Beef (Heritage Breed and Humanely Raised). It’s What’s for Dinner.

Several years ago my husband called me from Mendoza, Argentina and exclaimed, “I’ve just eaten the best beef I’ve ever had in my entire life!” The phone call was a bit muffled not because of the distance the phone signal was traveling, but because I could still hear him chewing on a mouthful of sinewy flesh with the delight of a small child stuffing himself on Easter morning with chocolate bunnies and jelly beans.

Well, yesterday I got the chance to make my own phone call about resplendent beef, albeit from a much closer locale in Upperville, Virginia where the Second Annual What’s the Beef? Tasting sponsored by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy occurred yesterday at Ayrshire Farm.

Would be tasters ran the gamut from fellow farmers, to press, to a professor from the University of Virginia, as well as a celebrity tasting panel including Nora Pouillon of Restaurant Nora, Jordan Wright (The Georgetowner) and Akiko Katayama (a food consultant who also moonlights as an Iron Chef judge). We all put our tongues to the test as everyone got the chance to assess ten different heritage breeds of beef. 

The top two winners were the Ancient White Park and the furry-fringed Scottish Highland. Both displayed good flavor and texture but the Ancient White Park pulled ahead as the judges’ favorite due to a more resilient texture that provided a little more mouthfeel. The Scottish Highland’s mouthfeel was a tad flimsier, though it was my personal favorite of the ten. The beef this breed produced had a taste I classified as “retro” because it sparked memories of family cook outs in the backyard on special summer occasions; a base flavor of muted grass, which finished with a balsamic tang.

But more than the beef was on display at yesterday’s tasting. Tasters were as eager to know as much about the beef as the farms’ practices as a designated sustainable, humane-certified farm. The fact that they raise heritage breeds on the farm is not just mere preference for a specific color of animal or the wish to achieve a desired meat taste. The use of heritage breeds represents a reclaiming of sustainable farming methods. Whereas hybridized beef cattle on industrialized farms mature at twice the rate and are fed a diet of corn or grain-based feed filled with antibiotics, the heritage breeds at Ayrshire mature at a normal rate and eat a grass diet where they are finished with grain in the last 100 days before slaughter. 

Heritage breeds also provide a genetically diversified gene pool that has been critically depleted in the scramble for factory farms to process ever increasing quantities of cows at a faster and faster clip.

An Ancient White Park (center) contemplates getting a drink. Photo: Amy Loeffler

For butchers like Tanya Cauthen of Belmont Butchery in Richmond, however, raising cattle for ease of processing is like telling a winemaker, “you can only grow Merlot grapes and you can only process them in this type of tank,” she says. And similar to wine, beef she continues displays subtle nuances that demonstrate terroir according to breed. “We need to raise awareness of the nuance [in different breeds].”

But why bother with humane practices at all if the ultimate destination for farm animals is the butcher’s block?

Adele Douglas is CEO of Humane Farm Animal Care and thinks the issue of humane farming practices has been “bubbling up” for a while as evidenced by books such as Fast Food Nation and films like Food Inc. that have endlessly chronicled the horrors of factory farming. “For however long [the animals] are here people want to know they can express their behaviors. Imagine living your life in an airplane seat,” a reference to some farm animals that are so cramped they can’t turn around in their own stalls.

Critics of humane farming say that the term is a misnomer and that killing any sentient being for food is not humane. On this issue Douglas’ organization is philosophy neutral but points to the reality at hand. “10 billion farm animals are killed in the United States each year. Our goal is to improve the lives of those animals.”

Yesterday at dinner I cut into a pork chop I purchased from the Home Farm, a retail establishment that sells Ayrshire Farm products. The taste? An uncommon earthiness almost like bacon and a buttery texture like lamb. For me the proof that sustainable and humane farming works was in the pudding, or pork rather. 

 –Amy Loeffler

Tags: Ayrshire Farm, beef

Where’s the Beef?

We’ve got a copy of the latest Morton’s cookbook up for grabs. (Whet your appetite here).

To claim it, all you have to do is share:

a) where you shop for choice cuts of meat (local butchers, sustainable farms, commercial groceries, etc.), or;

b) the best steak deals you’ve discovered around town (prime rib nights, chateaubriand specials, cut-rate sirloin sandwiches).

We’ll randomly choose a winner from all comments posted by 5 p.m. Tuesday, June 23.

Anyone who misses out on the gratis meat manual can snag a signed copy from Morton’s co-founder Klaus Fritsch at next week’s D.C. and Reston receptions. Each ticket ($59) nets guests a book, access to a dinner auction and includes a $5 contribution to Feeding America.

–Warren

Tags: beef, cookbook, giveaway, Gut Check, meat, Morton's, Northern Virginia Magazine, recipes, steak, Warren Rojas

Bring on the Butcher Shops

Would that prime cuts of beefs and charcuterie could save our flagging economy.

(Photo: Laurent Jung)

Because this area boasts a slew of custom meat purveyors par excellence.

Tallula/EatBar ex-toque Nathan Anda left the Arlington gastrohub last summer to develop his own charcuterie concept, which has since evolved into the Red Apron Butchery. Though he’s still scouting final locations for the shop–something Anda hopes is “weeks, not months away”–Anda already envisions a full-service facility replete with homemade sauces, gourmet foodstuffs and exotic proteins.

“It’ll be an experience, going in there,” Anda insists. He plans to specialize in “stuff that isn’t available everywhere,” tossing out pig ear terrines, cured lamb bellies, handmade lardo and trotters as potential impulse buys.

In the meantime, Anda’s current catalog (cured meats, homemade hot dogs) will be available for retail purchase at Planet Wine and officially debuts in Buzz’s panini line. Anda is also firming up his relationships with various local farmers markets, estimating that he’ll make the rounds to the weekly Ballston, Penn Quarter and possibly one other open-air showplace beginning early next month.

Anda is also talking with fellow Neighborhood Restaurant Group chefs Anthony Chittum (Vermilion) and Frank Morales (Rustico) about weaving some of his wares into their menus.

“Hopefully, in the coming months, he’ll be using my pepperoni,” Anda said of the spicy sausage he’s developed for Morales’ gourmet pies. He also plans to make his products readily available to incoming Tallula chef Barry Koslow–though he suspects the charcuterie-savvy Koslow will not want for jaw-dropping snackables.

“With Barry coming in, it’s [Tallula] going to be awesome,” Anda predicts.

Meanwhile, Robert Wiedmaier’s new gourmet shop, The Butcher’s Block should be up and running shortly. Chef Chris Watson will oversee a gourmet retailer (along with the fledgling BRABO/BRABO Tasting Room) poised to offer fresh breads, wild game and a bevy of Belgian beers.

Down the road in Del Ray, Aussie butcher Stephen Gatward has developed a loyal following at Let’s Meat on the Avenue by serving up hard-to-find items (kangaroo meat, anyone?) as well as neighborhood necessities (smoked dog bones).

For those who enjoy a a dash of intrigue with their entrails, the mercurial Jamie Stachowski continues to peddle his cured goodies in the darnedest places (next delivery: tomorrow at noon).

And I would be terribly remiss if I didn’t give a nod to the gourmet links that spring from the mind of improbable sausage baron, Stanley Feder.

We’ve never had it so good.

–Warren Rojas

Tags: Alexandria, Anthony Chittum, Barry Koslow, beef, BRABO, BRABO Tasting Room, Buzz, charcuterie, chef, Del Ray, EatBar, Frank Morales, gourmet, Gut Check, Jamie Stachowski, Let's Meat on the Avenue, meat, Nathan Anda, Northern Virginia Magazine, pate, Planet Wine, Red Apron Butchery, Robert Wiedmaier, Rustico, sausage, Simply Sausage, Stachowski Brand Charcuterie, Stanley Feder, Tallula, terrine, The Butcher's Block, Vermilion, Warren Rojas

The Burger to Beat

The Best Cheeseburger Anywhere

Patrick Dinh
Executive Chef, Tuscarora Mill

Tuscarora Mill’s Patrick Dinh said he prefers to keep his cooking “straight up” rather than overly embellishing dishes. “This burger recipe has wonderful flavor, especially with Fiscalini Farms smoked cheddar that gives the burger the ‘punch’ that makes it irresistible,” he estimated. Don’t have a smoky grill handy? Dinh said a cast-iron skillet is an excellent surrogate.

Photography by James Kim

PREP TIME: 20 min.
COOK TIME: 10 min.
SERVES: 4

INGREDIENTS
2 pounds 80/20 ground chuck
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon ketchup
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 egg yolk
4 thin slices Fiscalini Farms or Grafton smoked cheddar
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons butter
4 sliced, ripe beefsteak tomatoes
Shredded lettuce
4 sesame seed buns or Kaiser rolls
Salt and pepper to taste
Canola oil for frying (if using a skillet)

PREPARATION
Mix the ground beef with the mustard, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and egg yolk. Form the meat into 4, 8-ounce patties. Season with salt and pepper.

Saute the sliced onions in the butter over medium-high heat until tender, about 10 minutes. Set aside.

Outside: Preheat your grill to medium heat. Inside: Heat oil in skillet at medium-high heat to smoking point.

Sear each burger on one side for about 2 minutes, flip and repeat another 2 minutes, then cook to desired doneness. Melt smoked cheddar on burger while in skillet or just before removing from the grill.

Place burgers on buns, garnish with tomato and shredded lettuce. Serve with your favorite pickles and chips.

(June/July 2008)

Tags: beef, burger, Cheeseburger, recipe, smoked cheddar