Watercress at Rain Crow
- Watercress Growing Wild at RCR
So you say, why is a protein producer writing about green stuff?
Part of the reason I love living on our ranch is the environment. I love being close to things that grow, things that amaze me, things that fill me with a sense of wonder. May I never take one single breath for granted. It is a spiritual journey to live here at Rain Crow and keep your eyes wide open as the seasons come and go. I have a deep appreciation for all things in nature and especially edible things.
When we homeschooled our kids I once went on a kick to “live off the land.”
I think it was after reading My Side of the Mountain out loud to the kids. This is a novel about a young boy who learns how to live on his own in the wilderness. I considered it an interesting idea and learned all I could about edible Missouri plant life. My boys complained that I was trying to poison them and didn’t quite catch the adventure side of it when we had a grocery store a mere 10 miles away.
At any rate, I have had a life-long interest in what around us is edible. Maybe that is the ultimate “eat local.”
On Rain Crow we are blessed with numerous springs that provide clear, clean running water to our animals and our flowing creeks.
In several spots we have watercress that grows wild. This is a perennial aquatic plant that thrives in this spring water. I guess my paleo friends might have an appreciation of it as it is probably the oldest known leaf vegetable consumed by human beings. Ancient Persian, Greek and Romans praised it as a part of the daily diet as they noted their soldiers who ate it were in better condition.
Before micro greens were cool I would harvest these greens because I love their peppery, tangy flavor. They are great to add to salads, put on sandwiches, a great addition to lots of veggies and good to munch (I prefer with oil and vinegar).
Later, I discovered they are good for you as well. Watercress is high in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
Recent research has shown them to have cancer-suppressing properties. Eating watercress daily in clinical trials showed a significant reduction in DNA damage to blood cells (lymphocytes), which is a precursor to the development of cancer. It also reduces blood triglyceride levels and shows a significant increase in blood levels of lutein and beta-carotene which have strong antioxidant activity.
Watercress is one of nature’s super foods! We are thankful to have it growing wild in our pastures. If you don’t have it growing wild in your backyard, consider buying it regularly at your grocery store.
Starting Seeds for Family Garden
Katie Grace Starting Seedlings
Family Farms are about Good Food
At Rain Crow Ranch we love good food! Yes, we are very proud to raise the highest quality and healthiest protein on the planet. However, man does not live by beef, pork and chicken alone. Even when our ancestors were hunter / gatherers people ate what was available and seasonal.
Though our farm does not sell any fruits and vegetables, we do raise a garden for our family. Though not as large as it once was, we still endeavor to put up the essentials; tomatoes, beans, herbs, lettuce, peppers, squash.
I especially love to grow heirloom tomatoes. I usually get our seeds from Seed Savers Exchange. Seed Savers is a non-profit group committed to passing on our garden heritage by saving and sharing heirloom seeds.
In February, we begin our seeds. This is about 8 weeks before the last expected spring frost. I get help from Logan and Katie Grace to start these seeds inside so they will be ready to put out once that threat of frost passes. Usually around the first of April.
Logan with Peat Seed Cups
Logan then puts out the peat cups and fills with potting soil for the tomatoes to germinate. We keep the temperature in this room at 70-80 until the seeds germinate.
We then back off the temperature to about 60 and put the cups under lights. As the seeds germinate you have to keep that soil moist. It will take about 7-10 days for the little seedling to emerge under these conditions. As soon these babies poke up their heads, it is time to put them under the lights.
Logan Preparing Our Lettuce Seeds
There are lots of commercially available grow lights but I have pretty good luck with shop lights with T-8 bulbs. That light comes closest to being what sunlight would offer. Then as the seeds grow we move the lights up.
Katie Grace Watering Seedlings
Our baby plants need tender loving care, or basically water, light and warmth! I put a pan under the little peat cups so that can absorb mositure from the bottom as you don’t want to keep them soggy.
When the seedlings are several inches tall and have several true leaves we will move them to deeper containers.
Bill Telepan’s Heritage Pork & Grass Fed Beef Dinners
Bill Telepan is a wonderful chef in Manhattan at Telepan. He sources his grassfed beef from our farm. Our relationship began at a conference where he mentioned to Mark that, “I am sorry but I just don’t care for grassfed beef.”
Mark quipped, “You haven’t tried my grassfed beef.” And proceeded to send Chef some as a challenge. Chef has used our beef since that time.
If you are in Manhattan you have got to try Telepan and these special dinners shown in his latest newsletter.
March 2012 at Telepan
Heritage Pork & Grass-Fed Beef Dinners
Over the years we have been lucky to work with some great food producers. And what better way to celebrate them than with a feast. We are happy to introduce our pork & beef dinners available to parties of 10 to 20 people in our private dining room.
Our pork dinner features the pork of Flying Pigs Farm in a dinner that starts with a country terrine, tête de pork roulè & lardon salad and goes into a roasted shoulder with seasonal garnishes.
If your group prefers beef, you can choose the beef feast, provided from Rain Crow Ranch. The beef feast starts with oxtail broth with meatballs & robiola tortellini and our baby lettuces with an aged Monterey Jack dressing. Followed by their grass-fed dry-aged prime rib & marrow bones.
These dinners are limited to our semi-private room. Our pork dinner is available for $105 per person & the beef feast is $125 per person. Please let the reservationist know which dinner you are choosing.
To learn more about the farms, please visit the Flying Pigs Farm website or @flyingpigsfarm on twitter, and the Rain Crow Ranch website or @rain_crow_ranch.
April 6th & 7th: Seder-Style Dinner
We will offer a $75 four-course non-kosher menu featuring some new twists on traditional Seder foods. Our regular menu will also be available these evenings. We start to take reservations for these dinners on March 6th.
April 8th: Easter SundayWe will be open for brunch from 11:00am until 3:00pm, and from 5:00pm until 9:30pm for dinner with our regular menus. Reservations open on March 8th.
Looking Ahead-May 22nd Wellness in the Schools:
We are working this grass roots organization dedicated to children’s health, nutrition and fitness in the NYC public schools. Wellness in the Schools will be holding its annual benefit, a food and wine tasting featuring great restaurants from across the city, at the 360 Tribeca Rooftop, 10 Desbrosses Street.
Tickets are on sale now, please click here to find out more.
And remember to follow us on Facebook & Twitter or visit our website for menu updates and new videos on TelepanTV.
I look forward to cooking for you soon,
Bill Telepan
Kettle Beef
If you venture out of our local area of Jackson, Missouri you’re likely to get funny looks if you talk about kettle beef. But around these parts it is the staple of church dinners, civic functions and family reunions. It is down-home comfort food.
Basically, it is a savory, fall-apart-tender, juicy rendition of a pot roast.
So easy and soooooooo good. Inexpensive whole food.
Our processing plant located in Jackson produces kettle beef from the grassfed chuck roast we raise at our farm, Rain Crow Ranch. You can buy it that way (already cut into 1-1 ½ inch cubes of chuck roast) or you can cut up about any roast yourself.
Grassfed beef is lean, healthy and safe. Beef you can feel good about eating (or feeding your family). No doubt, my opinion is a little biased but it represents beef raised with pride on an American family farm – mine! Rain Crow Ranch in Missouri.
You can also use stew meat, rump roast, arm roast etc. But my favorite is a chuck. It has a bit more fat than other cuts but bursting with flavor. And hey, the fat in grassfed is good fat!
Preheat a dutch oven. Dump in the raw beef to sear. Generously season with salt and pepper. Our beef has a pure and clean flavor so I don’t like to cover up real beef taste with lots of heavy seasoning.
After browning the beef. I remove it from the pot and add the aromatics. In this case, I had on hand green bell pepper, onion and garlic. I would have liked to add celery but my daughter who seems to be half rabbit had eaten it all. Out here at our ranch, you don’ t just run to the store; round-the-corner is about an hour trip.
Anyway, I finely chop the veggies. I have to fine chop so some of my crew don’t see green things in their food. In the same vein I used to hide finely chopped raw broccoli and carrots the spaghetti sauce. But that is another story.
Cook the veggies until translucent. Then add the beef back into the pot. Don’t you love one pot meals!
Now if you are in a hurry you can simmer on top of the stove for a couple of hours until the beef is tender. Yet, I am not a good pot stirrer and prefer to cover the pot and put it into the oven to slow cook until dinner time. I had 4 hours so turned the oven to 275.
Sometimes I will cook all night at 200 degrees. You can also slow cook in a crockpot. Put it on before you leave in the morning and you are greeted with the best, mouth-watering smells when you return home hungry. p>
Did you know that muscle tissue is 80% water? Yep, didn’t go to vet school for nothing.
That is why I do not add additional water or broth to the beef as I slow cook it. The simmering beef with a tight cover collects the most wonderful au jus in the pot.
You can eat it just as it is.
But I like to thicken the juice to make it a little more like gravy. You can do this with corn starch, flour and lots of other ways.
Today I simply added a little flour into cold water and mixed well to get rid of any lumps.
Pour the flour and water into the pot of beef and stir carefully. That tender beef will be falling apart. Gently heat on the stove top or in the oven to keep it warm.
Now comes the question. How are we going to eat this yummy smelling beef in gravy? Get inventive. I have served it over egg noodles, rice, and mashed potatoes. But I just got in a new order of grits.
If you are north of the Mason Dixon line you may not know all about grits. Raised in the south we consider it manna.
Grits have their origins in American Indian corn preparation. Traditionally, the corn for grits was ground by a stone mill. The results are passed through screens, with the finer siftings being grit meal, and the coarser being grits. Many communities in the United States used a gristmill until the mid-20th century, with families bringing their own corn to be ground, and the miller retaining a portion of the corn for his fee.
Three-quarters of grits sold in the U.S. are sold in the South stretching from Texas to Virginia, also known as the “grits belt”.
It is a part of our southern culture and you learn to say, “kiss mah grits!” pretty early.
I have a T-shirt with GRITS (girls raised in the south)
Yellow grits include the whole kernel, while white grits use hulled kernels.
Being a grits aficiondo and only having quick grits available locally. I order our grits from a traditional mill in Midway, Kentucky, just outside of Lexington. http://www.weisenberger.com
Weisenberger Mills is located on the South Elkhorn Creek in southern Scott County, Kentucky. The creek has provided the water to power the mill’s twin turbines since the early 1800′s.
Six generations of Weisenbergers have operated the mill at the present location since 1865.
But let me get off my tangent and back to the meal at hand.
The basic formula for making grits is 1 part grits to 4 parts liquid (water, milk, broth). Yet, for these darling grits to form a foundation for our beef and gravy I wanted them a bit more substantial so the ratio was more like 1:3.5.
I added 1 part grits to 3 parts chicken broth. As it began to cook and thicken I added ½ cup of cream. You could use milk but I love creamy grits. Once cooked and thickened (takes a good 30 minutes) I stirred in a half stick of butter.
Wallop a healthy spoon of grits on the plate. Top with our beef. Get ready to be wowed. Comfort in a big way.
Here’s the recipe:
3 lb. Grass Fed Kettle Beef or roast cut
1 finely chopped onion
1 small finely chopped pepper (green or red)
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 T Corn starch or flour
1 c grits
3 c chicken broth
½ c heavy cream
½ stick butter
Place raw beef in a preheated Dutch oven to sear. Season with salt and pepper. Once browned remove the beef from the pot. Toss in the onion, pepper, garlic and cook until translucent. Add the beef back to the pot, cover and place in oven to slow cook for several hours on 275. Peek occasionally and make sure the beef is not getting dry. If it is add a bit of packaged chicken broth. When the beef is tender remove from the oven. Mix ½ cup of cold water with the flour and stir till no lumps. Add to the beef and broth, stirring only gently. Place back in oven to keep warm and let the gravy thicken.
One hour prior to the beef being done make your grits. Mix grits with the chicken stock and stir on low temperature till it begins to thicken. Add the heavy cream and continue to stir. Once thickened and done (after about 30-45 min) cut up butter and stir into the grits.
Place a portion of grits on the plate making a well in the center. Add the beef on top.
Enjoy!
Super Bowl Sliders
We love to take every chance we get to make an event a party. So my mind naturally goes into the celebration food mode. Football games are a big event around here, with 5 boys and a husband all who played in high school or college it is a favorite pastime. We live too remote to travel to the games of our favorite college teams and alma maters so we love to follow by TV. Typically the group has split rivalries and loyalties so it often makes for a loud game. I went to the University of Tennessee and several of the boys were born in Florida and maintain a loyalty to the Gators. My father-in-law went to Auburn and another segment of the family went to South Carolina and the Citadel. Our family is especially tuned into SEC college games because it is part of our culture and heritage. Many a Saturday afternoon we gather to enjoy watching our favorites. I love to cook what I call “fun” food. No veggies and balanced meals just good eats. The Super Bowl is no exception. This year we were just about split on which team we are pulling for to win. The argument all week has been about Eli Manning vs Tom Brady. Yet, we gather together to watch, enjoy and to eat.
Our menu this year was a family favorite; sliders, wings, a layered salad, chips and dip.
I would like to share how I make sliders. We have a big family and many are big eaters. So I looked for a way to make sliders on a fast track. If we are all together we can easily polish off several dozen.This recipe shows how to make one set (1 dozen) which I often triple or more.
I begin with a pound and half of grass-fed ground beef. I prefer 80/20 for making burgers but even 75/25 works well. You add such good flavor with this fatter beef, and remember the fat in grassfed is good fat. The healthy omega 3’s and CLA are found there. This 1 ½ lb will work perfect to make 12 – 2 oz sliders.
I line the bottom of a 9 X 13 in pan with parchment paper and leave a bit of overhang on each end. You will see why in a minute.
All you do is press the beef down into the pan to make an even layer.
This is a lot easier for me than patting out 12 individual little patties (remember my normal batch would be 36-48). And this way you don’t have to worry about getting 12 little balls the same size. I also think the more you “work” the beef the tougher the burger.
Once you have an even layer of beef then add seasonings. You can use any of your favorite seasonings but I use sea salt, fresh ground black pepper and a bit of paprika. I always tell folks that our grassfed beef has such a pure and clean taste that I don’t want to cover that up with a bunch of seasoning. Most people usually agree with me.
Now comes the fun part and the reason I Iine the pan with parchment paper. Simply lift out the sheet of beef and flop it over onto another sheet of paper.
Remove the top sheet and season the other side of beef.
Now you can evenly cut the sliders into 12 even squares. If square sliders bother you do the patty cake trick to make individual patties. Squares do not seem to bother us at all and it is so easy it means I will do them a lot more often.
In line with thinking that easy is better or less is more, I use dinner rolls for the buns.
I take the whole package and use a bread knife to slice through the middle but keeping each bunch of tops and bottoms connected together. Keeping them together makes toasting them easier and faster than doing them individually. I then take a brush and put melted butter on the inside.
We are cheeseburger folks so I take a block of sharp cheddar and slice very thinly. Remember, these are intended to be mini burgers.
Now take your sheet of little slider squares and put them on the griddle or grill. I can do them all at one time if I am using a griddle like in the picture below. If I am putting them on a grill I usually put them on separately. I preheat the griddle to 325.
If I am only making a dozen my griddle is big enough to cook the burgers on one end and toast the buns on the other end. That is neat and easy but I usually fill the griddle with 3 sets of 12 slider patties. In that case I toast the buns in the oven.
When I use the griddle like this I use the spatula to separate the sliders once I have put them on.
As the sliders cook when I turn the sliders I toast the second half of the buns. Remember don’t turn more than once and do not press down on the burgers. You want all that great juice to stay in the beef. When just about done I turn off the griddle, rest the beef and put the cheese on the sliders.
Almost ready to eat. My mouth is watering! Cut the buns apart and let slider meet bun.
Serve with your usual burger condiments and enjoy!
Recipe 1 ½ lb grassfed ground beef
1 doz dinner rolls
Sliced cheese (cheddar, American, Swiss)
Salt, pepper, paprika to taste
3-4 T butter
