Beef. It’s what for dinner. (Hoedown from Aaron Copeland’s Rodeo should be playing in your head right now.). Beef has gotten a very bad rap in the past few years – cholesterol-laden, heavy, calorie-dense, something to avoid. Which is too bad. Since beef, provided it’s not laden with hormones and peculiar chemistry, is a delicious, good-for-you food. It’s naturally low in sodium, is a good source of riboflavin, niacin and zinc, and a very good source of protein, vitamin C, vitamin B12, iron, phosphorus, copper and selenium. And three ounces — a small serving of, say Korean-grilled beef strips wrapped in a lettuce leaf with plenty of grated carrot and other raw veggies, or maybe the beef that would be part of an individual taco salad, or the amount in a bowl of pho (pronounced ‘fuh’) — is approximately123 calories.
Beef is one of those meats that make you realize firsthand that the organism it is what it eats, since beef tastes different in different countries. British beef has a completely different flavor from American beef, which are both different from French or Canadian (or, I’m presuming, Korean or Japanese, though I’ve never eaten there).
Additionally, different breeds exhibit different culinary characteristics — Angus tastes slightly different from Irish Dexter, for example, which is different from Jersey.
Owen McCoy in Rock Hall, who seems to raise some of everything that lives and moves and has its being under the sun, raises grass fed Irish Dexters and Jerseys. Dexters are extremely lean. I’ve bought both from him (butchered to my specs) over the years and prefer Jerseys, which are slightly fattier and more tender. Owen is now working on Dexter/Jersey crosses to produce what he hopes is the best of both breeds.
In addition to breed, what the animals eat also has an impact on flavor, fattiness and tenderness. Corn produces fattier animals in a shorter period of time while grass feeding takes longer, but is more compatible with the ruminant’s natural digestive system. (Think less methane, which is a big greenhouse gas. Cattle emit about 5.5 tons of it each year according to the EPA). There is considerable research these days that indicates grass fed beef is healthier for the consumer too, but American taste buds have grown accustomed to corn fed beef. Some herdsmen are returning to grass for cattle, and some finish them on corn to help add the marbling to their meat. Fattier beef is purported to have more flavor than lean, though it may just be a different flavor.
“You can taste [the difference in] a grain-finished animal,” says Marian Fry of Fair Hill Farm just outside Chestertown. Ed and Marion Fry raise organic grass fed Angus. “It’s what we’ve gotten used to in the last two generations. [But] with Angus the meat is still tasty and tender even if it’s all grass fed. We just had some and I was very pleased with our grass fed Angus, both in terms of tenderness and flavor.”
Which is why Crow Farm in Kennedyville raises Angus beef on grass that the farm produces.
“It’s a closed system,” says Judy Crow. “The cattle are raised on the farm and what they eat is grown on the farm. We offer them corn silage [corn shocks and greenery], too. Right now everyone’s chomping down on Sudan grass, which is a real tall drought tolerant grass.”
The drought tolerance of grass is significant considering the current drought that has our farmers chewing their nails around here.
One really good thing about having grass fed, organic or naturally-raised beef in the freezer (aside from the virtuous sense of doing the best you can for your loved ones and friends) is the culinary experimentation and variety it gives rise to. Ribs on the grill with a variety of rubs, ribs in the oven with bourbon glaze, paper-thin slices of beef (cut them half-frozen) marinated and grilled, bobotie (South African curried beef), beef lo mein, bulgogi (Korean marinated beef), beef with broccoli, spaghetti and meat sauce, meatloaf, stuffed cabbage, Argentine grilled beef with chimichuri, albondigas, a Mexican beef and vegetable soup that uses much of what’s coming out of the garden right now, hamburgers stuffed with whatever comes to hand – leftover cheese, stale bread crumbs, leftover roasted vegetables chopped up with raw onion – an all-beef patty, homemade special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickle, onion on a sesame seed bun.
We have several great sources of local grass-fed beef in our area. See below.
Hamburgers with Homemade Special Sauce
1 pound ground beef
dash Worcestershire, pepper
1 Spanish or red onion, sliced
4 large lettuce leaves – whatever kind you like, iceberg is nice and crunchy
¼ pound sliced cheddar
dill pickle slices
sesame seed buns or kaiser rolls
Special Sauce
1/3 cup good mayo
3 tblsp ketchup
3 tblsp chopped sweet pickle
squeeze of lemon juice
Make four beef patties and put a slight depression in their middles so when they cook, they come out flat rather than mounded. Fry in a pan (grilling dried out burgers) to desired doneness. Mix sauce ingredients. Stack the burgers with the sliced onion, etc. onto a bun or roll, and top with a big dollop of special sauce. Add the bun top and hang over the plate as you eat these. They’re messy but good. I used to make them at least once every tour while cooking on the tug. It helped when we were coming to the end of the tour and I was coming to the end of the food budget.
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/stir-fried-beef-lo-mein-recipe/index.html
https://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/broccoli_beef/
https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Beef-Satay-237069
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/mike-mills-beef-ribs-recipe/index.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsSiA-JHm0U
https://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/beef_stroganoff/
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/beef-and-pork-tamale-pie-recipe/index.html
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/beef-short-ribs-recipe/index.html
https://www.food.com/recipe/best-albondigas-soup-107281
https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/beef-products/3477/2
Crow Farm
12441 Vansants Corner Rd.
Kennedyville, MD 21645
410-648-5687
https://www.crowfarmmd.com/about.html
Sells direct from the farm — individual price list, and special packaging: grilling packs, family packs, freezer quarters, halves of whole. Partnered with Homestead Farms CSA in Millington. Imperial and Village Bakery also offers dishes with Crow Farm beef.
Also sells pork.
Fair Hill Farm,
10118 Augustine Herman Hwy
Chestertown, MD 21620
(410) 778-2372
No beef available right now but there will be some in the fall. Contact Marian Fry at
Sells organically certified Angus by the whatever. Individual cuts, roasts, stew. “If someone is interested in halving a large amount of their freezer, we can make arrangements for that prior.”
Owen McCoy
Greenhedge Farm in Rock Hall
Email: omccoy@ baybroadband.net
443-480-1893
Freezer quarters, halves, and whole. No beef right now, but some in the fall. Call.
Also sells goats.
Richardson’s Farm
10946 Kennedyville Rd.
Kennedyville, MD 21645
410-348-9920
no website
hormone-free Angus beef by the 1/4, 1/2 and whole. Call for info and pricing.
Cedar Run Cattle Co
320 john Powell Rd.
Sudlersville, MD 21668
410-556-6728
https://www.cedarruncattle.com/
also sells pork and chicken
Sassafras River Beef
P.O. Box 616
Cecilton, MD 21913
410-275-1238
https://www.sassafrasriverbeef.com/
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