Monday, March 28, 2011

What to do with a quarter of a cow



I think a while ago I promised you some recipes I use on my many cuts of beef that I have when I buy a quarter or half a cow at a time.  There are options you can get - such as stir fry or cubed steak.  I always opt to get cube steak and stir fry since we like both.  You could also get some roasts cut into stew meat which I do a lot in the winter for beef stew and such.  Below are some recipes I have tried and liked.  I highly recommend using AllRecipes.com Ingredient search. I have found a lot of recipes on there to try.  I usually only try the recipes with very good reviews.

There are several cuts of meat that are tough and need to be cooked slowly to make them tender - round steak, short ribs and soup bones being high on the list.  If you slow cook a cut of meat and find it is still tough after 8-10 hours of slow cooking just slow cook it a few more hours and it will get tender.  I usually cook mine overnight and check it in the morning to see if it needs more time and if it does not need to be cooked longer then I just put it in the fridge and reheat it later.  When in doubt about a roast or steak - always marinate overnight in soy sauce (or any beef marinade).  Even if you don't like soy sauce this tenderizes the meat, makes it easy to cook and flavors it but not too much.  Please know that I am no expert on this, but I have found what works best through lots and lots of trial and error.

Roast recipes - Beef Roast
Sirloin Boneless
Sirloin Tip Roast
Rump Roast
Arm Roast
Chuck Roast 

Beef Filet - I have made Pioneer Womans' Filet au Poivre or I just marinate the night before and my husband grills them.

Cubed Steak:
Slow Cook Down Home Cube Steak and Gravy
Chicken Fried Steak and Gravy


Round Steak:

*Mom’s Beef and Noodles

1-2 lbs. Round steak
1 Cooking bag
2 pkg Egg Noodles
3 pkg Beef gravy mix
Water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Put steak in a roast cooking bag and use the directions on the package of the cooking bag. When the round steak is done, make the noodles. When the noodles are done, cut up the round steak into small pieces and add it in with the noodles. Use some of the water from the actual cooking bag and put that into the noodles. Make the beef gravy in a pan according to package directions. When the gravy is done add it to the noodles and beef.

Flank Steak - Flank Steak


Swiss Steak - Alton Brown Recipe


Rib-eye- I have made Pioneer Womans' Filet au Poivre or I just marinate the night before and my husband grills them.


Beef Short Ribs - Slow cooked short ribs

Boiling Beef - Beef Broth

Soup Bones - Mom's Beef Stew (I use the slow cooker)


Ground Beef -  Here are several recipes in my Recipe Box


Brisket - Beef Brisket

Oxtail - Country Oxtail - recipe from Paula Deen

Here are some more recipes from a grassfed website.  I buy grassfed beef and it is leaner.  Please share any recipes you  may have for any of these cuts of meat.  I always like new recipes!




Raising Homemakers



6 comments:

  1. Hi Gretchen! Can you recommend a place to buy local grassfed beef, or do you have a special connection to your cow? :)

    ~amy

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  2. I have no special connection to any cows that I know of:) But I get mine at http://www.hoosiergrassfedbeef.com, but if that is not close go to localharvest.org and search for one close to you. This is worth the drive for me.

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  3. I'd love to get part of a cow (we live around lots of them), but don't have the freezer space. I like your recipe ideas.

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  4. I have learned that when we butcher our cows to ask to have the roasts cut into chunks instead of one big roast (otherwise known as "stew meat"). This is a fantastic idea as it's one less step for me - easier to shred and no more having to cut it up for the kiddos!

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  5. Thank you for this post! My husband and I have been talking about a 1/4 cow recently! This was very helpful! :)

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  6. Bitterroot Mama,

    You could buy a quarter of a quarter with other people and that would fit in your regular freezer.

    Jessica,
    I also love stew meat!

    Mrs. Zwieg,
    You should definitely try it out!

    ReplyDelete

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