Bon Appetit

Today we had stew. Not just any stew but stew from our own steers. Which steer I don't know. One of the dead ones anyway. And it was tender and delicious and I enjoyed it way more than the parsnips that were also part of the dish. But  I still had a few pangs. My granddaughter had more than a few.
 "Is this meat beef, Daddy?"
"Yes."
"Is it from our cows?" Solemn blue eyes staring at Daddy.
"Yes."
"I'm not hungry."

And she stuck to it. She had some bread. She even had some carrots. But she didn't have any beef.

I can't claim this is a 3-year-old's hunger strike. She wouldn't even know what the term means but she does know that this was once 'our cow'. One of our neighbors eats meat but not her own meat. Perhaps Alessia has come to that compromise. I don't know but I seem to be more and more accepting of the idea. After all, the meat is good and it is healthy and it is cost effective (translation: cheap)!

It has been a very interesting journey. From the point the meat was hauled off in the refrigerated van until we hauled it back to our oversized "coffin" freezer was 10 days. By the way, "coffin" is what the appliance store called this huge freezer but it fits.We picked the meat up and it took two loads in the station wagon to get it all back. We waited another week before I defrosted some meat for tonight's dinner.

The primary problem I'm having is that I don't recognize any of the cuts. Yes, each package is individually labeled but I don't recognize the names and most meat looks pretty much the same when freeze packaged. I can tell the difference between a roast and a Scotch fillet but what is a Scotch fillet anyway? Is it a rib eye? Or a sirloin? Or what? So now this becomes a journey of discovery not just of the limits of my conscience but of what the meat actually is.

The meat I used in the stew was called BBQ steak. It turns out to be a very thin piece of meat, somewhat the texture of hamburger, and rolled in a ball. Imagine my surprise when  I unwrapped what I thought was a thick piece of meat and got what looked like a Salisbury steak. It was good tho. But I am worried that I might have made stew meat out of what was suppposed to be a prime cut. I think I'll google some of these names and see what I come up with.