tortilla casserole
www.allrecipes.com

2 (15-oz) cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup salsa, divided
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 (15-oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
7 flour tortillas
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
2 cups chopped cooked chicken, steak, and/or pork (optional)
additional salsa, sour cream, and guacamole for serving

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large bowl, mash pinto beans. Stir in 3/4 cup salsa and garlic.

In a small bowl, mix together 1/4 cup salsa, cilantro, black beans, and tomatoes.

Place 1 tortilla in an oven safe dish. Spread 3/4 cup pinto bean mixture over tortilla to within 1/2 inch of edge. Top with 1/4 cup cheese.

Add another tortilla. Spread with 2/3 cup black bean mixture and top with 1/4 cup cheese.

Repeat layering twice, adding meat to these layers if using.

Cover with remaining tortilla and top that with remaining pinto bean mixture and cheese.

Cover casserole with  a lightly greased sheet of aluminum foil (the grease keeps the cheese from sticking to the foil). Bake in the oven for 40 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve with salsa, sour cream, and guacamole.

When Brant and I want to celebrate a special occasion but our eating-out fund is already empty, I have a list of fancy recipes that we enjoy making together. The process of preparing the meal together is part of our in-home-date-night. Among these are homemade pasta noodles with a homemade spaghetti sauce, grilled steak, or this absolutely delicious broccoli beef stir-fry. Cook’s Illustrated has a 5 star winning recipe here and I wouldn’t change a thing.

Prep all your vegetables first and start some rice before you even think about cooking the meat. Once the cooking part starts, the action doesn’t stop until you sit down to eat. Because each ingredient is only sauteed for a few seconds to a few minutes, smooth execution of this meal requires a bit of fancy footwork in the kitchen. Brant and I have gotten this down to a science and the mere thought of blogging about this means that I want some. Now.

Hint: to make cutting your steak easier, freeze it for 20 minutes before slicing. This will allow it to firm up just enough to make it easy to cut without actually freezing the meat solid.

broccoli beef stir fry
Cook’s Illustrated

1 lb flank steak, cut into 2-inch-wide strips with the grain, then sliced across the grain in to 1/8-inch-thick slices
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp dry sherry
2 tbsp chicken broth
5 tbsp oyster-flavored sauce
1 tbsp light brown sugar
1 tsp Asian sesame oil
1 tsp corn starch
6 medium garlic cloves, pressed
1 piece (1 inch) ginger, minced
3 tbsp peanut or vegetable oil, divided
1 1/4 lb broccoli, florets cut into bite sized pieces, stems trimmed, peeled, and cut on diagonal into 1/8-inch-thick slices
2/3 cup water
1 small red pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into 1/4 inch pieces

Combine beef and soy sauce in medium bowl; cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 10 minutes or up to 1 hour, stirring once.

Meanwhile, whisk sherry, chicken broth, oyster sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, and cornstarch in measuring cup. Combine garlic, ginger, and 1 1/2 teaspoons peanut oil in small bowl.

Drain beef and discard liquid. Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons peanut oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat until smoking. Add half of beef to skillet and break up clumps; cook, without stirring, for 1 minute, then stir and cook until beef is browned around edges, about 30 seconds. Transfer beef to medium bowl. Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons peanut oil in skillet, and repeat with remaining beef.

Add 1 tablespoon peanut oil to now-empty skillet; heat until just smoking. Add broccoli and cook 30 seconds; add water, cover pan, and lower heat to medium. Steam broccoli until tender-crisp, about 2 minutes; transfer to paper towel–lined plate.

Add remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons peanut oil to skillet; increase heat to high and heat until just smoking. Add bell pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until spotty brown, about 1 1/2 minutes.

Clear center of skillet; add garlic and ginger to clearing and cook, mashing mixture with spoon, until fragrant, 15 to 20 seconds, then stir mixture into peppers.

Return beef and broccoli to skillet and toss to combine. Whisk sauce to recombine, then add to skillet; cook, stirring constantly, until sauce is thickened and evenly distributed, about 30 seconds.

Transfer to serving platter and serve over rice.

Beef: it’s what’s for dinner. Pork: the other white meat. Most of us eat meat without much thought, and up until a year or so ago, I was lumped in with “most of us.” Then, this past December, my book club read Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma, an exploration of our industrial food system. Pollan starts his book explaining how the government subsidized monoculture of corn across the midwest is highly processed into an array of food products (high fructose corn syrup anyone?) or is force-fed to our born-to-eat-grass cows and other farm animals. Pollan describes the life cycle of most American cows, pigs, and poultry and the literal tortures that they face on a daily basis.

I had already read Pollan’s Power Steer article and made the shift to grass-fed beef. Before reading Omnivore’s Dilemma, I was completely unaware that pigs were so cruelly treated in the industrial food system. Did you know that pigs are highly intelligent animals that get depressed when they are held captive in close quarters? Pollan writes,

Premature weaning leaves the pigs with a lifelong craving to suck and chew, a desire they gratify in confinement by biting the tail of the animal in front of them. A normal pig would fight off his molester, but a demoralized pig has stopped caring…. A depressed pig will allow his tail to be chewed on to the point of infection. Sick pigs, being underperforming “production units,” are clubbed to death on the spot. The U.S.D.A.’s recommended solution to the problem is called “tail docking.” Using a pair of pliers (and no anesthetic), most but not all of the tail is snipped off. Why the little stump? Because the whole point of the exercise is not to remove the object of tail-biting so much as to render it more sensitive. Now, a bite on the tail is so painful that even the most demoralized pig will mount a struggle to avoid it.

Needless to say, I was powerfully affected by these facts. I vote with my money and it was time to vote for a sustainable food system. It was time to buy a pig.

I did extensive research before deciding to get my pig at Clark Summit Farm in Tomales, California. This 100% organic farm is about 90 minutes from where I live and they raise “happy” pigs, beef, and chicken.

Liz and her husband Dan run this farm as part hobby, part lifestyle, and part vocation. Liz inherited the 160-acre farm from her family and has been tending it almost daily since she was a little girl. Their farming style is unlike anything you’ll see in the industrial world.

Liz raises about 1,500 chickens that are free range by every definition of the word. These chickens were waddling with the pigs, nestled in the goat pen, strutting along the walking path, huddled near their coops and everywhere in between.

The above picture shows some of the chicken coops on the property. Liz and her husband use a tractor to slide these chickens’ houses around the property so that the chickens have fresh green pasture to eat. To keep the chickens safe from predators, they have several large dogs patrolling the area (see the middle of the right hand side of the picture). Fido’s bark is worse than his bite, but none of the predators know that!

And the cows! Have you ever seen happier, cuter cows? These cows are grass fed from the time they are born until the time they are harvested. The only time they get any grain is as a treat when Liz lures them in to be “harvested.” Liz’s goal is always to make sure that life on the farm is stress free for the animals at all times, even when it’s time to slaughter them. She hires a harvester who kills the animals on the property (no stressful moving of animals from their home to some foreign place) and transports the livestock to the local butcher. While all of this sounds disgusting, it’s a fact of life if we’re going to eat beef, pork, and chicken! At least here we knew that these animals were as happy as they could ever be.

All this talk of harvesting brings us to our purchase for the day. None of these little piglets are our chosen pig, thank goodness. Our pig had been sent to the butcher two weeks ago, so there was no need to fear getting attached to our dinner. These pigs are penned in, but their roaming area was huge. Even so, the pigs liked to huddle together for warmth and companionship. Oh, and that old adage about being as happy as a pig in s***? Liz explained that while pigs do like to frolic in the mud, they do have good hygiene given the chance. Because her pigs do have plenty of room to play, they naturally go downhill to use the bathroom and play in the mud that is uphill. This way they are not wallowing in their own waste.

One of my favorite anecdotes from the day was about a pig that Liz had lent to her son to raise in the suburbs. This pig became family, going through the dog door to use the bathroom outside and sitting around the house like any other pet would. One day the pig wanted attention, but the family was watching TV. The smart little piggy grabbed the remote control off the couch and ran out the door with it, squealing all the way as if to say, “You want it? Come get it!”

And it’s off to the butcher we go! Here are Brant, Mom, Mary Peyton, and Rocky posing with various pig parts. Brant and my mom were lucky – they got to hold the head!

Liz was such an animated story teller! Hours passed like minutes on the farm as she told us tale after tale of her animals and farming practices. All in all, my mom said it best when she noted that anyone that forewent this trip really missed out on a great opportunity. If you’re interested in grass-fed and pasture raised meat, don’t hesitate to check out Liz’s website and join her once-monthly tours. She talked to us for hours, patiently answering all our questions and showing off her animals with motherly pride. Her tours are open to the public, even if you have not purchased any of her meat. But believe me. After you visit this farm, you’ll want to support Liz and the awesome things she is doing here.

Oh, and for those of you who are interested in knowing the costs, my whole pig ended up costing $800 and weighed in at roughly 145 pounds of various pork cuts. Cheap? No. But worth it? Absolutely.

To see even more pictures, click here!

(This blog post is late in coming. We have had some adventurous couple of days around here and I’ve been meaning to compile this for over a week but simply ran out of time!)

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know that last year we bought part of a free-range, grass fed cow and split it with a friend. A couple of weeks ago, knowing that we were soon to purchase a whole free-range, organic pig, I went on a quest to start eating anything and everything in the freezer. Including beef bones.

Okay, so I wasn’t really going to eat the beef bones. But I had to do something with them, and seeing as how they’re pretty much only good for stock, that made my decision pretty easy. I found a recipe for beef broth on allrecipes.com. The assembly was pretty straightforward. I’m not a fan of cooking things on the stove for 5 hours at a time, so I adjusted the recipe to sit in a crockpot for almost 12 hours. If you do not care for the smell of the simmering broth, I would recommend putting the crock pot either in your garage or outside. This way you get all the goodness of delicious homemade beef broth without the wrinkled noses.

Once you make this broth, you should use it within a few days or freeze it. Please note that when the broth is refrigerated, it will look gelatinous, but once you heat it, it will turn into a liquid instantly. The same is true for homemade chicken stock.

beef stock

Place bones, carrots, onions, and remaining ingredients in a 6-quart crock pot. Turn the heat setting to high for 4 hours and then turn it to low and cook for at least 8 more hours.

When the broth is dark brown, strain through a colander into a large bowl and refrigerate overnight. The fat will rise to the top and harden. Discard the fat.

As some of you know, last summer Brant and I bought a quarter of a grass fed cow and split it with a friend. We don’t recognize a lot of the beef cuts (swiss steak???), so our meals often end up with some crazy improvisations and a prayer that the particular cut that we are using is somewhat similar to the one called for in the recipe. Now that we are just 10 weeks away from picking up our pasture-raised pig we need to make some freezer space for all that pork. Time to eat some more beef!

Grass-fed beef cooks differently than standard corn-fed beef. Cows are fed corn because the grain causes them to gain weight faster and the result is a higher fat content in the meat. Grass fed beef is not as fatty, so you cook it at a lower heat for a shorter amount of time. Since our cooking experience has been limited to corn-fed beef, we saved some of our nicer cuts of meat until we had a better idea of how to cook them properly.

Enter last week’s sirloin steak. I found this marinade recipe on Cook’s Illustrated and wow… it was TASTY! The subtle flavors infused the meat without being overpowering. I didn’t want to waste the leftover marinade, so I just placed it in a bag and froze it for next time. As I thaw my next steak, I will also thaw the marinade and voila,  a delicious dinner will be ready in a jiffy!

steak with garlic, ginger, & and soy marinade

marinade:
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 tbsp vegetable oil
3 medium garlic cloves
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
2 tbsp dark brown sugar
2 tsp grated orange zest from one orange
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

meat
2 pound sirloin steak (grass fed or corn fed), trimmed of excess fat

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until garlic is well chopped.

Pour over steak and place in fridge for 1 hour, flipping half way through.

Sear the steak on both sides over medium high heat to seal in the juices. Then cook for 5-10 minutes until the steak is cooked through. (I like to use a thermometer so that I know whether it’s rare or medium or well done.) Remember to pull your steak off BEFORE it’s done because it will keep cooking as it rests.

Let cool for 5 minutes and then serve.

easy pot roast with rich tomato gravy

1 beef pot roast, cross rib, or rump, about 3-4 pounds
1 tbs vegetable oil
2 onions, thinly sliced
3 stalks celery, thinly sliced
3 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp salt
1/4-1/ tsp pepper
2 tbsp all purpose flour
10 oz tomato soup
1/2 cup condensed beef broth
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar (optional)
2 tbsp balsamic or red wine vinegar (optional)

Pat roast dry with paper towels. In a skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add roast and cook, turning, until brown on all sides, about 7-10 minutes. Transfer to slow cooker.

Reduce heat to medium. Add onions, celery, and carrots to pan and cook, stirring, until vegetables are softened.

Add garlic, mustard, thyme, salt and pepper and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

Sprinkle mixture with flour and stir. Add tomato soup and beef broth and cook, stirring, until thickened. Stir in Worcestershire sauce.

Pour mixture over roast and cook on Low for 10 to 12 hours or on High for 5 to 6 hours, until meat is very tender. Remove roast from slow cooker and place on a serving platter.

Stir in brown sugar and vinegar, if using, to pan juices. Pour sauce over roast or serve in a separate sauce boat. Serve piping hot.