Buying local:Right way, wrong way, NO way!

At the CIA we are buying some local meat for our St Andrews Restaurant. We have found that the Hudson Valley has a large variety of meats raised by farms within 60 miles of our location including, beef, lamb, pork, poultry and even some veal. We have been getting beef from two producers Meiller's in Pine Plains and Rykowskis in Rosendale NY. Both have quality beef breeds, Meiller's has some very nice Angus and Rykowski has Hereford. These livestock are on pasture and are supplemented with corn and fermented silage which fattens them up. Meillers has been reaching high choice marbling scores and Rykowskis are reaching at least select levels. We have aged the striploins and rib eyes from both with great success. With both of these farmers, sometimes the marbling is high, sometimes low but the cattle are young enough to still have fine fibers and therefore a quality meat.

I have experienced some very high quality strictly grass fed beef from a grower in mid state NY that had the distinct grass flavor but also some marbling. The rib eye we sampled was tender and savory. An innovator in this field is a company called TallGrass in Kansas. http://www.tallgrassbeef.com/ Bill Kurtis, ownner, has a philosophy of raising quality beef on pasture and is gaining some market share. Jo Robinson, the pasture feeding advocate, describes a good pasture fed beef farmer as more of a grass farmer, growing a high quality grass as the main food stuff.

In past posts I wrote about Scottish Highland cattle and their ability to fatten on grass and forage. They have a very fine fiber and produce a lower fat but quality meat. They are not typically raised commercially due to their excessive furry coat and very large horns but there are numerous farms throughout the US that do raise and sell their meat. NY state has over 35 farms registered as raising Highland cattle and many more in New England and Pennsylvania.

Recently we recieved a pasture raised Highland that was raised in Rhinebeck NY. It was not what I expected. The beef had absolutely no fat on the exterior and no marbling at all!. Surely this was not inducative of what this breed represents. It was by no means quality, but not because of the breed but how it was raised. The term "grass fed" doesn't simply mean the animal is allowed to roam a pasture and eat down all the grass, even though this is what, many people believe. High quality grass fed is placed on ripe fresh grass and then moved from pasture to pasture to insure the animal gets plenty of nutrition, even to the point of marbling. I have tasted numerous grass fed steaks that had marbling and might have graded low choice. I understand that Highland cattle develop less fat and maybe it was that it was an extermely hot time of year but this was a waste.

Another issue was the lack of USDA inspection. Farmers can be exempt from USDA inspection if they are selling directly to the end user. The meat must be stamped "NOT FOR SALE" as was the case on or carcass. I called the NY Ags and Markets dept. to confirm my suspicion. This meat was not legal for sale in a restaurant. But what about using it for demo in a school setting? The meat would have been consumed by students, therefore it would be considered part of their meal plan and in effect would have been sold to them, making it illegal.

The third issue was the price. I know that locally grown, fully pastured beef is going for a high price these days but this 500 lb carcass was over $3,000! I recognize the need for farmers to recoup their investment but this seemed excessive, especially considering the quality of the meat.

Lessons learned? Know your farmer if buying local. Local does not simply mean better! Be sure to purchase inspected meat if selling it in a restaurant or shop. Uninspected farmer's market meats are ok for home cooks that are not re-selling but a chef needs to be more cautious.

This post by no means was meant to discourage the use of quality grass fed beef or heritage Highland cattle but there is a right way and a wrong way to buy local meat and there was NO way we could use this example.

Over grazed pasture.

Angus Veal is Real!

Veal in the US is traditionally from Holstein cattle due to the fact that it is primarily the male offspring that aren't usable on the dairy farm. The Holstein can be raised as beef and this is done often but the meat quality is not as desired as from other "meat" breeds such as Angus or Charolais.

About three weeks ago we had the chance to break down an entire veal carcass in class. Chef Soileau purchased it from Hackett Farm, Salt Point NY. It was unique in that it wasn't the typical Holstein veal that we find in most markets, its was from Angus. The idea of taking a higher quality meat breed and harvesting it much younger enabled us to compare these veal. The carcass was a true milk fed product and the calf had been feeding on real milk for its early life but had started to eat some pasture. It was about 4 1/2 months old and weighed about 225 for the cleaned carcass, which is smaller than most of the veal that is found in the commercial marketplace today.

Chef Dave Kamen divided the carcass into the primal cuts and then my class turned everything into roasts , stew, cutlets, chops and grind. We left the breast whole for stuffing.

The color was a little more red than most veal we get but the conformation was very good. The Angus traits could be seen in the nice oval chops. We had aged it for about 8 days so it was nice and firm when we cut it. Most veal is packed about a day after slaughter and it never gets a chance to set up properly. The aging improved its flavor. When I called Chef Soileau about what he thought of it he said " Oh Man! Butter! Best ever! "

Don't expect the veal industry to jump on this band wagon though. Angus calves are very costly as a feeder stock and it may not make economic sense to raise Angus for veal but it was a delight to see this meat and taste the end result.

Wagyu Woes

The other day I assigned some research for my class after reading some disturbing news reports about Wagyu beef in Japan. The assignment was basic, write about the situation in Japan and also find out about Wagyu production in Australia. Being a casual sidebar assignment I allowed a simple web source to be the citation. This is what Maxim Pettersen handed in....

What happened to Wagyu in Japan?:

Japan's prized Miyazaki beef is under threat from the country's first outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease since 2000, which has spread to more than 100 frams. Foot- and- mouth disease is a highly contagious and sometimes fatal viral disease of cloven-hoofed animals such as cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats, and pigs, as well as antelope, bison and other wild bovids, and deer. The disease is highly transmissible and the icubation period has a range between 2- 12 days. It is characterized by high fever, blisters inside the mouth, drooling, blisters on the feet that cause lameness. The outbreak in Japan has forced the slaughtering of 49 seed bulls, leaving only six prized seed bulls that breed the tender beef from Miyazaki. Prime Minister Yukio Hatayama has pledged 100 billion yen ( $1.08 billion dollars) to assist farmers who are expected to lose 16 billion yen from slaughtering their livestock. The foot and mouth otbreak, also known as FMVD, was detected on April 20th, and has spread to 111 farms in Miyazaki, Japan's south, involving more than 85,000 cattle, and pigs. Fears are growing that it may spread beyond Miazaki. http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1259427/Foot-and-mouth-threatens-Wagyu-beef

Wagyu Production in Australia:

Australia received its first Wagyu genetics from a Wagyu female in 1990. Frozen semen and embryos have been available since 1991 and there have been numerous imports of live purebreds into Australia, and specifically in 1997, the first fullbloods came to Australia. The Australian Wagyu Association is the largest breed association outside of Japan. Both Fullblod and Wagyu Croos bred cattle are farmed in Australia for domestic and overseas markets. The Wagyu cattle represent only 100,000 of the 28.8 million cattle in Australia, however takes up 40% of the Australian feedlot space in a 12 month period. The FMVD outbreak that has banned the export of Wagyu cattle in Japan, has increased the demand for Australian Wagyu producers, and some producers hope to double their exports to overseas markets such as the U.S. http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2010/06/07/193891business-news.html

Kiwi, Papya and Sharp Pointy Things

Last class we decided to test out some meat tenderizing techniques. A while back I had purchased a Jaccard knife and we use it regularly to tenderize tougher veal cutlets, skirt steaks etc. I tell the students about how it is used on a larger scale by many portion cutting processors and has its attributes for introducing marinades deeper into the meat. It also has come under some scrutiny because of the problem of possible crosscontamination of bacteria into a steak type cut that will be cooked to medium rare or less. http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?seq_no_115=250404

The Jaccard has its place in the kitchen and if used and cleaned properly it can be a good way to get cuts that are sitting on the tenderness "fence" to be made more palatable.

On to our testing. We chose to use the Beef Sirloin Flap which is palatable but often a little tough to be served as an unsliced portion. While the Jaccard works well we decided to try some other techniques that will do the job. We experimented with two other methods, applying Papya and Kiwi fruit to steak cuts. We peeled and sliced both fruits and messaged them into two separate steaks and left them loose wrapped over night. The third steak was simply Jaccarded without any marinade or spice. When it came time to cook them we seasoned all three with salt and pepper, lightly so as not to interrupt the naturally occuring tastes. They were cooked to medium rare individually in a heavy black skillet with a little rendered beef fat in the pan to prevent sticking.

The results? All three methods were effective in tenderizing the meat with the two fruit methods differing somewhat from the Jaccard. The mechanical method worked well but without any marinade, it turned out a little dry. It also cooked faster due to the ability for heat to "chimney" up the tiny holes that were pierced through it. Moisture had leaked out of the meat but it was still palatable.

The Papya worked well but left a lightly sweet flavor and carmelized quite a bit in the pan. Papya contains a protease enzyme, papain, which chemically breaks down the collagen muscle fiber sheaths within the muscle. Kiwi fruit also contains protease enzymes and the effects from placing it over the steak was also very effective. The Kiwi didn't have quite the same amount of sweetness but did leave a residual flavor. Both fruits broke down the fibers about equally resulting in a steak that could be cut with a regular steak knife with ease. At 24 hrs we did not experience a "mushy" texture that can happen when steaks are left too long. In a previous test we left a steak with Papya over a weekend and it became overly tenderized and very soft which resulted in an unatural texture. The meat fibers had basically disolved.

None of the three in this test were disagreable in taste but there were certainly differences. The question is how would they be used in the kitchen? If you are trying to maintain the original flavor of the meat, the mechanical system is probably best. There is no added flavor. If looking for an ingredient that will add some flavor and can do a nice job tenderizing these two fruits worked well. Other fruits containing protease enzymes are figs, pineapple, and honey dew melon. All of these will do the job but will also add flavor. Be sure not to over marinate due to the mush factor. A half of a kiwi can be enough for about 4 lbs of meat and it is easy to overuse it. http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/tips-techniques/tip-tenderizing-with-kiwi-011683

Steam Bath

The other day we were cutting beef top rounds into trimmed roasts in class. Half the class was cutting Certified Angus and the other half were using regular IBP Choice XT. XT stands for Extra Trimmed, I believe. I was asking the class to observe any differences between the two, hoping for some comments on the fat trim level or marbling scores. Instead what they noticed the most was the fact that the CAB had a discoloration on the exposed meat and the XT did not. The CAB top round was a basic untrimmed subprimal which was packaged "as is" when taken off the bone. The XT had the cap fat trimmed to 1/4 inch and the discoloration trimmed off. The grayish tint is not caused by any spoilage or pathogen, it is the result of the carcass steam cleaning process.

Steam cleaning takes place in most large beef processing plants today. It is typically a combination of whole carcass washing with water, hand held steam vacuums during evisceration, and a steam pasteurization cabinet for the whole split dressed carcass. Often carcasses are also sprayed with an organic acid to further guard against pathogens. IBP, owned by Tyson, developed the "Triple Clean" method after a huge beef recall of about 750,000 lbs in 1998. This method applied the hand held vacuum steamers and a huge car wash type steam cabinet on their line for the first time. The end result is a cleaner beef but also a sort of pre-cooked layer on some exposed cuts. The top round, flank steak, skirt and hanger steaks, and sometimes the tenderloin can be found with some slight discolorations caused by the steam. Most other cuts are protected by the exterior fat or bone coverage.

The basic reason for this extra cleaning is E. coli O157:H7 which is found in the fecal matter on the outside of the hide or in the intestinal tract. The speed of the processing and the fact that cattle often arrive with contaminated hides and intestinals makes extra cleaning a safer alternative. But all this extra cleaning is expensive and errors can be made.

Another idea is to reduce the amount of E coli before the animal leaves its feedyard. This can be done a couple of ways. First by cleaning out excessive waste so animals are cleaner and dryer when they leave. Many times, especially in rainy summer months, cattle are standing in muck. Some feedyards are a lot better about this than others and there should be a standard.

Another is to feed the cattle hay or barley a few days before slaughter. This causes a change in the intestine that helps to reduce the E. coli dramtically. This is not to say that the animal should be on pasture or not ever grain fed but simply creating a dramtic switch from a corn ration to hay for the last few days could reduce E.coli counts significantly. http://www.horizonpress.com/cimb/v/v11/67.pdf So why aren't most large processors demanding this switch to keep the cattle cleaner? Maybe its a weight loss issue or a cost that makes this impractical. But the cost of the steam cleaning must be high too.

Other interventions, such as Lactobacillus-based direct-fed microbials, vaccines and irradiation are also being suggested. Diet introduced probiotics can reduce E. coli. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12747680 There is a vaccine for it too. But both of these add extra expense. One company developed a vaccine and spent $15,000,000 in doing it ( also $50,000,000 in advertising it!) http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6138682

The goal of irradiation is to "pasteurize" the carcass. This would eliminate a lot of pathogen risk and contrary to popular sentiment, it wouldn't glow in the dark. My issue with this method is when a meat is irradiated will the good flora that enables part of the flavor of a proper dry aging be destroyed? How much vitamin content will be lost? Also if the goal of irradiating is to eliminate E.coli by sterilizing it and E.coli is typically found in fecal matter then are we to accept sterilized fecal matter as a food? Not my idea of a fine dining experience.

Steam cleaning is a good idea and it has made our meat supply safer. Hay, you know that dried stuff grown in open fields, seems like a good idea too. There is no one solution but there are some that make more sense than others.

My friend and butcher Josh Applestone had the opportunity to appear on the Martha Stewart Show. The show's theme was butchery and Josh and Martha cut up a half hog. http://www.marthastewart.com/article/how-to-butcher-a-pig

It was interesting to see how casual Martha was with this process but understanding her background as a kid hanging around a butcher shop, it was no problem for her. Today we just don't find kids that grow up around the craft of cutting meat. As children grow into adulthood they simply haven't experienced meat cutting or even shopping for meat from a real butcher. Maybe some people, with parents that hunted or who grew up on a farm setting, have witnessed some butchery, but with the demise of the local butcher, meat has become a distant thing of mystery. Many don't wish to know where their meat comes from or how it is processed. They want it quick, simple and easy to cook. But another type of consumer may want to know how their meat was raised and processed. In days gone by there were numerous local butchers that selected meats from large markets or from farms. Some shops were focused on quality while others on price, depending on the clientele. The butcher could answer some questions about where the meat came from, local or not. They were still in touch with the farm to table trail. Today we find the supermarkets purchasing through large volume jobbers who buy from the processors on a huge scale. The butcher in a supermarket will only know the brand name of the product and that may give a regional clue as to where the meat was raised or how but not as specific as the old style market butchers.

Now we find some individuals wanting to know more about butchery. So where can they go? To the local butcher shop? Not too likely. There are some demonstrations of butchery available at culinary schools. The CIA which I am partial to, of course, offers a basic meat class which I teach a few times a year. Josh and Jessica Applestone are offering some classes now through their shop at Fleishers in Kingston NY http://www.fleishers.com/, there are some locations on the west coast that offer classes now such as Avendano's in SanFrancisco. http://www.avedanos.com/classes.html I attended a class in NJ hosted by the Mangalitsa farm Mosefund in Northern New Jersey. It was taught by an Austrian butcher who showed some alternative cutting techniques. http://mosefund.com/ A quick search on the internet revealed a bunch of classes all over the place, often offered by small shops or restaurants. Some focus on curing and sausage making more than butchery and others focus on game fabrication. I have viewed a lot of clips on Youtube, some good, some very poor, be selective.

Often people claim the art of butchery is lost but today I find a lot of new interest and willingness to explore new techniques. So get out there and learn, like Martha!

Bookbinder Makes Pastrami

My teaching assistant, Steven Bookbinder, decided to make some pastrami a few weeks ago. The process is a simple one but it requires patience and a feel for slow cooking. A good quality pastrami starts with a quality cut. My father often makes it from the plate section but it tends to be very fatty. Most places, such as Katz's Deli in NYC or Schwartz's Smoked Meats in Montreal, use the brisket. At the CIA we got in a case of Prime grade briskets so Steven was in luck!

I had confidence that Steven would make a quality product but I was pleasantly surprised when it was finished. It was one of the best pastrami I've tasted. So what went right? Well first, the Prime brisket was a great start, then a quality recipe supplied by Chef Dave Kamen was valuable. The recipe was varied slightly by Steven to test out a couple things. One was that he did not trim the brisket much, another was the fact that Steven let the briskets dry out for a day after the brining. The spice mix was applied during this time which really got the seasoning deep into the meat. Another variation was the smoking time. The brisket was cold smoked overnight like bacon rather than a hot smoke. Then the last variation was that he steamed it in an intense pressure steamer for about 30 min, until the brisket was super tender! This was no quick process and the key to all of it was patience and allowing for flavors to develop correctly.

Upon finishing it we got a loaf of fresh rye bread from our bakeshop and some Gulden's Spicy Brown mustard. I ate two large sandwiches before I realized that I was ready to explode! As you can see in the photos it was carnage in the meat room as we all enjoyed this treat.

Pastrami is not a fancy food but its hard to find a real one. Thanks to Steven for the treat!

Here's the basic recipe for 2 large briskets....

Ingredients:

Brine:

Water 3 gal.

Salt 2 lbs

Dextrose 10 oz.

TCM 7 oz. ( I've reduced it to 5 oz. before)

Garlic cloves 6 smashed

Pickling Spice 2 Tbsp.

Prime beef Briskets 2 pc.

Spice Rub:

Coriander( cracked) 4 oz.

Black Pepper ( coarse cracked) 4 oz.

Mix the brine making sure all solids are dissolved. Steven used a large, clean plastic bucket. You can pump the brisket with a few oz of brine and then place the briskets in the brine for about a week under refrigeration until thoroughly cured.

Rinse off the brisket and rub the spice mix all over the outside, deep into the fat and meat. Let stand on a rack for about two days, allowing to dry.

Cold smoke slowly for about 8 hrs, until golden brown. Cook in steamer for about 30 min until fork tender and gelatinous.