The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook: Healthy Cooking & Good Living with Pasture Raised Foods

We have been eating only grass fed and grass finished meats, eggs, chickens for a few years. So I learned by trial and error and research how cooking these meats was different than cooking store bought meats. Since I have had a good amount of experience with cooking this kind of meat and food, this book didn't do much for me in that respect. What I really liked about this book is the caring that Shannon expressed for the animals. The fact that even though these animals are raised for food, they don't have to live horrible and confined lives. I don't personally eat veal, but I live in the country and have seen how many farmers raise veal calves. They are chained to a small shelter, and never allowed to go further than 4 feet from this shelter. Shannon explains that veal calves can be allowed to be with their mothers in the pasture, and that their meat is actually better than the confined calves. In this book, Shannon tells about each type of animal, and her love for them is obvious and refreshing. She also talks about what to look for in a source that you plan to buy meat, chicken, or eggs, and what questions to ask of this source.Although I have not tried any of the recipes in this book because I am already knowledgeable in using grass fed meats, I think this book would be invaluable to anyone just starting to learn about cooking this quality food source. There really is a learning process to be able to cook this type of meat since there is not the fat marbling that is evident in store meats. Grassfed meats cook faster at lower temperatures. As a general rule, grassfed meats should be cooked about the same time as store meats, but about 50 degrees lower in temperature. I generally use a meat thermometer to determine doneness. For example, I cook grassfed beef and bison to an internal temperature of 130-135 degrees. At this temperature, it looks medium-rare, but does not have the same consistency as medium-rare in store bought meat. It is very juicy and pink, but does not have that "raw" texture.

I must say, I'm both thankful and impressed with this cook book. I'm an experienced baker, but I've really never had any experience cooking meat (let alone grass fed beef and lamb). We joined a very small, local, organic, grass fed meat CSA this winter and I didn't want to take the chance of ruining all that wonderful lamb and beef that we'd invested in, having cooked some pretty awful grass fed burgers in the past.This book is absolutely essential if you're not familiar with cooking grass finished meats, or even if you're like me and have never really cooked much meat. As I said, I ruined several batches of grass finished beef burgers; we could barely chew them and they were totally overcooked. On my very first try using the recipe for simple grass fed burgers, I cooked the best burger I have ever tasted in my entire life (complete with caramelized onions and homemade BBQ sauce). I followed the directions precisely. Perfectly juicy, wonderfully flavored, out of this world burger. It's the kind of burger you think about for the rest of the week!I've tried the herb roasted chicken recipe as well as the meatball recipe, both meats were perfectly cooked again. I think cooking the meat to the temperatures she recommends really makes a difference. I had no idea that chicken can be cooked to 165F and not be pink. The stock recipes (for boiling poultry carcasses) came out wonderful as well, we made both chicken and duck stock. The stock itself is so rich it's almost a meal in itself (we boiled it down to concentrate it).I can't wait to try out the lamb recipes with our meat share next month. This book does not disappoint, so if you want a perfectly cooked main dish every time you prepare your grass fed meats, this is the way to go.

OK, I'm endeavoring to buy local. I shop the farmers' markets, purchase my poultry locally, buy eggs from a farm, and do my best to cook (and eat!) in season. But... industrial pork (for one example) is generally more tender and moist than when I've cooked my locally grown and slaughtered pig. No longer! This book helped me understand that pasture-raised meat is more lean and therefore requires some nuanced cooking methods. Just last night I used the recipe for brined pork roast (water, salt, honey, cardamom seeds, black pepper, fresh ginger) -- brined a 5lb. fresh ham roast for about 24 hours inn this concoction. The results exceeded my hopes! Flavorful, moist, and tender! (And the roast was from the same half-pig we'd earlier found dry and tough.) I'm now eager to try more recipes -- I recommend this book!

This is my Go-To cookbook for everything from grassfed beef to lamb to poultry, and everything in between. Along with delicious recipes from ranchers nationwide, the author does a very good job of explaining how to purchase excellent quality protein. Readers gain a new perspective on the challenges that ranchers face, while becoming more knowledgeable food shoppers. When I invested in a pasture raised cow with friends a few years back, this book was invaluable in helping us decide how to have the cow processed later. I have gifted this book to several of my friends too, and they loved it as well. Highly recommend.

The information on farm raised animals is great, as is the information on finding a good farm to purchase meat. There are not many recipes and I found only a few that might be useful. Perhaps her new book will fit our tastes a bit better. I do applaud Shannon Hayes for putting this information out to the public. My first cooking experiences with grassfed meat came out dry and tough. Now I understand why this was a problem. I have made a commitment to grassfed meat and poultry and am still looking for more recipes.

I use this book all the time.