Grassfed Beef Steaks
While we were in Montana last November I wrote a post about how I was appalled that the beef sold at the local grocery store (Safeway) was not local beef. Instead it was from somewhere else. Shortly after coming home from Montana I received an email from Le Cense, which happens to be in Dillon, Montana, which happens to be where we were for over a week – they are not only local but they have grass-fed beef! Long story short, they sent us some steaks, which we have had in the freezer. We did do a steak tasting with one of them and have been saving the rest for another night. Tonight was the night.
We had planned on having dinner with a friend of ours, but that never happened. While we were looking forward to hanging out with him, gnawing on some beef, drinking wine and catching up, we were kind of excited to be home alone as it has been a pretty crazy couple of weeks. Dinner was going to be simple. Pan grilled steaks, some veggies and a great bottle of 2006 Tobin James Cab/Syrah blen(big & bold so that it would stand up next to the steaks) .
The steaks were going to be the same as we did not want to interfere with the flavorful of the beef. Heated the pan with some olive oil, lightly seasoned with sea salt and fresh cracked pepper and then seared them until nicely browned on the outsides but still rare on the inside. They were perfect! The flavor was so much better then when we had them a couple months of ago. They were lightly grassy, very moist and almost buttery in texture, really a perfect steak.
As we did not want to take away from the steak we decided to add a simple vegetable. I love simple veggies with not too much going on. So, I heated up a little olive oil and just sauteed the peas and corn (frozen left over from last weeks dinners) until they were warm but still crunchy and colorful. Then I tossed in a pat or two of butter, some salt and oregano. The two went very nicely together and complimented the simplicity of the beef.
Great way to end a busy week.
It’s great that foodies all over the world are starting to really think about where there beef comes from and the politics and science behind raising and processing cattle. If everyone thought about beef the way we do about wine, can you imagine how different our steak-eating days would be? To know what specific breed we’re eating, where the meat is from, what sort of diet they were raised on, and how the rancher raised the cow…All these things could help us be better consumers.
I went to an artisan beef tasting and learned a lot too.
Simple meals really are the best and your writing is exceptional. I can almost taste the steak just reading.
Ah, grass-fed beef! Not only is it tastier and more humanely raised, but it’s also way healthier than its corn-fed counterpart.
Your pics look delicious.
Just in time for dinner.
Hi Denise,
What you say about grass-fed cows is absolutely right. I am Argentinian, and the reason why our beef is well-known worldwide is simply that. Our cows are fed ONLY with grass, that they eat freely in the Pampas (”happily” as I always say) Therefore, no risk of mad-cow or nothing, because it is only grass…it goes without saying that there is no pesticide in La Pampa, no acid rain…THAT is the difference!
Your blog is lovely, nice to see young people like you involved in something so worthwhile !!!