Items Tagged With Recipes

This recipe hails from New England and is over two hundred years old. Its simplicity and frugality reflect early American life and our puritan roots. This dish is made in one pot and because it is cooked on a low heat (it takes three hours to cook) it frees the cook to work on other things, which was very important in early American kitchens and of paramount importance to the practical and hard working puritans. Not only that, this cooking technique makes a tough cut moist and delicious. Some historians believe that early Americans adopted this technique, where you browned the meat before simmering it for hours, from the Native Americans who have an even older recipe for a pot roast: “A hunk of venison or moose meat. Scorch it all over in some grease until it is brown. Put it in a kettle with some water and salt. Dig up some horseradish, and some wild carrot. Put a little of each in the kettle, and boil a long time until the meat is cooked. Then stir in some corn meal to make gravy.”

What is not in dispute though, is that early New England dishes like Boiled Dinner which used beef brisket and the Yankee Pot Roast were essential and many working animals (oxen) where used in these dinners. Early American life was marked by hard work, clearing forest and making farmsteads. I really enjoyed making this dish because there were no spices in it, just salt and pepper and yet I did not miss the herbs or spices. The roast was fantastic and made for an elegant Sunday supper. I especially loved the gravy at the end, if only I had made it on a wood stove. Then the whole colonial experience would have been complete!

Yankee Pot Roast
Ingredients:
1 La Cense Grass-fed Pot Roast*
1/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons salt
Fresh black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
1-cup water
6 medium red potatoes
6 carrots, sliced
1 large onion, sliced
1 small turnip or a large parsnip, pared and sliced
For the gravy:
1/4 cup flour
Salt and pepper to taste
1-cup water
Preparation: Season flour with salt and pepper coat pot roast in flour, using a Dutch oven or large skillet brown the meat on all sides for 15 to 20 minutes until it is fully browned. Add one-cup water cover tightly and cook at a low heat for 1 and a half hours. After an hour and a half add potatoes and vegetables add salt to your liking and bit more water so that the vegetables to do not stick. Cook for another hour until the vegetables and meat are tender. To make the gravy, remove the pot roast and the vegetables to a serving dish. Add one cup of water to the pot let boil, remove and set aside. Using a bit of the fat from the pan or a pat or two of butter melt in the bottom of the pan, add flour to make paste, then add the juices from the roast and whisk until smooth, salt to your liking and serve as gravy with sliced pot roast and vegetables and enjoy!

*La Cense’s new harvest cuts, including the pot roast will ready by Thanksgiving.

This recipe is courtesy of the Butte Heritage Cookbook, I have made a few alterations. Butte, Montana was a big mining town and the Butte Pasty became a working man's staple. It is filled with steak, potatoes and onion! It is extremely delicious and if you have a working man or woman in your life why not make it for them?

Mining towns in the Rocky Mountains were responsible for establishing beef ranches to feed all the influx of workers. Beef ranches arose to feed the all the new residents and back then the beef was all grass-fed! Many of the miners in Butte, came from Ireland where they brought a tradition of meat pies much like the Irish Dingle pie. I used the La Cense flank steak, here is how pretty the filling looked:

Ingredients:
1 La Cense Grass-fed Flank Steak, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 large tablespoon butter, melted
salt and pepper
1 cup diced rutabagas (if desired)
1 medium sized potato, diced

For Pasty Dough:
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 to 1/2 cup butter or lard
1/4 cup cold water

Preparation: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sift flour, salt, and baking powder together; then cut room-temperature butter into the dough, kneed as you would pie dough. (This recipe makes 2 pasties) For one pasty, take 1/2 the dough and roll into shape and size of pie plate. Mix the filling together and season with salt and fresh cracked pepper. Pile half the filling mixture on only half the round of pie dough. Sprinkle with hot butter. Fold the dough over the filling, pressing edges together well.

Cut slit in top of each into which a teaspoon of hot water should be poured occasionally to keep from drying out. Bake 45 minutes in hot (400) or until will browned. Then reduce to 350 for 15 minutes. Enjoy!

BBQ is an American tradition that was first taught to us by the Native Americans and has Spanish roots; it was born in the south where the Native Americans taught Spanish settlers how to roast meat with fire.  In the Carolinas, where pork was the most common meat used in BBQ--whole pigs are roasted and served with vinegary sauces.

Colonial Southern life was marked by poverty and pigs where let to forage in the forests where they ate roots and grass.  When food was low, communities would come together and harvest the feral pigs, bbq them whole in festive roasts.  This recipe does not require a smoke pit nor does it roast a whole animal like the BBQ of the Carolinas but it gives you hands on experience with making a BBQ sauce, and lets you enjoy finger licking, soft beef short ribs!   

Barbecued Short Ribs

2 packages of La Cense short ribs
Water to cover ribs
1 ½ cups ketchup
½ cup white vinegar
½ cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon Worchestshire sauce
2 teaspoons grated lime peel
1 ½ teaspoon dry mustard
¾ teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation: In an 8 quart Dutch oven, cover beef short ribs with water, over high heat bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook for 2 hours or until the ribs are tender.  Remove ribs to platter: cover and refrigerate.
About 1 hour before serving prepare outdoor grill for bbqing. Meanwhile in a small bowl combine ingredients. Place cooked ribs on grill over medium coals. Cook for twenty minutes while brushing the BBQ sauce over the short ribs rotating them a few times.  You can also broil them for 20-25 minutes.
These are fantastic with classic southern sides:  hushpuppies, barbecue slaw, french fries, boiled potatoes, corn sticks, Brunswick stew, fried okra, and collard greens followed with cold sweet tea.

Southwest cuisine has been influenced by Mexico and also all the fresh produce that is available in the region. In New Mexico they are famous for the wide array of chili peppers and their cuisine reflects this chili culture for this reason I choose the truck stop favorite Christmas-Style Machaca Burrito which is named for the colorful green and deep red chili sauces that are served over this delicious beef burrito.  This recipe is based on a Saveur recipe; it is possibly the most difficult recipe I have made for the Grass-fed party. With that said, the chili sauces were fascinating to make and I now know how to make them. I actually froze the left over Chile Verde sauce because I want to use it on hot wings for the super bowl. The slow cooked brisket was just delicious and I recommend this for any burrito recipe you have.

Full Ingredient List
3 lbs. trimmed La Cense Brisket
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup olive oil
3 cups Beef Stock
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 medium onions, chopped
2 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/3 cup ancho chili powder or new Mexican chili pepper
6 large poblano peppers, roasted, cored,
peeled, seeded, and chopped (roast in oven at 500 degrees for 10 minutes)
6 plum tomatoes, cored and chopped
Juice of half a lime
6 large flour tortillas
3 cups grated Monterey jack cheese or cheddar cheese
2 cups thinly sliced iceberg lettuce or romaine hearts
1 small red onion, chopped

Machaca Burrito Filling:

Ingredients:
3 lbs. trimmed La Cense Brisket
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cups Beef Stock
2 onions, minced
2 garlic clove, minced
3 tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 large poblano peppers, roasted, seeded and chopped.
Juice of half a lime

Preparation: Season the brisket with salt and pepper. In a large skillet brown the brisket over a medium heat for 15 minutes (brown all over).  In a Dutch oven place one tablespoon of olive oil and sauté one clove of garlic and one minced onion, until soft about 7 minutes. Add browned brisket to the dutch oven; deglaze the pan used to fry the brisket with the three cups of beef broth, making sure to scrape off any bits on the bottom of the pan. Add the beef broth to the dutch oven and cook on a low heat for three hours.  Let cool, using your hands separate the brisket into pieces like the picture above, separate the beef from the broth. Reserve. (you will be using 1 1/2 cup of the beef broth for the Chile Verde.

Sauté one garlic and one onion in one tablespoon of olive oil for about five minutes add hand shredded beef and brown, add one cup of beef broth, three chopped tomatoes, juice of one lime and 2 roasted poblano peppers let simmer for 20 minutes.

Chile Colorado
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic, minced
1/3 cup ancho chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon Mexican oregano
1 tablespoon flour
1 ½ cup water

Preparation: In a medium pot sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil about 6 minutes.  Add flour, then chili powder, cumin and oregano and then water, whisk thoroughly until smooth bring to a boil and reduce, season to taste and then cover and set aside.

Chile Verde

Ingredients:
1 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
4 large poblano peppers, roasted, cored,
peeled, seeded, and chopped(roast in oven at 500 degrees for 10 minutes)
1 1/2 cups Beef Stock(reserved from brisket)

Preparation: In a medium pot sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil about 6 minutes. Add flour, mix and add ground cumin and oregano. Add beef stock and whisk, add peppers and let simmer for 5 minutes. Puree in blender and set aside.

To assemble the burrito, warm flour tortilla in a large skillet, place cheese on the tortilla and then some meat.  Fold as you would a burrito, and dress the burrito with lettuce, chopped onions and tomatoes and chili sauces! Enjoy!

My boyfriend thought this was the best grass-fed recipe yet: it is deep, earthy and extremely tasty. It is excellent served with warm tortillas or fresh baked corn bread.  Texas chili is different than all other American chili’s in that it does not include beans and is at its core a beef stew with chili peppers.    Browning the meat makes it tender and the perfect base for the delicious complex chili flavors this is why using your favorite chili pepper is important.   Because it is hunting season adding venison to this chili would not only be seasonal it would be superb!* Many original Texas chili recipes used venison and beef together. Texas chili has a long history and some say that it was created on the trail by hungry cowboys but one thing can not be denied-- it is a quintessential America dish that marries Mexican and European cuisine to create something fantastic!

Ingredients:
3 pound La Cense pot roast, cut into one inch cubes
some beef fat to fry meat cubes or olive oil
3 tablespoons  flour
3 tablespoons chili powder like ancho chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons Mexican oregano
1 fresh jalapeno pepper deseeded and minced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 cups beef broth, approximately
Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation: Cover meat flour and brown meat in a Dutch oven for 10 to 15 minutes add chili powder, cumin, garlic and oregano cook for one minute add broth mix well and reduce heat.  Cook for four hours at a low heat.
*If you have venison on hand add two pounds to this recipe and use ½ cup flour, ½ cup chili powder, 2 teaspoons cumin, 3 teaspoons Mexican oregano, 2 jalapenos, 3 cloves garlic and 4 cups beef broth.