Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Sometimes There's Meat

Poor dude. Cranky. Gots to have some animal protein every so often, so I agreed to a ribeye steak. Two.
The reason I was interested in the steak was that we had some leftover Andante herbed goat cheese, and I thought I'd love that melted over a slab of beef.
The cheese was a little too herby for my enjoyment on mere bread and crackers, but a hunk of charred meat likes some vegetation. And: Remember those anachronistic "upscale" hamburgers from the '70s with a wad of bleu cheese in the center? So this made sense, in a goofy way.
It was really too much meat for me, but... that's just me.
The best part is that Cranky allowed me to say when the steaks were done cooking. I've learned the trick about pinching the meat to see how resistant it is. Soft: raw. Firm: overdone.
This time I just used the tongs to press into them, and made a snap decision. At the right moment.
Done.
To my liking.
The steaks were beautifully, unimaginably mahoganized on the outside. And completely pink, throughout, on the inside.
OK, a little tough. But it's grass-fed beef and I'm a fan of the producer.
So there are leftovers.
(Beef Stroganoff!)

21 comments:

Heather Jefferies said...

I'm a fan too and I don't eat much meat at all. We just picked up half a local pastured cow and stuffed him into the big freezer (thus displacing my nine billion fermented and then frozen bananas and I'm still not so happy about that). Now that we've dispatched with the nanny this will keep us in meat protein for two to four years and I can stew it up with the best of them.

Sam said...

My new addiction is Pather's Skirt steak. Not quite so local. But close enough. Next time I will try the MSF version.

they only take about 3 mins to cook each side and taste like butter and not too expensive. We usually make 4 meals out of about $12 of the steak.

cookiecrumb said...

Alecto: OMG, you canned her! I wish you success with your next hire.
Now, I have GOT to hear about fermented bananas, because... that's so me. Do you know Diana Kennedy's recipe for banana vinegar?

Sam: It's nice to stretch out the meat. I have no problem at all eating Prather; not so far that it's illegal (this is not a cult!).
I think a skirt steak might be more tender, even.
xx

Anonymous said...

Darn it, cookie. I have a beef stroganoff problem. Whenever anyone says it, I have to have it and I obsess until I get it. I have short ribs cooking in the oven, but nooooo ... you had to go and say beef stroganoff. :)

Anonymous said...

I don't eat a lot of meat either, but I'm an absolute sucker for a juicy hunk of rare beef. Like, really rare. Rosemary's Baby rare. And now I'm craving raw meat done with these flavors, like a steak tartare with gorgonzola. I wonder if I have worms....

Zoomie said...

I'll bet he's not cranky any more even though he's still Cranky.

Chilebrown said...

I just do not get this grass fed thing. Is it so wrong to feed them corn or grain before butchering? Kobe beef,Wagyu cattle are supposed to be fed on grain and beer. I like my beef to be not politcally correct or the latest fad.
I do use charcoal that claims to slow down Global Warming.

Ms Brown Mouse said...

I'm off for a big fat steak this very night, I crave them every month or so - no blue cheese though *shudders*
Chilebrown - the objection to grain fed beef (for me anyway) isn't so much the feeding of grain to cattle, rather it's the locking the cattle in overcrowded, generally filthy, feedlots in order to feed them grain. They can't move, don't get to graze. it's a little bit like battery cages for hens. I prefer grass fed meat because it's a nicer life for the animal, before they kill it so I can eat it.
If they feed grain to cattle in nice roomy paddocks with a few trees, well I'm eating that steak, no mistake!

cookiecrumb said...

Jen: That's very funny. I don't have a beef stroganoff problem until I have leftover beef, and then, yes, I have to have some.

Tina: Oh, that's too rare for me. I like it "pink," which in restaurantese is "medium."
Worms. Heh!

Zoomie: Even Cranky didn't finish his steak. You might say there was "enough."

ChileBrown: Cows' digestive systems are not built for grain. The cows are always sick, and that's why they're given so much antibiotics.

Morgan: Coincidence!
Yes, we prefer our animals to live happily. Stressed-out animals make bad meat.

Chilebrown said...

Boo Hoo, If cows were higher on the food chain, I bet they would lock us in cages and feed us grain. Go ahead and eat the grass fed beef to feed your conscious. I will eat corn fed beef for the flavor.
Does everybody hate me now?

Dagny said...

OK. Now I'm busy looking at my food list to see what I can cut so that I can have some cheese today. Because yes, besides nonfat yogurt, there has been no dairy in my life this week. And I was fine about it until I saw your photo.

Anonymous said...

I think you were casting aspersions on one of the great loves of my life: Hamburger w/blue cheese. And it loves me back.

cookiecrumb said...

ChileBrown: Nah, you're cool. Next time I see you I will tell you my line about fur coats.
I want you to know, though, that Marin Sun Farms beef tastes "normal."

Dagny: I know how you love your dairy. Me too.

cookiecrumb said...

AltadenaHiker: No, I assure you. I was casting asparagus.
I love that silly burger too.

Zoomie said...

Chilebrown, in case you still aren't convinced, cows fed grains also make fat that isn't as good for humans as cows that make their fat from their natural diet, grass. Cookiecrumb is right - grass fed is still juicy, delicious and worth all the trouble of shopping for it!

Heather Jefferies said...

Oh man, I have to tell you, when I read 'canned her' I thought you meant canned her like I can my tomatoes and I spent a good half the day howling over that one (boy do I wish I had!). Somebody asked me the other day if we sent her off to the 'farm'.

In any event, she is gone and will not be replaced. More on that later maybe but I'll definitely have to get around to explaining the fermented bananas.

cookiecrumb said...

Zoomie: CB's an ornery cuss, god love him. He's not eating grass-fed. ;)

Alecto: Goin' commando, eh? Maybe your 17-year-old can pitch in. I wish you smooth sailing.

meathenge said...

Stretch out the meat? What the hell?

I like grass fed beef that's finished for a few weeks on grain. Perfection!

Stretching meat, gah.

Biggles

ps - tragib

cookiecrumb said...

Biggs: Finished on corn is probably fine. That's Niman. Fine.
But. The beef stroganoff (that's stretched-out meat) was superb. We even saved a little bit of my steak (the other one) to make another stroganoff. Mercy.

ps: palin

Brittany said...

I love it when there's meat.
Ribeye is pretty much my favorite food.
You just made me hungry.

cookiecrumb said...

Brittany: Ribeye is my favorite steak! I remember a million years ago when it was just a cheap junky cut of meat, but now all the good restaurants serve it.