pork – That's Just Me

Trader Joe’s Spiral Ham

A few days ago, I wrote about my decision to purchase a spiral ham from Trader Joe’s.

The Trader Joe’s “uncured” ham was a compromise between the Smithfield supermarket brand and high-end humanely-raised Whole Foods offerings.

Anyway, EVERYONE at Easter thought the ham was absolutely delicious. DELICIOUS! Scrumptious. I was really surprised how good it tasted. It was a little fattier than supermarket brands, which are loaded with salt. The TJ’s ham was almost half the sodium, and it had a smokey flavor. I’m actually tempted to get another one just for us. LOL

Is it bad to eat corn & soy fed meat from a humanely raised farm?

I’m in the middle of a debate with myself. Which is a better purchase?

100% grass-fed animal products sold at Whole Foods that might or might not be humanely raised, from an faceless farm in different state many many miles away?
or
local humanely-raised outdoors, mostly grass-fed but also fed corn & soy?
or
local humanely-raised outdoors, 100% grass-fed, but at a much higher cost to purchase?

I had a long conversation with a local farmer at the farmer’s market yesterday. He pasture-raises his animals, but he also supplements with soy and corn feed. I don’t necessarily agree with all his reasons to feed GMO corn and soy, but our discussion was enlightening.

Corn-fed beef tastes more familiar to consumers than 100% grassfed, and it’s more cost effective.

He didn’t come right out and say it, but reading between the lines, I realized that as a farmer, you’re trying to sell to many people, so it’s necessary to make local humanely-raised animals more attractive and accessible by keeping the cost as low as you can, and at the same time, offering a meat product that tastes better but more “familiar” to the consumer.

He is a responsible farmer. He uses no chemical fertilizers, as the fields are self-fertilized by the animals. He’s sustainable, and that’s more than we can say about the majority of other farms (even organic) across the country.

I wrestle with the idea of adding corn/soy to a cow’s diet, and I know there are other local farms that do not feed corn and soy, but they also have to charge much much more. Is it worth the extra cost? Perhaps, yes, or perhaps it doesn’t matter so much either way because we personally limit our animal product consumption, and eat mostly plant based foods.

Or perhaps it doesn’t matter because the animals and the farmland they are raised on, are treated with respect and care by ALL of these farmers.

Then it hit me. I realized the most important question I should be asking is how well the animal is being treated? As long as an animal is raised with respect, on land that is equally respected, THAT is a good life. THAT should be priority number one!

So I did purchase a few items from that farmer. I bought a small whole chicken, a beefalo brisket, and a small picnic pork roast. My total was just shy of $60. I’m still considering other sources, but it’s a start for me in my quest for local meat!

PS He told me he feeds about 5-6 pounds of formulated grain (no anti-biotic or growth hormones) to each his beef cows per day; from what I gathered online, the average feedlot cow eats about 20 pounds of corn/grain per day, so, if my calculations are correct, his animals are not getting a whole lot of corn/soy per day and are mostly grass fed.

Sunday is Plan Ahead Cooking Day

Sunday is a great day to cook ahead for the week (and beyond). Today I’m slow cooking two big pieces of yummy meat:

I put a big piece of beef round into my 6 quart cast iron with 2 large purple onions and a good helping of Penzy’s BBQ 3000 spice. I added a few cups of left-over white wine.
And I didn’t have room enough for my normal roasting pan, so I had to use a rectangle glass pyrex dish to cook the big pork picnic shoulder. It was my first time “scoring” the fat on the roast, hopefully it comes out nice and crispy, but not too dry inside! I didn’t season or use any spices. Just a big ole naked pork shoulder!

I was hoping to be able to roast one of the small organic chickens I bought Friday at Whole Foods (on sale @1.69/lb) but there is absolutely no room in that oven. So, the chicken will have to wait until tomorrow, or hmm, depending on when the meat is finished, I might just throw it into the oven tonight.

UPDATE: beef was finished cooking first. I baked some rice and steamed beets & carrots and we ate a delicious dinner. There is enough beef for lunch tomorrow as well as a chili or pasta sauce recipe.

braised beef with onions and wine

Pork is still cooking. I’m almost intimidated to take it out. I hope it tastes good. I mean how bad could it really be? Hmm if it’s good, it could be our lunch tomorrow and I’ll freeze the beef.

UPDATE #2: Oh wow, the pork came out of the oven, and the fat was all crackling and crunchy. Broke off a couple of chunks, and oh oh yum. I allowed it to rest for an hour or so, and then I took it apart in chunks. Some of it was kind of tough and fibrous. I froze the bone with some tough meat attached for a soup starter. There is enough pork for at least three meals for the two of us, plus the bone for soup!

slow roasted pork picnic shoulder

One Day Cooking For Meals All Week

My days are getting longer at work, and then with afternoon errands, it’s been so stressful worrying about finding time for healthy weekday cooking. So, I took a tip from Rachael Ray’s new show, Week in a Day and decided that I would try cooking a bunch recipes on the weekend, making it easier to put together meals during busier days during the week. Plus, I need to fill our new chest freezer with some goodies!

So, today I set the oven on 300° and started cooking:

St Louis Style Pork Ribs

I rubbed some Arizona Dreaming seasoning from Penzey’s Spices on a rack of St Louis style pork ribs and slow cooked them on a roasting pan with rack. Thankfully, I applied a layer of aluminum foil on the bottom of the pan so clean up was a breeze!

They cooked for about 4 hours (300°), and then I raised the oven temp to about 375° to crisp them for a few minutes. Delicious and so easy.

Chuck Beef Roast

Next, I sliced all the outer fat off of a small one pound chuck beef roast (looked like a steak) and cut it into two pieces. In one of my smaller 2 quart cast iron covered pots, I browned each piece separately, then deglazed the bottom of the pan with a little bit of Merlot wine. I added both pieces of beef back into the pot, and covered with large chunks of onion, then poured some additional wine over the top. I let it slow cook (300°) for about 4 hours. I didn’t peek inside the pot, I just kept it covered and left it alone.

We ended up having it for our dinner tonight, and it was scrumptious. Tender and flavorful. Chuck rocks I tell you!!! It’s one of the best cuts of beef, it’s cheap and the flavor is outstanding! And so simple! I didn’t even have to add one smidgen of salt, pepper, spice or herb to the pot, and it develops into lusciousness. Just take the time to brown the meat first, deglaze, then add wine!

Chicken Drumsticks

On the stove, I browned 8 chicken drumsticks (two batches of 4 drums each) with some olive oil in my 4 quart cast iron pot. The chicken was reserved on a plate, while I started sauteing chopped onion, carrot, and some leftover purple cabbage. I thought it would be a good opportunity to try out the new bottle of three acre kitchen Balsamic Marinade I just bought from Whole Foods, so I poured a couple of tablespoons in, and deglazed the pan; it bubbled and reduced very quickly. Then I deglazed again with some Merlot wine, then added the chicken back into the pot, and poured more wine.

I placed the covered pot into the oven (300°) and cooked for hmm, I think it was about 2 hours or so. The chicken was falling off the bone, and I tasted a couple of tiny bits, and it was delicious. I completely cooled the chicken, vegetables, and sauce in a separate bowl, and then transferred into a large freezer bag to freeze for a later date.

Ground Beef and Leek Chili

On the stovetop, I browned a 1/3 pound of grass fed beef in my other 2 quart cast iron pot (I love my 2 quart pots, and I highly recommend this size for smaller 2-3 person families), then added in a couple of chopped leeks. Cooked down for a few minutes, then added poblano peppers (frozen from summer veggies), cranberry beans (also frozen from summer), fresh parsley, a carton of Pomi strained tomatoes and lots of spices and herbs.

That was also put into the oven along side the 4 qt pot with drumsticks, 2 quart pot with beef. The roaster with the ribs was on the bottom oven rack. It all just fit! Phew!

It cooked for about 1.5 hours or so, and then I cooled the chili completely; I transferred most of it into a quart sized freezer bag to freeze for a later date. I kept a portion in the fridge, enough for tomorrow’s lunch for either my husband or myself.

Transitional Whole Wheat Bread

I started my soaker and biga for a loaf of bread yesterday, following the transitional wheat bread recipe from Peter Reinhart. I removed the biga from the fridge this morning, and once all the pots were in the oven, it was perfect timing to start creating the final dough.

By the time the chili and chicken drumsticks were done baking, my dough had risen, was proofed and was ready to be baked, so I temporarily increased the oven temp to 350° and the loaf went into the oven.

40 minutes later, it was baked and I lowered the temp back down to 300° for the beef and pork ribs to finish.

Salad Greens

I was thrilled to find some local organic red and green leaf lettuce at Whole Foods at a bargain price of only 1.29/lb. I picked up 3 heads! The total cost was about $2.50, which equaled to one small head of green leaf from California.

I washed, spun dried, and bagged all of it, so now I have enough lettuce for a few dinner and lunch salads for the week.

Accomplishment

Once everything was done cooking, I poured a cup of jasmine brown rice with 2 cups of water into one of the 2 qt cast iron pots, and in an hour or so, we were ready to eat tonight’s meal.

I think it’ll get even easier next time. I will be able to coordinate a little better, multi-tasking a bit more. But I feel so accomplished knowing that a big portion of the cooking for this week is done!

There is a portion of beef left over along with 2 servings of brown rice, so I have a plan to either make tomato beef sauce (with rice or pasta) or possibly some beef stew with rice, leeks and kale. I think I’ll probably go for the soup.

As for the rest of the week, we have pork ribs, chicken (enough for at least two meals), and chili. I have some beets in the fridge, and they will roast nicely with potatoes and/or a butternut squash. I think we’ll be good to go!

Applegate Farms Uncured Organic Sunday Bacon

I admit, I love bacon. No, it’s not something that I eat every day, but hey, once every week or two, it’s a savory splurge!

I never buy cured bacon, with the added nitrates, so I always look for a natural uncured brand.

I’ve tried the Whole Foods 365 brand, which was good, but I picked up a package of Applegate Farms uncured organic Sunday bacon, and it was fantastic. It cooks nicely in my cast iron pan, and even when over-cooked, it doesn’t shrivel down to tiny pieces. The flavor is superb, and I could probably eat the whole pound in one sitting!

applegate farms uncured organic sunday bacon

I made a batch of Boston Baked Beans with it, and I couldn’t stop myself from frying up a couple of slices for breakfast the next morning! We finished the package for Sunday morning brunch yesterday morning. Aaaah, it was heaven!

The best thing about Applegate Farms bacon is that it’s made from truly natural organic ingredients. There aren’t any unpronounceable ingredients in this bacon:

Organic Pork, Water, Sea Salt, Contains Less Than 2% Of The Following: Organic Evaporated Cane Syrup, Celery Powder.

I found this package of Applegate Farms Uncured Organic Sunday Bacon at Market Basket grocery. I don’t know if they sell it at Whole Foods, I will have to check! I will certainly be purchasing this bacon again!