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| Red
Poll beef |
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Great tasting beef produced slowly using a system that minimises our impact on the environment, maximises the welfare of our animals and protects a beautiful piece of Bedfordshire. That's the ideal anyway!
This page focuses on our Red Poll beef. If you'd like to read about the farm and the cattle, click here.
We are a very small producer and sell most of our beef to customers who
live within a handful of miles. To make sure you hear when fresh beef
will next be for sale, please click on the link to the right and sign
up to receive news including our next beef dates.
People say the nicest things! Read some of our customers' comments |
We
will send occasional messages to tell you about
beef, new products and seasonal things and events we are attending.
We
will only contact you when we have something we think you might like to
know. Your address will be stored with a secure third party
(mailchimp.com) and we won't pass it to anyone else. It's
very easy to take your name off of
the list .
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Favourite
beef recipes
Here are some recipes that we like, that have been recommended or that
we just like the look of. Why not give one or two a try? Fancy sharing
a favourite? We'd love to include yours here - let us know.
Elke's Rinde rouladen - a German take on slow cooked, rolled topside steaks; similar to the ragu recipe below and just as good. Thanks Elke!
Norma Vogt-Carney’s Pot Roast
- We are grateful to Vicki Chappell-Apling, now of Cardington for
passing on her step mother's recipe for chuck or brisket, which sounds
fantastic.
Boiled beef and carrots - we know a song about that (well not really,
but you know what I mean). Something very traditional to do with salt
beef.
Spiced beef - another salt beef recipe which must be in the running for the longest cooking award (assuming there is one?)
Spiced beef rolls in tomato ragu - apparently a very traditional Sunday lunch in southern Italy; absolutely fantastic!
Sylvia's Westmoreland steak - a simple slow cook recipe using stewing steak, with a great-looking cheese crust
Margaret's burgers - easy to make and lovely to eat
Bresaola
- a 'classic Italian salt-cure' that makes something extremely special
from
a silverside joint. Quite a lengthy process but definitely worth it.
Winter warming casserole -
recommended by our daughter who copied it from a library book
Slow cooked silverside
with bacon and Guinness - a simple, hearty pot roast of beef in
Guinness that is a great no-fuss dish for larger gatherings of friends
and family.
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Comments
from some of our
customers...
"Just a quick note to say how much we have been enjoying
your beef - it really is very very good, easily equaling the best beef we've
had, in Scotland! - and such a treat, as meat really should be. We don't eat
all that much meat these days, but to have a store of such good beef to break
into in the freezer every couple of weeks or so is working out really well for
us, as a treat to look forward to every so often" (Richard, Shillington)
".. the fillet was probably the best steak we've ever tasted..." (Joan, Bedford)
"We
have eaten beef in many different places all over the world... ..and
have to say that this was the best piece of meat we have ever eaten".
from a letter to the Gravenhurst Grapevine magazine.
The
beef was as good as it looked, and I have to say absolutely marvelous
cold in a sandwich the day after. Mmmmmm (Phil, Oakley)
Dear
Jane, I
just wanted to email and say that we had beef stew tonight and I must
say that is the best stew I have ever tasted!!! I never knew what the
fuss was
about with beef until now - it tastes completely different and we get
all our beef
from the farmers market usually!! Debbie, Huntingdon
A
very
belated email to thank you for providing us with such delicious
meat. The braising steak we had was the best I honestly have
ever tasted - it was so tender. The beefburgers were exactly
the same and it was the first time in my life that I have grilled
burgers and not been left with a grill pan full of fat - I was amazed.
Meant
to say how much we enjoyed
the beef I bought last weekend. Lovely tender meat with
a great flavour. Even the children gobbled it up which is a
HUGE recommendation... Kit |
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Our
System
In
our extensive system, steers are ready for killing
at 24-28
months, compared to more intensive practice where animals can be
killed
as young as 18 months. Our single suckler herd allows calves to suckle
milk to the age of 8-10 months and grow quickly in the most
natural
way possible. The herd grazes beautiful riverside meadows that are in
the Countryside
Stewardship Scheme, for most of the year, eating
fresh grass and a wide range of herbage in the summer months and our
own hay and a little bought-in feed over the winter.
All
of which adds up to contented cattle. |
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Omega-3 fatty acids and grass-fed animals
This is an area that we've steered clear of up to now.
That's partly because we don't wish to suggest anything about our beef
that we don't know to be true and partly because we don't really want
to be seen as part of a wild and radical fringe. Actually, we're
probably ok with the latter - just a bit worried about losing the
support of some of our customers.
It seems that the levels of omega-3 fatty acids in meat derived from
animals that eat grass is higher than from those that are fed cereals.
This doesn't seem to be a controversial statement to make. Here's a
snippet from a research finding originally published in Nature, and cited at Wikipedia.
"Omega 3 fatty acids are formed in the
chloroplasts of green leaves and algae. While seaweeds and algae are
the source of omega 3 fatty acids present in fish, grass is the source
of omega 3 fatty acids present in grass fed meats. When cattle are
taken off omega 3 fatty acid rich grass and shipped to a feedlot to be
fattened on omega 3 fatty acid deficient grain, they begin losing their
store of this beneficial fat. Each day that an animal spends in the
feedlot, the amount of omega 3 fatty acids in its meat is diminished".
The controversial next step is the health claims made about
omega-3 fatty acids. There's more information in that Wiki reference
above and loads of stuff, particularly American, elsewhere on the net.
Still for all of you who pack away tons of oily fish every week, it
might be that the occasional Wassledine steak or beef stew might be just what you need. |
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From Field to Fork
Having watched the whole process of slaughter from start to finish
(thanks to EBLEX
and Dawn Meats, Cardington), we are convinced that the most
stressful part of the process is transportation. Killing on the farm
is not possible so the next best option is to make the journey to
the slaughter house a short one.
Slaughter
We use the services of Evans of Marston
Moretaine, Bedfordshire, to kill our animals, a trip of about 12 miles
which takes less than 30 minutes.
Maturation
Our beef is hung for three to four weeks. It's a bit of an
inconvenient addition to the process but it seems to be one
of the
most crucial bits, adding a fantastic depth of flavour to the
beef.
Butchery
We currently use Woburn
Country Foods
to process carcase into the cuts
our customers want. They have recently moved to a new base at
West
End, Haynes, Beds, which is only about 5 miles from us. It
is Andrew Davis and co. who do all of our meat transportation as well
as butchery, which saves us a lot of bother, keeps road miles in the
production process to a respectable 30ish miles; and their
refrigerated vehicles
ensure our meat is kept cool in transit.
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Point of sale
Our
customers tell us what they want in the three weeks the carcase hangs,
and we compile a list for the butcher who does his thing
to produce exactly what everyone wants. We receive meat back, weighed
and labeled ready
for us to deliver
direct to our local customers on the same day. Any not with
customers on that day is frozen. Our meat is vacuum-packed, which we
realise would upset Hugh
F-W but it ensures a high degree of
cleanliness and confidence for our (and our customers') benefit.
Join our
customer list
If
you would like to know when our beef will next be available
and to
be added to our customer list, have a look at the top of this page
or contact us. We
are currently a very small producer - killing only four or so
animals each year, so we don't always have fresh beef available. Our
production will
expand with the herd over the coming years. Please
note that due to high demand locally, we have not needed to
deliver meat to customers outside a range of 2 miles. This may
well
change in the future, so please don't be put off contacting us.
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Ordering
Once on our list, we will let you know when beef will next be
available. You place an order and your fresh meat will be ready for
collection or delivery on a specific date.
Delivery
and collection
We currently do not mail order meat. We can deliver
free in Gravenhurst. Otherwise you will need to collect by
prior
arrangement.
Frozen meat
Available throughout the year - please contact us for availability |
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Our prices (May 2012 - prices held from 2011) |
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| Cut |
£/kg |
Cut |
£/kg |
| Topside joint |
£11.35 |
Braising steak (toprib, diced) |
£7.10 |
| Silverside joint |
£10.75 |
Brisket |
£7.10 |
| Rump |
£13.90 |
Stewing steak (forequarter) |
£6.20 |
| Fillet |
£35.00 |
Minced beef (lean) |
£6.20 |
| Sirloin |
£19.00 |
Beefburgers (in packs of 4)** |
£4.20 |
| Forerib (rib on bone) |
£10.50 |
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| Offal
(all frozen except tongue) |
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Heart |
£3.00 |
| Tongue (cured) |
£4.00 |
Kidney |
£5.50 |
| Liver |
£2.00 |
Oxtail |
£5.50 |
| **
Beef burgers are gluten-free; 98%
beef with added rice flour and seasoning. Quarter pounders,
packed in 4s. Currently supplied frozen |
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t.
01462 711815
m. 07794 013876
e.
info(at)wassledine.co.uk
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| Web
site © Guy &
Jane Lambourne, January 2008-11 |
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