Still in Montana

I haven't updated here since I got here but I've been chronicling our trip on our other blog. I would have cross-posted several posts if I knew how to do that in a quick manner. So far though, we had a number of interesting experiences, including finding some grass-fed beef from a heritage breed and using Nikki's dad's smoker to make some beef brisket.

Being in Montana makes me even more motivated to get out of the city and onto a farm somewhere.

Wednesday food sections

Today the Washington Post had a very interesting article on bourbons. Or at least it was interesting to me because it introduced me to something I didn't know about bourbons -- anything made with 51% corn in the mash can be called a bourbon. So the other 49% of the mash that is not corn (or more typically 30%, according to the article) is up to the distiller. As a homebrewer there is a lot of appeal in having that wild of flexibility in choosing mash ingredients. Of course until I learn how to weld (and I guess until they legalize it as well), I won't be designing my own amaranth bourbon recipe.

The Post also had an article on a food service company putting pressure on the tomato growers in Florida to treat their farm workers humanely. This is an issue that's been going on a long time. I remember protests at the Taco Bell in the UT food court when I was in school. So it's nice to see someone finally doing something about it. And the food service company isn't exactly being wishy-washy about it. Here's a great quote:

The growers "can do the right thing, and our five million pounds of business can go to them," said Fedele Bauccio, Bon Appetit's chief executive. "Or they can let the tomatoes rot in the fields."

The New York Times had a good article on how meat scientists, on a quest to market some other cut of beef to consumers, came up with the Denver steak.

In personal news - I bought a tri-tip steak, a pork rib chop, and some bacon from Eco-Friendly this past weekend. I seared half the tri-tip and ate it as a steak and I am marinating the other half as fajitas right now. Nikki ate half of the butterflied chop and the other half is waiting for me. The bacon went in the freezer for some future breakfast.

Back

Sorry it's been a while since I've posted. I should have at least cross-posted my post on our trip to Middleburg, which included several pork delicacies.

Not much is new. We have been getting a lot of rain and it's been wonderfully timed. Just when I think I need to water the hops, it rains again. The vines are about three feet long now. I'll get a picture up soon.

In other news, we are headed to Montana for a few weeks next month. Nikki and I have considered a variety of ag-related tie-ins to this trip, including buying another quarter of beef from Land of Grass. I don't think we'll do that but we'll find something fun to bring back.

In the meantime, enjoy a video on the hunt for razor clams:


John Wright Hunting Razor Clams from River Cottage on Vimeo.

Goodbye Beef

When we moved to Montana last fall, we bought a quarter of a beef from Land of Grass, a local producer of grass-fed beef and lamb. I've just put the last of it in the crock pot for some chili. What a sad day. I do have one package of soup bones left but this was the last of the actually meat.

Our quarter of beef served us very well. We had a number of steaks, stews, beef soups (including a South American one with olives that was amazing), stir-frys, and about a billion hamburgers.

If you've ever thought about buying meat by the whole, side, or quarter animal, I'd highly recommend it. I'm still considering buying a deep freezer for out here and doing it again, maybe with a half hog. It gives you an incredible sense of being stocked up and helps plan meals because you have something to plan around.

It was also nice to buy from someone right down the road. We would frequently drive by the Land of Grass pastures on the way to Conrad. The cows always looked so at peace. We thought that must be why they meat tastes so good.