Preparation Recommendations & Recipes

Carwood Farmers' Beef Preparation Recommendations

Whether you get quarters/halves or our Monthly Beef Bundles, you will get a variety of cuts, often some cuts you may have never had before.  Our family is often asked what are our favorite ways of preparing different cuts of beef.  Here they are:

***check back often as this page will be a continuous work in progress***

Slow Cooker Roast tip

I enjoy many of the leaner cuts of beef, such as this sirloin tip roast I slow cooked for shredded beef tacos. Leaner cuts can quickly dry out because, we'll, they're lean. To add some healthy moisture, as shown in the pic, sometimes I will add some pureed butternut squash. Letting that cook into the meat for 7 or 8 hours often does the trick.

London Broil

This one is from one of our customers, Matt.  Done on the grill on high heat, then sliced thin.  This is another one of those time I suggest only to salt your Carwood London Broil.  If the pic is a bit too rare for you, just leave it on the grill longer.

Stromboli

There is a secret to the best Stromboli you'll ever make:  1 lbs. of Carwood Burger & 1 lbs. of Carwood Ground Sausage!

I make my sauce from scratch** by blending tomatoes, peppers & garlic with a little olive oil and 2 drop of oregano essential oil (1 blender full).  I add 2 cups of butternut squash puree to reduce the acidity of the tomatoes (the kids complain about that if I don't).  Cook that all down until it's a nice sauce, add the cooked burger & sausage.  Layer the cooked noodles in a casserole dish:  noodles, sauce, Ricotta/Mozzarella/Parmesan cheeses.  Repeat this layers 2 or 3 times depending on how much sause you have.  Save some cheese to put a nice final layer on top.  Cook @ 375 for 45 minutes covered with foil.  Remove the foil and put back in oven for about 10 more minutes to get a bit of crisp on the cheese on top.  **You can of course use sauce from a bottle.  

 As you can see from the pic, in the fall I often make a couple pumpkin pies with the left over Butternut Squash puree at the same time.

Brisket

One of Corey's personal favorites.  Take your pieces out of the freezer and put it directly in the slow cooker with 1 - 2 cups of water or broth.  You can put a spice rub on is if you want (garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt & pepper).  I like to just rub some salt on it because the flavor of the beef is what I'm often craving.  Put the lid on the slow cooker, put it on low and let it go as long as you can.  12 hours minimal up to 24 hours.  The longer, the more fat will melt, the more tender, the more flavor!

Hamburgers

I know many enjoy cooking burgers on the grill.  I prefer a cast iron skillet on our propane stove top.  Why?  Carwood Burger is consistently 85-90% lean, which is a good thing for health but on a grill, the burgers dry out quickly.  In a skillet, the burgers remain juicy and I feel I can better control how well done they get over grilling.  I like them medium well with just a little pink.  I want a little juice to squirt out when I bit into it :)  Prior to cooking, salt only!  I don't prefer any of the fancy spice mixes available for hamburgers.  They are designed for store bought beef that often has no flavor.  I want to taste the burger!  The patties in the pic above were only salted.  No bread crumbs or other additives to help the burger hold together.  They hold together just fine on their own.

Filet & NY Strip

 I use a cast iron skillet, melt some butter in the skillet, put salt on both sides of the thawed steak.  Sear both sides of the steaks at high heat, turn down the heat and let them cook until there is still a little blood coming through the top, flip them,  put a lid on the pan, turn off the heat and let them go until I can't hear the sizzling any more.  Plate them and let them rest for about 5 minutes.  This should produce a tender medium well.  

Minute Steak also none as "Shaved" Steak

If there is any fat on the thin pieces of steak when you open the package, carve them off.  If you don't they'll turn out chewy.  Sometimes there is very little fat.

I cut the pieces that come out of the package into 2 in. strips.  Place them in an iron skillet.  It doesn't matter if they layer a bit.  Salt and Pepper.  Turn heat on lowest setting and patiently allow to cook slowly.  Meanwhile, chop up some onion and pepper.  When there is only about 50% pink left, stir around the steak, add onions/peppers, cover for about 30 seconds, then turn off heat.  Keep covered for about 5 minutes.  That's it.

We've had shaved steak on sub rolls of course but also great on flat bread or open face English muffins with a bit of mayo and cheese.  There are limitless ways to serve.