Saturday, June 12, 2010

Australian beef takes center stage

Tenderloin in the beef cut chart.
Tenderloin in the beef cut chart.
Image via Wikipedia
















There is good news for meat eaters in the ShopRite sales flier: Free-range, grass-fed filet mignon from Australia for only $4.99 a pound with the PriceClub Card. The sale starts Sunday.


You'll have to buy the whole beef tenderloin sold under the Nature's Reserve label, probably a minimum of four pounds. And when you get it home, you'll need to trim it well. The last time I bought this beef, I sliced all of it thin and put it in freezer bags with marinade for Korean barbecue at home. But you can also cut it into small steaks.


The same cut of conventionally raised American beef also is on sale at ShopRite for $6.99 a pound with the card.


ShopRite can sell foreign beef for $4.99 a pound, compared with $10 or more a pound for American, grass-fed beef, because costs are so much lower in Australia. The same goes for naturally raised Australian lamb. Why Australian beef isn't served more in American steak houses is a big question.


Free-range, grass-fed beef has less fat than beef from cattle confined to pens and fed only grain; it cooks faster and probably shouldn't be prepared past medium.



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7 comments:

  1. What I'd really like to know is, how come the Australian cow has a tenderloin, and the grass fed Fairway cow only has a rump?

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  2. The illustrations are from an add-on called Zemanta. For the Australian beef, I looked for one that showed the tenderloin. The "Fairway cow" also has a tenderloin, though it is not shown.

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  3. There is also the possibility the illustration with the Fairway post is the butcher's name for the pieces, and the illustration with the Australian beef is the marketing whiz's name for the same cut of meat. Rump becomes tenderloin, and sales sky rocket. Then, Tenderloin becomes the red light district or "meat market." And the world goes round and round.

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  4. Is Nature's Reserve brand of beef grass fed or factory farmed? What is so special about Australian beef?

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  5. Australian beef and lamb are raised naturally. They are free range and grass fed, and they are sold here for less than conventionally raised U.S. cuts.

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  6. Is it possible to get organic bones for bone broth?

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    Replies
    1. In northern New Jersey, the Whole Foods Market in Paramus sells organic beef bones for soup or broth. Look in the freezer case near the butcher's department or ask the butchers. They're only a couple of bucks per pound.

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