Lynne Curry - Pure Beef An Essential Guide to Artisan Meat with Recipes for Every Cut

2012 by Lynne Curry

All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International Copyright Conventions.

All Photography David L. Reamer, unless noted.

Other Photos:

p 9 of photo insert, Kevin Silveira, Anna M. Campbell

pp 4, 30, 67 Joshua McDonnell

This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the publisher.

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2011944639

E-book ISBN 978-0-7624-4500-4

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Digit on the right indicates the number of this printing

Cover design by Joshua McDonnell

Interior design by Joshua McDonnell

Typography: Avenir, Berkeley, Calibri, Garth, Weiss and Whitney

Running Press Book Publishers

2300 Chestnut Street

Philadelphia, PA 19103-4371

Visit us on the web!

www.runningpresscooks.com

The following companies donated equipment and beef during the creation of this cookbook:

Country Natural Beef: www.countrynaturalbeef.com

Cutco Cutlery: www.cutco.com

Le Creuset: www.lecreuset.com

Mishima Ranch Wagyu: www.mishimaranch.com

Organic Prairie: www.organicprairie.com

Painted Hills: www.paintedhillsnaturalbeef.com

Sous-Vide Supreme: www.sousvidesupreme.com

For

VICTORIA FLYNN

I have wanted to write a cookbook for a long time. Recently, I realized that I needed those years of preparation to connect with all of the exceptional people who would one day help me create it.

The first is my husband, Benjamin. He didnt question my decision to write a book with two children under the age of four, and then made it all possible. Benjamin diverted our little girls so that I could have dominion over the kitchen, ate innumerable recipe test suppers, and put his own writing aspirations on hold so that I could pursue mine.

Judy Amster became my mentor after I phoned her for an article on cookbook collectors in 1999. I never wrote the article, but Judy has traveled the long road with me, listened to every kvetch and kvel, and advised me on recipes from her vast culinary knowledge base. She understands better than anyone else what this means to me.

Cory Carman and I became friends when our oldest children were babies. I picked her brain about raising grassfed beef and she picked mine about cooking it, a conversation that continues to this day. She has tutored me on sustainable ranching practices, global warming research, and cattle breeding while inspiring recipes with her questions. Cory encouraged me to leave nothing out and then led me to the experts who informed me about the range of topics covered in this book.

I am especially grateful to author and Portland State University professor Madeleine Pullman, researcher Lauren Gwin of Niche Beef Processor Assistance Network, and meat scientist Bob Dickson of Dayton Natural Meats for their time and interest in my project. Dan Probert of Country Natural Beef, Klynn Kennedy of Painted Hills, and Shane Lindsay of Mishima Wagyu also answered rounds of questions about beef production. After I trespassed into his Boardman, Oregon feedlot to have a quick look around, John Wilson of Beef Northwest forgave me and then became my best source on feedlots. John Harrington educated me about third-party certification while Ann Colonna gave me a crash course in sensory science for creating the beef taste test.

Butchers Kevin Silveira of Valley Meat, Tracy Smaciarz of Heritage Meats, Dannie Cummings of Sheridan Meats, Tray Satterfield of Eat Oregon First, and Camas Davis of the Portland Meat Collective all improved my understanding of the butchers craft. Joseph O. McCormack from the Wallowa Band Nez Perce Trail Interpretive Center, Inc. and rangeland ecologist Mike Hale helped me to nail down errant facts. Any errors or omissions that stand are mine.

I cannot recompense Lindsay Gott for her role as recipe researcher, tester, and kitchen soul mate. Her standards for excellence exceed even my own, and everything that she touched became better. Kristen Rainey conducted initial research into nutritional claims about grassfed beef. When it came time for writing, Michelle Wildgen navigated me through an overabundance of words to come out on the other side with the story I hoped to tell. My dear friend Jane Slade reviewed my manuscript at the eleventh hour and offered her insights as an inquisitive home cook, editor, and health-oriented eater. All of the following have been great sources of support and love: my mastermind group of Becky Nunn, Chris Fagan, Maren Van Nostrand, and Susan Wright-Geiger; my writing posse of Susan Badger-Jones and Lois Barry; my parents, Frank and Elaine Sampson, who have never doubted my instincts; and my children, Molly and Cecelia.

Recipe testing in my kitchen with Adele Nash and Kit Phelps was a highlight of this project and both gave their talents generously. Linda Faus, who has tested every recipe Ive written for the Oregonian also helped to get these recipes off the ground and offered technical support on slow cookers. I want to thank all the home recipe reviewers who invested their own hard-earned money and precious time to give these recipes a whirl: Audrey Aiken, Beth and Chris Alderson, Matthew Amster-Burton, Leslie Ashburn, Sarah Bahn, Barbara Balmer, Katherine Deumling, Erin Donovan, Elizabeth Enslin, Ambler FitzSimons, Edwin Gott, Bridget Hammond, Ryan Hartman, Patricia Heatherwood, Theresa Iserman, Charlotte Johnson, Heather Jones, Cathy Kennedy, Lisa Kosglow, Yvonne Litaker, James Lombardo, Marya Nowakowski, Dayl Paytel, Janet Pulsifer, Jerry Qualle, Pam Royes, Marcy Strazer, Rose Szapszwewicz, Kendra Wehmeyer, Marsha Wirtel, Polly Wood, and Suzanne Wright.

Sarah Jane Freymann, an agent with tremendous patience and fortitude, worked tirelessly to find this book a home. That Geoffrey Stone of Running Press took a chance on an unknown author is my great fortune.

Designer Josh McDonnell led the team that photographed the recipes on location in my kitchen and at Carman Ranch. Im so grateful to photographer David Reamer, Galvin Collins, and Caroline Ford who styled all the food to make it as stunning as the scenery.

There is no better place to write a book about beefespecially grassfed beefthan eastern Oregon. Many local ranchers shared their experience (and their good meat) so that mine would broaden, and they include: Sara Miller and Mike Hale of Bunchgrass Beef, Liza Jane and Craig Nichols of 6 Ranch, Todd and Angie Nash of Marr Flatt Cattle Company, Joanie and Doug Fluit of Fluit Family Farms, Jill and Vicki McClaran, and Janie Tippet. They represent the many small-scale and family ranchers throughout this country who work tirelessly to feed us while caretaking our lands.

HOW A FORMER VEGETARIAN CAME TO WRITE A BEEF
COOKBOOK AND WHY IT HAD TO BE WRITTEN

On a clear September afternoon, I mingled with a crowd dressed in skirts and khakis in an open pasture beneath snow-rimmed mountains. While a John Deere tractor paced the rolling fields behind the brown ranch house, people sipped cocktails of vodka distilled from local rye and waiters passed deviled eggs, Romano bean bruschetta, and beef heart kabobs. The aromas of oil and meat drifted from a camp stove where a chef was bent cooking. Nearby, the herd of cattle shouldered the fence like spectators. Beyond them stood rows of long white tablesthe dining room that awaited us for a farm-to-table dinner.