Cooking Grass-Fed Meat (and Eggs)

Two Saturdays ago at the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market, Lou and I came across the stand for Marin Sun Farms, a family-run farming organization that raises 100% grass-fed beef, poultry, lamb, goat and pork in Marin and Sonoma Counties north of San Francisco.

We were delighted to find them and pleased to discover some meats and cuts that you don't always see in the grocery store. Specifically, we were intrigued by the cuts of goat and by the oxtail (yes, the meat and bone from the tail of a cow). We bought a small portion of each--a half rack of goat--roughly 3 lbs--for $19.99 and a smallish package of cut, frozen oxtail--about 2 lbs--for $10. We also bought a dozen pasture-raised chicken eggs for $7. To my previous posting, all of this meat was fairly expensive compared to the amount of conventional meat we could bought for the same amount of money. Judging from taste, however, I think it was worth it, and I was happy to pay extra to support farmers who use sustainable farming practices to raise their livestock.

We finally got around to cooking both cuts over the weekend, and they were spectacular. Lou used a simple recipe of olive oil, several garlic cloves, lemon juice and rosemary to marinate the goat. He scored the fat and grilled it over high heat for seven minutes per side, and it came out perfectly medium rare. We served the goat with roasted romanesco broccoli and a puree of celery root and potatoes. The meat was delicate and tender, and it tasted gamy like lamb, minus the strong grassy flavor.

On Sunday, Lou prepared the oxtails (he did the major cooking this weekend). He braised them using this recipe from Gourmet. The flavor of the sauce was outstanding; it was rich and, oddly enough, almost creamy. The oxtails themselves were not as soft or as tender as I expected they would be--they didn't fall off the bone--but the meat still tasted delicious and served with brussel sprouts and mashed potatoes, they made for an excellent Sunday dinner.


Finally, below is a picture of the frittata we made with some of the eggs from Marin Sun Farms and some green garlic we also bought that day at the farmer's market. What was striking about the eggs was the variety of shapes, sizes and colors of the shells. Equally as diverse in color were the yolks, ranging from deep yellow to bright orange, due in large part, I'm sure, to the diversity of food eaten by the chickens that produced the eggs. It was quite a tasty post-farmer's market breakfast.



UPDATE: Here is a great post from The Ethicurean about a farm tour at Marin Sun Farms.