouted flour, either spelt or wheat, (you could substitute your favorite unbleached healthy flour)

1 cup whole organic full fat unhomogenized milk, (you could substitute your favorite full fat unhomogenized healthy cows milk)

1/3 cup full fat organic cream, (you could substitute your favorite full fat healthy cream)

1/4 teaspoon coarse unrefined sea salt, crushed

Thinly sliced leftover meat of your choice

  1. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a medium-size, heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat. When the butter is hot and bubbly, turn the heat to medium high, add the mushrooms and stir until the mushrooms are nicely browned, but not scorched. Remove the mushrooms from the pan and reserve.
  2. Turn the heat down to medium. Add 2 more tablespoons of butter to the pan. When the butter is hot and bubbly, add the flour. Stir the flour and butter with a wire whisk, until well combined. Slowly pour in the milk, a little at a time, whisking well to incorporate the milk as you add it. When all the milk has been added, add the cream and whisk well. Continue to cook, stirring, until the mixture starts to thicken. Add the salt, and the reserved mushrooms. Stir well.
  3. Add the thinly sliced meat, and cover with the sauce. Turn the heat down to low, and simmer for a minute or two, until the meat has been reheated.

Serve with the sauce and enjoy.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday Blog Carnival at Kelly the Kitchen Kop.

Also check out Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade.

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