This Week at the Markets
Aloha Friends!
Before I get to the two links I would like to share, first let me update you on the meat status. As mentioned in last week's newsletter that the holidays prevented us from getting our regular inter-island shipments and we have limited stock. That being said, we are pretty loaded up on Cubed Beef Stew meat. Although we won't be taking orders, you can pretty much plan on that cut being availalble. We also have the following stock:
100% Grass-fed Makaweli Beef: Ground Beef, Cubed Beef Stew, Thin Sliced Beef, Filet Mignon, Flat Iron, Ribeye
Pono Pork: Ground
Ni'ihau Lamb: Cubed Stew Meat
Maui Nui Venison: Tenderloin, Loin, Jerky
Maili Moa Whole Chicken
Aina Frank Hot Dogs & Beef Bars
Boom Boom Day Boat Wild Fresh Catch Fish
**Keep in mind some of these cuts will sell out quickly at our Saturday markets so come early!
A little cooking inspirations
I LOVE making anything Mexican with shredded beef. You can use my beer-braised venison taco meat recipe for a taco bowl, enchiladas, burritos, etc. Just sub beef stew for venison. That works just as well with the Lu'au Stew recipe. My other favorite traditional beef stew recipe is Beef Bourguignon.
If you havent tried the Thin Sliced Beef yet it is one of my favorites, cut from the top round. Super flavorful but benefits from some tenderization. I pound each thin sheet out and/or marinade it overnight. My go to recipes are beef teriyaki sweetened with soaked and blended dates, meat jun, and stroganoff.
New Blog
This week I shared a Q & A on my blog with our customer Terry, who after 6 years of being a die-hard Vegan, began including clean meat into her diet. As you can imagine I often get criticized by hard-core vegans for advocating meat, so it is nice to have a cheerleader coming from such a staunce background.
Labeling Grass-fed Beef
Chef Sarah shared a great article with me about How to Decipher Labels on beef products. I love this article (although they failed to consider the most recent scientific literature showing the positive environmental benefits of ruminants raised using regernative agriculture.) Definitely give it a read but don't be defeated. Rest assured our beef cuts are local 100% Grass-fed Beef from Makaweli Ranch that grazes on 25,000 acres and eat ONLY fresh grass and forage. It is important to know that Makaweli Meat Company (not Ranch) recently included "locally dry aged" mainland product in their restaurant sales. I do not source any of those cuts but I have seen it mismarketed by restaurants and local butchers to be confused with their Ranch product. I think this is unfortunate that they don't have a separate brand, but I still believe true Makaweli Beef is the most superior 100% Grass-fed Beef we have in the state and I will continue to strictly source from their Red Angus Local Cattle. Make sure to ask if you see the Makaweli label.
The Kunoa beef bars are made from local "Pasture Raised" Beef that spends its entire life on pasture eating grass and forage but is offered a "protein supplement" daily. Kunoa chooses to do this because they are trying to supply a large majority of beef for the state. This requires a lower price than 100% grass-fed cattle that take much longer to grow out compared to supplemented cattle. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions on this.
My mission is to educate consumers on their local proteins and be totally transparent. I understand the challenges and cost we face in Hawaii agriculture but marketing should never come before honesty. Corporations are required to make decisions based on profits but our mission-based small business does its best to make all our decisions and marketing based trust and transparency. Thank you for supporting a good thing!
See you this weekend. Aloha,
Jess
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