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The Righteous Pork Chop

11/26/2014

Eve Lindamood - chief husband herder and kiddo wrangler of SonRise Ranch contributes her cooking expertise in the SonRise Ranch Blog

Pigs exhibiting their "Pig-isms" by rooting and digging next to the water source at SonRise Ranch. One element that gives our Pork a "clean" taste is Dirt - this allows them to practice their natural digging instincts and they love it! This is not possible on a concrete floor for obvious reasons.

I momentarily considered titling this post "The Perfect Pork Chop", but that would make whole affair a bit of an understatement. This week we will feature our new contributor from the Ranch, my wonderful wife Eve. She was cast into the limelight a few weeks back when we featured a photo of her homemade butter made from the cream of one of our Jersey Cows - but this week she comes out in a smash-hit debut featuring the a moist, temperature perfect, "paleo on steroids" kinda' plate that I call the Righteous Pork Chop.

You might think, as do I, that a Pork Chop is only a Pork Chop - I have a tendency to be somewhat of a reductionist. I'll often tell Jacob (our Ranch hand) to "just take some supplies up the hill and fix that fence." Jacob is a trooper, so a task like that even on a rainy day doesn’t seem to faze him. I will find myself feeding hogs a half hour later and wondering where he is; after all, I told him a whole 30 minutes ago to fix that darn fence - never giving a second thought to the fact that its easily a four-hour job.

Free-range Chops rubbed in Ghee, Olive Oil, Worcestershire and Pepper

By the way, when we start our #SonRiseRanchIntershipProgram, many an energetic free-range-critter-grazer-in-training will be thankful to Jacob for having paved the way forward in teaching me the patience of Gandhi - but that is for a later post.

For now, we are going to conquer this Pork Chop.

The first thing Eve does is locate some true Free-range, organic fed (that means no GMO's and no Soy) Pork - none of this is too hard for her, since she happens to be married to a Sustainable Rancher and critter grazer.... She then preheats our oven to 400 degrees (at our altitude of 1200 feet above sea level). No, we don’t go cut wood for this; we have a gas stove – life on the Ranch is not that archaic.

Eve washes the Chop in cold water to remove any blood and then pats it completely dry with a paper towel. Having prepared a series of foil squares large enough to completely wrap each Chop with the reflective side out, she places each Chop in its own bed of foil square.

As if washing pork wasn’t dirty enough, she uses her hands to prepare the Chops by adding one-half tablespoon of Grass-fed Ghee, one-half tablespoon of Organic Olive oil, and then one-half teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce on each side of the Chop, along with some citrus pepper (or another pepper of your choice) found at the local market. She rubs all this together to marinate the Chops, ensuring the meat is well coated with the mixture.

Resist the temptation to add salt; although it enhances the taste after cooking, it will tend to dry the Chop out during cooking.

She rubs each side thoroughly and wraps the foil around the Chops. She has tossed more than a few foil pieces in the trash getting this right - but they must have not a single puncture. Each chop, carefully wrapped, is placed on a cookie sheet, evenly spaced and the cookie sheet is then set in the middle of the oven.

Wrapped Chops ready to go in the oven at 400

Now comes the hard part – you will need to keep your salivating significant other from constantly asking if they are done yet. Find creative ways to keep him or her busy, like telling them the bull is out in the neighbor’s yard, or the pigs have escaped to the next county (becoming truly free-range forever); just make sure they don’t foil your righteous chops before they are really done - they will fill the house with an awesome aroma making the task even harder. Stay strong - you can do it!

To get this just right, after about 35 minutes have passed she checks to see if they have reached an internal temperature of 145 degrees. Eve meticulously checks them by removing the chops from the oven, opening the foil of one and inserting a food thermometer into the middle of the chop about half way down into the meat, being careful to not puncture the bottom of the chop or the foil. If they are short of the required temperature, don’t lose faith - just replace them in the oven and recheck at 5 minutes intervals.

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Enviro-rancher

11/19/2014

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SonRise Ranch Cattle mob grazing a new "rotation" after a mere 48 hours - mirroring the natural phenomenon of "eat and move" found in nature, necessitated by predator pressure (in this case, an electric fence).

“Internal schism”

“Split personality”

“Lunatic Rancher”

I have never known how to brand it, but I am constantly divided between two far-distant lands. In one, a Rancher, Capitalist, Outdoorsman and Energetic young “take on the world” critter grazer lives. On the opposite side of the political, religious, world view perspective lives a concerned Environmentalist, Earth Lover and Student of Nature who cares deeply about any scars he might leave on the earth and holds a genuine concern for the world God has trusted us with - constantly aware of the inalienable fact that my children will inherit the choices I make.

I have often mentioned that Grass-fed and finished beef draws these two diametrically opposed worlds together. Many have entered into Grass-fed beef out of necessity – the cattle business is brutal and any marketing edge one might acquire is fiercely pursued – Grass fed and finished beef, with its higher premiums, offers a tempting choice for traditional cattle producers looking for higher profits on their herds.

The problem with this premise is that traditional cattle husbandry methods don’t match up too well with the Grass-fed and finished direct marketing strategy – in other words, it’s hard to take your feed-lot destined calves and “just keep them a bit longer” to make grass-fed beef out of them. It’s taken us years to perfect our methods – making sure we have enough really good grass to keep all the mouths fed and get those critters fat.

Real Grass-fed cattle production requires maximum attention to grass growth and recovery, and this is borne out only through an authentic concern for the environment (one that goes far beyond talking the talk, but really means walking the walk). At its genesis, to be a good Grass-fed and finished cattleman, you’ve got to be a die-hard environmentalist. This creates an internal conflict of sorts as most right-leaning cattlemen don’t have a left leaning, earth hugging, and long-haired environmentalist living inside them.

I spoke with a Rancher recently who proudly exclaimed that his cattle drank out of a stream, and had no water troughs, no modern conveniences and was “livin' off the land like in them old days” – I was absolutely aghast.

Most average folks know that when ruminant animals drink, they tend to manure about the same time. Here at SonRise, we use this to our advantage by placing the water trough in nutrient depleted areas thus attracting more manure deposits for future grass growth (did I mention my main goal as a cattleman is to grow grass?).

So, pray tell – what might the first true environmentalist (or, worse yet, any environmentally concerned millennial) say the first time you tell them that not only do you have running water on your Ranch, but you let your Cows poop in it?

Holy surface water contamination, Batman!

Worse yet, this guy was marketing and selling Grass-fed beef… so his likelihood of encountering that well educated environmentalist was far greater than your average worn out old Cowboy having a cold one at the pub complaining about the price of feed this year.

And what happens when that stuck-in-his-ways stubborn old Rancher does run into that environmentalist? You guessed it - Grass-fed cattle gets another black eye.

That is why Grass-fed cattle can’t be just a slick marketing technique, but must be a lifestyle change – I know I sound like a die-hard Paleo dieter trying to convince a WeightWatchers member to start eating Bacon here, but this is a really critical point – we can’t take on the industrial, confined mega-farming complex with those who don’t care about the environment in the ranks.

Terracing (above the fence line) caused by cattle continually passing back and forth looking for grass on the hillside. This particular pasture has cattle on it year round with no chance for the grass to fully recover. This is not natural, as in nature the herd would pass by and move on only to return months later for another bite.

I have included a picture of an overgrazed pasture for your enjoyment. Some cattlemen would be proud – after all “we got every last ounce of grass out of that pasture,” and to heck with the year-over-year destruction it might cause from nutrient depletion, terracing (left and right grazing lines on the hillside) or erosion due to the shallow roots of overgrazed plants (most plants grow 1/3 above the surface and 2/3 below in root structure – so taller plants hold more sub-surface soils together).

Either way – you are the judge…. And I will be the “Christian Fundamentalist Lunatic Libertarian Environmentalist Rancher” who can’t fit in anywhere.

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Free-Range and Grass-fed cooking oils

11/13/2014

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Free-range, Organic Fed (No Soy, No GMO's) Pork Lard - notice the pure white color.

Hey Folks,

What kind of oil do you cook with?

Almost every meal I cook here at #SonRiseRanch starts with some type of oil. Oil is an essential part of cuisine not only because it provides a medium for frying and sautéing, but because it is a source of energy and a vehicle for fat-soluble vitamins.

There are many options. Some traditional fats include:

Butter (Raw cream butter is rich in beta carotene only if the Cow is grazing on green grass and not confined; see photo below)
Ghee - just the fat portion of butter
Lard - rendered swine fat
Tallow - rendered bovine fat
Shmaltz (drippings)
Olive Oil
Coconut Oil

Store bought grade AA butter (thanks a lot USDA) pale white in color (on right). Raw, A2A2 Grass fed Jersey cream butter made by Eve Lindamood at SonRise Ranch in Garden Valley (on left).

Some of the newer oils on the market are:

Canola Oil
Soybean Oil
Corn Oil
Shortening (Crisco)
Margarine

With so many options, and a plethora of contradicting scientific claims about the health of these oils, how can one choose which fat to cook with?

I take the following into consideration:

How the oil is grown before it is extracted:
Are pesticides used to grow the plant which oil is extracted from?
Are oil crops grown using methods that deplete topsoil?
Are the crops grown using genetically engineered seed?
How the oil is extracted and refined:
Is the oil extracted using toxic chemicals such as hexane?
Are the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated oils oxidized during extraction or refinement?
Have the oils been hydrogenated, or chemically altered, to change the consistency of the product?

Unfortunately, the answers are almost always “yes” for the newer oils listed above. What’s more, these vegetable oils have replaced nearly all of the traditional fats in restaurants, packaged foods, and have even snuck their way into products labeled as pure olive oil.

What this means is that I cook at home 99% of the time. I even like to make French fries in beef tallow made from #SonRiseRanchGrassFedBeef.

For the traditional fats, the answers are almost always “no” to the questions posed above, as long as the animals are raised on healthy pasture, and the plants are grown organically. Devotees of the lipid-heart disease hypothesis will warn you about the lipid profiles in traditionally used animal fats, but good science and personal experience can vouch for the health benefits of the fat-soluble vitamins, non-oxidized cholesterol, and pure energy contained therein.

We are currently offering rendered beef suet (called tallow) and rendered pork fat (called lard) so you don't have to save your bacon fat.

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The symbotic relationship between Cattle and Grass

11/6/2014

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Howdy, folks!

I would like to share with you an incredible TED talk from Allan Savory—an elephant lover and an environmentalist extraordinaire! It's short, jaw-dropping, and it's the kind of video that could change the world if everyone saw it!

I hope you have a chance to give it a view, but here is a short summary for those with busy schedules:

Grass and ruminants (Cows, Sheep, and other grazing animals) have a powerful symbiotic relationship that is foundational to our planet's health—the survival of every person and animal on the planet depends on this relationship.
Land in the absence of grazing animals naturally tends towards desertification—Allan has some pretty sad photos of American national parks which are turning into deserts due to “unknown reasons” (unknown apparently to the government that poorly manages these national treasures).
Reconnecting ruminants to the land actually reverses desertification and restores a lush green landscape by rebuilding topsoil and improving water retention after rain fall. In short, it restores a natural cycle that can turn deserts into incredibly productive and beautiful land.
Lush growing grass sequesters CO2 from the atmosphere, taking it from the air and putting it back where it belongs—into a rich, diverse, living layer of soil and plant life.
Proper land management—specifically, rotational grazing (which is what we do here at SonRise) is not only necessary, but is actually the most powerful step we can take towards healing our planet.

By supporting your grass-fed rancher, you are doing wonders for the environment! Many folks understand that eating healthy animals is good for their health. But most people are still under the impression that eating meat is environmentally unfriendly. Well...it all depends on what animals you eat....

When you take Cattle off of grass and put it in a CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation), it poisons the land (and water) with overly concentrated fecal matter. The subsidized mono-crops (corn, wheat, soy) that are fed in CAFOs are incredibly energy intensive to produce and result in desertification (thank you, MONSANTO).

At SonRise, we follow a different model. Our beef are solar powered! Instead of killing the land, they restore and rebuild the land and the soil. Not only do our beef not contribute to greenhouse gasses, they are actually net-negative! This model of rotational grazing that we use here on the ranch is not new. It is simply a return to a healthy and normal relationship with our planet and our environment. Once upon a time, there were millions of buffalo roaming the American landscape. Tragically, I don't think they will be returning anytime soon. This means it is us, a handful of ranchers doing what we do, and a few visionaries like Allan Savory (and Joel Salatin) who are on the cutting edge of environmental progress—feeding people and having a positive impact on our planet at the same time. As our customers, you are the most important link in this chain.

When you spend your hard earned dollars on grass-fed beef, lamb, pastured pork and fowl, you are supporting ranchers like us—we can't do it without you! You are also supporting sustainable and profoundly necessary change in the way we interact with the environment. Here at SonRise Ranch, we are proud to be a part of positive change, and we are extremely thankful to our customers who make it all possible. Hope for the future, and I hope to see you at the market!

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The Righteous Pork Chop

Enviro-rancher

Free-Range and Grass-fed cooking oils

The symbotic relationship between Cattle and Grass

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