Does that stop you eating steak? Probably not. Does it dull your enjoyment just a little bit? If so, rejoice. We’re about to show exactly why and how grass fed beef comes to the rescue. It’s actually quite healthy in a lot of ways. It may even be on the same health plane as eating fish, so you can relax and enjoy it while you’re digging in.

First, why is red meat such as steak and hamburger “bad?” A lot of the hype comes down to processed meats. Most hot dogs, lunchmeat, bacon, and other processed treats contain a lot of nitrates and nitrites. Those are bad because when we cook them at high heat (read: grill or fry) they break down into compounds that cause cancer just as certainly as ripping butts.

What about non-processed meat? There are some studies that suggest it may cause bowel cancer, mostly because of its fat content. By contrast, lean red meat is thought to be an important source of iron and other minerals.

Here’s where the rubber meats the road: There’s growing evidence that fat is actually good for you. Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish may actually prevent cancer, Alzheimer’s, heart disease, and other ailments.

The key is, there’s a difference between healthy fat and bad-for-you fat, and that’s where grass fed beef comes charging in.

Why Grass Fed Beef is Healthy Beef

According to several studies, it’s not even so much that some fat is bad and some is good. It’s that our bodies evolved to eat fats in a certain balance. Without donning a lab coat and a pair of Buddy Holly specs, we’re supposed to eat a specific ratio of Omega-3’s, Omega-6’s and Omega-9’s. Most Americans get about 30 times more Omega-6 fats than they should, and a lot less Omega-3 fats.

Before we link this up to grass fed beef, here’s why fish is so good for you. The oily ones like herring, salmon, and mackerel are chock full of healthy Omega-3’s. That’s because they eat a lot of smaller fish that eat a lot of even smaller fish that live on phytoplankton, tiny sea animals rich in Omega-3’s.

Now enter grass fed beef. Our caveman ancestors ate it all the time. It’s true their life expectancy tailed off at about age 30, but then they had to work long days chasing bison without the benefit of workers comp. That grass fed meat they ate was lower in fat than ours. Better still, the fat in it contained a much higher proportion of Omega-3’s.

Fast forward to today. We’re eating grain fed steaks that deliver three times more of the bad Omega-6 fats and about 1/4 the healthy Omega-3 fats.

Now switch to grass fed and that bad equation does a somersault. With grass fed beef, you’re not only eating less overall fat, but the fat you do eat has about a third the bad fats and four times more good fats. Is it as healthy as eating salmon? Nope. But it’s about four times healthier than “normal” grain fed beef. Also, the World Health Organization can’t lean over your shoulder while you’re eating it and mutter that it “may” cause cancer. Quite the opposite, studies have shown it “may” prevent the dreaded C.

Grass Fed in a Nutshell

So there’s the rub. The grass fed option can make meat actually healthy again. It can give us the good fats we need to build a well-functioning brain and cardiovascular system. It provides protein, iron and B-vitamins as well. And it does it all while tasting downright delicious.

The post Why Your Steak Should Be Grass Fed or Hit the Road appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

“So how do you know what’s seasonal? Look for the cheapest produce at the grocery store. When something is out of season, it means the farmer has to go to more extensive lengths to produce it, and therefore the prices are higher. It’s that simple.”

The idea of eating clean stems from the notion that you’re consuming foods that are made from Mother Nature, rather than a factory. Yes, some people take it very far and won’t even eat certain oils or have any butter or use any salt, but that’s just crazy to me. Sure, you can never look at a drop of butter or chocolate again but what’s that going to do for you? Let you be skinnier for an extra year? That’s cool, I guess.

For me, I aim for moderation. I eat lots of veggies but I season them really well and sometimes cook them in a little butter. It’s called balance, people.

That’s where stuffed peppers come in. You can take all these delicious, healthful veggies and mix them all up in a yummy sauce and shove them in another vegetable and voila! You have a super tasty meal that also happens to be good for you. What’s better than that?

So for this recipe, I went with seasonal vegetables because I have easy access to them. How do you know what’s seasonal? Look for the cheapest produce at the grocery store. When something is out of season, it means the farmer has to go to more extensive lengths to produce it, and therefore the prices are higher.

Anyway, back to the veggies. I used Brussels sprouts, leeks, potatoes (sweet and russet), onions, and garlic. The Brussels sprouts and leeks can get finely sliced, and everything else should get a small dice (cubes) so it cooks down easily. There really isn’t an exact science to this, so don’t get stressed out about proportions.

Saute all your diced veggies (except the garlic) in olive oil on medium heat until everything is nice and soft. What does it mean to saute? Essentially you’re just using heat and oil to pull the moisture out of the vegetables and cook them down. Make sure to season with salt and pepper while they’re cooking, and stir them around continuously so they don’t burn.

After a few minutes, you should notice a little crust forming on the bottom of your pan. Most people assume this is just burnt garbage and ignore it but they are sorely mistaken. This is all the good stuff! It’s the oil and seasonings and flavor from all the veggies that’s gotten nice and toasty. This is when we deglaze the pan.

Turn up your heat just a little bit and pour in any kind of cooking liquid. This could be wine or stock, or if you’re me and you have random soups in the fridge, you can use some of the liquid for those. The more flavorful the liquid, the better your mixture will taste- I went with the beef stew I had just made and it was the bomb.com.

So you pour in just a smidge and you should hear a sizzle. Take this opportunity to scrape up some of the yummy bits from the bottom and mix it all together, then turn down the heat. The extra liquid helps your vegetables cook down even further. Every now and then, continue to add just a little bit of liquid just to help enhance the flavor. You’re going to do this until the potatoes are really tender.

WAIT! You don’t want to completely cook the vegetables though because you’re still going to bake these, and no one like soggy veggies. At the very end, right before they’re done in the pan, throw in your garlic. Garlic cooks extremely fast and if it stays in the pan too long, it can burn.

Okay so your vegetable mix should be looking all delicious and it should smell pretty amazing in your house too. Let it sit for just a second while you prep your peppers.

You want to make sure it’s a pretty big pepper otherwise it won’t fill you up. Slice off just the top and core out the seeds so you have a cute little pepper container for that tasty mixture you just made. I like to use a high-walled pan so they don’t fall over. You can also shove some foil in between to help hold them up.

Now, pour the mixture into each pepper so it comes just to the top of the open pepper, and then top it with cheese. I went with parmesan but you could do cheddar, pepper jack, or really any kind of firm cheese you want. The goal is just to get something that melts well.

These go in a 375 degree oven for about 18 minutes, or until the cheese is completely melted and starting to brown.

Here’s the great thing about stuffed peppers. You can stuff them with literally anything. Throw some browned ground beef, or shredded chicken, in there. Or maybe some chorizo and corn for a little Tex-Mex flair? The combinations are honestly endless. Just make sure you don’t cook the internal mixture 100% before it goes in the oven or it could come out dry. Get creative and remember, eating healthy doesn’t have to be painful or tasteless! It’s all about moderation.

INGREDIENTS | For One Pepper

• Large bell pepper of any color
• 6 large brussels sprouts
• One leek
• Half a Russet potato
• Half a sweet potato
• ¼ red or yellow onion
• Cooking liquid- stock, wine or soup
• 1 clove of garlic
• Salt
• Pepper
• Olive oil

RECIPE

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Finely slice Brussels sprouts and leeks. Only use the firm part of the leek, not the floppy ends.
3. Dice the onion and potatoes, and mince the garlic.
4. Saute sprouts, leeks, potatoes and onion on medium high heat. Season well with salt and pepper.
5. Deglaze with cooking liquid of your choice by slightly turning up the heat and pouring liquid in, then scraping the bottom of the pan.
6. Turn the heat down and let mixture simmer. Continue to add small amounts of liquid until vegetables are soft and homogenous.  Add garlic.
7. Slice off top of pepper and stand it up in a high walled pan.
8. Pour in vegetable mixture and top with shredded cheese.
9. Bake for about 18 minutes or until cheese is melted and golden brown.
10. Serve immediately!

The post Eat All of Your Veggies Together with a Stuffed Pepper appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

“Mostly, this meal is about timing. Getting everything on the plate at the same time is the real trick, so having every ingredient prepped and ready to go is essential.”

And until a few years ago, I felt had to wait until someone splurged and took me to Craftsteak or Peter Luger to get my meaty fix. For some reason, even with all my culinary experience, I was under the impression that cooking steak properly involved crazy witchcraft, and only the best grill masters could accomplish this impossible feat.

Well, Guess what? There’s no mystery to cooking a perfect steak.

Cooking steak on your own stove is straightforward and extremely gratifying. All you need is a cast iron pan and some salt. Seriously, it’s that easy.

Mostly, this meal is about timing, because none of the components really take that long.

Getting everything on the plate at the same time is the real trick, so having every ingredient prepped and ready to go is essential.

“I’m a proud believer that pesto is always completely done to taste, as in there really is no recipe.”

For the squash fritters, take your cooked spaghetti squash and mix it in a medium-sized bowl with an egg, some flour, and salt and pepper.

You probably don’t need more than one egg because the squash is fairly dense and holds a lot of moisture, so use your flour to even it out and create a nice bond. You want the mixture to hold up in a patty shape on its own.

After the fritters are formed, start your pesto. Rip up some Lacinato kale (the flat kind, not the curly kind), and some basil and throw it in a food processor with olive oil, a clove of garlic, parmesan cheese, lemon, and salt, and blitz away.

I’m a proud believer that pesto is always completely done to taste, as in there really is no recipe. The ratio of oil to greens will help create a smoother texture, and the salt and lemon will help balance out the slightly bitter flavor of the kale.

Just keep adding the ingredients in small amounts until it tastes right to you.

Now’s the time to chop up your veggies. I prefer shallots to onions but both are great in a frying pan. Give the kale a rough chop and dice up your onion/shallot, and keep off to the side.

The order of cooking is steak, fritters, veggies. Steak must rest for at least 50% of the time it’s been cooked so make sure you give it the right amount of time.

It’s important that your steak is room temperature before you put it in the pan and that the pan is super, super hot. As you’re heating up the pan, salt your steak (liberally) and then give it a nice coat of oil.

The oil will seal in the salt which helps the steak form that tasty crust when it hits the scorching hot cast iron (no need to oil the pan.) Lay the meat in the pan salt side down and let it sit for a couple minutes, or until it’s a nice brown color, and then flip. You can tell how rare a steak is by how squishy it feels when you push on it, or you can cut into it.

Once it’s the color you’re looking for, take it off the heat and transfer to a plate covered in foil to rest. Steak must rest for at least 50% of the time it’s been cooked so make sure you give it the right amount of time.

Use a light oil like vegetable or canola to fry the fritters, with about ¼ of an inch in the bottom of the pan, on medium-high heat. Lay the squash patties in gently and be careful of any splatter.

Let them sit until the bottom is crispy and golden brown. You can also bake these if you feel so inclined.

The onions and kale can go in the fritter oil so you don’t have to use up any more equipment. Cook them until the onions are translucent and the kale is wilted and dark green.

When the fritters are done, lay them on a couple of paper towels to drain any extra oil, and then lay them on whatever plate you’ll be eating them off of. Then, cut your steak either into strips and lay them over the fritters.

Pile on the sauteed veggies, drizzle with pesto, and BINGO! A delicious, well-rounded meal that will impress any date—just do a trial run with a friend first.

The post Cast Iron Gold: Steak, Squash Fritters and Pesto appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

Step 1 is to not overthink it. Don’t get crazy on your beef patty, get crazy on your bun and spread! You don’t need to mix in bacon or marinate for 48 hours in manatee tears, all you need is a high quality ground beef with between 20%-30% fat. Remember the classic chef’s mantra: fat is flavor. Add only course salt and lots of fresh pepper to the meat. When you form patties – by hand! – don’t beat them to death or violently squeeze them together. Instead, grab a handful of beef and gently pinch/pull the edges into a patty shape. The thinner you get the middle the better because when beef cooks, it shrinks. This kind of shrinkage will ensure your burger will not fall apart. And when you’re cooking it, for the love of god only flip it once! Your mother told you years ago not to manhandle your meat…

Now choosing a bun is akin to choosing the house your meat family is going to live in. There are different kinds for different burgers. With this kind of juicy, high-fat burger you’ll need something substantial that won’t fall apart in your hand. A pretzel bun is a great way to go, but any hardy loaf will do.

It’s time to let your personality shine with the spread. You’re going to do better than ketchup (catsup?) and mayo. You can go In-N-Out style, or Asian weirdness, but my personal favorite is a handmade garlic, jalapeno, and cilantro aeoli. Make your own mayonnaise – it’s much easier than you think – or grab a store-bought tub, then mix in chopped jalapeno, garlic, and cilantro until it has the bumpy consistency of oatmeal. You’ll be tasting garlic the next morning, guaranteed.

You can add cheese if you like, but it will likely be overpowered by the spread so we don’t bother. Instead, top it off with 2 leafs of a god bib or green leaf lettuce – never iceberg – and other veggies of your choice. You’ve just made a tasty burger that will make you the king of summer.

The Best Hamburger Recipe For This Summer:

2 lbs of ground beef with 20%-30% fat content

2 tbsp course salt

5 tbsp fresh ground pepper

1 head of green leaf lettuce

1 red onion

2 tomatoes

8 pretzel buns or ciabatta rolls

2 cups of mayonnaise (try making your own!)

1 bunch of cilantro

2 heads of garlic

2 jalapenos

1/2 lemon

Makes approx. 8 hamburgers

• Evenly mix beef, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Form approx 8 patties by grabbing a small handful of ground beef and pinching it apart until it is larger than your chosen bun by 1/2 inch in diameter (the burger will shrink down). Place patties on hot grill, flip only once when juices collect on the top. Cook to desired doneness, med-rare is recommended.
• While meat is cooking, chop handfulls of cilantro and cloves of garlic, and remove the seeds from the jalapenos before chopping. Slowly mix in portions of these to your mayonnaise until it has a visibly chunky, oatmeal-like consistency. Squeeze in the juice from 1/2 a lemon to round out the flavor. Taste-test often to achieve your desired level of garlic. Squeeze in the juice from 1/2 a lemon.
• When meat is finished cooking, butter the cut side of your buns and place on the grill. Place a soaking wet rolled-up towel in the BBQ with the buns and close the lid. This steam will ensure that the buns do not dry out. When the buns are blackened, remove and assemble your tasty burgers!

The post The Best Hamburger Recipe For This Summer appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

Let me introduce you to the term ‘mise-en-place’. A culinary term, when translated from French, literally means to ‘put in place.’ Your kitchen from start to finish must be organized, clean and in order. And for the amateur cook, that can be the most difficult thing to do.

Your first step for a successful dinner is to plan the menu, and plan it well. Think of all the details and balance all aspects. Don’t go buying an ingredient that’s not in season and please remember to make something for the vegetarians and those with allergies. Get your recipes ready and the shopping list written out. Buy your ingredients and order your meat well in advance. Purchase in the right quantity. And don’t go and waste all the good rum into eggnog, you know a lot of people aren’t going to drink it anyways.

Now to start with the actual ‘mise-en-place.’ It is all the necessary preparation needed to be done before the cooking of your dish. If you’re going to be cooking a bird, remember to thaw, brine/marinate it a few days before the dinner, you don’t want a thanksgiving disaster on Christmas. Next you are going to clean all your ingredients, cut, slice, chop, make the sauces and work out the dough. This can be done a few hours before you start cooking or even the night before. But remember to store your items correctly, in the refrigerator, plastic wrapped or in well sealed containers.

When you start cooking you should have a good plan of action. Figure out the cooking times and plan your day well. Most of the items in your menu might need to be served hot. Figure out how you are going to keep them warm and ready for service.

It’s Christmas, the last thing you want is a burning pan, a messy kitchen and, hence, stress. There will be guests coming over, keep the kitchen clean. Enjoy the cooking, keep the Christmas spirit and drink some good spirits too! And don’t worry if things go wrong, you can always try again for the New Year’s feast!

The post Tips For Christmas Cooking appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

From being one of the most popular beverages today it is now used regularly as an ingredient in various dishes…

Beer Batters

How about some warm crisp fish with chips, or a basket full of beer batter fried onion rings? Beer batter fried foods is a common item on bar menus, and gives the crust a nice crisp texture. It usually adds a mild flavor, though it depends on the type of beer used and the amount of hops in it.

For one cup of flour use one beaten egg, seasoning, garlic powder or paprika and 1 1/2 cups beer. Mix into a smooth batter. You can batter fry a whole range of ingredients, seafood, poultry, onions and even potato skins! Dip the ingredient of your choice into the batter, quickly drip it off and slip it into the deep fryer.

Bread

Beer Bread is pretty fail-safe and proves to give the best results. A small quantity of baking powder or yeast is used, to aid in the rising. Again it gives a mild flavor to the bread, depending on beer type & hops levels.

Proceed to make a regular bread dough, substitute the water with beer, in the same quantity. You may add herbs, spices or even cheese to the dough to get things interesting.

Sauces

Beer sauces are easy to make. Poultry and pork are the preferred meats to go with brewed sauces. Baste your roast pork with a can of brew. Use the drippings, the pan juices at the end to make a sauce. Thicken it with flour or a roux, and reduce it over a slow flame till thick.

If you are not making a roast and cooking in a pan. Say you got some chicken breasts frying in the pan, you can make a honey-garlic beer sauce to accompany it. Just fry an onion and garlic in 3tbsp of butter, add 3tbsp of flour, fry till the flour reaches a light brown color. Gradually add a quarter cup of stock while stirring, add half a cup of beer and simmer till thick. Pour in a few tablespoons of honey. Season with salt and cracked pepper.

Marinade

Beer can be used to marinate any meat, just mix in some herbs and spices for flavoring, some salt and oil and marinate it for a good couple of hours or even overnight. The brewskie will give a little twist in flavor to the meat.

Drunken Chicken or Beercan Chicken can be made with beer. Though not marinated with beer, it still is drenched with it. Just marinate your chicken with salt, oil, spices and herbs. Stuff an open beer can into the chicken’s rear and roast it in a closed grill.

Soup

Cheesy beer soups are very hearty. Full of flavor, served warm with a chunk of rustic bread, yum.

You fry an onion, leek and celery and add a cup broth to it. Mix in a cup of milk and a pint of beer, simmer. Chuck in a generous helping of some strong cheddar cheese, about 2 cups grated. You may add some mustard, garlic or herbs. Get yourself a loaf of bread. Garnish with crisp diced bacon, and you’ve made the manliest soup ever.

It is important that you pick the right brew to use while cooking. You don’t want the beer to be overpowering and overly bitter in your dish. Go for a light lager rather than a dark ale. Depending on the beer’s style, adjust it’s quantity in the recipe. It’s your choice, pick your favorite beer and that one should be your winner.

“When people of the ancient world realised they could make bread and beer from grain, they stopped roaming and settled down to cultivate cereals in recognisable communities.”  [Roger Protz, 2004. “The Complete Guide to World Beer“] Bread and beer were a spark to something new. People realized they could make something out of grains, ferment and cook. There now would be a whole new verity of items on the menu and beer to wash it all down.  History tells us that Beer has helped ancient civilizations develop and grow, and till today, it still keeps us going.

The post Three Cheers For Beer & Beer Recipes! appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.