on trying a new thing

First, a dog picture, because everyone loves a dog picture:

Lucy's keeping an eye on the Boy's door because today is President's Day, the kids don't have school, and the Boy is spending some time in his room until he can figure out how polite discourse works. Or until he puts pants on. Whichever comes first.

Over the weekend, I did something I've been meaning to do for quite some time. I bought a quarter of a cow.

See, while we don't live in the country, we are pretty darn close to it. There are a lot of farmers here, who I want to support because it is work that I couldn't do myself. I can barely keep houseplants alive, much less convince them to bear useful fruit. But there are many others around here who excel at such things and I'm happy to give them my money for food whose provenance I can identify.*

We've had a chest freezer in the basement for a few years, bought with the intention of filling it with meat. And, finally, we have.

My only problem with grass fed, etc., meat is that it can be kinda tricky to cook because it comes from cows who have actually moved around during their lives and isn't buttery soft. But last night's brisket was a huge success.

Seriously. You don't even know. 

The recipe was from smitten kitchen's cookbook.** 

But I'm wondering about the rest of the meat, because I suspect there will be some trial and error. And more error. And some trials. Anyone have any go-to recipes?*** 

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* which isn't to say I'm all religious about, like, artisanal parsley. Just that I try to keep the source in mind most of the time. 

** Tonight's dinner will be the gingerbread pancake and I'm making the broccoli salad later in the week. 

***And does anyone want some beef liver? I wound up with more than I want to deal with, which is more than any. Perhaps the dog will be getting some extra fancy treats?

Comments

[Anna]

Fluffy butt! (obligatory dog comment)

I've always wanted a cow. I tried to convince my sister and cousin to buy in with us so that we wouldn't have to buy a chest freezer for the basement. I'd take the liver off your hands, but I fear I am too far away.

[Sarah]

My family belongs to a meat CSA. Once a month we pick-up 10 lbs of cow and chicken. The cuts are always a surprise. They recommend cooking for 2/3 the time recommended for feedlot cows. Their website has recipes, chestnut farms in Massachusetts- you'll have to search. I do a lot of slow cooked meals for the tougher cuts. I'd cook and give all the liver to the dog. blech.

[Lisa H]

I'm not a meat eater anymore, but from what I remember growing up on the farm, Mom always allowed extra time for roasting the meat from our steers, so, yeah, if you can slow cook the cuts of meat, that should help lock in moisture.

Mom used to eat cow tongue. It still makes me wretch thinking about that. The texture! shiver

[Jen]

Oh, how my fiancé would love to have a chest freezer!

I second the suggestion to use the liver as dog treats. Elka has been extremely pleased in the past when we did this. You could also make homemade liverwurst, if you're into that kind of thing (does liverwurst come from liver? You'd think it does, but I don't speak German).

I have a go-to whole chicken in the crock pot recipe: http://weelicious.com/2010/03/16/chicken-in-a-crock-pot-2/

I also have a handful of things I do with ground beef regularly (beef/black bean/brown rice burritos, stuffed peppers, mac and cheese, meatloaf), but nothing written down or linkable.