the hubs and i have become more critical of what we are eating and also where it comes from. darn, jaime oliver and his food revolution! it is totally working on me. i hardly ever care where my meat comes from but after watching how ground beef and chicken nuggets are made i started to realize that i need to be more aware of the meat we are eating. so last saturday we went on an adventure to our local farmer's market and then to a local butcher. jaime oliver recommends asking the butcher a few questions, such as, "where does your meat come from?" and "where do you grind your meat?" if the butcher can't answer these questions for you there is a good chance (70% to be exact) that ground meat is actually pink slime...yuck. or if the meat is ground off site it could also be pink slim. no thanks! so when we stopped at the local butcher he was able to tell us where the meat was grown and even showed us their grinder. hooray!
one perk to using a local butcher shop, not in a grocery store, is that not only do they know their stuff but they are likely to offer you tips. we were only there for ground beef but we left with buffalo flank steak and 4 quails. say what?! how did that happen? our friendly butcher could tell we were interested in healthy lean meats and pointed us toward the buffalo and then recommend we make fajitas out of the meat. we were sold. earlier in the week i had stumbled upon a recipe for quail. out of curiosity i asked if they carried quail. i was shocked when he said yes. so we decided to be totally brave and crazy and eat unusual meat. the results? 2 new recipes that we love!
monday night: buffalo fajitas. i couldn't find a recipe so i created it. i hope you branch out and try it.
- put the buffalo meat (we used flank steak) in a glass baking dish
- take 5-10 garlic cloves and smash them with a knife. rub over meat and leave in dish
- juice two limes over meat
- sprinkle meat with oregano and cumin
- drizzle small amount of olive oil over the dish
- take a fork and turn meat over several times to coat with seasonings
- put in refrigerator to marinade while you prep the rest of the meal...turn occasionally
- cook on the grill. do not overcook! because it is so lean buffalo cooks quickly and will be tough if overcooked.
- let meat rest for 10 min after grilling
- cut against the grain so meat is less tough
- the result...
a delish healthy fajita! we sauteed veggies and cooked black beans and piled everything in a whole wheat tortilla. if you just like meat and toppings in your fajitas then use the veggies and black beans for sides. we had our dear friend, taylor, and her young brother over for dinner and they enjoyed the fajitas too...or at least they said they did. so this meal is great for company and even for kids. i bet they won't even notice the difference from beef.
wednesday: moroccan inspired grilled quail i (mostly) followed the recipe for the quail, i mean honestly i dont' follow directions well. the recipe states the rub is for 8 birds but we used all of it for just 4 birds, it was just right. i made sauteed rainbow swiss chard instead of the kale. swiss chard cooks like spinach so it was a bit faster and i prefer chard. i also made basmati rice with a little butter and fresh parsley from our herb garden. the grill gave the quail a nice crisp crunch but kept the meat...juicy. (even you don't know i hate the word moist. excuse me i just threw up in my mouth). i was glad jb did the grilling because darn it i felt like we were grilling babies out there! i know that quail are just small but it still tugged at my heart strings.
 |
| aren't they so tiny? i love all things small. sniff sniff...those are really tiny. |
 |
| jb with a teeny drumbstick. jb was flying the birds around the table and that made me want to cry since they are just so darn little. we may not make quail again but only out of guilt. |
so when was the last time you tried something new? what is the most exotic food you have tried?
No comments:
Post a Comment