Page 83 - Summer2008

avor. In Cookwise, Shirley Corriher recom- acidic liquids such as wine, beer, vinegar, kvas, and cultured milk, with
mends this method: “Place the unwrapped meat the addition of aromatic herbs that also contain antibiotic oils, such as
on a rack over a dish that is lined with a paper thyme, marjoram, rosemary, oregano, and garlic and onions. It has been
towel and leave uncovered 2 to 7 days in your my suspicion that the marinade, while imparting marvelous  avors, re-
refrigerator, which is between 36° and 40° F. ally provides a safe environment for the meat to continue its natural aging
[The meat] will turn dark and the surface will process.
dry out. When you are ready to cook, cut away Hervé This, in Kitchen Mysteries, agrees: “Vinegar is an acid that
the dried surface area.” I would emphasize that attacks the connective tissue and breaks it down. That is one reason it was
this method will work best with a relatively large thought that the meat gets tender, but not the only reason. From our labora-
piece of meat, such as a roast. Thinner cuts such tory experiments, we concluded that meat becomes tender in a marinade
as steaks would dry out too much unless loosely because, while it is protected from putrefaction, the muscular  bers age
covered, or consider using a marinade or herb and protein aggregates are slowly dissociated, just as when butchers age
paste. meat in their special refrigerators.”
A way to enhance the power of the marinade as a safe aging medium
MARINADES OR HERB PASTES is to be sure to allow enough time for the meat to age in the marinade if
There is quite a bit of debate about how keeping the meat in the refrigerator. You can also boost the enzyme activ-
marinades work to tenderize meat, or even if ity by marinating at room temperature. A roast can marinate a couple of
they can achieve that goal at all. The theory—that days in the refrigerator, for example, but take it out the night before the
acidic ingredients in the marinade break down day you’ll cook it and let it marinate at room temperature for that  nal
collagen prior to cooking—has been shown period. Most meat-aging enzymes will start to denature and lose activity
to be only nominally true. Marinades tend to between about 105° and 122°F, but will work faster the closer they come
penetrate only a few millimeters into the meat to that range. This means that aging enzymes will also be working as the
and over marinating produces a gray and mushy meat slowly heats up during the cooking itself.
(not tender) meat exterior. However, marinades In the case of steaks and thinner cuts of meat, I utilize an herb paste
have been used for centuries to prepare meat for for the same purpose—to allow the meat to age further while slathered
cooking, and traditional ingredients have been with aromatic herbs and raw olive oil. My method for two rib steaks (about

JUICY GROUND BEEF TIPS

Ideally, ground beef tastes best with at least 30 percent fat added in during processing and is worth insisting on
when ordering beef from your grass farmer. When working with very lean grassfed ground beef, however, its leanness
can be supplemented by lovely rich ingredients in a meat loaf, for example, such as eggs, cream and even anchovies. But
if you just want a juicy burger, there are ways to produce a real winner. First, if your meat is frozen, thaw it slowly in the
refrigerator rather than taking it out of the freezer an hour before mealtime and plunking it in a pan of water to thaw. The
ice crystals in frozen meat pierce the tissues, and in the case of lean meat, juices will leak out making the meat even drier.
Meat that is thawed slowly in the refrigerator will retain more juices in the meat.
I bring the meat close to room temperature before I cook it—quite against the standard rules of hygiene—but my
aim is to have the meat spend as little time in the frying pan as possible while deliciously browning the outside of the
meat and keeping the center rare, but not cold. I season my ground beef very simply with salt and pepper and garlic all
pounded into a paste that I mix into the meat by hand. My favorite fat for sautéing ground beef is a mixture of 90 percent
tallow with 10 percent beef stock—I keep a supply in the freezer. I heat a heavy cast iron pan to medium-high and add the
fat—enough to create a small pool. When it is hot, I add the patties and allow them to brown nicely on the bottom—about
a minute—and turn to brown the other side. Frequent turning of the meat cooks the outside nicely—and quite quickly. I
turn down the heat to low, turn the patties a few more times and immediately take off the heat and serve. The outside is
browned and a bit crusty and glistening from the tasty tallow/stock mixture and the inside is rare and wonderfully juicy.
Earlier this spring a grass farmer we know decided to home-slaughter a few sheep that were six or seven years old.
After butchering, the farmer hung the mutton for about 10 days, and then double-ground the meat himself, adding in fat
until it “looked right” to his eye. He almost bashfully offered the “ground lamb” for us to try, commenting that he thought
it was better than the ground beef from his steers that the processing plant made. This mutton—from elderly animals—was
succulent, well-flavored and absolutely delicious—completely due to the fact that our farmer controlled every step of the
processing—from the aging period to the addition of fat to the meat, proving it is entirely possible to have well-flavored,
juicy and fat grass-finished ground meat.

SUMMER 2008 Wise Traditions 81