Photos of recipes from the new book Tender Grassfed Barbecue
Photos of recipes from the cookbook Tender Grassfed Meat
Frugal and Delicious: Traditional Ways to Stretch Grassfed Meat
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
Ingredients for Traditional Burger Mix: ground grassfed beef from U.S. Wellness Meats; pastured eggs; and chemical-free sourdough spelt bread.
Many people who eat grassfed meat have trouble affording the higher cost. Grassfed meat is more expensive than factory meat, in a per pound cost. However, there are many ways to reduce the cost of grassfed meat, such as buying a whole, half, or quarter animal, joining a CSA, searching the websites of trusted providers for specials, making a good deal with a local farmer, and other similar methods. But there is another way to make grassfed meat feed more people and provide more meals, which was developed over the centuries in Europe and elsewhere. Add wholesome and less expensive ingredients that literally enable you to stretch the meat, while adding a delicious taste and texture. Done right, these dishes can actually taste better than a dish made up only of meat.
The ordinary European had a hard time getting meat, so they made the most of it. Meat scraps were made into stews combined with many different vegetables. Chopped or cubed meat was often added to grains such as wheat, rye, oatmeal, rice, kasha, and barley. Sausages often contained a large number of non-meat ingredients such as grains, fat, sometimes blood, and sometimes all three. Onions, chopped, or sliced, or pureed, were added to almost every meat dish other than roasts or steaks, and often to those dishes as well. Herbs, fresh and dried, were added for flavor, as were spices such as pepper, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and others. Spices were usually added in very small amounts, because spices were expensive. The use of small amounts meant that the spices did not overwhelm the meat, but blended with the other ingredients to create a wonderful taste.
Ground meat is usually the lowest priced form of grassfed meat available, especially in bulk. Traditional European cuisines had many recipes for ground meat, almost always stretched by the addition of other ingredients, both for economy and taste. The added ingredients often included eggs, onions, milk, cream, stale bread or bread crumbs, small amounts of various spices, and always some of the fat of the animal. Ground meat was cooked in the form of meatballs, meatloaves, as part of the filling for pies, in sausages, as part of a filling for all kinds of pastries, and in dumplings. These methods and flavors work very well with modern grassfed beef. Adding traditional ingredients to ground meat can result in a hamburger, for example, that is much tastier than an all meat burger.
I want to make a distinction between the traditional use of stretching meat with other ingredients, and the modern factory food method of making more money by adding ingredients such as soy protein, water, and all kinds of other filler materials to ground meat before the meat is sold. The traditional practice of adding other ingredients to ground meat occurred only when the meat was actually cooked, not when it was bought. Any ground meat I buy is 100% grassfed and grass finished, with no ingredients except meat and meat fat.
The following is my version of a typical European meat mixture for hamburgers. There are hundreds of different versions. This one contains many of the typical ingredients used to stretch ground meat in Europe and is delicious. It is intended for grassfed hamburgers. The mixture can be grilled, sautéed in a frying pan, or cooked under a broiler. It should be cooked thoroughly, with medium rather than high heat. Stale bread does not appeal to me, so I have substituted fresh bread crumbs.
Traditional Burger Mix
1 pound grassfed ground beef
2 slices chemical free sprouted or sourdough bread of your choice
1 small organic onion, very finely chopped
2 pastured or free range organic eggs
1 teaspoon coarse unrefined sea salt, crushed
1/2 teaspoon organic freshly ground pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground organic cloves
- Chop the bread into cubes, and crumb in a blender.
- Break the eggs into a small bowl, and beat lightly with a fork until well combined.
- Add the crumbs, eggs, and all other ingredients to a large bowl, and mix until well combined. Traditionally, this would be done with your clean hands, but it is a sticky experience, and it can be hard to wash the mixture off your hands. A large spoon is a very practical alternative.
- Form into hamburgers and cook, or refrigerate until just before cooking. This delicious mixture should be used within 24 hours of being made.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday Blog Carnival at Kelly the Kitchen Kop.
Read more frugal real food blogs at Pennywise Platter Thursday at the Nourishing Gourmet.
Mushroom Cream Sauce Makes Luxurious Leftovers
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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.
S 510 Threatens Our Freedom
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
Organic vegetables from our local Farmers’ Market
One of the most basic American freedoms is the freedom to choose what we eat. This right to choose our own food is severely threatened by Senate Bill S 510, the “Food Safety†bill, currently pending in the United States Senate. The provisions of this bill would do little or nothing to improve food safety. Instead, the bill would impose crushing and expensive paperwork requirements on all food producers, including small farmers. For the first time in our history, the bill would also give the FDA complete control over how crops are raised. These provisions could drive many small farms and farmers’ markets out of business.
Our Heritage of Food Freedom
One of the earliest rights enjoyed by Americans was the right to choose our own food. Every country in Europe restricted what foods were available to most of their people. It was particularly hard for most people to get meat or fat. Most people were forbidden to hunt by poaching laws. Hunting was reserved for the wealthy and those of noble birth. Most of the meat and fat from farm animals was also reserved for the wealthy and the nobles. Most ordinary people rarely had the opportunity to purchase meat and fat, which was also very expensive. Even the farmers rarely got to eat meat or fat, as they usually had to sell their meat animals in order to pay taxes.
There were little or no restrictions on hunting in the Thirteen Colonies, which later became the United States of America, and game was plentiful. It was also easy to raise animals for food, and there were very few taxes. Meat and animal fat were easily available to just about anybody. Many Europeans immigrated to the United States because they heard that even the poor could eat meat there.
The founders of the United States of America were well aware of the importance of food freedom.
Thomas Jefferson said, “If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.â€
How S 510 Threatens Our Freedom to Choose
The Senate bill threatens our freedom to choose our food in two major ways:
- Burdensome paperwork requirements: These requirements are a crushing burden on small farmers, who could be fined and severely punished if they don’t fulfill the paperwork requirements perfectly. While big food producers can easily hire people whose only job is to complete the paperwork, small farmers cannot afford to do so. This could drive many small farmers and producers out of business, leaving only the big producers. The big producers almost always produce factory food, because that maximizes their profits. It is the small farmers who produce the best organic food, artisanal quality food—the food that many of us prefer to eat. If small farmers are driven out of business by the paperwork burdens of S 510, we will have nothing to eat but factory food.
- FDA control of farming: The power to regulate is the power to destroy. S 510 would give the FDA the power to control how fruits, vegetables, and grains are grown. It is no secret that the FDA is biased towards the factory food model of large-scale agricultural production. It is very likely that the FDA would impose the same standards on all farms, large or small, conventional or organic. The FDA would have the power, for example, to require the use of pesticides. The FDA could also require that all produce be irradiated in the name of food safety. While the bill tells the FDA to consider the impact of its regulations on small farms and organic farms, it does not require the FDA to give these farms any special consideration. By forcing all food to be grown in exactly the same way, the FDA can take away our supply of the foods we would prefer to eat.
Food Safety Regulations Must Not Deprive Us of Our Freedom to Choose
The supporters of S 510 ask how anybody could be opposed to food safety. I very much want our food to be safer, much safer. But I do not want to lose the right to choose the food that I eat. It must be understood that there always is a tradeoff for freedom. Safety is never absolute. Freedom often involves a degree of risk. As Americans, we are allowed to do many things that are dangerous:
- We are allowed to drink alcoholic beverages, even though drinking causes many thousands of deaths a year.
- We are allowed to drive automobiles, even though tens of thousands of people are killed in automobile accidents every year.
- We are allowed to use over-the-counter and prescription medications, even though hundreds of thousands of people die as a result of taking these drugs.
- We are allowed to take part in dangerous sporting activities such as: skiing, snowboarding, bungee jumping, water skiing, skydiving, etc.
We certainly should have the right to eat the food of our choice.
Inspections Make Food Safer—Not Paperwork
We could make food much safer by having independent, well-trained inspectors inspecting every food processing plant. The inspectors would actually inspect the food, rather than review paperwork. The food should be regularly tested for pathogens in a reasonable manner.
S 510 Must Be Changed to Protect Our Freedom to Choose Our Food
If S 510 destroys small farming and organic farming in the United States, we will have lost our freedom to choose our food. High quality food will become rare and expensive, available only to the rich and powerful.
I urge you to contact your senators and congressperson and ask them to either vote against the bill, or to insist that it be modified to exempt small farms from all its provisions. You can also send an email through the Western Organization of Resource Councils’ automated system.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday Blog Carnival at Kelly the Kitchen Kop.
Related Post
Stop Senate Bill 510—Save Organic Food
The Best Roast Duck
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
Properly roasted duck is a joy to eat. Duck has a great deal of fat, which has been prized in Europe and Asia for thousands of years. The crisp flavorful skin of a great roast duck is maybe the tastiest fat of all. Yet most recipes for roast duck are mediocre, and do not do justice to the skin, which is the most delicious part.
There are three big issues when cooking a great duck.
- The skin must be dried, so it comes out crisp, not soft.
- The subcutaneous fat must be rendered during the cooking process, without drying out the meat.
- The duck‘s flavor must be enhanced by just the right amount of seasoning, rather than be overwhelmed.
My quest for the ultimate roast duck led me to many places. I tried and modified recipes from all over the world. My quest ended in Poland, and China, and Vietnam.
The flavors are from Poland. The drying technique is from Vietnam. The roasting technique is from China. The taste is from heaven.
The following recipe is the best I know for roast duck. It does a great job of rendering the interior fat, which I save and use in cooking. Even better, it has perfect crisp skin, tender juicy meat, and an absolutely wonderful flavor.
Here is the link to the recipe, which appears on Moms for Safe Food, a great website that not only educates about the dangers of artificial foods, but often contains wonderful recipes.
Peking Duck with Polish Flavors
Two Simple Rules for Good Nutrition
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
These beautiful pastured eggs were raised by my dear friend Sheri. Note the beautiful orange yolks full of nutrition.
Understanding nutrition may seem hopeless. There are hundreds of books, thousands of articles, thousands of studies, dozens of conflicting theories, and endless advertisements. All this information can be very confusing. But you don’t have to know all of it. I enjoy the benefits of great nutrition by following two simple rules.
Rule Number 1: Eat only the natural, whole, and unmodified foods humankind has been eating for thousands of years.
Rule Number 2: Eat only those natural, whole, and unmodified foods which have been raised, processed, and prepared by the methods humankind has used for thousands of years.
Following these rules has literally taken me from constant chronic illness to robust good health. Here is why I follow these rules:
Rule Number 1: Eat Only the Natural, Whole, and Unmodified Foods Humankind Has Been Eating for Thousands of Years
Our bodies know how to digest and handle natural molecules, especially those that humankind has been eating for thousands of years or longer. For thousands of years, our bodies have adapted to digest these molecules, and this knowledge is passed down in our genes, and in the very makeup of our bodies. We are born with it.
When we eat foods made up only of natural substances that our bodies are programmed to digest, our bodies and organs know exactly what to do. The nutrients are extracted from the foods and used to nourish, fuel, and regenerate our bodies. The waste and toxins are identified and removed from the body.
Unfortunately, now humans eat foods where the very molecules have been modified into something no human body has ever been programmed to deal with. This started a few hundred years ago with refined sugar and refined flour, increased enormously in the 20th century, and is very common today, with all kinds of hydrogenated foods, trans fats, many thousands of artificial laboratory-made and/or modified foods and chemicals, artificial fertilizers, pesticides, livestock raised on feed that is not part of their natural diet, the use of artificial hormones and antibiotics, and other unnatural foods.
Our bodies literally do not know what to do with these new molecules, which do not exist in nature and are created by technology.
Rule Number 2: Eat Only those Natural, Whole, and Unmodified Foods which Have Been Raised, Processed, and Prepared by the Methods Humankind Has Used for Thousands of Years
The knowledge of how to raise, process, and prepare food has been passed down over many thousands of years. This knowledge represents the collective experience of many millions of our ancestors, who learned over time how best to raise, process, and prepare food. They knew a lot more that they are given credit for.
For example, they did not have refrigeration, but they knew how to preserve food, by natural fermentation, smoking, drying, salting, and many other methods, including cold storage and freezing when permitted by the weather. These methods often increased the nutritional value of the food.
Our ancestors knew how to process foods so the nutrients were available, often by soaking, sprouting, fermenting, and other such methods.
Our ancestors knew how to cook foods so as to preserve and enhance the nutritional value, and how to combine different foods into nourishing meals.
Our bodies adapted to the traditional methods of raising, processing, and preparing foods over thousands of years, and know how to digest such foods.
Modern methods of raising, processing, and preparing food change the very molecular structure of the food, once again giving us molecules that our bodies do not know how to digest, or what to do with.
Even the most natural and traditional foods will have their molecular structure and content changed by modern methods such as: cooking with very high heat; using cookware made of space age materials like aluminum and the metals in non-stick cookware; irradiation; microwaving; hydrogenation; modification; homogenization; preservatives; artificial colors and flavors; and many other modern methods of dealing with food. Again, our bodies do not know what to do with these artificially changed molecules.
The result of following these two rules is that you know what food to put into your body and your body knows what to do with the food you put into it.
How I Follow These Rules
Learning how to follow these rules is simple, though it is a lot of work. The blessings of good nutrition are more than worth the effort. And it becomes easier and easier, once you are used to it.
I rely on two cookbooks in following these rules. Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats, the magnificent work by Sally Fallon and Dr. Mary Enig, provides information and recipes on just about everything except how to cook grassfed meat. Tender Grassfed Meat: Traditional Ways to Cook Healthy Meat, my cookbook, provides information on grassfed meat and how to cook it, in detail. Yes, I do use my own cookbook.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday Blog Carnival at Kelly the Kitchen Kop.
This post is part of Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade.
Butter Helps Weight Loss
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
Pastured butter
Pastured butter is one of the finest foods you can eat. It is perhaps the single most nutritious food available to us. The nutritional benefits of pastured butter are too extensive to summarize here. Here is a link to an excellent article describing the many benefits of butter: Why Butter Is Better. Yet butter has been under attack for decades. Many people are afraid to eat it. People think butter will make them sick and fat. The truth is that butter is very nutritious and helps in weight loss by providing necessary nutrients and satisfying the appetite. Yet a famous cardiologist came out recently and said that butter causes weight gain, citing a Spanish study.
Here is a “study†that I find convincing. Low-carb advocate Jimmy Moore has been eating eight tablespoons of pastured butter a day for the last several weeks. Jimmy Moore lost over 24 pounds in 3 weeks while eating 8 tablespoons of butter every day. Does that sound like weight gain? Butter helps weight loss.
But what about that Spanish study? Jimmy Moore interviewed a number of qualified experts about this Spanish study. They were not convinced, and pointed out many problems with the study and the way it was interpreted. Here is a link to Jimmy’s blog on the subject, which includes the experts’ response:
Does Butter Raise Insulin and Make You Fat? The Low-Carb Experts Respond to this Claim
Here is a link to my podcast interview with Jimmy Moore:
Stanley Fishman Cooks Grassfed Meats the RIGHT Way!
This post is part of Fight Back Friday 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.
Energizing Egg Recipe: A Nutritional Powerhouse
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
Ultimate Energizing Eggs
This just might be the most nutrient-dense egg dish I know.
This recipe was inspired by low-carb advocate Jimmy Moore. Jimmy is on a very unusual diet. He is eating only eggs, butter, and cheese. For each egg he eats, he has 1 tablespoon of butter and can have up to 1 ounce full fat cheese. Jimmy is using pastured eggs from a local farmer, pastured butter, and raw cheese. The amount of nutrients in each of these ingredients is huge, and combining them enhances their value even more. This diet has ignited a storm of controversy on the Internet, but Jimmy is fine with it. He has lost over 20 pounds in two weeks, and has been able to give up artificially sweetened diet soda for the first time in six years. He is full of energy and feels great. Jimmy calls this diet “eggfest.â€
I should mention that this diet was specifically designed for Jimmy by health care professionals, and he is being carefully monitored while on it. Obviously, this is a short term diet, not a permanent one.
I am not recommending or condemning this diet. I am doing fine with the Weston A. Price Foundation diet, and I am not about to give up my grassfed meat and fat.
But I do recommend this egg dish, which combines all the elements of Jimmy’s eggfest to create a nutritional powerhouse. This is a wonderful dish for breakfast, and I find it really energizes me. And it tastes very good indeed. The stirring is very important as it really combines all the ingredients well. It may look like ordinary scrambled eggs, but wait until you taste it!
Here is a link to my podcast interview with Jimmy Moore:
Stanley Fishman Cooks Grassfed Meats the RIGHT Way!
Ultimate Energizing Eggs (The Jimmy Moore)
4 pastured eggs
4 ounces raw cheddar cheese, full fat
4 tablespoons pastured butter
- Chop the cheese into very small pieces.
- Break the eggs into a bowl and mix well with a fork.
- Add the cheese to the eggs and mix well.
- Heat the butter in a medium sized skillet over medium heat until the butter melts.
- Add the egg/cheese mixture to the butter and start stirring the mixture in a clockwise direction with a fork as it cooks.
- Continue to cook and stir until the eggs set. They should set within a few minutes and look just like the photo of the recipe.
Serve and ENJOY!
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday Blog Carnival for March 31, 2010 at Kelly the Kitchen Kop.
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