Product Review: Trader Joe's Uncured Corned Beef

Just in time for St. Patty's Day, they featured this product in the Fearless Flyer.  I tried it in a salad and cooked with eggs.  Do not recommend.  It was not yummy.

Eggs with liver and onions

I'm afraid to eat conventional organ meats in the US what with how we feed and inject our animals, so I'm taking the opportunity to nom nom on them in Italy.  So cheap, so good, chock full of

minerals.  And as always, I do enjoy eating my food in a sea of oil.

Trader Joe's Grass Fed Angus (review)

The price of good meat seems to be going up nowadays, but if that's what it takes not to eat a giant mouthful of agribusiness corn...

The meat has a decent taste and texture for previously frozen stuff, even though I quick-defrosted it using cold water in the sink.  The bottom picture shows my plate, with sauteed onions, garlic and jalapenos and sliced Cambazola.

Bison ribeye (Linder Farms)

The trick with bison is not to cook it to death. This is a sliced ribeye served with greens and salad.

Ground lamb from Safeway/Vons

Product of New Zealand, $6.99 per pound for ground.  I thought the meat tasted pretty good, like lamb should, with a strong but not sour taste.  The patties were made with 1 egg, fresh sage and oregano, pepper, paprika and red pepper flakes. 

Bitter foods are good for you

I crave arugula and radicchio, and lucky for me they're really good for you.  They even reduce sugar cravings!

The photo is salad greens topped with radicchio in oil and white wine vinegar, fried onions, and a filet mignon with ricotta salata crumbled on top.

Bison brisket is bomb

Last Thanksgiving, I made a beef brisket with Whole Foods grass fed beef.  Last weekend, I tried a 2 lb. bison brisket, grass fed and grass finished, from Linder Farms.  It was about $10 per pound, the same price as the WF brisket.
I was concerned that bison is leaner than beef, so after defrosting, I marinated overnight in lime juice, olive oil, and red pepper flakes.  When I was ready to cook, I pulled the meat out to allow it to come to room temperature and turned the oven to 450.
While the meat warmed, I started my two large golden onions, 1.5 bulbs of garlic, and chopped cabbage to cook in coconut oil.  Cabbage in a brisket?  I'm Polish.  I seasoned with oregano, cumin, parsley, thyme and red pepper flakes. 

Then I seared the brisket in very hot coconut oil.

I added it to the vegetables and added my low-sodium vegetable broth.  I don't use any foods that include "spices" or "flavor."

I covered, brought the broth to a boil, and put it in the oven.  After 30 minutes, I turned the oven down to 200 and left it for five hours.

I consider both briskets to be a success.  Both had great flavor but slightly different texture.  The beef was more moist and stringy, while the bison was firm and drier.

I made a salad with radiccio, a spicy yogurt and olive oil chimichurri sauce, and slices of brisket.

I chopped small pieces of the brisket and fried them in olive oil and coconut oil, added eggs and small chunks of real Parmesan cheese.

Meat? Yes please, and what kind?

This short article gives information about how meat is grown in this country, how we are prevented from regulating it, antibiotic use, and gives some advice.  It is important for your health, the health of your children and the health of our world to respond to this sick abuse of animals.

Greek Meatballs with Tzaziki

Meatballs:
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground lamb
2 eggs
white onion
fresh garlic
fresh and dried mint
fresh parsley
pepper
cumin
paprika
fried in olive oil with a bit of coconut oil
I don't mind a very onion-y taste and I'm lazy, so I didn't chop the onions very fine.

Tzaziki: Trader Joe's full fat Greek yogurt - 2 cups
skinny cucumbers, partially seeded
lots of fresh mint
a bit of fresh parsley
1/4 cup raw onion
roasted garlic
fresh lemon juice
olive oil
salt and pepper
This came out as a sauce, not a dip, because I didn't fully seed the cucumbers.  The raw onion adds a very sharp taste, so adjust for your preference.  I used a blender.

Beef brisket

I always wanted to make a brisket, so I read 10 recipes and winged it. The meat came out delicious and tender. I used grass fed beef from Whole Foods.

First I studded it with garlic, added salt and pepper, then seared each large surface.

I used white onions, fresh rosemary and thyme, and vegetable broth and cooked on low in a 250 oven for about eight hours. The meat came out so soft that it didn't need slicing. I used some of the broth to braise red cabbage.

Deconstructed eggplant and beef lasagna

Salt, rinse and drain eggplant slices.



Roast them in a 350 oven for about 30 minutes with olive oil and pepper. Then put cheese mixture (whole milk ricotta, grated or finely chopped real mozzarella, Italian seasonings, fresh parsley if you have it) right on top of rounds and heat until cheese is melted.



A veggie mixture of your choice, grass fed grass finished beef with plenty of garlic and white onion and a homemade tomato sauce (tomatoes, garlic, butter, water) topped it off. The veggie mixture shown included Chinese broccoli and red pepper.

Stuffed cabbage with lamb and beef

There weren't enough large leaves to wrap two of the meatballs. I sliced some onions, garlic, and cabbage into the broth of water and canned chopped tomato. After bringing the sauce to a boil, simmer on low for about 45 minutes, basting about three times.

I had a hard time removing whole leaves from the cabbage after cutting off the base, so I'm going to try another method next time. I've read that you can freeze the head of cabbage or core and then immerse the entire head in boiling water to make it easier. I boiled the leaves for 5 minutes in salted water, then rinsed with cool water.



One pound of fatty grass fed grass finished beef plus one pound of lamb equals six meals for me. I seasoned with pepper, paprika and oregano, plenty of garlic and white onion.

Zucchini "Pasta"

Everyone's talking about it, so I tried using a potato peeler to make pasta out of my yellow zucchini squash. Next time I will add a little salt to the water. Although my chunky sauce of white onions, grass fed beef, and fresh tomatoes was well-seasoned, the dish overall was a little bland. When I warmed up my sauce, I added plenty of fresh spinach.

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Grass Fed Beef

The Dr. Weston Price website is a fascinating treasure trove of information about healthy fats. This article explained a lot about grass fed beef, why it is different, and how to age it and cook it yourself.

News to me: the omega-3 fatty acid content often trumpeted by grass fed champions is not very much higher than grain fed beef, and both are very low. Message: eat a varied diet including grass fed beef and cold water fish.

Rich Meatloaf

Nandor's latest creation combined veal (3/4 lb at $8.99/lb), very fatty beef (3/4 lb at $3.99/lb), and lamb (3/4 lb at $5.99/lb). He added 2 eggs, some melted cooled butter, plenty of various onions (yellow, shallot and cippolini) and garlic, and grated zucchini for moisture. He used Spicely chimichurri, chili powder, pepper, and Spice World Garlic Herb Sensation.
He cooked the meatloaf in two batches in porcelain. Use anything that can catch juice in this case. 350 oven for a little less than an hour.
He drained the juices and made a gravy with quinoa flour and crushed almonds. It was amazingly tasty.

Grilled Lamb - Boneless Top Round

Boneless top round lamb was $10 per pound at Whole Foods. Each piece was about 1/2 pound uncooked. This much meat ends up being about 5-6 meals. Added $2.99/bag organic baby spinach from Trader Joe's and $2.00/lb broccoli from Santa Monica Farmers Market.
Nandor seasoned it with fresh ground pepper, Spice World Fajita and Garlic Herb Sensation, and some Spicely paprika. This cut of meat is thick, so it was grilled on medium high on the cast iron stovetop grill for about 20 minutes and rested for almost 10.
Meanwhile the spinach was very briefly cooked with some olive oil and turmeric, and the broccoli was fried.

Broiled Bison Ribeye and Jalapeno

I'm reading a cookbook called "Hotter than Hell," so I bought some jalapenos. I broiled my Lindner bison ribeye with one pepper. I couldn't eat the whole thing, so I will make spicy dip with sour cream later.

Quick Weeknight Meal

Nandor had to make his dinner in a jiffy, so he went to Nijiya Market on Sawtelle and Olympic. He got strips of pork and shitake mushrooms. He added that to the baby broccoli he already had from Trader Joe's. Less than 10 minutes later, he was dipping his meat in hot sauce. He simply sauteed the veggies in some Eden hot sesame oil and olive oil.

Collard Green Wraps

If you're a beginner with raw greens, try this first with a sturdy piece of romaine. Your filling shouldn't be too hot or romaine will tear.

My collard green wrap had sauteed red onions, sliced collards, spinach, bison, garlic. Collard greens can take a warmer filling.

The pictures are terrible but it tasted great.

Shepherd's Pie

comfort food

First steam two large heads of cauliflower until very very tender. Boil some green beans or broccoli (or just layer with raw spinach) for a few minutes, then rinse with cold water. You could steam the green veggies too.

Cook one pound of ground beef, bison or lamb, maybe even dark meat turkey, with onions, garlic, and seasonings. I used organic ground beef from Trader Joe's along with Spice World Garlic Herb Sensation grinder, fresh ground black pepper, Spicely Greek, turmeric and paprika. Try lemon zest or tomato paste to the meat to change up the flavor profile. Cook the meat until just brown - ground meat is rubbery if overcooked.

Preheat the oven to 350. Mash the steamed cauliflower with a fork for chunky or in a food processor for smooth. I mixed in some Horizon brand sour cream, mustard powder, lots of pepper, ancho, paprika. Milk, grated cheese, or whatever your mom put in her mashed potatoes would be fine. Season it heavily since cauliflower is so bland.

Layer the meat, then veggies in your casserole dish or large oven safe pan. Smooth the mashed cauliflower over the top, sprinkle with a little more paprika and/or pepper if desired and bake about 50-60 minutes until browned a little. Let it sit for about 15-20 minutes before serving or it will be a little too runny.

This is not beautiful food, but delicious, and even kids like it.