Mar 9

Mar 9 New Year's Resolutions: Getting more from your meat

Price complaints at farmers markets aren’t new, but meat is particularly fraught. People enthusiastically buy vegetables from farm stands that look like stock photos from a search for "polychromatic." By contrast the meat vendors' tables are usually pretty bare: the cuts that they offer are abstract, and not on display. A conversation is required: about size, intended use and a sense of unfamiliarity and intimidation builds. People spend the same amount on a single piece of meat as they did on the whole week's vegetables. High-minded ideals about sustainability and ethics are replaced with a sense of injustice. They don't return to the farmer for meat the next week.

We have a problem with meat in America. Our government subsidies go disproportionately to grain, so the price of feed is artificially low. Meat production is centralized among a few big companies, of the size to lobby their way out of bearing the environmental costs of their operations. That artificially reduces the price further. Poultry farmers in particular are often locked into contracts little better than sharecropping: they buy chicks from the poultry companies and own them until the chicks are sold back to the same company at a price the company sets, with earnings deducted from company-mandated updates and improvements that the farmer pays. Farmers who decide to go into meat production find that processors to humanely slaughter and skillfully butcher their animals are few and far between--the demand for those skills and the money investing in better facilities and technologies are centered around feedlots primarily in the Plains states.

The very rough sketch above is a strong argument for eating better meat, but consumers also have budgets, and they need to, you know, eat. Allow me to present my best suggestions for getting the most out of your meat.

Buy on the bone

The price of meat is a balance of cost and demand. Popular cuts that require more cuts will always cost more. The closer you get to the whole animal, the better the value.

Small animals: chicken and rabbits

Buy whole whenever possible. Skin and bone provide extra flavor in fat and gelatin, and it’s possible to get 6 servings out of a single bird, and a generous four from a rabbit.

Larger animals: pork, lamb or goat, and beef:

I love shoulder cuts: Boston butt or picnic shoulders are great, but country ribs (the first three ribs AND shoulder meat) are among my favorite pork cuts. Lamb and goat shoulders and shanks are often sold with very straightforward nomenclature. My favorite beef cut is a chuck roast, which often has ribs and a section of shoulder blade. Beef and pork ribs are also very popular, and often less expensive.

Give it time

All of these cuts cost less up front but will take more time to prepare at home. Learn how to break down a chicken--it’s a valuable skill and if you can carve a turkey, you’re mostly there. Most of the larger-animal cuts are best subjected to a braise or a long roast. These methods require some planning, but it’s not complex. And really, if something is going to live and die for your nourishment and pleasure, you can give it a few minutes of your time to fit preparation into a busy schedule.

Don’t skip stock

The best argument for cooking on the bone is stock, of course. It makes use of meat leftovers and gives time-strapped cooks a head start on a flavorful meal later in the week. Small quantities of bones, like in a chuck roast can be combined with compatible flavor boosters like parmesan rinds and dried mushrooms to yield a delicious base for soups, grains or legumes, or just glazing veggies.

For pricier, faster cuts, make it a smaller part of the whole

When convenience is critical, buy a smaller, more expensive piece of meat that will cook more quickly, and rely on the rest of the plate for a full meal. Tacos are one of my favorite ways to do this, and a chop or steak with a big salad and baked potato is dead simple.

Work flow for two bone-in meat purchases:

Whole chicken→Roasted chicken: breasts for dinner→shred legs and thighs for stew, tacos, pasta, or salad add on→chicken stock→egg drop soup.

Total yield: 3 meals for two, usually with leftovers for one or two lunches

Chuck roast→Pot roast with leftovers for 1→Roast bones while eating dinner→shredded leftovers with red-wine tomato sauce, mushrooms and greens with pasta→roasted beef/parm stock as base for casseroles, risotto, veg stew or chili.

Total yield: 3 meals

We got snowed in on our anniversary this year and every place we wanted to go was closed. I had a rabbit that I’d bought at the market, and thought it was special enough for the occasion. When I bought it, I balked a little: $36 for a four-pound rabbit seemed like an indulgence and I scolded myself for not just buying the less-expensive pork.

I broke down the rabbit into shoulders, legs, loins and bellies. I roasted the ribcage for stock while I cooked. The shoulders and legs, seared and braised with sherry, leftover chicken stock (another plus of making stock weekly--there’s always some kicking around the freezer), bitter greens, garlic and oily Italian olives was special indeed, and generated a leftover meal. The leftover bones were reserved for the stock.

Later that week I made the stock and added the bellies and loins, diced, along with veggies and easy dumplings for rabbit and dumplings. It made leftovers for 2. I reserved about a cup and a half of the stock. It probably got turned into rice the next week.

So my $36 rabbit generated seven meals. $5.14 a portion for a special-occasion protein is a pretty good deal, and I was very happy with my results.

I hope this encourages you to buy the best meat you can afford, to talk to your meat farmers just like I encouraged you to talk to your vegetable farmers, and get the most out of it.

Is there a recipe that I referenced that you'd like to see in print? Let me know in the comments!