Fire It Up - Andrew Schloss [31]
Poppy Seed Syrup
Best with vegetables and fruit
MAKES ABOUT 2 CUPS
2 cups water
2½ cups sugar
1 thumb-sized knob fresh ginger, peel left on, sliced ¼ inch thick
½ teaspoon whole cloves
Juice of ½ small lemon
1 tablespoon kirsch or white rum
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon poppy seeds
Combine the water, sugar, ginger, and cloves in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until slightly thickened and syrupy, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and strain into a large bowl. Stir in the lemon juice, kirsch, vanilla, and poppy seeds and let cool. The syrup will keep at room temperature for several hours. Or store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week in a tightly closed container.
Spicy Orange Honey
Best with fruit and cheese
MAKES ABOUT ½ CUP
¼ cup honey
1½ tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, such as Tabasco
Mix everything together. The honey will keep at room temperature for several hours. Store in the refrigerator in a tightly closed container for up to 1 week.
Chapter 3
Beef
We love beef. And we’re not alone. Worldwide, more land is used to raise cattle than all other domesticated animals and crops combined. Americans eat about 28 billion pounds of beef every year. Cattle occupy most U.S. farms and ranches, and there are about 100 million head of cattle on American soil at any given time.
The biggest factors influencing the taste of beef are cattle breed, diet, marbling or grade, stress on the animal, and aging. Most U.S. beef comes from hybrid cattle that combine the blocky meatiness of British breeds like Hereford and Durham with the drought-resistant hardiness of Asian breeds like Brahman. Premium beef comes from purebreds like Italian Chianina and Japanese Kobe (also known as wagyu), or from hybrids of top breeds such as Chiangus, a combination of Chianina and Angus. If you’re looking for a particular breed, ask for it by name.
Grain-Fed, Grass-Fed, and Organic Beef
Beginning around the 1950s, high demand for beef led to streamlined and concentrated methods of meat production. Since then, almost all cattle raised in the United States have developed at least 30 percent of their weight by being fed grain (mostly corn) in large feedlots. This production system allows meat producers to standardize flavor and tenderness by feeding the animals a consistent diet and discouraging exercise, and to minimize the time and expense it takes to bring them to market. The tightly packed quarters of the feedlot also force most producers to pump cattle with antibiotics to keep their meat safe. By law, cattle stop receiving antibiotics three days before slaughter to ensure that antibiotics are not in the meat at the time the beef is butchered and sold.
In other countries, raising an animal completely on grass is the norm. Pasture-fed Argentinean beef is world-famous, but in the United States, the grass-fed movement is still relatively small. Typically, feedlot cattle are grazed on grass for about six to eight months, and then “finished” on grain. Opponents of this system point out that keeping an animal on grass throughout its entire life gives its meat a stronger flavor, sweeter aroma, meatier texture, less fat, and more nutrients beneficial to human health. But grass-fed beef costs more to produce, so relatively few U.S. producers have developed grass-feeding systems.
In the meantime, to help identify grassfed beef and prevent mislabeling, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) sponsors a voluntary beef inspection program, which verifies and labels 100 percent grass-fed beef. The label only verifies the cattle’s diet and does not include criteria about housing, hormones, or antibiotics. Apart from the USDA label, the term “grass-fed” is largely unregulated. Do not confuse grassfed beef with meat labeled “organic.” Certified organic meat is not necessarily grass-fed. It must only meet the USDA National Organic Program standards, insuring that it is
• fed on 100 percent organic feed (vitamin and