Driven by the increasing awareness of antibiotic resistance and its link to food animal production and the ever growing demand for meat and poultry products raised without antibiotics, The Pew Campaign on Human Health and Industrial Farming, in partnership with the American Academy of Pediatrics, is hosting a Supermoms Against Superbugs Advocacy Day on May 15 in Washington, D.C. to celebrate and unite individuals across America working to preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics for their children and families.  http://www.saveantibiotics.org/moms/MothersDay.html

Dr. Whisnant of Rain Crow Ranch has always been an advocate for wise and discriminate use of antibiotics.  She will be participating in this Washingon event. These supermoms will include chefs, ediatricians, farmers, veterinarians,and moms who share a particular interest in the issue. 

At Rain Crow we raise our animals without the use of antibiotics and have first hand experinence in how it can work.  Follow us on twitter and facebook as we travel to to Washington for this event

We love to have folks visit us at the ranch and do all we can to welcome them.  It is a family tradition to have guests come in the gate as strangers and leave as friends.  For years we have hosted friends, family, customers, auditors and curious.  We have shared our table with people from all walks of life and have generated a wealth of great memories around our table.  We are not a large corporation where we meet you in our board room.  We are a family farm and meet you where we live and work.
After 20 years of faithful service we made the decision to replace the old sentinel of welcome.

The Old Rain Crow Enterance

 
We worked with Dave Wagner of Wagner signs in Bemidji, MN www.wagnersigns.com. Who made the sign and shipped it to the ranch.
We were so excited when it arrived but that meant it was up to our crew of cowboys to get it up safely.  Different hats.

Mark conducts the orchestra. 

         So, with a bit of muscle…

 A bit of finesse…

The Rain Crow Ranch Crew gets the job done!

Welcome to Rain Crow Ranch

Pasture of wheat grass

Cutting Wheat Grass

Windrows of Wheat Grass

Pick Up and Chop Wheat Grass

Bagger

Chopped wheat grass enters bagger

 The bagger is used to fill a large bag with the harvested forage where it is allowed to ferment.  This represents the traditional way of harvesting grass which is put up dry to be stored as hay.  This fermented feed produced by chopping the wheat grass at it’s peak creates a higher plane of nutrition.

Bag of Wheat Haylage

 

The haylage then is added to the animals forage diet when needed to assure an upward plane of growth for the animal which contributes to the quality of the beef produced. 

It reminds me of the fable of the Ant and the Grasshopper.  The ant worked hard all summer so he might have plenty for the winter and not be cold and hungry.  The grasshopper made fun of the ant and played all summer.  Then when it was cold and food not easy to find he went hungry. 
A quality chain of forage doesn’t just happen it has to be planned well ahead of the need.

 

Grass-Fed Cattle on Pasture

The USDA announced on Tuesday the confirmation of another case of “mad cow” disease, the 4^th to be found in the United States.  This current case was in a dairy cow located in central California. Again, the consumer wonders about the safety of our food and should we be worried?

“Mad Cow” disease is bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). A fatal neurodegenerative disease in cattle that causes a spongy degeneration in the brain and spinal cord.  It can be transmitted to humans and is known as new variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease.  Transmission to humans is felt to occur with the consumption of the brain, spinal cord or digestive tract of infected carcasses.  At the height of the epizootic about half a million cattle (UK) had already entered the food chain before controls were put in place.  Worldwide, 210 people died from exposure to the prion causing the disease which has a very long incubation period. This sent shock waves through the beef world especially when it was discussed on the Oprah Winfrey show.  The bottom fell out of the beef market overnight as consumers had a panic.  Last year there were 29 cases of BSE in cattle worldwide which represents a 99% decrease since the peak in 1992.

Investigation into BSE showed that the cattle contracted the disease from feed containing the remains of meat and bone meal from other animals (cattle and sheep).  Cattle are of course herbivores and not intended to eat feed containing mammalian parts.  Being strong advocates for a forage diet (biologically appropriate) or at least a vegetarian diet, I have a strong opinion you just should not mess with the way things ought to be. The BSE scare boosted the grassfed industry since we finish our cattle on forage with no contaminated feed.

The US has in place regulations that are aimed at preventing BSE.  First, is the feed ban.  In 1997, regulations prohibited the feeding of mammalian byproducts to ruminants were inacted.  However, cattle can still be fed some animal by-products such as cow blood; poultry litter (fecal matter and feathers). The regulation to control this has been proposed but is yet to be implemented. Second, SRM are not allowed to enter the food chain and must be appropriately handled.  Brain, spinal cord, trigeminal ganglia, intestines, eyes and tonsils from cows are classified as Specified Risk Material (SRM). These tissues harbor the prion.

According to the USDA;

“The United States has had longstanding interlocking safeguards to protect human and animal health against BSE. For public health, these measures include the USDA ban on specified risk materials, or SRMs, from the food supply. SRMs are parts of the animal that are most likely to contain the BSE agent if it is present in an animal. USDA also bans all nonambulatory (sometimes called “downer”) cattle from entering the human food chain. For animal health, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ban on ruminant material in cattle feed prevents the spread of the disease in the cattle herd.

In the official USDA guide it is stated that transmission occurs from the aberrant diet fed to cattle. Today, some researchers believe that there is a rare atypical form that spontaneously mutates and yet they can’t rule out feed transmission.  It has been reported that this current case in California may be the mutant type.  If this were the typical BSE then it would represent a significant failure in the effectiveness of the regulations aimed at controlling the disease.  This would be unaccepatable both from a political and from an industrial standpoint.

In saying that, I remain a bit skeptical that since feed is the common means of transmission that this might indeed represent a failure in the feed ban.  Hopefully, the further investigation and research will tell the truth.

Maybe this recent case was not caused by feed issues.  Are grass-fed cows still safer?

Where I used to say that grass-fed beef carried absolutely no chance of BSE I concede a rare mutated prion can occur but that is still an unknown.

I also find it of interest to note that the major grass-fed countries such as Argentina, Australia and New Zealand have never reported a case of BSE.  For me and my family I still choose pastured raised grass-fed beef.

Comfort Food Grass Fed Pot Roast

In a challenging economic atmosphere many want to eat ethically and healthy but email us that they just can’t afford it.  Others, write to tell us how hard it is to change from the convenient “pick up on the way home” food to real cooking using real food because they just don’t have the time.

You can have the best of  all worlds . . .  healthy more ethical food, convenience and economy 

You can feel good about eating comfort food that is good for you plus share food with those you love without breaking your bank.  At the same time, you can make the same food very easy and convenient.  It just takes a little advanced planning.

We have a large family but not all of us remain home for all meals.  For example, 4 of my family ate one roast for most of a week, or at least 4 meals worth!  However, what I will share with you works for even couples or single households.

Start with one awesome and lower cost cut of grass fed beef.  In this case it was a 3 lb arm roast.  The retail price of a grass fed roast runs about $6.99/lb (varies by retailer and area).  So the 3 lb roast costs $20.97.  You will be amazed at how far this stretches.

Lean Grass Fed Arm Roast

Season the roast simply with salt and pepper.  You will be adding lots of flavor and the grass fed beef tastes wonderful.

Season Roast with Salt and Pepper

Preheat a large cast iron skillet until very hot.  Add a touch (very small amount) of olive oil and when it begins to smoke place the beef in the bottom.  Sear the beef on each side to caramelize or brown each side.

Sear Grass Fed Arm Roast

Sear to seal in juices. Put the roast into a crock pot. Place roast in crock pot to slow cook.

Now decide on what aromatics you want to add.  I typically add carrots, celery, onions and garlic. Actually I see what I have on hand and coarsely chop then dump it in the pot.  I love to add mushrooms and bell pepper but today I did not have any.

Add coarsely chopped carrots, celery and onion

Toss the veggies into the crock pot and add a generous amount of prepared beef broth. Reserve the excess to use later.

Add Beef Broth

Set the timer for the crock pot to cook on low for 8-10 hrs.  If I am going to be out for the day I prepare this in the morning before I leave or the night before and put in the refrig so all I have to do in the morning is turn on the crock pot.

Slow Cook Roast in Crock Pot for 8-10 hours

When you come in at night you have the welcome-home savory smell that brings a smile to your face and that of your family.  Your roast is ready to sit down and enjoy.  I add mashed potatoes, rice or noodles and another veggie to complete the dinner.

Pot Roast Dinner is Served

Home cooked, real food that is easy, healthy, ethical and on a budget!

The next day or so you think of how to use the left overs of the 3 lb roast.  Figuring our first meal used portions of 4-6 oz per person we have considerable beef left over.

Logan’s, my youngest son, favorite is the sandwich we make using the roast beef.  I honestly think he likes this better than the first meal of pot roast.  Slice the beef thin and place on a bun or toasted bread.  Just add your favorite slices of cheese, maybe caramelized onions or experiment with any veggies on hand.  Then heat, toast or put in a sandwich press.  Add some of the beef broth if you like French Dip.

Another Easy Meal - Roast Beef Sandwich

I go ahead and take the small amount of beef remaining and cut it up into chunks for making vegetable beef soup.

This is great to use on another busy day / slow-cook all day / have ready when you come home meal.  In the crock pot I add a can of diced tomatoes, the rest of the beef broth I didn’t use when I cooked the roast, some tomato paste, a bag of frozen mixed vegetables.  Remember, I said sometimes we opt for convenience.  With the same idea, I add half a bag of frozen southern style hash brown potatoes.  Less than 10 min prep and set the crock pot to be ready when you get home.

Prepare From Leftovers - Vegetable Beef Soup

A wonderful home-made soup is ready when you come home.

Another Easy Meal Served - Vegetable Beef Soup

The soup usually makes enough to serve for two meals.

So how did we come out?  Our grass fed roast cost $20.97.  The shopping list for the rest of the meal items was a mere $12.37.  So our total spent was $33.34.  Figuring a minimum of 12 meals that is $2.78 per meal!

Feel good about making the right choices.  Start with grass fed beef you can feel good about eating and feeding, be creative about using left overs.

These ideas are offered to help you be creative and not as a specific carved-in-stone recipe.  Yet, if any of you would like, I will gladly send the full ingredient list and recipes.  Just let us hear from you.

Now, because I am convinced that you can cook using real food and find it easy to do I want to give away one of our grass fed beef roasts for you to try.

Our Contest

To Enter:

To enter this giveaway, just answer the following questions in the Comments section of this post or on facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rain-Crow-Ranch-American-GrassFed-Beef/269603993083851.

“What is your favorite comfort food?”  Let us hear what brings out your smiles and memories of good food and good times. What food wraps you up in the warmth of good feelings?

Of course, would love to hear you say Rain Crow Ranch beef, pork and chicken but you’re still entered if comfort to you is a super-sized order of McDonald’s French fries!

The Rules:

One entry per person

Winner will be drawn Monday morning April 30.

We will announce the winner on facebook and ship directly to your door.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rain-Crow-Ranch-American-GrassFed-Beef/269603993083851

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.

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.

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

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!

Great little piece on grass fed along with all nutritional claims and what they mean!

Click on picture to see full video