The art (and science) of cooking nourishing meals using grass fed beef
By choosing grass fed beef, chances are you already know about its many wonderful health benefits from the cows grazing on diverse pastures – that’s the stuff we do on the farm. This includes producing our beef in a chemical free environment.
However you might be interested to learn about a few things you can do at home to maximise the nourishing properties of your beef meals.
The wonders of collagen
When you choose a selection of grass fed beef cuts to eat, including slow cooking with certain cuts, you are making great choices for your body.
Collagen is one reason. Collagen is part of many cuts of meat. You’ll have noticed it as the pale seams that run through cuts like chuck steak or osso bucco – like in the banner image above. It’s also found as connective tissue wherever there is bone – like in a blade steak or around the ribs.
When cooked, this collagen melts to gelatine, which is nearly pure protein. This gelatine is wonderful for its anti-stress, anti-inflammatory, supportive healing and digestive properties.
When you cook with these cuts… leave the collagen in. Just chop up the beef and throw it in the pot. The collagen will slowly cook and melt to liquid, where it will provide beautiful nourishment to your dish, as well as wonderful flavour… and beef that falls off the bone & melts in your mouth.
It’s all about balance
The cuts that contain this fantastic gelatine are really important because they balance out the muscle meats, which have a different amino acid profile. The muscle meat cuts contain amino acids which, in the absence of their balancing partners (in collagen), are associated with inflammation, aging and an inhibition of thyroid function.
Eating the full spectrum of beef cuts will help you to find the right balance – and it also means an exciting variety of meals!
While just about everyone loves a juicy and tender steak, we truly like nothing better than a slow cooked beautiful Thai or Indian curry with a dollop of yoghurt and fresh chopped coriander on top in summer.
Or, on a cold winter’s day, nothing beats a hearty beef and red wine casserole, served with creamy mashed potato and sprinkled with freshly cut Italian parsley.
The possibilities are endless!
See the variety of cuts in our grass fed beef hampers.
All the cuts
We always suggest enjoying the full variety of cuts, including those with collagen, and this will ensure that you are getting a good balance of amino acids. It’s great for the tummy, for the joints and for a calm mind.
This is why our most popular hamper is the Wholesome Hamper, which contains a complete selection of cuts including those that are collagen rich. Each cut is as good as the next, as long as it is cooked right. You see, our Grandmothers used to eat the majority of the animal – there was not the luxury of choosing just the most tender of muscle meat steaks each and every night. Without realising it, a more nourishing and well balanced diet was the result.
And why not have a little fun with it too!
Quality bones
We can even supply extra bones for you to cook with. Some of our conscious customers order extra collagen rich bones to make broth with, or to throw in the cooking pot for extra goodness. If that’s of interest to you let us know when you place your order.
Always look for quality beef if you are cooking with bones, as unwanted chemicals that enter the animal’s body are stored away in the fat and bone – where they are ‘safer’ for the animal, away from blood circulation. These can then be released with cooking. Rest assured that our grassfed beef is chemical free – so you can safely cook with the bones.
Choose saturated fats
Would you be surprised if we told you the effects of common everyday polyunsaturated fats (sunflower, canola, cottonseed and soy oil) are very harmful to the body? And that saturated fats are actually protective?
Many people are now doing their research, making conscious decisions and choosing saturated fats in their diet. They are an essential part of our diet – especially for young, growing children.
Saturated fats are the building blocks for many hormones and for the body’s cell membranes; they aid in heart and liver health, they enhance our immunity and they satiate us – helping us feel fuller for longer.
Saturated fats are also important for bone health – for getting calcium into your bones.
They actually help us deal with minimising any stress reaction in our bodies. Under the influence of the polyunsaturated fats (PUFA’s) however, the stress response can become self-amplifying.
Saturated fats are the fats contained in grass fed red meats, butter, coconut oil, eggs and tallow. Olive oil is the one polyunsaturated fat that is a ‘good guy’, just don’t heat it too high – it’s best kept to drizzle on salads.
Polyunsaturated fats actually amplify the stress response in the body. When our body is stressed (low on fuel, we haven’t eaten for a while or we’re under mental strain), our adrenaline levels rise, which draws on glycogen stores in the liver to cope. This is fine and the way it is meant to happen, except that many people in modern society are under chronic stress… from mind stress or from continually not fueling the body properly… and these stores are not there to draw on.
The increased adrenal stimulation also liberates fatty acids from within the fatty tissues, and this is all part of the natural process, just as it should be.
However, if the diet has been predominantly made up of PUFA’s, these will be what have been stored in the fatty tissues and (due to their abundance and greater water solubility) will be what is preferentially released into the bloodstream during stress.
This in turn stimulates the stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol. Around and around it then goes, in a cycle of escalating stress and response until something in the system eventually gives out.
Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, heart failure, disrupted hormones and stroke are all potential outcomes.
So, when you create a delicious grass fed Beef and Guinness pie like this little homemade gem, be sure to only use butter and tallow in your pastry!
There is a choice out there in terms of what you eat and what fats you choose to cook with – why not choose that which nourishes your body.
The Best for Our Families
Our passion is to give your family (and our family) the very best nourishment we can.
We strive to produce the very healthiest grass fed beef in the most sustainable way we can. Why not try our beef now?
You’ll receive your order portioned and vacuum sealed – no leaks, no mess, no fuss – ready to pop straight in the freezer!
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