Warm greetings EOM Nation! Very happy to bring you today’s Mindful Meat Mondays offering, featuring another two spectacular Ethical Omnivore Movement Ambassadors.
First up is David and Kim Yates and their ever so splendid ranch “Angelina All Natural Beef“
“Let the cows be cows!” At Angelina All Natural Beef we raise our animals naturally, the way nature intended, without antibiotics or hormones. We keep them on pasture for their entire lives and we raise our own hay so we can be sure it will not be treated with pesticides or herbicides. This approach to managing our cattle is not only good for our animals, it is good for our customers who want to put an ethically raised product on their tables. Most importantly it is good for the environment that we must all protect to the best of our ability.
We love our life, our family, our community and yes we love our animals very much, right up to their quick and painless end.
Here is what a valued customer recently said about us:
“That is the best beef I have ever put in my mouth.” “I love making spaghetti with the ground beef because you don’t have to strain off any fat.” “We made large hamburger patties thinking they were going to shrink on the grill, but when we pulled them off, they were as big as a steak!” Good grass makes good beef!”
We are also very proud EOMers and very happy to contribute to Mindful Meat Mondays as it is an important message for all.
We are located in Canton Texas. You can link to our Facebook page or give us a call. 256-283-5665 We’d love to hear from you or better yet see you in person.
All the best and EOM ON!
~ Dave and Kim Yates
Next up is one of our favorite EOM friends and a very talented Chef… the incomparable Charity Dasenbrock with her delicious version(s) of Skirt Steak preparation.
Skirt Steak, Several Different ways…
First I would like to say I am very thrilled to be part of this Mindful Meat Mondays installment. Bout time Lana asked me! 🙂 Well, I don’t know about you but the week after Thanksgiving, I am ready to chew on some good grass-fed, ethically and sustainably raised beef! Skirt steak is an easily cooked, not so steeply priced option with lots of different ways to serve it. Let me offer up a few favorites and some information.
Skirt steak and flank steak are not the same thing. Read THIS for the deets. Skirt steak is a bit fattier which makes it a good thing to me! They both can be on the tough side so take to marinating really well and need to be cooked on the rare to very rare side. ( also a good thing in my book) The other important thing to remember is that you need to slice it against the grain. This keeps it from being stringy.
Over the years, I have come up with a few go-to marinades.
Truth here = I hardly ever measure and encourage you to just be free. I have approximated amounts and trust that you will vary according to your own taste buds. These recipes are good for 1 lb of meat, so increase as needed.
*Another note – I have an extreme bias for using ALL or as many organic ingredients as possible.
Basic Asian sort of marinade:
1/4c. sake or Mirin ( rice wine)
1/4c. tamari or soy sauce ( tamari is better for you!)
1 T. fish sauce ( trust me, it won’t make the steak taste fishy)
1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
juice of one fresh orange ( or 2 T. of frozen concentrate) ( variation – you could use pineapple juice)
1 big Tablespoon of orange zest
1 T. grated fresh ginger
1 tsp. granulated garlic
Pomegranate Molasses/Ginger Marinade:
1/2 c. pomegranate molasses ( if not available, put a cup and a half of pomegranate juice in a small sauce pan and simmer until it reduces to about 1/2 cup)
1 T. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
pepper to taste ( black and/or a pinch of red)
1 T. fresh grated ginger
Something sort of Spanish-y
1/2c Sherry or Spanish wine ( please for the love of God, don’t use some of that nasty cooking sherry!)
1/4 c. olive brine water
1 T. olive oil
black pepper
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. granulated garlic
( variation – you could use orange juice instead of the wine if you need to, or add some orange zest to the wine mix)
You can put all the ingredients into a big ziplock bag and mix them up. Add your meat. ( I generally cook it in one pound pieces, just for ease). Shake it up, making sure the meat get coated. Place on a plate or a try and put in the refrigerator. Let it marinate at least a few hours, up to about 8.
Cook the steak under the broiler or on your grill.
I hardly ever eat rice but all of these are delicious when sliced and served atop any rice of your liking. They are good on top of salad or a sauté of vegetables. The Spanish one is really good on top of mashed potatoes or a mix of mashed root vegetables ( celery root)
Enjoy! Your belly will thank you for filling it with high quality nutrition. Your mouth will thank you for the deliciousness. Mother Earth will thank you for supporting her with your good food choices. The small farmers that make up the ethically raised meat community will thank you. And all the supporters of EOM will thank you.
Lana asked me for a statement of purpose and ethics.. well this would be it:
I love cooking for a living. I can bring ease and peace into a home in this way. I do a lot of educating of my clients – about nutrition, about where their food comes from, about organics, and about being an ethical omnivore. I am blessed to live in Central Coastal California where we have farmers’ markets year round several times a week. There are lots of small farms and ranches. Ethically raised, grass fed/ pasture raised meat and poultry is widely available. I tell my new clients that this is what they will get unless they absolutely tell me they don’t want me to spend that much money. Then I do my best to teach them how I can do it affordably. If they still aren’t interested, then I suggest they find someone else!! I’m not going to feed some one something I wouldn’t consume myself.
I am a personal chef, blogger, and writer. Look for my book Through The Fire – cooking our way into a new relationship with food in the spring! In the meantime I’d love it if you could visit me at my website. Spoiler alert.. there’s a free ebook if you visit soon!
Best wishes,
Charity Dasebbrock
Skirt Steak (several different ways)
Ingredients
Basic Asian sort of marinade
- ¼ cup sake or Mirin ( rice wine)
- ¼ cup tamari or soy sauce ( tamari is better for you!)
- 1 tbsp. fish sauce ( trust me, it won’t make the steak taste fishy)
- 1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
- juice of one fresh orange ( or 2 T. of frozen concentrate) ( variation – you could use pineapple juice)
- 1 big tbsp. orange zest
- 1 tbsp. grated fresh ginger
- 1 tsp. granulated garlic
Pomegranate Molasses/Ginger Marinade
- ½ cup pomegranate molasses ( if not available, put a cup and a half of pomegranate juice in a small saucepan and simmer until it reduces to about 1/2 cup)
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- ½ tsp. salt
- pepper to taste (black and/or a pinch of red)
- 1 tbsp. fresh grated ginger
Something sort of Spanish-y
- ½ cup Sherry or Spanish wine ( please for the love of God, don’t use some of that nasty cooking sherry!)
- ¼ cup olive brine water
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- black pepper
- 1 tsp. smoked paprika
- 1 tsp. granulated garlic
- (variation – you could use orange juice instead of the wine if you need to, or add some orange zest to the wine mix)
Instructions
- You can put all the ingredients into a big ziplock bag and mix them up.
- Add your meat. ( I generally cook it in one pound pieces, just for ease). Shake it up, making sure the meat gets coated. Place on a plate or a tray and put in the refrigerator. Let it marinate at least a few hours, up to about 8.
- Cook the steak under the broiler or on your grill.
