Photos of recipes from the new book Tender Grassfed Barbecue
Photos of recipes from the cookbook Tender Grassfed Meat
Tender Grassfed Pistachio Parsley Lamb Recipe
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
photo credit: Tambako the Jaguar
A very elegant and traditional French way to prepare lamb is to roast it encased in a delicious coating, which always includes parsley. Parsley has a special affinity for lamb, and the combination is both traditional and wonderful. This version also highlights pistachio nuts, which give a very nice flavor to the lamb. Roasting the lamb in the coating keeps it juicy, enhances tenderness, and infuses the meat with the flavor of the coating.
This recipe was created by Ivy Larson, one of the authors of the bestselling book, The Gold Coast Diet. Ivy and I have become Internet pen pals, and I have really enjoyed discussing nutritional issues with her. Ivy also emphasizes the use of whole foods and the avoidance of the artificial foods that plague our culture. Ivy, however, favors a Flexitarian approach, which emphasizes the use of a wide variety of whole foods, especially plants, along with a small amount of meat. My approach is different, as I follow the dietary recommendations of the Weston A. Price Foundation, and eat a great deal of grassfed meat and fat. Ivy does emphasize the use of grassfed meat, as opposed to factory meat. When she does cook meat, she really has a flair for it, as shown by this delicious recipe.
I recommend that anyone who is interested in a Flexitarian or “less meaty†approach to whole food nutrition check out Ivy’s website, Hot and Healthy Living.
Here is the link to Ivy’s delicious recipe, “Tender Grassfed Easter Lamb with Pistachio Parsley Crust.â€
Beautiful, Nutritious, Delicious Bones
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
Grassfed Bone In Porterhouse. It tasted even better than it looks.
There is a very old saying,â€the nearer the bone, the sweeter the meat.†This saying celebrates the traditional knowledge that meat on the bone is valuable, both for taste and nutrition. The meat right next to the bone is sweeter and tastier, flavored with bone marrow and other substances that enter the meat during cooking. Grassfed meat cooked on the bone has so much flavor that spices are often unnecessary. I prefer to cook grassfed meat on the bone. Bone in meat has great nutritional benefit. Bone in meat is more tender. Bone in meat cooks more evenly. And it tastes so much better.
Why Most Meat Cuts Are Boneless
Most of the meat cuts sold today, including grassfed cuts, are boneless. There are several reasons for this. Bones are heavy, and most meat is shipped a long way. Cutting off the bones reduces transportation costs. I have talked to grassfed farmers who do not sell bone in meat because they are afraid the bones will penetrate the plastic they ship their meat in. The emphasis on lean meat promotes the use of boneless cuts, as bones contain fatty substances such as bone marrow. Carving bone in meat requires more effort than dealing with boneless cuts. Most people think of bones as waste, and do not want to pay for them. Actually, bones have tremendous nutritional and culinary value.
Bone In Meat Is More Nutritious
Bones are made up of minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and many others. When you put your mouth on a bone, the saliva in your mouth dissolves some of these minerals, which thus enter your body. Your body knows exactly how to digest and process these minerals and the cofactors which come with them. Need minerals? Eat the meat next to the bone, and you will get plenty, in a form that your body can easily assimilate and use. Also, you can suck discreetly on a tasty bone.
Bones also contain bone marrow, a fatty substance that is extremely nutrient dense, and is invaluable in making your own bones strong and healthy. Bone marrow is released into the meat during the cooking process, making the meat more nutritious and sweeter. There have been few, if any, scientific studies on the nutritional value of bones and bone marrow. However, there are some very old “studies,†conducted by our ancestors, the traditional peoples studied by Dr. Weston A. Price, and even wild animals.
Traditional People Knew the Value of Bones
The earliest habitats of primitive humans were found in caves. Many of those caves had one thing in common—a large pile of smashed and split animal bones. It is universally agreed that those bones were smashed and split to get at the bone marrow.
Traditional cuisine is full of references to bone marrow, which was eaten in many forms, and highly prized. The most prized meat in early Europe was the chine portion, a cut of meat reserved for the elite members of society, the heroes. Ancient Irish warriors fought to the death for the right to eat the chine portion, also known as the Hero’s Portion. Even the mightiest warrior in the Iliad, Achilles, cooked a chine portion for himself and the other great heroes of the Greeks. The chine portion was the same cut as a modern rack of lamb, or prime rib, or pork rib roast, except that the chine bone was always left on.
The Native Americans would actually use heavy rocks to pound bison bones into powder, which was made into a nourishing broth.
For most of history, meat was always roasted on the bone. Even stews had bones added to the pot, and the pieces of meat often contained bones. Many traditional peoples would chop chicken and other soft boned meats into pieces, so the marrow and other nutrients would be released into the pot during cooking. These traditions are still carried on today, in traditional cuisines all over the globe.
Several of the peoples studied by Dr. Weston A. Price, particularly the Inuit, split the bones so they could eat the marrow. All of the peoples studied by Dr. Price ate foods made with bones, often in the form of bone broths. These people had excellent teeth, strong bones, powerful immune systems, and were robustly healthy.
Finally, predators such as lions, wolves, and coyotes value the bones of their prey. After eating the liver of their kill, these animals will crack the bones for the marrow and chew on them, often leaving the lean meat for the scavengers. If you have ever given your dog a bone, you can see that dogs also have this traditional wisdom. Chewing on the bones is one of the best ways that these animals can get necessary minerals.
Meat on the Bone Tastes Much Better
Prime rib of beef, Porterhouse steak, T-bone steak, and lamb chops are bone in cuts that are popular even today. These cuts are very expensive and highly prized. Our ancestors ate a much wider variety of bone in cuts. Sirloin steaks, strip loin steaks, lamb roasts, beef roasts, pot roasts, pork roasts, and stews were all cooked with the bones. Almost all poultry was cooked with the bones, as were most fish. The reason for this was that the bones add so much flavor, as well as nutrition. When you cook meat on the bone, the marrow and other substances from the bones actually flavor the meat, adding succulence and a depth of taste that just does not exist with a boneless cut. The bones also help keep the meat moist, and help conduct heat throughout the meat so it cooks more evenly. If you are cooking the meat in liquid, the bone marrow, gelatin, minerals, and other substances from the bone enter the liquid, imbuing it with wonderful flavors, and causing it to thicken into a wonderful, flavorful sauce. There are a number of traditional recipes that call for adding extra bones to stews, pot roasts, and even the roasting pan to add these flavors to the dish. Meat is always tastier when cooked on the bone.
How to Add the Benefits of Bones to Your Diet
The simplest way to enjoy the benefits of bones is to cook bone in cuts. These are cuts of meat that still have the bone attached. When you eat the meat, do not be afraid to chew all the meat off the bones. Do not hesitate to discreetly suck on the bones, especially if you can get some of the marrow. You may find this to be immensely satisfying, as I do. Of course, don’t swallow any bones.
Another great way to enjoy the benefits of bones is to make real bone broth from the bones of pastured animals, simmered for many hours so the nutrients of the bones are released into the broth. My cookbook, Tender Grassfed Meat, has a number of such broth recipes, as does Sally Fallon’s magnificent work, Nourishing Traditions. Tender Grassfed Meat also includes a number of recipes for cooking bone in meat.
This post is part of Fight Back Friday Blog Carnival at Food Renegade.
Eating in Season: Roast Spring Lamb on the Bone
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
Roast Spring Lamb with Asperagus and Potatoes
Food is always better in season. Our ancestors knew this. Before food was industrialized, we would wait for that particular time of year that each fruit and vegetable would reach its peak of flavor and nutrition, when it would arrive at the markets with great anticipation. The first plump, juicy cherries, the first sweet corn of the year, the first fragrant peaches—were awaited eagerly and consumed with joy. People welcomed the first spring lamb of the year. This lamb, nourished by the rich green grass of spring, often flavored by the young flowers and herbs also loved by sheep, had a tenderness and flavor that was exquisite, beyond compare.
Lamb is available all year round now, and is not very popular in the United States. Most lamb raised in the US has been bred to gargantuan sizes, finished on grain rather than grass, and tastes nothing like the lamb humanity has enjoyed for most of history. No wonder people don’t like it. I don’t like it. But you can still find the real spring lamb, lamb finished on the sweet green grass of spring, lamb that is mild and sweet and tender, infused with the flavor of herbs, lamb that is absolutely delicious.
This lamb is at its absolute best when cooked on the bone, with the flavor of the meat being enhanced by the marrow, and the internal cooking aided by the heat conducted by the bone. It is even better when naturally basted with a cap of its own natural fat.
You can only find the real traditional lamb from grassfed farmers, who raise lamb the traditional way. This recipe was made with a bone in leg of lamb from Northstar Bison, whose lamb is exquisite (as is their bison).
No people honored lamb more than the Greeks, a tradition going back thousands of years. I have used Greek flavors with this wonderful grassfed lamb. Once you taste this lamb, you will understand why spring lamb was so valued.
Roast Spring Lamb on the Bone
1 (4-5½ pound) bone in leg of lamb, (if you cannot find a whole leg of lamb this small, you could use a half leg of lamb of equivalent weight)
4 cloves organic garlic, quartered
1 medium sized organic lemon, well washed
2 teaspoons fresh organic thyme leaves
1 teaspoon dried organic or imported oregano, preferably Greek or Italian
1 teaspoon freshly ground organic black pepper
1 teaspoon coarse unrefined sea salt, preferably French, crushed
4 tablespoons unfiltered organic extra virgin olive oil
- The night before you plan to cook the roast, cut 16 slits, about an inch deep, all over the top and sides of the lamb. Push a garlic quarter into each slit, as deep as it will go.
- Roll the lemon on a flat, hard surface, pressing down with your hand. This will help release the juice. Cut the lemon in quarters, and squeeze the juice into a glass bowl. Remove any seeds from the bowl. Reserve the lemon quarters.
- Add the thyme, oregano, pepper, salt, and olive oil to the lemon juice, and mix well to make a marinade. Place the lamb in a glass bowl, and coat well with the marinade. Crush the lemon quarters a bit in your hand (warning, your hand will smell like lemon), and press the yellow side of the lemon quarters into the meat. Cover, and refrigerate overnight.
- Remove the lamb from the refrigerator an hour before you plan to start cooking it, so it can come to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Place the lamb in a roasting pan, fat side up, and pour any marinade left in the bowl over the lamb. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, baste with the pan drippings, and return to the oven. Cook for another 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, baste with the pan drippings, and return to the oven. Turn the heat down to 300 degrees. Cook for another 30 to 50 minutes, depending on how you like your lamb.
Serve and enjoy! Remember that lamb tastes best when it is hot, not warm.
This recipe is part of Real Food Wednesday Blog Carnival at Kelly the Kitchen Cop.
Podcast Interview about Grassfed Meat
Low-carb expert and advocate, Jimmy Moore, interviews me on the Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show. We talk about all things grassfed—cooking, health, and nutrition. I really enjoyed the interview and think you will too. Here’s a link to the podcast:
Stanley Fishman Cooks Grassfed Meats the RIGHT Way!
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