MEAT ME

MEAT: A True Love Story, BEEF Taste Test - Part 4

2012-03-06T10:02:00.001-08:00

Here it is. The 4th and final chapter in Moo to Mouth MEAT: A True Love Story. I have always thought that beef tasted the same, but only changed when flavor was added to it. Boy was I wrong. I spoke with Beef Tasting Enthusiast Carrie Oliver from the Artisan Beef Institute. So many factors play a role in how cooked beef will taste.

In this video I have 3 different types of beef from 3 different cows, all grass finished at 3 different times. 2 of the samples (fall & spring) of are from Megan Brown at the Table Mountain Ranch and one sample is from Lindy & Grundy Meats. I am able to taste such a wide range of flavors just between these 3 samples.

I am not a professional beef taste tester but with the help of Carrie Oliver's Offical Artisan Beef Tasting Guide I am about to describe what it is that I am tasting. As it turns out beef tasting is a lot like wine there are so many different types and there is an art to tasting it. Here is a like to Carrie's official tasting guides: http://artisanbeefinstitute.com/tastingguides/download-guides/

I hope everyone has enjoyed this series. I would like to thank Megan Brown and the Table Mountain Ranch, Jenny Dewey and the Chico Locker and Sausage Co. and Lindy and Grundy Meat's for taking the time to let me see into their lives and educate my readers on where MEAT comes from. I would also like to thank you my readers for your your support, I could not do this without you.

My next quest is to work on a cattle ranch during the slaughtering season as well as a meat processing plant for a week (at each) and video tape my experience and share it with you. My goal is to educate consumers as to how and where their meat comes from. I feel that if we educate consumers ranter than shove negative propaganda in their face they can better understand the choices when buying agriculture. Just like every organization there is the good and the bad. Read your labels and educated yourself about what it is you are eating and where it is coming from. If we start doing this now in 10 years we are more likely to be eating what we want rather than what we are told we want. It is up to us to support the right way of doing things.

If you are interested in helping me out on my next quest please feel free to contact me at meatmeblog(at)gmail(dot)com I look forward to hearing from you and changing the world together.

To the greater good,
Sean Rice
aka MEAT ME

Starting today and till this Saturday I will be on the road trying different meats between Los Angeles and San Francisco with photographer Robert Kerian you can check out my video blog updates at my tublr page @ http://www.meatmeblog.tumblr.com
or you can follow me on twitter @meatemblog

You can also find Carrie Oliver @carrieoliver

MEAT: A True Love Story, Lindy & Grundy: Butchers - Part 3

2012-02-28T07:14:00.005-08:00

The hard working, innovative, and passionate Lindy & Grundy

It is sad that some of us cannot accept that we are different, and appreciate that our differences are what make us unique. We are all born with the urge to want, but only some of us have that desire to give. Selflessness takes a lot of heart and that is exactly what I have learned from butchers Amelia Posada and Erika Nakamura. Some of you may know them as Lindy and Grundy.

They are two hard working, innovative, and passionate women who love each other very much. They work 12 to15 hours a day, 6 days a week to provide their community with sustainable organic meat products. As a gay married couple they struggle through prejudice, judgment, and strict government regulations just so locals can enjoy quality traceable meats.

The entrance to Lindy & Grundy's shop from the inside.

I heard about them through a couple of friends who claimed my quest for perfect meat would finally end with them. I walk into their shop only to be surprised by meat cut to perfection. I literally feel like I am in a meat museum. It is the kind of site that made me rub my eyes in disbelief. Their shop takes the art of butchery to a whole new level.

My third destination gives me an intimate look into the life changing love story of Lindy and Grundy Meats.

UPS waives to be let in for its daily deliveries.

MEAT ME: So how did Lindy & Grundy come to be?

Amelia: Those are our nicknames. I’m Lindy and Erika is Grundy. They are literally just our silly pet names that we have had for each other for many years. The names came to be when we had a few too many glasses of wine at Erika’s Mom’s house one winter in up state NY. We came up with the most nerdy, silly names that we could possibility dream up and it started with Grundy and we decided that Grundy needed a girlfriend. So I was almost Grundina but I became Lindy. I think Lindy is a little better than Grundina. Grundy & Grundina’s Meats would have been a little strange.

Amelia prepares the shop to be opened. The key is shaped like a 45 caliber pistol.

MEAT ME: So when did you guys meet?

Erika: We met the fall of 2007. It was the week after I caught the bouquet at my best friends wedding. I was totally that grumpy person who was trying to fight it off and it landed on me. A week later I was back in New York, in Brooklyn. I was helping a friend out for an event and I was Dj’ing. I am not really a DJ but I have some good digs and Amelia was the girl behind the bar but she’s not really a bar tender.

Amelia: She turned and asked me for a white wine spritzer. I said what the hell is a white wine spritzer? The rest is history.

MEAT ME: What is the story behind the shop?

Amelia: It’s a big one.

Erika fills an order for the very first customer from behind the counter.

Erika: Around the time Amelia and I got engaged it became very clear to both of us that as a codependent couple we are much more high performance when we are together. We have had very opposing jobs in terms of the scheduling. As a floral designer Amelia was getting up at three in the morning to go to her job designing floral displays for upscale hotels in New York City. I was just getting home at 2 in the morning from kitchen jobs and I realized how ridiculous that was for the both of us. We just never got to see each other.

Our interests are so similar and our sensibilities cross over so much. We really felt it was important to be in a family driven business. We decided to do something that was going to make sense for both of us. We actually went through a whole gamut of possibilities. The first idea was actually a flower/wine shop called “bottles and buds”! You see how far we have come? It really is amazing. It was going to be a flower shop in the front and I was going to sell wine and cheese in the back. But, I know as much about wine as the next person who is interested in food and beverage. So that idea went out the window.

They sell locally grown jams and potatoes.

Amelia: Then we were thinking about doing an omelet shop.

Erika: I make a mean omelet. That has always been a fun idea as well. We started to talk about the idea of doing a general store or a market somewhere central in the community that is a place where people can come together, grow together, communicate, and bounce ideas off of each other. It’s a very old school concept of what is in the middle of the community. That idea grew into the butcher shop.

Shortly after that conversation I started butchering at a small market around the corner from our home in Brooklyn and I worked there for about 8 months before moving upstate with Amelia to go through a butcher apprenticeship program, then doing a consultation program with them that was about 8 to 10 months long that eventually became Lindy and Grundy.

During that whole process it became clear that LA was the spot to do this. There was just no real incredible butcher shop that is doing this nose to tail, sustainable, locally driven product. That’s always been really important to us; both from a political perspective as well as from a social perspective. The kind of people we like to surround ourselves with.

Amelia makes sure the display window are up to their standards.

MEAT ME: Now you guys were vegans or vegetarians before you became butchers?

Amelia: I was a vegetarian for 14 years and Erika was for 7.

Erika: Can I just say though (not to talk about stereotypes so frequently) most lesbians are vegetarians (laughs). So that means that the dating pool becomes this narrow, vegetarian driven scene. Amelia was a vegetarian for 14 years I was for 7 years. I didn’t eat meat between the time I was in middle school up to mid college. Of course when you start dating vegetarians so frequently it’s even harder as a carnivore to want to justify eating meat especially if the person you’re dating is quiet militant about it. That was my experience for years. The last person I was with, before Amelia, who I was with for about 4 years was extremely hardcore vegetarian. Who would really give me a hard time if she ever saw me eating meat.

Amelia answers questions about specific type meat cuts.

Amelia: Tell him about the closeted fried chicken eating habit in the woods!

Erika: So I am totally a self-identified closeted fried chicken eater- well, I used to be! So my ex was very militant and judgemental about it… Was always giving me a hard time.

I would get up every Sunday morning while this girl was still sleeping. I would say something like, “Hey sweetie I’m gonna go to the market and I’m gonna get stuff to make brunch.” So I would go to the market and I would get all the breakfast things I’m supposed to get and I would grab a box of crappy fried chicken (this in Ohio, before I had access to sustainably raised meats). I would drive into the woods and I would sit down and I would open this box of fried chicken (this is 9 in the morning) and I would devour it, savoring every bite! Then I would wash my hands, throw everything away discard of the evidence in a trash can. This went on for literally for about 3 years that I would not tell anybody about this fried chicken problem that I had. I was amazing!

Amelia: It’s amazing because she has mentioned this story in previous press that we’ve done. We have been in a lot of different magazines and gay magazines; and we know our ex-girlfriends read them and it’s funny that we were closeted fried chicken eaters and look now we have a butcher shop.

Erika wraps meat to go as Amelia places the proper labels with the specific types of meat.

MEAT ME: When did you guys switch to MEAT?

Amelia: My body just started really craving animal protein. I wasn’t craving it, but my body was. I was really anemic, and I decided to respond to the needs of my body.The only answer for me,was to eat animal protein. On our first date I ate a carnitas taco. Look at me… Now I am the self procaliamed “Pork Princess!” I have come a long way.

Erika: What’s amazing is that on our first date I was actually exclaiming to her, “I can’t believe that I am on a date with a non vegetarian.” She’s sitting there eating all this pork. As I say this to her Amelia says, “Well actually, (as she takes a I am cool with that!” Whatever it is that you are going through I am ok with because you are eating meat.

That is partially the reason we do that Meat Market, it’s a singles mixer for people who eat MEAT.

Amelia stands on top of a stepping stool to tend to the customers. Dry aged steaks await the perfect customer.

MEAT ME: What is this exactly it’s a “Meat Market”? I have no idea what this is.

Erika: Amelia and I… Mostly Amelia with the help of the shop; we throw a singles mixer driven towards carnivores. It’s based on that idea that it really sucks to go on a date, a blind date when you go out with a vegetarian when you’re not. How much fun is that?

Amelia: You shouldn’t have to feel guilty about what you are eating. It sucks because we have so many awesome single people that come into our shop and they’ll ask for one pork chop or one steak and I’ll say, “Just a steak for one? Are you single? Are you lookin’?” “Alright cause I got a girl for you!” I know she comes in every week for her pork chop too!

Amelia has a chef on staff to prepare good meat as she offers up a sample to a customer stopping by.

MEAT ME: So do you pair people up based on the type of meat that they get?

Amelia: Not just that, but personalities. We get to know our regulars so well.

MEAT ME: That’s so awesome! You should have your own website, meatmatcher.com

Erika: That’s why on Valentine’s Day we cook for all the single people in our lives.

Amelia: This year, Erika cooked up a few big fat rib eyes,tons of veggies and our guests brought the wine. I set a full formal table setting- it was lovely.

Amelia and Manager Melissa talk about how much they love their chef.

MEAT ME: What type of shop do you guys run?

Erika: We are a whole animal sustainable butcher shop. Our focus is on utilizing the whole carcass and sourcing our animals from small local family farms that raise all of their animals sustainably and organically. These farms may not be “certified organic” because they are so small that they cannot afford to have that kind of certification. We go to our farms all the time and we are very close friends with all of our ranchers. It’s almost like partnerships with them. We are growing together. We help each other. At the end of the day we are a sustainable whole animal butcher shop that focuses on the utilization of the entire carcass.

We don’t believe that there needs to be waste when you butcher animals. We make dog food, we make scrapple,rillettes,pate,chili,soups,stocks…we make it all.

Erika checks a list of spices as the rest of the shop is cutting meat.

MEAT ME: So it’s organic, natural, grass fed?

Amelia: It’s a slippery slope when I hear terms like that. It’s not that simple.

Erika: Yea we get customers that come in and ask if everything in here is “certified organic”- we say, “No, definitely not.” The organic and health food industry has exploded so much in the past 10 years, along with it, has caused a lot of confusion and misunderstanding in the field.

So now you have people walking around saying they’ll only eat food if it is organic. Well do they really know where it came from? Do they really know that organic certification comes along with many, loopholes that are very expensive, and that it is really not designed for small family farms to succeed.

Amelia: I certainly feel like it’s a system designed for big Ag (agricultural market) to break into a new market.

One of their apprentice look for an organic spice.

Erika: Many people are under the impression that by supporting organic they are supporting small family farms but in reality they do not realize that slow food means it’s going to cost you more, and its going to take a longer time. You have to be ok with that, and they are always shocked. “What do you mean I can’t have 25 pounds of short ribs?” Well guess what 25 pounds of short ribs is going to be one whole animal. Can we put that into perspective for a second? What does that mean for you? What does that mean for the rest of the world? How are we impacting the world by the way we consume? That really drives a lot of how we see things.

Amelia: We have rules at our shop. You can’t get more then 6 chicken breasts at a time, at our shop. Why? Because I only get 160 chickens a week from Rainbow Ranch Farms that is raising their chickens exclusively for my shop. 160 chickens. There is one full breast on a chicken that we split, debone, and take the skin off to make 2 filets of boneless skinless chicken breast. If someone wants to get that entire amount how many birds it that taking up? So how many birds have died because you only want to eat that one part of the bird? That’s disgusting. These are called first world problems. You don’t see this in other first world countries. This is a uniquely American problem. As consumers they are used to getting what they want, when they want it. Somebody raised this animal, somebody slaughtered this animal, somebody had to go pick up the animal from slaughter, somebody had to open up a butcher shop, somebody had to pay their employees to stand there and butcher chickens all morning so you can only eat your boneless skinless chicken breast. It makes no sense.

Erika: When you research terms like certified organic or human certified animal handling or natural. Even though it hasn’t been given antibiotics its entire life are you ok with the fact that it has been eating corn and soy that is genetically modified? Do you see where I am going with this?

Amelia slices up some meat for a customer.

MEAT ME: Yes.

Erika: You have to pick and choose your own battles man. For us we are not willing to afford those battles, straight up. So we set our own standards.

Amelia: I am not twisting anybody’s arm to walk into my shop - People walk in because they want to. It is your choice if you want to spend more money, and in return get meat that is single origin and 100% traceable from local ranches.I pay more money for my animal’s wholesale than most people will pay retail at large grocery store chains.I’m paying wholesale, double or triple for what they can buy retail at a commercial shop. We have a very marginal mark up. Nobody is begging you to come into my shop; no body is twisting your arm. Once that chicken is bagged and tagged it is up to you as a consumer to decide if you want it or not and what matters to you.

Erika makes some sausage links.

Erika: You get what you pay for. I had a gentleman customer come up to me and he was kind of joking and he and it was weird because I didn’t catch the joke. He says do you guys take EBT cards? Actually that is something that Amelia and I are very passionate about we don’t feel that eating clean food is something that is earned because your of the financial, or the tax bracket that can afford this. We wish that everybody could afford to eat this way.Just because you can’t afford it doesn’t me you should have to eat crap, and eat processed stuff. As I started to explain myself he kind of said, “Well I was just joking, but I just see this as a luxury item.” And I said, “That unfortunate that we have to call it that.”

Amelia: A lot of people shop with us, that I know, cannot afford to shop with us. We have a lot of regulars. They are coming here for clean traceable food. I always hook these people up. I give stuff away for free. All day, everyday I give stuff out for free because I see the need and it’s ok.

Dry aged steaks on display. Amelia chats with her friend and pig sitter.

Erika: I gave away 2 bacon wrapped filets today for someone’s birthday. I am not making that money, but guess what she’s happy… You know?

Amelia: I’ll see a family come in and they’ll tell me what their whole budget is for food and I’ll throw in a whole chicken on the house or a couple pounds of ground beef because I know they can make that stretch. It’s important to support each other – they are coming and supporting my struggling business,so the least I can do is help them out where I can. That’s something that we are committed to, always. We are very thankful for the regulars that we have. Some people can buy a 2 or 3 inch porterhouse and not blink, most people can’t ever afford to get dry aged steaks. That’s why I call them special occasion steaks.

Erika: You shouldn’t eat a rib eye everyday.

Amelia: We guide folks to “everyday steaks” like London broils, sirloin tips, chicken steaks, and rancher steaks, all hand tenderized and if you need help I’ll give you directions.

Erika: Even if it is $18.99 a pound guess it’s small enough that your walking out still paying 5 bucks for a steak and you know what that’s ok. You are not loosing your shirt.

Amelia: People just have to think differently about the way they consume and not be ashamed that they can’t get a rib eye or a filet. Our rancher steak is incredible.

One of their apprentices wraps meat for a customer.

MEAT ME: What is the deal with the dry aged meat?

Amelia: Well the process of dry aging meat is…

Erika: It’s interesting because along with ideas of preservation like charcuterie and dried cured meats. It comes from a similar origin people have learned to make something stretch especially when it is delightful and you are able to somehow heighten your senses by doing it. Like the difference between a PBR and a Guinness, it is going to be night and day. The process (there is some literature out there) is about keeping the meat in the ideal temperature and humidity level and the right air circulation around it. The idea is to continue to flip the meat every few days so that it gets the same kind of exposure to that circulation. Usually folks will say you want to keep the meat at about 41 degrees, 41 degrees because it is just cold enough, but its just warm enough. The health department will say everything has to be 41 degrees or under. So if you keep it at 41 degrees it is still very well refrigerated it is creating an environment that is ideal for a very lovely bacterial growth without it going totally haywire. So a lot of the bacteria that you will see in penicillin like a cheese or a brie (that’s the white funky stuff on the outside). There is a good bacteria and there is bad bacteria. Just like there is good mold and bad mold. So I am always checking in on it to make sure it is looking good, that it smells good. Every single dry aged item that I cut I will taste raw in my mouth while I am cutting in because that is what I owe to my customers. We are asking customers for $45 dollars a pound.

Erika: Customer’s see me tasting the raw meat in front of them and they will say stuff like “Woah! What are you doing?” I smell it and I am getting up close with the muscles. They’re asking, “Is it bad or something?” and I am like, “No, I trust this.” I know exactly what this is supposed to smell like. I can tell you how something taste by how it smells.

An apprentice cuts into a pig carcass.

Amelia: The actual process of dry aging… Say a loin starts out about this big (shows me around 24 inches) during the dry age process its shrinking its loosing its moisture during that process and during the process the connective tissue breaks down, making the meat naturally more tender. Because the meat is loosing its moisture it has a more concentrated flavor that’s why dry aged meat is so different.

Erika: That is why it costs more. Lets be honest we are in the business of price per pound so for example, say I buy it at $3.50 per pound. I am cutting it down which makes the price go up and then it’s going to age. Its taking up real estate, its using up electricity, its taking up x, y, z, and that all cost something. By the time that happens it shrinks and it is suddenly lighter and we have to factor that in. That is basically why the price goes up so much. Typically I leave it at about 82 to 83 percent humidity in my walk-in which I think is nice for dry aging. You will find supportive literature that says yes, and that says no. There is a wide variety of information out there for that. You learn little tricks to make it your own, but what makes it harder for us as a result it leaves little room for curing and doing charcuterie in there. My main focus and my main moneymaker is the dry aging. In order to make everything else more available I can charge more for the dry aged and charge a little less on the other stuff. Kind of tit-for-tat.

Erika is in the walk in sawing meat off a carcass.

MEAT ME: How many rules and regulations do you have to follow? How often do people come to check you out?

Amelia: We are inspected by the California Department of Food and Agriculture every week. Of course the local health department comes every couple of months unexpectedly. When we opened we had to get licensed by the California Department of Food and Agriculture as Meat and Poultry processing inspectors and we are only licensed to inspect the processing of our own animals. Whole carcasses come in, we inspect them we take their temperatures and we log the information on all the animals. We have to do the same thing for anything that is processed. We have to log anything that is smoked, cured. We have SSOP and HACP to follow.

Erika: SSOP is the sanitation operating procedures for opening and closing. So that means we come in, we inspect the whole place. We make sure everything is clean, that the band saw is working and not dull. These are the things that we go through several times a day to ensure the safety of our employees and our customers.

Amelia: We fall under a lot of regulation. We are inspected all the time. Our inspector said that we have the most immaculate meat processing facility in all of Southern California. She inspects every plant.

Ericka: You can smell that by walking in. If you ever smell bad meat, you ever walk into a butcher shop that doesn’t smell like ours, you know what’s happening. A lot of times that has to do with boxed meat. Boxed meat traps moisture inside of a container along with air so it is going to start to turn at a certain point. Along with the dry aged processes we are able to treat our meat with a specialized way that we can actually prolong its shelf life, be careful with it and before it even gets to that point we cut our losses. It’s either getting cooked, and or frozen and that’s how we preserve it and that’s why we have a frozen food section.

The walk-in is a very tight place to work in.

MEAT ME: Do you find yourself struggling as a small butcher shop?

Erika: It’s unfortunately a system that is set up for failure and that is status quo. We talk about creating a resource to support our farmers to be able to bring their animals to slaughter and make money at it. You could be so lucky as to make money at it. It’s not like Amelia and I have gotten a paycheck since we have started.

Amelia: Not one.

Erika: Not even 25 cents. It’s not like that.

Amelia: People still complain about our prices. If you don’t want to pay the price for this quality meat then go shop elsewhere.There is always going to be someone who cares. It might even be that person that can’t even afford it. If they do eat meat they are going to come get it from my shop and support my business.

Erika: What is frustrating unfortunately is that here we are willing to give and give and give. We give out so much free stuff. Then there are the people that get used to that and start asking for shit. That’s when it really hurts, because guess what dude I am kind of late on my rent right now. I need what your about to give me and if you can’t give it to me. Why are you going to make me feel bad for saying, “Sorry no discount today.” Cause everybody has got that rainy day. It’s just not that simple, it’s just easy to get frustrated about it. It’s just not a perfect world.

Erika saws the carcass with precision.

MEAT ME: Is there a way to tell when meat goes bad?

Erika: There is a lot of paranoia out there and its interesting to me because wether you get it today or in three days it is going to be the same product that I have in my shop. Unless it has been improperly stored or you have left it in your car on your dashboard when it’s hot out. You know what I am saying. Lets all follow the same rules to make sure meat stays fresh. If you are out meat shopping go right home dude and put in on fridge. Don’t leave it on your kitchen counter because I have no control over that. Once it walks out my door that’s that. There are 2 things I think people should look out for. Let’s be real for a second. When there is vacuum packing involved there is an odor that is created by vacuum packing. What happens is that poultry, especially, has the tendency to smell horrible when it is in a deoxygenated environment and a lot of people open it and think whoa, that’s bad, because we as humans trust our noses. I can take a fresh chicken that was slaughtered yesterday put it in a vacuum packed bag and open it 2 days later and it is going to smell horrible. It’s amazing. What I tell people is when you look at it is there a yellow sticky film, is it tacky. That is the first indicator. Second take it an rinse it off in cold water and pad it dry and set it out in the open air, let it breath for about 5 minutes take a big whiff. Doses it smell pretty knurly or is it ok? That smell has a tendency to dissipate. Third, cook it. While your cooking it does is smell awful? Does it small rancid because that’s your third indicator? If you cook it and it doesn’t smell delicious (cause all food should smell delicious while you are cooking) and even then if you smell it and it’s a little off it’s not going to do anything. You would not believe some of the bad stuff I have eaten just because I know what’s really good and really bad, and I have only been sick twice in my life.

Erika: I get phone calls from people who have had this for a day and call me and ask is this still ok? There are enzymes in the meat. There is life in there. Especially with the dry aged stuff it turns all black and its aged. When I cut into it, it blooms but it has a shorter life span. People associate color with freshness. In our shop we don’t use any pink salts or preservatives what so ever.

Erika carries 20 - 30 pound carcass out to the shop counter.

MEAT ME: Even your sausages?

Erika: Nope. Nothing none of our curing, not even our bacon.

Amelia: If we make it, it will last about 7 days fresh. All of our stuff is done the way its been done forever. Do it the way you want to do, but we do it the way it has always been done. Rock salt, sugar and spices.

Erika: People come up to me and tell me its been 3 days and its already starting to lose color. Yeah that’s a good thing…we don’t pump our meat!

Erika: One of the first things that Amelia and I did was took a tour of the meat section of Walmart with one of the guys who we learned from and what he does is pick up every single package and takes you through the ingredients..

Meat is placed on the racks in their dry aging process.

Amelia: Ingredients? Ingredients on meat?

Erika: Why should something that naturally exits have ingredients? That’s crazy.

Amelia: We don’t do that. We do everything the old fashion way. Even our spices are certified organic. Everything we do is organically done and fresh.

MEAT ME: Do you have to get the contents of your labels approved by the your inspector.

Amelia put on a pig nose to entertain the children that come to visit the shop.

Amelia: Yes.

Erika: Primarily they are looking for legalities. We have to submit the recipes and they have to review it and then they ok it. They always do anyway. For example, say I have a spicy Italian sausage if it is spicy I am only allowed to put in a certain percentage or less of paprika or any kind of red colored ingredient for the fear that I may use grey or bad meat and dye it and make it bright red. You see what I am saying. That is the oldest trick in the book.

Amelia: A lot of pregnant women shop at Lindy and Grundy’s because we don’t add unnatural ingredients to our products.

Erika: You are what you eat. That’s what we think about when we choose not to add chemicals to our meat. We don’t even use processed sugars. We use brown sugar.

You can see the words MEAT and LARD tattooed on Erika's knuckles.

Amelia: I call what we use “hippy sugar”.

Erika: We use maple but we also use sucanat it is completely dehydrated cane juice. Sugar that is found in its rawest form. Which mean it doesn’t harm the environment in its distillation process. Which is very important to us. It is very flavorful. It has a slightly mapley flavor to it. We have found out that when a lot of things are processes a lot of its good stuff is taken out.

A piece of pork awaits to be butchered.

MEAT ME: What is your individual specialties? What do you feel you are best at?

Amelia: I am great at the front of the house. I am great at preaching sustainability and talking about the farming practices of our ranchers; customer service and talking to people. We both trained as butchers, but quickly realized our strengths and weaknesses in the shop an where we were needed most. She can butcher faster and better than I can, and I need to be the one at the counter.

Erika: In a sense Amelia is the academic and I am the athlete. It’s kind of weird. Her background is in investigative journalism so it helped with the background of our ranches and the slaughterhouse. At a certain point there is a crossover. Amelia really cares about the appearance from the front of the house perspective, which also carries into sanitation.

Amelia informs a customer on the best way to smoke his pork shoulders.

It’s crazy I have been everywhere, but how do you get the inside of your shop to look so good? Your display cases look like museum art.

Amelia: Well we are both artists and perfectionists and both of us oversee everything that goes into that case. From the placement of the rosemary, to the way its tied, to the way its trayed, to the way its sits next to anything in the case. This is what happens when girls open up a butcher shop everything is going to look pretty and clean.

Erika: If I see somebody tie a roast and one of the strings is slightly crooked I literally make them retie it and it’s not fun these kids are not happy to hear this stuff. At a certain point they are like if I don’t mess up they are not going to yell at me. It drives them.

Erika linking sausage.

Amelia: It’s about constant sanitation, constant cleanliness, constant perfection. I will never be satisfied.

Erika: I don’t walk up to the case and see pieces of meat all over the place.

Amelia: I’ll walk up to the case and if I see a speck or smear of blood, I’ll be like, “Hey buddy clean that up. I want it to be pristine and perfect.” Changing the meat paper though out the day because its purging.

Erika: It’s hard because not everybody is going to notice. We’ll walk in with the shop already being open and we’ll be like, “What is that? Why is that? That should have been pulled!” Like having a beautiful ham out on a Tuesday. What special occasion is someone gonna buy a whole ham for? Get it out of there!

An apprentice awaits instruction on how to cut the pork.

MEAT ME: Do you ever have any leftovers?

Amelia: There are no leftovers. We utilize everything. We have a hot food section. Potpies, soups, meatballs, pâtés, riéts, and dog food. Pigskins.

Erika: There is a small about of waste. Because of our dry aged process we might have something that hangs for a week and if we have something that we don’t feel is fit for consuming we will cut that off and throw it away. There are those things, but we pride ourselves on only throwing away 10 to 15 pounds a day. We have to report that all to the CDFA. Normal from a yield perspective your going to be throwing away 20 to 30 percent of the animal so we are still way ahead of the game. Our inspectors see that and note it.

Say I have a pork chop in there and its about 3 days old and it starts to gray well guess what I can debone it and still roast the bone for stock and I can take what ever meat that I debone and it gets ground up for sausage. The whole idea is to be a couple steps a head of your self so nothing goes to waste.

Erika shows her apprentice how to hold his knife when making a special cut.

MEAT ME: What are some challenges you guys face as women in a male dominated industry?

Amelia: Where do I even begin? Aside from the fact that we are women… We are gay women. So it’s different.

Erika: And we are really young.

Amelia: So you could take the 2 other women that you have profiled; the fact that they are not gay is to their benefit. We work in a blue-collar industry. Erika and I do not come form blue-collar backgrounds. I am 29 she is 31, we are married to each other, we are covered in tattoos and we are from Los Angeles. I am not a farmer. I am not coming into this from a family business, it is different. They will always get treated differently than we do. It’s different. I wear red lipstick everyday and Erika my wife has MEAT and LARD tattooed on her knuckles. We work with slaughterhouses in Modesto. We work with Republican Cowboys who look at us like, “What the hell are you doing here?” I am looking at their rail system telling them, “Yea, I got the same one in my shop… Yea, I butcher whole carcasses too!” I am actually a lot like you than you could ever know. So there is that aspect where we had to earn our respect in a completely different way; not just because we are woman, but because we are queer women. That was a lot harder than just being a straight woman who is born into this.

There is always something to be butchered at Lindy and Grundy's.

Erika: There is the average thing where folks come in. Mostly men. Where they don’t’ look to us to ask questions, they look to Alex who 20 years old and my first apprentice and he is a dude and he’s big. They don’t look to ask us.

Amelia: Occasionally they’ll look at us, and they automatically gender us of course. “So who owns this place?” they ask and I go, “I do!” and they’ll say, “Oh.” (in surprise) They will look around for my husband and I’m like, “Yeah, me and my wife Erika.” They are like, “Ohhhh alright!” So I ask, “Alright now that your over that… do you want some meat?Come on buddy, what are you here for?”

Erika: Unfortunately it’s very typical that when people start to realize that we are gay and that we are woman that there is this weird gendering process that happens. They automatically want to make Amelia the girlie girl and me like some big butch person. I am not some big butch person I am more like a gay man. If you want to get down to it I am more like a twinkie little gay man.

An employee wears a hat stating what team he is representing.

Amelia: I am the one they want to worry about. I wear the pants. Our regulars know that

Erika: For the same reason that she hires people and I fire people. There is a dynamic that happens and we’re comfortable with it. Even thought it has taken a long time. We have mostly men that work for us, other than Melissa and she’s the general manager, and it’s hard even for our own employees not to look at us as hysterical, unreasonable women. It’s the biggest stereotype in the world. I feel I have no choice but to fly off the handle just to be heard and its unfortunate to have that extra aggression that it takes just to get that point across. It takes so much energy and it’s exhausting.

MEAT ME: What type of recommendations would you give a young gay woman who is interested in opening up her own butcher shop?

Erika: You have to start by having some tact and some level of forgiveness. Always. You can’t expect people to get it right from the beginning. Stay strong about it and know exactly who you are. When you start into it never give yourself up. You’re going to second guess yourself a million and a half times.

Amelia: For me it is not about me, my gender, my sexuality, or me. It’s about something that is bigger than me, bigger than Erika, bigger than you, bigger than Lindy and Grundy. Its like we are food activist. I am not in this to sit around and make no money and not have a paycheck. I am in this because of my political passion to help and support local agriculture and keep it alive. Without butcher shops like us, with out the customers that come and support us everyday all those small farmers would not be able to exists. They are struggling. So if we don’t, as a society take risks like this and help educate people about how to consume consciously there will be not farms like this. The federal government is making it impossible for them to survive. Most ranchers have day jobs too. It used to not be that way. So whenever I feel like someone is coming into my shop and being sexist, homophobic, or if I see some ignorant comment on Yelp, I have to realize that this is bigger than me and that it’s bigger that these people that don’t get it. It is about the movement and that’s what I have to realize. I get plenty of people that are rude to me and need to be kicked out of my shop. Sometimes I just bite my lip. Give them their London Broil and let them go. Its not personal its not about me. It is bigger than us and we are honored to be apart of a small change in our own community.

Every item in the shop has its special place.

MEAT ME: What is your absolute favorite meat?

Amelia: Pork butt skin on bone in. That’s me. My favorite animal protein is pork. I could go the rest of my life without eating any other animal proteins as long as I have pork I am fine. I love pork, all things pork. I am the pork princess. Particularly I love the shoulder of any animal. I am someone who is gonna prefer a pot roast over a rib eye. I like fatty braised cut. I like something that is cooked low and slow and pulled and shredded. That’s me, pork but, bone in, skin on.

Erika: I am all about the tiny little secrets. I wanna live right in here where it is perfectly fatty and marbled and beautiful. The thing is I almost have a hard time choosing beef, pork, lamb and chicken. I am especially partial to beef because there are more cuts, more variety. I have a personal relationship with anything that I cut. There is glory in each of these cuts. There is a drastic different process to each cut and how you do it means everything. When we talk about my absolute favorites its the things that make our shop special. Our shoulder blade steak, not to be confused with the scotch tender or the flat iron, I am talking about this tiny little sliver of a muscle that holds the chuck roast to the inside of the shoulder blade. Usually it gets ground up you don’t see that anywhere. Love the velvet steak its the back of the hamstring its so tender you don’t even have to tenderize it. These things are everything to me because it is such a little surprise and it is so beautiful to me.

Amelia waits on customers while Erika cuts meat with the table saw.

MEAT ME: What is one of the greatest honors in your life? I heard you got to go to the White House?

Amelia: I thought I was going to have a heart attack.

I remember I answered the phone. It was this really busy day. She was like, “Hi my name is Emily and I am calling with Our Time from Washington DC we are partnering with the White House for this Initiative for Americans to support young entrepreneurs we have chosen you guys as one of the top 100 entrepreneurs in the United States under 30 years old.” I thought it was a scam. I said you do know that you are calling a butcher shop in Los Angeles right? She goes, “Yea Amelia we know all about you guys and your journey. We are so proud of you and we want you to come to DC.” I was like oh my God. We had our publicist call and check it out and it was legit. Then they said we would like you guys to be one of the 3 panelists to sit and address the chamber of commerce. CNN was there and the whole thing.

Erika: They actually choose us out of all of those people to open up the whole event. We were going to write a big speech but we just decided that we wanted to wing it because we are off the cuff type of people.

Amelia: One of the most proud moments was for me to sit at the chamber of commerce and on national TV say, “I’m Amelia Posada I am 29 years old this is my wife Erika Nakamura she is 31 and together we own the only sustainable organic butcher shop in the state of California, we get whole carcass and we only support local agriculture.”

Erika: It was literally within two weeks of DC legalizing gay marriage, it was an impact.

Amelia: Many people came up to us afterwards and they said, “In the history of the Chamber of Commerce nobody has ever said those words.”

Lindy & Grundy Meats

I would like to thank Lindy & Grundy for sharing their valuable free time with you and I. It is both a pleasure and an honor to be given the opportunity to have an intimate look into the lives of Amelia and Erika.

You can visit Lindy & Grundy Meats at:

http://lindyandgrundy.com/

You can follow them on Twitter at:

@LindyGrundy

Love & Respect,

Sean Rice

aka MEAT ME

MEAT: A True Love Story, Jenny Dewey: Butcher - Part 2

2012-02-21T07:48:00.000-08:00

Jenny Dewey in front of the Chico Locker & Sausage Co. Inc.

We LIVE there for we LOVE. We fight for peace and we die for freedom, but is fighting really the solution? The more I educate myself about the source of MEAT, the more I realize fighting for the truth is getting me nowhere. Thankfully butcher Jenny Dewey has taught me that my greatest weapon is always going to be information. This combined with passion and the desire to share that information with people that are willing to listen could be the foundation to a movement in the right direction. Fighting people that don’t want to listen never results with a world filled with happiness. Education may just be the key to our evolution.

A goose that has been hunted by Jenny's brother and father.

Part 2 of my personal quest takes me to the Chico Locker and Sausage Company Inc. After seven and a half hours of driving I finally arrived in the small, rain soaked town, of Chico California. All the homes are of a Victorian or Craftsman style. If I did not see the modern cars I would think I was somewhere in the early to late sixties. I made a quick stop at the Roost Café, where it looked like Norman Rockwell left his last paintbrush. I filled my stomach with food and went straight over to Jenny’s butcher shop and deli.

The dining part of the deli.

This is my first time in a small town. I grew up in Los Angeles constantly surrounded by tourist, seeing the same person twice is rare. I am lucky to know my neighbors let alone seeing someone at a local butcher shop. I pulled up, saw Jenny in the window, and right away she knew who I was. I grab handfuls of gear and headed inside. Jenny, looking stressed, says a quick hello and quickly introduces me to the rest of her family and just as quickly they are back to work.

Jenny shakes out the rain from a drenched Chico.

Jenny’s shop isn’t the small town I imagined. It works like a finely oiled machine. The deli counter buzzes like the floor of the New York stock exchange. Customers call out orders as more buyers pile in. I can see beads of sweat on the heads of the cashiers. These people aren’t working hard they are busting their asses to put MEAT on people’s plates. There isn't even room for me to set up my camera. (photos were taken at the end of the work day.)

Some of the many spices & BACON makes everything BETTER products sold by Chico Locker.

Jenny let me know that if I wanted lunch to get the Friday special, which is a smoked Beef Tri Tip sandwich. She said, “Put the order in now cause we’ll probably be out by noon!”

She quickly showed me the back of the shop, the locker where they hang their carcasses, the boxes for the custom orders, and where they grind up all their sausages. She shows me their newest machine which can process up to 100 pounds of sausage in as little as 15 minutes. This task used to take them 4 to 5 hours to complete. I quickly waved to the rest of the employees who only had the time to look over their shoulders, smile and say hello.

Jenny prepares to fill a custom order for a customer.

Jenny is right back to where she left off and I am on my own. I stay out of the way as much as I can, but in such a small space it is literally impossible and it has been this way since 1965. Just think how many foreheads have been wiped? How may hours have been worked? How many tons of food has been put on plates? God knows how many people have been feed since this place has opened.

They offer a variety of jerky and peppers sticks.

Butchery is a skill I am still learning to appreciate. Jenny’s Grandfather (a Master Butcher) has passed his craft down from generation to generation. I had no idea what this craft is until I saw Jenny slice into a piece of beef with her steel sword. I have never seen a perfect slice of meat crest over like a wave onto a cutting board. It takes years to master and every cut is different.

Customers relax and enjoy the Special, Smoked Tri Tip sandwich.

Jenny and her family work 6 to 7 days a week, 8 to sometimes 12, 15 hours a day. They been working this way their entire life and vacations are rarely, if ever heard of. How could someone dedicate an entire life to MEAT, Jenny gave me a chance to ask a few questions and find out.

PLEASE NOTE: Employees where requested to remove any head ware for the purpose of photographs, this is not common industry practice.

Carcasses hang as they age in the meat locker.

MEAT ME: So what is the Chico Locker & Sausage Co. Inc.? How did it start?

Jenny: Chico Locker & Sausage Co. Inc. is a retail meat shop and deli. We also specialize in custom processing and game processing. It really is a unique meat buying experience unlike any other. We have been family owned and operated since the beginning. My parents, David & Linda Dewey, currently own it. My grandfather, Russell Dewey, was actually the first one to start it. He moved here from Hayward in 1964. Russ worked at Butte Meat Company in town as a meat cutter and soon got a job at our current shop which was then called Chico Locker & Storage Company which housed over 600 frozen food lockers. In 1965, he ended up buying up the locker plant and Chico Locker & Sausage Co. was born. In the very beginning, he was just doing custom processing, very little retail. My grandpa, my father, and my aunt all worked there. My dad started butchering at 16 years old, once he had a driver’s license my grandpa said, “Here are some knives and a truck I need you to go out and start butchering for me.”

Jenny looks for the hog of a customer to prepare for a custom order.

My dad was kind of thrown into it and he was trained under two butchers and from them learned of all the ways of the trade. He also used to go over to Chico Meat's slaughterhouse and watched them slaughter. He learned by observation and a little bit of hands on and he has been butchering ever since. In 1981 my father bought the company from my grandfather and evolved the company into where we are today. In 1985, after seeing the potential in a retail store, they opened our deli and retail store. Most of the products we sell are made right on the premises. Some of our specialties include: hams, bacon, smoked turkeys, fresh and smoked sausages, jerky, and marinated tri tips. My father made the decision to join state and national meat associations, which has revolutionized our business connecting us with meat processors all over the state as well as the country. Through these organizations, we have received national recognition for many of our products and have also been inducted into the Cured Meats Hall of Fame by the American Association of Meat Processors, which is a huge honor. At Chico Locker, we believe in not only creating quality products for our customers, but also providing our customers with education: where the cut came from, how it was made, and how to cook it. Our motto from the beginning remains "Dollars Ahead, Better Fed" and that is exactly what we strive to do. http://chicolockersausage.com/aboutus/

Cured Meat that has just come out of the smokehouse

MEAT ME: When did you first get into it?

Jenny: (laughs) My coworker jokes that I was born into this and essentially I was. I was basically raised at the shop. We have photos of me in a playpen in the deli while my mom is making sandwiches. Many of our long time customers have seen me grow up there. They have memories of me in a baby carrier asleep on my father's back while he is hand-linking sausage. I have memories of being a kid there while Dad and Mom are working, Jake (my brother) and I built forts out of the boxes or played store in the deli. That place literally is our second home; I've spent so much of my life there. We always used to joke when I was kid that wherever we were in town, going to dinner or something, that we "ALWAYS had to stop by the Locker". I started working in the deli and running the register when I was 13 on the weekends and during summer. In high school, senior year I only went to school for a half day, and you bet that afternoon I had to show up for work at the shop. And in college, on days I wasn't at school, I was working at the shop. It kind of started from there and now I can basically do everything. It's a unique experience working for your family, in some ways it's one of the hardest things you'll do, in some ways it is easy. But I feel so blessed to be able to be working next to my father, mother, and brother in a business that my father and grandfather has put their blood, sweat, and tears into building what it is today.

Jenny's father David Dewey sharpens his blade before beginning to cut meat.

MEAT ME: What is your role at the shop? Day-to-day?

Jenny: Our shop is very different in that we really don’t have set roles. Our shop is small so the people that work for us have to be able to do a lot of different roles. Because we are so small you’re required to have more knowledge and not do the same task every single day. We are all constantly learning and adding knowledge to our repertoire. I guess when I have to qualify myself I would consider myself the assistant manager of the shop, but I could also be considered a meat wrapper, sausage maker, deli clerk, etc. Basically if there are any problems or any questions, and my father isn’t there, I am the one dealing with all those things and being required to make "executive decisions" as we like to call them.

Dave cuts beef ribs with the meat band saw

MEAT ME: What would you say is your specialty or talent in this business?

Jenny: My specialty has evolved into making sausage. I am the one responsible for figuring out what needs to be made, specifying the meat block (how much meat goes into the batch), weighing the spices, and mixing the meat and spices. We have a book that we call "the Bible", it carries all of our recipes and formulations in it. I have gotten to point now where I hardly have to consult it. I know them all by memory, for the most part. When we have to make sausage, we all know our roles in the process, which increases our productivity and makes it easier on all of us. Sometimes I am amazed at how much product we can turn out in a short amount of time.

Chuck Steaks being cut off a customer's beef

MEAT ME: Have you guys ever thought about putting this “Bible” out there and publishing it?

Jenny: No. We would never release it. It’s our own recipes, many of which came directly from my father and grandfather. Those are the recipes that make our products unique and special to Chico Locker & Sausage Co. Inc. and we like that. Many of our favorite and best selling products are ones that you can only find here, in Chico, Ca. If we sold those recipes, it would take the quality of uniqueness out of it. We sell many of our spices over the counter to people and we’ll give you spices for however much your meat block calls for but we don’t give out the recipes and formulations. Many of our spices are pre-blended meaning that we've given the recipe to a spice company and they blend the ingredients together. It saves us time and energy from having to weight out each individual ingredient. Instead, I can weigh out one spice. We also sell casings and added ingredients like cheese. Home sausage making has been a trend that is picking up in popularity, especially amongst people who hunt regularly. Having a love of cooking, I understand what it feels like to have a sense of accomplishment when you make something delicious yourself and at home. And I encourage those of you wanting to, try and make sausage at home. It's not as easy as it looks and people really come to appreciate what it is that we do once they try it themselves. We don't mind sharing our knowledge or expertise on making sausage, salami, or snack sticks. In fact, we have a public sausage seminar in the works so stay tuned for that! http://chicolockersausage.com/2012/01/11/wordless-wednesday-boys-just-wanna-have-fun/

As a beef carcass hangs to be cut up, Jenny walks out of the cooler with a top sirloin

MEAT ME: What is custom processing? What types of animals do you process?

Jenny: As far as our custom processing goes, we slaughter (yes I said slaughter!) beef, hogs, lambs, and some goats. Which is what the shop was originally known for. What custom exempt processing entails is we have a mobile slaughter truck http://chicolockersausage.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/img_47733.jpg which goes out to the farm or ranch and slaughters the animal right there, on site. Now some people may gasp at this. But let me tell you, what my father does is an art. He has done this for nearly 45 years and is an expert at what he does. His conditions are not a sterile slaughterhouse but there is no denying that his carcasses are clean and free from manure, dirt or debris of any kind throughout the process. And he is the ONLY one that sees the carcass from start to finish during the slaughter process. How many of you can boast that about your meat? http://thebeefjar.com/2011/07/13/wordless-wednesday-a-beef-harvest-2/ He then transports the animals (in the refrigerated truck) back to the shop. According to the law, custom exempt means our shop "can only slaughter and process livestock for the exclusive use of the owner(s), the owner’s family, and non-paying guests". The meat is marked not for sale from start to finish. Carcasses are stamped Not For Sale, packages are labeled with Not For Sale. It cannot be resold once it is processed and packaged.

Blaire wraps some Deer Snack Sticks.

MEAT ME: So what is the process that beef might go through in your shop?

Jenny: So my Dad goes out and butchers the beef. We hang our beef in quarters. Normally they are hung as halves but we don’t have the 10 feet high rails to do that. Our beef carcasses hang in the cooler for a minimum of 14 days. This is called dry aging and I wrote a blog post on it, you can find that here: http://chicolockersausage.com/2012/02/03/fun-meat-fact-friday-aging-beef/ It can hang longer (up to 30 days), but it depends on how large the carcass is and how much cover (fat) it has on it.. We even have some customers that specify how long they want it hung, otherwise we use our expertise on judging when a beef is ready to be cut. After the beef is aged, it is rolled out and the processing begins. On a whole beef, there are two front quarters and two hindquarters. Our meat cutters (butchers) then begin what’s called "breaking" the carcass. This basically means that the beef is broken down into manageable pieces called primal cuts, which will later be cut into steaks, and other cuts. I actually wrote a guest blog that explains everything could you have ever wanted to know about cutting a beef up including photos. Please check it out if you are interested, it's seriously like a semester of meat cutting in one post. http://thebeefjar.com/2011/07/25/guest-blog/ The beef is cut exactly to the customer specifications. My mother takes most of the orders so she’ll call up the customer over the phone and discuss the cuts, thicknesses, and exactly how they want it. If they want their steaks 2 inches thick, they get them 2 inches thick. All of the cuts are vacuum packaged and labeled with the customer's name as well as NOT FOR SALE. It goes in boxes with the customers name on it, usually it will freeze over night. The customer picks it up within the week, takes it home, and on the table it ends up, nourishing their family. Really if you are concerned with where your meat is coming from, custom processing is where to go. Purchasing a half or a quarter of a beef can really be an investment and rather costly, but in the long run it is cheaper than purchasing all of those cuts from the grocery store or butcher shop. And it will feed your family for the year, all from one animal. How much more transparent can it get? It is literally Moo to Mouth.

Want to know where you favorite pork cuts come from...? Find out here: http://chicolockersausage.com/2011/08/25/where-do-your-favorite-pork-cuts-come-from/

Jenny take a custom order from a customer.

MEAT ME: You mentioned previously, you do game processing. What types of game do you process?

Jenny: Hunting is a huge hobby and sport in the Sacramento Valley. I've been exposed to it my whole life, my father has hunted for as long as I can remember and my brother started around the age of 8. And now I am able to join them, this year I passed the hunter's safety course and obtained my hunting license. I deer hunted for the first time in my life this year, it was so exciting. I cannot wait to do it again next year. I know many people have a negative view on hunting but really it is like what I was talking about earlier. It is extremely transparent in the fact that you know EXACTLY where your food is coming from. And YOU are the one doing the work in order to put that food on the table for your family! How cool is that!? You can hunt turkeys, ducks, geese, pheasants, doves, deer, wild hogs, and bear all in this area. And people come from all over in order to do so. The need for someone to process all that game meat is imperative. We process deer, elk, bear, and wild hogs. Depending on the species, the processing varies. Animals come to us already dressed, meaning free of internal organs and skinned. We then cut them up much the same way we do the beef. It is cut exactly to the customer's specifications. We process about 500 deer and elk a season. And on top of processing carcass animals, we also accept boneless meat (deer, elk, bear, and duck/geese) to make specialty products like sausages, salamis, and snack sticks. We also offer the service to smoke whole pheasants, ducks/geese, and turkeys. We started making a boneless turkey bacon roast out of wild turkeys. It's kind of a little known secret (well not anymore), but it turns out delicious! For a menu of our complete game processing charges, download it here http://chicolockersausage.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/image-14.jpg

And for more information about game processing and what is required to bring us a good, clean carcass check out the blog post on it. http://chicolockersausage.com/2011/10/09/a-chico-locker-guide-to-deer-processing-chapter-one/

Jenny is cutting a Chuck roast for a customer in the deli.

MEAT ME: What type of regulations and rules does your shop have to follow?

Jenny: We are under an inspection classification called “custom exempt” One of the main ways that custom exempt varies from USDA is that when my father goes out to do a slaughter he does not have an inspector with him. It is his responsibility to maintain good quality and follow the safety standards. He is required to go through an annual licensed processing inspector course every year. He has to do that in order to stay open for business and do custom processing. What that title also requires is to maintain records of where the animals came from, where the meat is going as well as daily checking our facility for cleanliness, appropriate employee habits, and other food safety standards. Everything is documented and double-checked by our inspector. We have an inspector who is a State employee; he makes sure we are complying with all regulations. He comes unannounced and goes through the plant making sure that everything runs correctly, that there is no cross contamination with products, things like that. He then checks all of our records. He can write us up for anything that needs to be redone. All inspectors have been trained extensively in food safety standards and how to prevent food born illnesses so having that inspector coming in is a great source of knowledge for us on the new advancements and protocols for the industry. He is also there to make sure our retail side is being run correctly. We have to extensively document every product that is made and run through our smokehouse, specifying how much was made, making sure it made it to the appropriate temperature to be fully cooked, etc. He checks all of these documents as well. His department is also in charge of approving labels. For example, when we want to come out with a new product with an ingredients statement it has to be approved though him. He has to see the recipe and make sure that all of the ingredients that are going in it are approved food ingredients.

Dave checks in with Jenny to see if see needs help with an order after he has just come back from duck hunting.

All of this varies from USDA classification of inspection which requires many things. First one being an FSIS (USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service) personnel present at all times while slaughter operations are taking place. Animals being inspected LIVE as well as carcass-by-carcass inspection, organ biopsy sent off for testing to ensure no antibiotic residue, etc. Basically, FSIS ensures that the plant is maintaining the most stringent of food safety standards. Meat that is processed under USDA inspection can essentially be resold anywhere. It can be wholesale, sold to restaurants, or simply put into the retail market. Any meat you are buying from any retail store has been processed under that classification. Food safety is something that whether under any classification of inspection, all plants take extremely seriously. We are constantly taking steps to ensure we can provide our customers, whether it be retail or custom processing, with a quality, safe product. I think one of real myths people have about the meat industry is inspection. Documentaries like Food, Inc. don't explain these things to you. I've said it before and I will continue to say it... I feel confident that our food can be deemed safe and it isn’t something that people should be worrying about on a day to day basis while eating their three meals a day. In fact I've written two blog posts trying to educate people on meat inspection and food safety. And I encourage you to check them out:

A boneless ribeye butterflied makes a beautiful heart for any meat lover on Valentines Day.

Is It Really Something To Be Afraid Of... : http://chicolockersausage.com/2011/08/18/is-it-really-something-to-be-afraid-of/

Meat Myths: Inspection, My Musings: http://chicolockersausage.com/2011/08/18/is-it-really-something-to-be-afraid-of/

Blaire cuts a bottom round for Carne Asada on a custom beef.

MEAT ME: What are the different types of meat sold in your shop?

Jenny: We sell commercial meat. I think sometimes people get confused about what kind of meat we sell. All the meat you buy in our store must come from a USDA inspected slaughter facility, that's the law. So all the meat we sell in our store, we did not slaughter ourselves. But it came from somewhere that slaughters under the classification of USDA inspected, which allows us to purchase that meat and resell it in our shop. We offer all choice or higher. If you aren't familiar with quality grading, I wrote a blog post about the difference between quality grades which you can read about here http://chicolockersausage.com/2011/12/16/fun-meat-fact-friday-quality-grades Most of our boneless steaks are cut to order (filets, new yorks, rib eyes, top sirloins). Rarely do we ever buy anything pre-cut. We like maintaining control of how our chops or bone-in steaks are being cut. Most all of our products like sausages, salamis, lunchmeat, hams/bacons are made by us. For example, we don't buy in hams or bacons. We buy in fresh pork bellies and legs and cure and smoke them ourselves. Same with our sausages, we buy in the pork shoulders, grind them, add spices, and stuff them ourselves.

Jenny's brother, Jake, and butcher, Ken make snack sticks.

Sometimes I don't think people realize that the majority of products we offer are made right there on the premises. We don't have an off location, it's all done right there. You can even come up and watch us. We love being able to give "tours" so to speak, especially to kids. They love it. If there is something you are looking for specifically and don't see it, ask us! We can order in a lot of specialty products. However, when your interested in a specific type of meat, you really need to do your research and find out what makes it that specific type. Don't rely on marketing alone. The grass fed movement is becoming really, really big. We carry a grass fed product from Pacific Pastures. The best way to link people up with a product that is natural or grass feed is connecting them to people like Megan Brown http://thebeefjar.com/ or other farmers and ranchers. Through them, customers can buy specific animals and then have them processed through us. We act as the intermediary between the two. They purchase the animal directly from the farmer and rancher and then we simply process it. And again, that is truly giving people the Moo to Mouth experience.

As the Mercedes (their Handtmann Stuffer) pumps out the snack sticks, they are cut and hung to be smoked.

MEAT ME: What is the future of the meat industry? Where do you see yourself in 30 years?

Jenny: I would love to continue doing what we are doing now. We really provide a specialized market through our custom processing. There are people that my father has been butchering forever since he was 16 and we still butcher for them, or we butcher for their children or even their grandchildren. To cut that out of our business would be a really tragic thing. On the other hand, cutting meat from a carcass is becoming such a lost art. It is so hard to find people that know how to break carcasses and know how to break them down into those primal cuts. It is even harder to find people that can butcher and butcher well. There are a lot of people out here that run mobile slaughter trucks and butcher but their quality isn’t very good. It is not up to the standards that our business requires. My dad learned from people who are no longer with us and that skill has not carried on. The tradesman of being a butcher is not very popular today. Grocery stores and most retail stores do not cut from the carcass, they cut from meat from a box. The fact is that it really isn't cost effective and very hard to use up the whole carcass in a retail setting. It takes some very creative marketing and promoting to be able to use every bit of it without experiencing huge losses. So in the retail market, everything comes in a box.

Josh helps with the snack stick process. Once complete, they are loaded into the smokehouse

Those primal cuts are already broken down. So now meat cutters only need to know how to trim it, make sure that it is free from gristle, and free from some surface fat. It has been hard for us to find people to work for us that have experience in the industry. It is going to get even harder unless there is a big movement in to butchery or old-fashioned ways of doing things. I am not sure what the status of that would be in the future. If we had to cut that out I would have to double our retail and possibly expand, have a larger meat case, more varieties of sausage. We would start making more specialty items that we get people asking for. We have people that come out here from the Midwest and the East Coast and they ask for products like bockwurst, pâtés, or loafs. Those are things that we don’t make and would require additional machinery to make. Right now we don’t have the space to do that but if we were to expand we would have be able to invest in machinery that makes it's possible to make some of the German specialties. That would be something I would look forward to. As far as how our game processing goes, if we were not doing any processing, there would be no reason to staff butchers or meat cutters. So we would offer to make game products but you would have to bring your meat into us already processed, boneless and we would make what ever you would like. That is a huge market for us and I would love to continue providing that specialized service.

Customers look in curiosity as their order is being filled and a master butcher is at work.

MEAT ME: Would you say that the AG Meat industry is predominately male?

Jenny: In shops like ours? Probably. If you go into a big packinghouse or slaughter house you would actually be really surprised at how many female employees they employ. However, those are mostly based out of the Midwest. Packing houses provide jobs for quite population of people and just like a car manufacturing plant, you have male and female. As for small shops like ours I would say, the majority of female employees are more than likely daughters or wives. In the field of meat cutting women are extremely rare in small shops. I really only know of one lady and she is a female butcher.

Jenny slices Carne Asada for a customer.

I only think that it is because some of us are limited in our size and capabilities. For example, a beef carcass weighting 800 pounds contains a chuck (primal cut) on it weighing about 80 pounds or more. It is heavy for a woman to break that off and put on a meat block or band saw. That might be one of the reasons why women typically aren't employed as butchers. But that's not to say that you couldn’t do it if you didn’t have the tools, you would just the correct set up. Being involved in the American Association of Meat Processers, I have been able to meet other women getting involved in the industry and working in the field. I think now more than ever there are more women working in this business where as before it was more male dominated and I hope more people, especially women, start getting interested in working in the MEAT business. In fact, there are some exciting advancements for women I know in the industry, there is a women currently running to be the president of our national association. If she gets elected she will be the first woman ever to be president of the association. I am really pulling for her, not only is she a good family friend, but we also share a lot of the same ideas about being involved in empowering women in the meat industry.

Jenny tends to a customer as the child interacts with the deli clerks.

MEAT ME: You would recommend other women to get involved in what you do?

Jenny: Absolutely! I'd love to work with more women in my field or even my shop!

With so many great choices a customer takes his time ordering exactly what he wants.

MEAT ME: So how would a woman who loves meat and wants to be a butcher get involved in the industry?

Jenny: On a local level it is really hard to get involved. It’s the same for men. We have people that want to work for us, we ask them if they have any experience in the meat industry and they say no. We are busy, we have a lot to do and we really don’t have the time to train people with NO experience at all. Which is unfortunate, we would love to be able to. As far as in our own shop, we would like people to have some base knowledge. They offer courses at the local college on meat science. Take a meat science course so you can at least have the basic knowledge before you go and get into butchering since it can be a very specialized field. It is not like you can start running a restaurant without knowing anything about it. It takes time to learn it. One of our employees has been working with us for 5 years and she is still learning things to this day. We do so many different things I am constantly learning; she is constantly learning it is just so vast. I recommend taking a course, taking a workshop or going in and talking to your local meat shop. You could start out doing something as simple as cleaning at night or being a freezer person. Then maybe move up to wrapping meat. Wrapping meat is a very common skill in the industry. That is where I started and now I do more. It is a fairly simple task but you need to be able to identify cuts of meat, you can’t keep asking cutters what is this or what is that, especially when we are at our busiest and cutting 20-25 hogs a day. It is a lot harder to get your foot in the door in this industry but once you get in, the opportunities are endless. I know many women who write for Meat industry magazines but they still have to have that base knowledge. There is a huge need for female inspectors for USDA and state inspectors as well. That requires some training and schooling but the field is still wide open.

Jenny carries a heavy custom order out to their truck.

MEAT ME: What is it you love about what you do?

Jenny: My favorite thing about what I do is that I love being able to teach people. I love when people come into my shop and they are talking to me about meat and they quote some misnomer or some myth. Or they really aren't educated on what it is that we do. I like when I can be able to tell them, that's cool that you're interested in this and hey, here's what we do! Here's the real story. Even better when I can take them up and I can show them, look this is what we do. Here it is. This is how it happens. I can share with them that knowledge then they can go out. They can share with their family, their friends, whoever it is that they are talking to; and they can give correct information, or they can link to our blog. Something like that. I really like being able to share that this is what our family does. This is what my dad has been doing for 45 years and now I am involved in it, my brother is involved in it. Show people this is our livelihood, so when you're essentially trying to bash the meat industry or put a bad spin on it, that if we didn't have our shop, we would be out of work. We wouldn't be feeding our family, we wouldn't be feeding other people's families. We wouldn't be feeding our long time customers that have been coming to us for 50 years, 40 years. They would be out food as well. So when you're hitting a local business like that, it's really a big deal. And a lot of times when I show people this is what we do, they really had no idea that's how it was. They like the idea that my family are the people that are doing it. We are reaching out to them, we are giving them information. And we aren't afraid to show what it is that we do. We are transparent, and we like that. And that's probably my favorite part of my job, being able to share that transparency with people and being able to share that knowledge.

Jenny gets ready to close up shop for the day.

MEAT ME: What is your favorite type of MEAT?

Jenny: I am just going to put this out there and I keep saying this but short ribs are like heaven! You have to know how to cook them. They have to be cooked for a long period of time much like a chuck roast. But they are worth it and super easy to cook! The Pioneer Woman http://thepioneerwoman.com has some amazing recipes! I'd say that cooked correctly I'd take short ribs over a filet steak. There you have it, straight from a butcher's mouth (laughs). Filets are good but they cost a lot more. If you’re looking for something cheap, delicious, and you've got time to cook them, short ribs are it!

I would like to Thank Jenny and Chico Locker for having me out and showing me and you their amazing family owned operation.

For more information about Chico Locker & Sausage Co. Inc. products and services please check out:
http://chicolockersausage.com/

Join me for Tuesday Feburary 28th, with Erika & Amelia of Lindy and Grundy the 3rd installment of Moo to Mouth MEAT: A True Love Story

MEAT ME
aka Sean Rice

MEAT: A True Love Story, Megan Brown: Cattle Producer Part 1

2012-02-14T00:11:00.000-08:00

The entrance to Table Mountain Ranch

I love MEAT so much I felt the need to have a better understanding of where it comes from. I started with the Moo and followed the process all the way to the Mouth. I drove out to Chico, CA to meet with Cattle Producer Megan Brown. She is an expert in the art of raising cattle to be slaughtered and butchered into the most beautiful meat I have ever tasted. She helped me discover things about myself and MEAT that I did not know existed. People work, bleed, sweat and die all in the name of BEEF. They do this everyday over and over as it has been passed down form generation to generation. Entire lives are devoted to producing a product that only takes me 10 minutes to enjoy. With great appreciation I have learned that it is not just a love I share with these people but a passion, a lifestyle and a culture all dedicated to MEAT.

Megan Browns home and her 2 ranch dogs Hoot & Jinx.

Megan Brown is a 6th generation cattle rancher at the Table Mountain Ranch. The ride up was wet, dark, and cold. My idea of someone living in the middle of nowhere was quiet, slow, and boring. Megan was just the opposite, a fire cracker and may be the most joyful person I have ever met. There was something about this girl, I couldn’t tell right off the bat, but I knew she was special. After the handshakes and hugs she kindly invited me into her home. At first glance it looked like a movie set. Everything in its place including a rifle she keeps bed side. I soon came to realized she doesn’t do this because she has to, she does it because it is what she was born to do.

This is the back side of the ranch where the dogs and chickens call home.

I dropped my things to relax but Megan was all ready to go. We headed out to the rangeland where the local bee keepers keep their bees in the off season. Not to far from there graze the cattle. As we pulled up in the feed truck all the cattle started running along side us. I'm amazed, I have never seen this before. I expected cows to be standing around, but these cows are regal and bold. We get out of the truck and a few cows are curious but most keep distance. Their cow-licked coats shine in the sun and tickle the dusty air as the wind blows. Seeing harmony between land and beast is truly awe inspiring.

Endless grass fields and an irrigation ditch run through out the land.

Shortly there after we left for the house to meet her Mother. Finally someone looked their stereotype and her Mom was exactly that, a Ranch Mother. She had sweet How-do-ya-do's but I could tell this women was tough as nails. In a matter of minutes we were off in the Polairs and headed for the hills. We approached the railroad crossing to what looked like a painting on the other side. I am lost for words nothing I could say would do it any justice. I'm barley religious but if anything it looks like land Jesus may have promised.

Megan's Mom Sharon grabs her gear as we get ready to head out to the rangeland.

We got to base of the mountain and I just stopped and stared at everything my eyes could see. It's as if time stops when there is so much to take in. How neat would it be to wake up to this everyday. My mind wonders what life would be like, I can only imagine. In the distance one of the hills was dug into where they used the clay in the ground for bricks to build some of the original buildings. I am still in disbelief at what I am seeing. It looks and feels like every iconic cowboy movie I ever saw as a child.

This is the truck used to feed the cattle hay.

Megan is used to the sights but is a little taken back by my reaction. She takes me higher into the hills past the the giant tree's. She climbs up on some broken up mossy rock and looks out over the ravine only to point out the Bald Eagle that also calls this land home. If that wasn't mind blowing enough there was a 4 tiered waterfall behind me with all the drinking water the eagle will ever need. I thought how lucky Megan is to have all of this and it only took 6 generations of work to get here.

Megan opens the gate as the dogs get a head start to show us the way.

Megan explained to me that Ranchers are very private people They don't share their land with strangers and they sure don't offer an explanation on how things are done. I am humbly grateful for Megan to have me out and share the very way of life that she considers sacred. Her families relationship to the land is very special. Year after year they respect what it gives them and they give back by protecting it. My intentions here are not to exploit what she does, but share with you what MEAT: A True Love Story is really about.

Jinx lays down on the side of the road out of instinct to let the cattle go by, before she gets up to herd them.

We headed back to Megan’s house and saw the original barn her Grandfather built to slaughter cattle in. It is still equipped with all the original sliding racks and hooks that modern butchers still use today. It was left exactly how it was some 50 years ago. I will never forget this day it is sad it has to come to an end.

Where the local bee keepers keep their bees on the rangeland during their off season.

Before I leave I had the opportunity to sit down with Megan and find out the in’s and out of what she does and how she does it…

Cattle running beside us in excitement for the food truck.

MEAT ME: Where are we?

Megan: We are on Table Mountain Ranch.

This is the "Airport Field".

MEAT ME: What is the history of the Ranch?

Megan: My great grandfather bought the Table Mountain Ranch in the 1930’s. The Table Mountain Ranch used to be sheep ranch, then a hunting lodge, and finally the bank owned it. My Great Grandfather purchased it from them. Like many cattle producers in our area, we move our cattle between two different ranches. “The Mountains” which is in Indian Valley in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and “the Valley” is in the Sacramento Valley, near Chico, California. We've operating our ranches like this since my Family started producing cattle commercially.

The cattle are transported in livestock hauling trucks we sometimes call the “bus”. It’s about an hour and a half ride between ranches. Our winter ranch, Table Mountain Ranch, is not irrigated so the grass dies in the summer, and dead grass isn’t as nutritious, the summer insects annoy the cattle, foxtails and other weeds are prevalent in the valley and cause infections, and the extreme heat is not conducive to weight gain and health. Basically, the cows would have to work too hard and wouldn't be as pretty and the calves wouldn’t have the high weight gain that we are proud of. The cattle have always responded well to this arrangement. They are happy cows.

We also have to deal with fire danger, because in our area of California, summer wildfires can be a very big problem. By leaving the winter ranch empty six months out of the year, it also mimics natural grazing patterns, so we always have grass for our cattle to eat when they return in the fall. We ship the cattle back to the valley ranch when the fall rains begin and the new grass has sprouted.

The ranch dogs sit and wait for their next orders.

MEAT ME: It says on your twitter bio that you are a 6th generation cattle rancher. So I am guessing wasn’t the original ranch?

Megan: No, the Table Mountain Ranch is not the original Ranch. I am currently doing a lot of research right now on the family. What I have found was my 6th great Grandmother immigrated here from Ireland, she stayed in New York and when her Dad died, she immigrated around South America to here, got married, and instead of becoming a gold miner which everybody was doing, they figured if they produced food to sell to gold miners they were gonna make more money and they did. They actually ended up being very wealthy and a very prominent family in Chico. That was the Lucas family. Hazel Lucas married into the Brown Family. Sam Brown Sr came from Tennessee. His family was also a very prominent agricultural family. Lot of history there, its very interesting to find out how much agricultural history there really is there from the very beginning. After Hazel and Sam got married, they moved to Susanville and operated a stagecoach stop. They saved their money and then eventually bought the ranch in Indian Valley and The Table Mountain Ranch.

The cattle is rather curious at to why we are here.

MEAT ME: What is the nationality of your family?

Megan: Irish and German.

The calf is nursing its mother.

MEAT ME: How long have you been a rancher?

Megan: All my life. I could ride a horse before I could walk. My first memories are of me being on a horse with my dad and him holding me as a toddler. I have picture of me on cattle drives. My whole life has been AG so there was nothing normal about my childhood. At 5 years old my teacher called my parents in for a teacher parent conference to tell them that I was a pathological liar because by 5 I had already had my own pony, they had already filmed a movie on the ranch, I already had a broken arm I didn’t know and had to have it re-broke. I was telling these stories about Clint Eastwood packing me around on his shoulders, going on cattle drives. My parents came in and said, no these things actually happened she is telling the truth.

So my life has never been normal. It has had its drawbacks but it has made me a character needless to say… I think I like it.

These are Angus pairs. The calves are about seven months old.

MEAT ME: Are there different classifications for ranches? What type of ranch is this?

Megan: The cattle industry is very segmented. You have cow/calf producers (like me), you have seed stock producers, those are people we buy our bulls from (bulls are the Dads), you have stockers, they add weight to weaned cattle before they go to a feed lot, and finally you have a feed lot.

Then you have hobby ranches versus commercial ranches. We are a commercial ranch; we produce beef that ends up in the grocery store. The meat you buy at Whole Foods, the meat you buy at Raley’s, the meat you buy at Costco could very well be from here.

Hobby operations, usually will just produce meat for themselves, or they will raise a handful of cattle and sell it to the local auction yard. Sometimes those cattle will be bought by stockers or will go right to a feedlot.

We like to have our own genetics, so we don’t buy animals at the auction yards. We have worked very, very hard on our genetics in our herd. Over 20 years of very careful bull selection and EPD manipulation. An EPD is expected progeny difference, one-half of the breeding value in the sire or dam. The difference in expected performance of future progeny of a sire, when compared with that expected from future progeny of bulls in the same sire summary. http://thebeefjar.com/2011/11/08/glossary-of-beef-terms/

More Angus cattle grazing on the rangeland.

MEAT ME: What type of animals do you have on the ranch?

Megan: Commercially we just sell cattle. The ranch has horses, chickens, dogs, we have had goats, sheep, and pot belly pigs, peacocks, guinea hens. Having animals is a lot of work, we’ve slowly been streamlining our animals, to make life easier. I work in town and my parents are getting a little older and trying to make their lives a little simpler. My dad worked hard as a young man, he has a new knee and a new shoulder. He is definitely trying to make it easier on himself. When I get older and I take over the ranch I want to diversify. Even next year I am thinking about getting some pigs, just because I love having my own pork. Plus Chico Locker and Sausage Co. LLC does the most amazing pork products.

This is Violet, she was once a bottle calf on the ranch.

MEAT ME: What is the typical day on the ranch?

Megan: It depends on the season. In the summer you wake up early, you go out and check your calves because it can get cold at night and your baby calves can get sick and die if they catch pneumonia. It’s important to make sure the calves are happy and healthy and with their moms. After you check calves, and then probably go have breakfast, change your water, fix your corrals. If you have somebody sick, or a bottle calf they will need to be taken care of. You also make hay and calve (when the baby calves are born) in the summer. In the fall you drag meadows. That is one of the great things about my life, it is always different. Everyday is different. Everyday is an adventure. Everyday is amazing. Like yesterday we saw a bald eagle, tomorrow I might see a bobcat in the driveway. It’s crazy. http://thebeefjar.com/2011/11/19/new/

In the winter, things are generally pretty quiet. Mainly we just check on everybody, make sure they are healthy and happy. We might feed them some hay every couple of days. It’s less stress than summertime for sure.

These cattle are grazing on native grass.

MEAT ME: What do cows typically eat?

Megan: Grass. Well at our point they eat grass. Pretty much all beef in the United States starts with producers like me. The calves are born on a ranch. They eat grass until they are 800 to 900 pounds (this is just the way my ranch does it, each ranch is different each region of the US is different).

Then they go to the feedlot where they have a ration where it can be corn, almond hulls; silage, again it depends on the region. Here we have fed them almond hulls because we have almonds everywhere. The cattle get better nutrition than I do, I am not joking. These cows lack for nothing. They get minerals, supplements, we bleed them every year to make sure they are getting the proper nutrition so they are happy and healthy.

We head out to check out the mountain side of the ranch.

MEAT ME: What is bleeding out?

Megan: A vet will take a blood sample from the vein, a veterinarian is always here they oversee everything. Then they will send that sample to the lab. For example on this ranch we have a deficiency in selenium and copper and they will make us a special blend of minerals. We put the minerals out for the cattle so they get their nutrients met.

When it rains in the winter, sometimes the grass doesn’t have all of the nutrients that the cattle need because the grass can’t photosynthesize. If that happens we will feed them hay (that we made) and that will prevent them from having health problems. Preventative care is way better than having a sick cow, we want our cattle be fat and happy.

Here Megan is demonstrating how the chute works for working the cattle.

MEAT ME: There are grass feed, grain fed, hay fed what type are you guys and which one is better than the other?

Megan: I don’t think any are better than the other. It really depends on what you are after. The only reason I do grass fed is because I can. It is my little side business. I can do it because I have the grass available. We have a lot of rangeland and our grass has a high protein content in the spring. The meat can marble well, it will have good fat in it, and it is really tasty. People really love the grass fed and they think there might be more health benefits. That has yet to be proven because all grass operations are different. There are pros and cons to grass fed just as there are pros and cons to the grain finished. I actually have friends that do not like my beef. It is just too gamey or grassy for them; they won’t eat it even if I give it to them.

Megan clears her hair out of her face from all of the wind.

MEAT ME: What is the difference between gamey and grassy?

Megan: Beef is like wine… Really. Every ranch, every genetic, has a different taste. It is like Napoleon Dynamite when they were doing the milk tasting, “Oh this cow has been in an onion patch!” You can tell that with the meat. We strive to have a really high quality product constantly. We have worked so hard on our genetics. Year after year you can buy beef from me and rest assured your gonna get the same quality product you got the year before. It is gonna have a really similar taste. If anything, the meat is going to get better and better because that is our goal.

A tired Hoot on the way back to the house.

MEAT ME: What classifies a ranch to produce commercial cattle?

Megan: For me, the word commercial means what we sell to the public. So commercial cattle is what we sell to the public, its different from the custom exempt cattle we keep for ourselves. The commercial cattle we sell through Western Video Market.

We’ve worked hard to establish a name for ourselves. We are a part of a lot of different programs to make sure we are producing quality beef. If we get audited by a buyer we can produce records for anything they want to see. We’ve been through the quality assurance program, we know how to give a shot properly. It is really important to us and it really contributes to the health of our herd that we are following all of the requirements of these programs. We have the same buyers for our commercial cattle coming back year after year because they know we work hard to maintain a quality herd. http://thebeefjar.com/tag/commercial-beef/

MEAT ME: Are there inspectors from these organizations that come out and check in on you?

Megan: Yes there are. A feedlot will buy a truck load of cattle and then the feedlot will contact us and say we need this record, this record and this record and we’re gonna have our person come out and check out your facilities and make sure everything is what you say it is. We have records that are very specific and down to the detail for these people.

The dogs wait for us to take off in the Polaris.

MEAT ME: What happens to a ranch that does not follow or fails to comply with these standards?

Megan: You would not get as much money for your cattle, you won’t be eligible for the value added programs. That is how we have survived, we have evolved into what the consumers have demanded of us. That is why we get good prices for our cattle and that is why we have return buyers. If you don’t follow the standards you will not have a good product, you will not have a good-looking cow. The buyers are going to know that. They can tell you what percentage of your cattle is graded as prime choice and if your cattle didn’t perform they are not going to buy from you. If people aren’t buying your product you are not going to have a ranch.

This is the field they call "Above the Tracks".

MEAT ME: How would a Safeway or a Vons know that it is not receiving someone’s sub-standard meat?

Megan: All meat is graded. Prime, select, choice, etc. If your beef grades poorly, these supermarkets aren’t going to buy it. It is all USDA, they have inspectors in these packing plants and they are not going to grade bad cattle prime, it’s just not going to happen. So if your cattle doesn’t grade it is not going to end up in our food supply. USDA over sees all of these plants.

RUN! Get out of the way we are coming on the Polaris!

MEAT ME: How many certifications do you have to have?

Megan: You don’t have to have any certifications. It is just a value add. I know people that are not the best cattle producers. They are producing but they probably won’t be for very much longer. Most of the cattle producers that I know, and this is paramount, are producing the best cattle we can, listening to the consumers, and we’re doing what you guys tell us to do. It does take us a while, it takes a good 2 years to get a beef from pasture to plate. The trends do take a while, but we do listen.

MEAT ME: What would make a ranch natural or certified organic?

Megan: Well certified organic is through the USDA. An agent from the USDA would come out and certify that you are following the USDA guidelines. We are not organic, so this is something I’m not an expert in and don’t know much about.

Natural is more of a marketing term. We do have guidelines, but there is no government involved. We are certified natural though the auction we sell our cattle through. To be considered natural through our third party certifier our cattle have to follow a certain set of guidelines. We have so show our records, have a person come out to the ranch to verify we are doing what we say.

MEAT ME: So in May/June and the cows are ready to be processed?

Megan: Slaughtered! Just come right out and say it Slaughtered!

This is facing West where we can see bald eagles in the distance.

MEAT ME: This is for custom exempt slaughter?

Megan: Yes. Our commercial cattle in May go to the summer ranch to go have calves and be cows. The heifers or the steers that my Parents give to me get slaughtered in May or June. http://thebeefjar.com/2011/07/13/wordless-wednesday-a-beef-harvest-2/ We call Jenny Dewey to make your appointment and Dave Dewey will come out. We generally do the slaughter in May or June because of the grass, because it has high protein. The cows will have a really great flavor, healthy fat and the carcasses are just beautiful… Beautiful! So Dave will come out and slaughter. Its custom exempt, so that means it is only for my consumption, or my families, or I will trade with it. I love having freezers full of meat. It is very heart warming. Dave is an artist, the death is very quick, it is painless. He takes the carcasses back to his locker, he hangs them for 21 days, I call him and tell him my order, how I want it cut and wrapped. Then I go get my boxes and put them in my freezer and I am good for a whole year.

The exit right under the railroad tracks.

MEAT ME: What is the process of commercial production?

Megan: The commercial production focuses on our calf crop. The calf crop is sold in June or July, depending on their size and what type of feed year it is (if we have a lot of grass or not). We sell them via video auction, the calves never leave the ranches until they go to a feedlot. There they will be finished until they reach 1,100-1,300 pounds, usually under 100 days.

A full day of rain can leave tons of standing water.

MEAT ME: So I am guessing the cattle industry is a very male dominated industry?

Megan: It is. One of the jokes in our industry is ‘every successful cattlemen has a wife that works in town.’ This is usually true. The wives usually have the health benefits, and a steady income.

The 4 tier waterfall at the edge of the Mountain tops.

On our Ranch my Dad has always liked to have girls out here. We are easier on the cattle, we are smaller, we are more empathetic, and we are easier to train there is no attitude. I get the cowboy attitude a lot… I grew up with it. It’s the “I’m gonna grab my crotch, spit, and have my little lady go make me dinner!” That was one of the issues I had with my Dad. I would work all day like a man and then I was expected to go make lunch or cook dinner, and serve everybody. Then I had to go back out there and work like a man and then go do the dishes. It wasn’t cool for me, doing two times the work.

I am the only child. I’m a girl. I grew up on a commercial ranch. I pulled my weight. It really drives me crazy when someone not familiar with me, acts like I am inept because of my gender. “I can do anything a man can do,” I might do it a different way but it’ll get done. My Mom works right along side my dad. She is just as tough as he is, actually she is a lot tougher. I was really lucky to have positive women role models in my life so the fact that it is male dominated didn’t factor into my world until I got a little older. Even now, we still get some salesmen that won’t talk to you unless you have a penis.

Heading over the irrigation ditch back to base camp.

MEAT ME: So you do feel that you get treated differently?

Megan: Ohhh, Yea! The “little lady” syndrome pops up occasionally. For example there are salesmen that will disregard me. Or truckers that will try and force me out of a corral full of cattle to ‘protect’ me. I’m part of the business. I am the only child, and they have been grooming me since birth to take over. I am here and it pisses me off when I get the “little lady” syndrome. Don’t like it.

Megan checks on her cat Jack in the old abandon school house.

MEAT ME: How would you recommend other women, who are interested in being a cattle producer, get involved?

Megan: It is really unfortunate because this is a really hard industry to break into. Most of us are here because we have been grandfathered in, it’s multi-generational. Buying land is expensive. Getting this knowledge is hard. Some things they didn’t teach me in college, they didn’t teach me in beef production. I learned from my Dad, he learned from his Dad. The best way to learn about cattle is to find somebody and just work. You can get an AG degree and that definitely helped me, it definitely gave me a new perspective. I needed it. It is something I use daily.

I think if a non aggie person wanted to break into ranching, going to school for that ag degree is going to be the best way. You are gonna meet people like me in those classes that have these connections to production ag. You are going to be able to network, that is a huge part in finding a job in ag. I am really realizing the value of being able to network and talk to consumers and producers, that is the beauty of social media and networking.

Left: the skull of a bull that has been slaughtered. Right: The old slaughter house her Grand Father built.

MEAT ME: Where do you see the future of cattle producing?

Megan: There is part of me that is terrified. Especially in California with all of the legislation and the people that think that they have our best interest at heart but don’t talk to us. They just talk AT us. They don’t ask us what we need. They are tying to pass more laws, it is actually really scary and something that I pay attention to. You have this new movement where everybody is interested in where their food comes from, and people like you that are talking to us and its amazing, and it gives a lot of hope. I think…Yea, (Fist held high) Yeaaaahhh!!! I think ranching is something where I am going to have to be very innovative. I have to have a really good team of people around me. If I need help I can trust them to ask, and get their opinion, that I can value. I want this ranch to continue. I want my great, great, great, grand kids to be sitting here talking to someone just like you saying the same exact things. Hopefully, I will be innovative enough, I will be smart enough, I will learn enough to keep this place going not matter what it costs. If I have to get a job in town to support it… So be it. That is paramount to keep this place going. I would die if I was the 6th and final generation. If I was the one that lost it! Could you imagine the guilt? Oh my God! No. That has never been an option. I was born to do this, I was raised to do this, I was told I was gonna do this. This is what I am going to do!

The swing Megan used as a little girl.

MEAT ME: Would you consider yourself a true COWGIRL?

Megan: Yea, I guess you could use that term. Dale Evans has a really good quote, “Cowgirl is an attitude, really. A pioneer spirit, a special American brand of courage. The cowgirl faces life head on, lives by her own lights, and makes no excuses. Cowgirls take stands, they speak up. They defend things they hold dear." My definition of a cowgirl has changed a lot as I have grown up. I used to think it was just horses and cows, but with technology changing like it is, being a cowgirl is so much more than cows and horses.

Yea I guess I am a Cowgirl… I like Cattle Producer. A Cattle Person, Yeah! I am a Cattle Person. Yea I like that gender neutral.

Her Grandfather laid the board down so she would be able to cross as a child.

MEAT ME: What are some of your favorite Cowboyisims?

Megan: Most of them aren’t’ appropriate.

When Megan rides her cattle she carries a gun to protect herself from bears and other animals.
The symbol on the belt buckle is the brand of Table Mountain Ranch.

MEAT ME: They better not be!

Megan: “Slicker than two snails fucking in a bucket of snot.” - "Tougher than a $2 steak.” - “If all his brains were dynamite, there wouldn’t be enough to blow his nose.” - “Sucking the hind tit’” - “Colder than a witch’s tit in January.” - “Don’t be a woman that needs a man, be the woman a man needs.” - “More hat than cowboy.” - “Happy as a pig in shit.”

Here are some more of her quotes… http://thebeefjar.com/2011/09/15/cowboyisms/

Hahaha. I have a very foul mouth I grew up with truck drivers and that was the other thing. There was a constant battle with the truck drivers. They would get the “Little Miss” syndrome “Here let me protect you!” and they would get in with my cattle and hot shot them and really get them going and that is when it is dangerous.

All the spices Megan might use to prepare her MEAT.

MEAT ME: What’s Hot Shotting?

Megan: Hot shot is like a cattle prod. I don’t like that. That is not called for, and that is not ok. We have since changed truck drivers but I would get in there with the truck drivers and just start yelling at them and send them the cab because you can’t upset the cattle. That’s when I get hurt. I have a way with the cattle, I like to be very calm. (talkin’ about the cattle) Come on girls let’s get on the bus, let’s do our thing. If you are calm and you work slow and you work with the cattle you’re not going to get hurt. I have had your average cow kicks and accidents, but I have not had to go to the hospital for getting run over, or anything serious… I think that is really rare. I am very cautious. I try and listen to the animals. Temple Grandin wrote a lot about that, she is one of my idols. Hand’s down she has changed how I look at animals.

Megan's home is filled with images and icons of Cowboys.
Her rifle is kept bed side with 4 nail polish marks at the base indicating her deer kills.

MEAT ME: Who is she?

Megan: She is an animal scientist at Colorado State she lives with autism. She uses her autism to look through the cattle’s eyes. I get to go see her speak next month and I am just, like, losing my shit over it.

Megan doing what she does best... Being Cattle Producer Megan Brown.

MEAT ME: Last but not least what is it that you love about being a Cattle Producer?

Megan: It’s a way of life. It’s a culture. It isn’t really one thing that I can point to. It is just who I am, it is who my family was and is. It is this way of life that is amazing. You get this freedom and you get… You get… I don’t even have words. It’s awesome! I suck at being poetic. Everyday is different. I get to go see birth’s and death’s and help with those birth’s and help with those death’s. I get to help feed the world! I get to always learn, always change and always do my own thing. I get to work and be with my family, my animals, and my land.

Megan: You can check me out on my blog, I also have a scholarship fund that you can donate too…. http://www.beefjar.com/

You can also follow Megan Brown on Twitter @Megraeb

I would like to Thank Megan Brown for sharing her wonderful life with me and you. I am so grateful for all the hard work and effort that goes into being a Cattle Producer. I only hope that you too can appreciate and understand what goes into a piece of Meat.

Please check back next Tuesday, February 21, 2012 for Part 2 featuring,
Butcher, Jenny Dewey of Chico Locker and Sausage Co. LLC, Chico, CA

Happy Saint Valentines Day,
Sean Rice
aka, MEAT ME

INTRODUCTION: Moo to Mouth MEAT: A True Love Story

2012-01-30T22:51:00.000-08:00

Today I wanted to release all of the teaser posters for Moo to Mouth MEAT: A True Love Story. To clear up any confusion this is not a movie. As much as I wish it was (we'll see what kind of feed back I get, you never know what the future holds) it is a written photo documentary and interview.

I have been doing MEAT ME for a few months now and I have met a lot of people from all over the world involved in various aspects of MEAT. People have shared with me all the wonderful ways they love MEAT, as well as all the ways that they don't. I seen everything from blogs on how cattle producers and butchers put in countless hours of blood, sweat, and tears towards their love for MEAT and at the other end I have heard from vegans and animal lovers who scolded me for eating MEAT and supporting the horrible way animals are being treated, not to mention the chemicals I am putting in my body. After a while I really didn't know what to think or who to believe. People have asked my opinion and I didn't have an answer for them. I thought how could I have a blog about MEAT and not know what I was eating or where it was coming from.

At this point I realized I needed to find out for myself and for everyone else where our MEAT was coming from. What was I really eating? I dug deep into the resources that I had available to me; Blogs, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. I research into the AG (agricultural) industry. The opinions were end less and the facts were few. It looked like their weren't very many women and that the AG industry was a very male dominated industry. Soon after digging a little deeper, to my surprise, their were a lot more women than I thought. These weren't your typical working women. These were hardworking, innovative, and passionate women armed with change for AG industry. Their LOVE & PASSION was bigger than anything you or I could ever imagine.

I could not think of any other way to get the real truth about MEAT than through these 4 women "Cattle Producer" Megan Brown, "Butcher" Jenny Dewey, "Butcher" Amelia Posada, and "Butcher" Erika Nakamura. These women don't just LOVE MEAT, they live it.

So with great pleasure and respect I invite you to join me on Saint Valentines Day as I share with you an intimate look into the lives of four of the most hard working, innovative, and passionate women in the MEAT industry today. A four part series with:

"Cattle Producer" Megan Brown - Tuesday, February 14th, 2012

For more information on Megan Brown go to http://thebeefjar.com/

"Butcher" Jenny Dewey - Tuesday, February 21st, 2012

For more information on Jenny Dewey go to http://chicolockersausage.com/

"Butcher" Amelia Posada - Tuesday, February 28th, 2012

For more information on Amelia Posada go to http://lindyandgrundy.com/

"Butcher" Erika Nakamura - Tuesday, February 28th, 2012

For more information on Erika Nakamura go to http://lindyandgrundy.com/

"A True Love Story" Summary - Tuesday, March 6th, 2012

I can not encourage you enough to please leave any questions

you would like answered in the comments section.

Learn to Love,

MEAT ME

MEAT ME: Chico That's A Wrap! 14of14

2012-01-22T20:55:00.001-08:00

Date: January 22nd, 7:30pm

Location: Sacramento, CA

Video: 14 of 14

That is the end of the third and final day in Chico. I'm headed back to LA for Lindy & Grundy in West Hollywood. I would like to give a special THANKS to Jenny Dewey of Chico Locker and Sausage Co. And Megan Brown of the Table Mountain Ranch. I would also like to thank all of you who tuned in.

Look for the story to go live on February 14th 2012.

Meat, Love and Happiness,
MEAT ME

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:West Side Fwy,Stockton,United States

How your BEEF gets to the store! 13of14

2012-01-22T16:46:00.001-08:00

Date: January 22nd, 4:30pm

Location: Table Mountain Ranch Chico, CA

Video: 13 of 14

I start my interview with Megan Brown (Cattle Producer) as she explains process of how her cattle gets from her Table Mountain Ranch to your local grocery store.

MEAT ME so hungry! She also carries a rifle and hand pistol when working on her ranch because of bears and coyotes.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Table Mountain Ranch Rd,Oroville,United States

Interview with Jenny Dewey - 12of14

2012-01-22T14:58:00.001-08:00

Date: January 22nd, 1:30pm

Location: Chico, CA

Video: 12 of 14

I had a chance to sit down with butcher Jenny Dewey of Chico Locker & Sausage Co. LLC as she tells me what she loves about her job!

MEAT ME

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Rio Lindo Ave,Chico,United States

Cattle & Dogs: How that all comes together! 11of14

2012-01-21T18:41:00.001-08:00

Date: January 21st, 2:00pm

Location: Chico, CA

Video: 11 of 14

Now it was time to meet the cows! The dogs normally wrangle when the horses are around so they were a bit confused but none-the-less still very impressive.

MEAT ME meeting MEAT!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Ceres Ave,Chico,United States

Here is where they keep the Bee's

2012-01-21T17:58:00.001-08:00

Date: January 22nd, 7:30pm

Location: Sacramento, CA

Video: 10 of 14

That's right they have Bee's here and you can see how excited the dog is about it!

MEAT ME with Honey on Top!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I'm sorry did you say, "MOO" - Table Mountain Ranch 9of14

2012-01-21T17:48:00.001-08:00

Date: January 21nd, 2:30pm

Location: Chico, CA

Video: 9 of 14

Yep, I did it! Finally got to Hung-out on Megan Brown's ranch with her cows. The same cows that end up in your stores and in your mouth! The same beef that I am made of today!

MEAT ME

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Floral Ave,Chico,United States

Megan Brown: Table Mountain Ranch 8of14

2012-01-21T16:05:00.001-08:00

Date: January 21st, 1:30pm

Location: Chico, CA

Video: 8 of 14

She has her own river and water fall Megan Brown the Cattle Producer of The Table Mountain Ranch which we will see later.

MEAT ME

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Table Mountain Ranch Rd,Oroville,United States

Worst Western - Chico Day 2 7of14

2012-01-21T10:48:00.001-08:00

Date: January 21st, 10:30am

Location: Chico, CA

Video: 7 of 14

Good Morning,

After a few issues with the computer we are off to breakfast to go shoot Megan Browns Ranch.

At least the weather is awesome today!

Fuck Hotwire,
MEAT ME

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Myrtle Ave,Chico,United States

Pepper Sticks 6of14

2012-01-20T17:33:00.001-08:00

Date: January 20th, 4:30pm

Location: Chico, CA

Video: 6 of 14

Check it out so here is how they make pepper stick! Slim Jim ain't got nothing on The Chico Locker & Sausage Co!

MEAT ME or PEPPER MEAT ME?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:E 14th St,Chico,United States

Chico Locker & Sausage Co. LLC 3of14

2012-01-20T15:35:00.001-08:00

Date: January 20th, 11:00am

Location: Chico, CA

Video: 3 of 14

Finally arrived at the Chico Locker and met Jenny Dewey. So amazing what they do over here.

Enjoy their MEAT

Hungry yet?

MEAT ME

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:E 14th St,Chico,United States

The Roost Cafe 2of14

2012-01-20T10:10:00.001-08:00

Date: January 20th, 10:30am

Location: Chico, CA

Video: 2 of 14

I am here FINALLY! in Chico CA at my first stop The Roost Cafe. I ordered the Huevos Rancheros.

Next stop is The Chico Locker & Sausage Co. LLC to meet up with Jenny Dewey & Megan Brown for the first time.

MEAT ME

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Cypress St,Chico,United States

PACKED and READY to GO! 1of14

2012-01-20T00:27:00.001-08:00

Date: January 20th, 2:30am
Location: West Hollywood, CA
Video: 1 of 14

Ok got everything ready to go let's get snacks gas and hit the road! Quite people are sleeping!

Don't forget to post your questions you would like Jenny and Megan to answer below. Enjoy!

MEAT ME Live on the Road!
Be sure to check out the other videos.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:N Flores St,West Hollywood,United States

When should “SPICY” be considered “Fetish Food”?

2012-01-16T21:18:00.000-08:00

I really do not know. When is hot, too hot? How about when you can’t feel your mouth anymore? Or when you are in so much pain you can not taste anything? After about 10 bites I had to call it quits. Every Saturday and Sunday on Sunset Boulevard there is a line of about 30 to 50 people waiting to eat at The Griddle Cafe. After a few recommendations I decided to suck it up and check it out.

I got there early during the week so the wait would be short and on a cloudy day in LA no one wants to sit outside anyways. Plus, as much as I would love to have an audience watch me eat, the people standing around are going to drive me crazy.

I walk in and notice that everyone has giant pancakes on their plates so I am slowly guessing that this is what they are known for. What to do? I want MEAT not a fluffy pancake.

The server sits down with us and I explain to him my situation. I need MEAT. Whatever they are known for I need it in MEAT form. He mentioned a few things but kept coming back to the “Too Hot to Handle”. It was a burger with grilled jalapeños, jack cheese, chipotle sauce, pico de gallo, and avocado. I was torn this point. I wanted something impressive and BIG. This was supposedly the “IT” thing to get, but not the GINORMOUS that I was looking for.

I thought about the Stray Cat Café and how I the waitress had me turn down the spicy challenge sandwich because I wasn’t going to enjoy it. Why not find out what hell I was missing. So… I ordered it.

In the meantime Laura got the coffee. It came in a lovely French press and, from what I could understand, was very gourmet like. I always stick with the epic “diet coke”. The service wasn’t bad and the vibe inside is always very exciting. The people standing around did begin to feel a bit “cattle like” but I was over it once I couldn’t feel my face (hold on I’ll explain).

Sooner rather than later the food was here. Laura ordered the Oreo Pancakes aka “Black Magic” and it was already looking more impressive than mine. I took one look at mine and I could feel myself start to sweat. You could see the jalapeños peeking out from under the bun. It was like they were taunting me.

I got comfortable and took my first bite. Not to bad. It was reasonably tasty. I took a few more bites and after the 5th bite it hit me. I was miserable as fuck. My mouth was on fire… Why the fuck would people want to do this to themselves? My scalp was sweating, eyes were watering and my mouth was burning so much I couldn’t feel it, let alone taste anything.

This was my own fault. I wanted to see what I was missing and now I can barley see anything. This must be the “S&M” of food. Why would someone want to be in this much pain? It must take a certain type of person to eat food like this and enjoy it. Like the people that who have their entire body covered in tattoos or whip each other when they are bound and gagged. The only other person I know who has does like stuff like this is covered in tats. This is “fetish food” it has to be. It is just not for everyone and should be categorized as such. If my grandma ate this she would fucking die. There should be a special place the menu called “S&M Food” or “Fetish Food”. It should not be on there with the rest of the other food. Plus as someone who works in branding if you bring special attention to something like this, something no one else is doing on their menu (hint, hint) more people are inclined to order it.

It falls under the “You want what you can’t have…” category.

So with that said I am determined to finish this fucking thing. I take a break for 2 to 3 minutes and go right back at it. I can only get a bite or 2 in at a time between breaks. This is not fun at all and I am not enjoying the French fries because I can’t taste them.

I get about half way through the burger and I have to call it quits. It is just not worth it. I don’t have any other solutions as to how I am going to finish this burger. At this point I feel bound, gagged, and beaten.

“I can not do it anymore!”

Laura’s Oreo pancakes were nowhere near as painful and were compared to that of a ballet, beautiful and decadent. She also admired the crunch of the Oreo mixed with the fluffiness of the pancakes. The sausage and bacon were wholesome and satisfying, just as meat should be.

The price was about right for that much food but this was not something I was going to take home. Except for the pancakes, she snacked on those for days, so that was well worth it. I am going to have to try this place again and find something more rewarding on the menu. I know it is there I just have to find it…

It’s too HOT I am out of here… MEAT ME!

For more about The Griddle Café:
http://www.thegriddlecafe.com/
Twitter @thegriddlecafe

Say No to Fire,
Sean Rice
aka MEAT ME

MEAT: A True Love Story - Valentines Day

2012-01-07T22:31:00.000-08:00

Look For It on St. Valentine's Day - It may just be more MEAT than you can handle.

31 Days of Food - A December Recap

2012-01-04T19:30:00.000-08:00

That is Right! 31 Days of Food. Last December I had so much going on with being booked almost everyday for work, becoming a mad obsessed baker, and friendly get togethers filled with excitment I really didn't have time to blog that much.

I do not like to disappoint so I decided to share with you my 31 days of food, fun and frustration. I hope you enjoy!

December 1st - I heard about this local butcher shop Lindy & Grundy. Found out they had Pork, Beef, and Lamb Bacon along with ground beef & bacon. They don't know it, but they are soon to become my best friends and will be featured in my "Moo to Mouth Meat: A True Love Story!" Coming out on Valentines Day so look forward to that. Check them out at: http://www.lindyandgrundy.com/

December 2nd - While I was at Lindy and Grundy I noticed Fat Dog. They had tasty mini burgers, a spicy lobster mac and a ferocious 18" hot dog that ended up at the bottom of my stomach. Check that post out at: http://meatmeblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/im-not-leaving-without-sticking-that.html#.TwT2O5jntRs

December 3rd - I had become sick of those pies in the grocery stores and decided to start making my own apple pies. Being a visual person I discovered Chef John's apple pie on his blog Food Wishes Video Recipes. Best site for people who love classic American dishes and have no idea what they are doing. It took forever to cut the apples, I had no idea my oven was 50º cooler than it said it was, and it boiled out all over my oven because I forgot to put it on a cookie sheet. None the less it was retarded good(even though it was a little soupy from being under baked but I totally recommend his stuff. Check him out at: http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2009/11/classic-american-apple-pie-warning-this.html

December 4th - Finally got out the the beef & bacon meat I got from Lindy and Grundy. Grilled myself up some burgers on my Griddle and it was mighty tasty. More flavor than I could have ever imagined. It is probably the only burger that could stand on it's own with out any bacon. Of course that is only because it is in the MEAT. Winning!

December 5th - I don't know what I was doing here, but I ended up making apple sauce. I took Chef John's (from food wishes) recipe for Strawberry Sauce and subbed the strawberries for apples and added cinnamon. This is what I ended up with. I tried another apple pie, it is still soupy, and I haven't figured out the temperature issue yet. I still strive for perfection so I try again.

December 6th - I had to go back to Lindy and Grundy for some of their Beef and Lamb bacon that I cooked up to go on top of a pasta dish. It was delicious. It is so nice to experience flavors that you have never tasted before it is as adventurous as going to a place you have never been before. It's exciting!

December 7th - I was not kidding I am totally obsessed. So I decided to make the same pie again. This would be number 6 and I decided to try out Chef Johns favorite apple pie receipt along with the classic apple pie. Only this time I used the Pillsbury premade dough for the new recipe. Peeling apples is killing my hands I discovered the most beautiful contraption "The Apple Thing That Peels, Cores, and Cuts Apples!" All at the same time. This was amazing something that took me 90 minutes now would only take 12 minutes. I also found out that if you put a tablespoon of salt in a bowl of water and throw your cut apples in they would not turn brown. Amazing. Unfortunately the new crust didn't cook all the way but the classic pie finally made it as I left it in the oven a little longer. Only one in the trash and the other in my mouth, and my apron was so dirty I had to use the girlfriends. Here is the Chef John's favorite apple pie receipt: http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2008/10/my-favorite-apple-pie-recipe-getting.html

December 8th, 9th, and 10th - Time for a break to enjoy some apple pie. I went to Detroit Style Coney Dog on Sunset and that hit the spot as usual. I made a sandwich in the oven and of course more apple pie. Check out Coney Dog at: http://meatmeblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/i-put-ketchup-all-over-my-coneys.html#.TwUUMJjntRs

December 11th - I had an extra apple pie left over so I took it over to Lindy and Grundy for them to enjoy. I ran into Egg Slut the breakfast food truck. Their food was amazing. I was told that if I had gotten there earlier they make an eggs benedict that is made in a jar. It takes 20 minutes to make so next time I will have to get there a little earlier. You can follow them on Twitter @eggslut

December 12th - It's birthday time. It was my friend Esther the hair stylist's birthday. If you have seen my fashion work on her website you can see she is pretty awesome at what she does. We decided to celebrate at El Cholo in Los Angeles a fun Mexican restaurant and I had my first shrimp fajitas which where way better than I expected. You can check out Esther's work at: http://www.estherharville.com

December 13th - Short Order nice organic burgers and fries at a price. Yes it was very very good but a little on the pricey side. But the shake I would have paid twice what it cost it was that good, made with custard to top it off. You can check out this write up at: http://meatmeblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/dont-get-frustrated-with-your-food.html#.TwT-zpjntRs

December 14th - Time to get the christmas tree. Got to Home Depot nice an early and found a great tree for $40. The key was getting there early so you don't have to wait in line. Then I am off to work at the Auto Club Speedway in Pomona to work on the new Ford Mustang Catalog. As a digital tech/retoucher I am often stuck in the motor home. Don't feel bad they leave we with all the catering food where all the magic happens.

December 15th - Finally after my 5th try at The Burger Lounge they were open. Very well worth the wait. Organic food at a great price. Nice and affordable and super delicious. Nothing to hide here they have a giant window into the kitchen so you can see everything they are doing. Check out this review at: http://meatmeblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/go-with-your-gut.html#.TwUAHpjntRs

December 16th - Another day on the job in the motor home but this time in the hills of Malibu. If there is one benefit to working on location it's the view. So after I leave the beautiful beach and hit the depressing ride home I cheer myself up with the juiciest burger in town at Hole in the Wall Burger Joint. This place is slowly becoming a favorite of mine. Their custom thousand island dressing is to die for. Check out this review at: http://meatmeblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/remeat-hole-in-wall-burger-joint.html#.TwUA8JjntRs

December 17th - Let the holiday parties begin! I went over to my friend Kara's place who is also a foodie friend and as always loaded with party treats. If there is one benefit to rarely ever drinking it is getting to eat all night at these events, deviled eggs, dates wrapped in bacon. It never ends. I also decided to try the "sunrise" strawberry cheese cake on Chef John's site. Guess what I under cooked it. Well, one of them at least, and that was the one I took to Kara's party which ended up in the trash. The cheese cake that was cooked was absolute heaven. I learned that it should brown a little on the top and you can stick a fork in the middle and if it comes out clean it is done. Here is the receipt for the cheese cake: http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2010/10/new-york-style-sunshine-cheesecake.html

December 18th - FINALLY! I bought a fucking oven thermometer and guess what... 50º off. Sometimes, other times it was dead on. So i have to check every 5 minutes but I did it. The strawberry sauce on Chef John's site was not what I was looking for until I stumbled upon a GLAZE on someone else's site. I didn't really like what everyone else did so I made my own from different sites. I wanted something thick and shiny and poured all over the strawberries and cheese cake. I used 2 lhs of strawberries (tops cut off), 1 cup of sugar, and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Boiled for 10 minutes while mashing strawberries. Then straining juice from strawberries and returning to pot, I added 3 drops of food coloring and 3 tsp of corn starch dissolved in 3 tbls of cold water. Add bring to a boil and let cool in fridge to thicken. Put your favorite strawberries on top and pour slowly until satisfied. At this point I am just making apple pies in my sleep and this time there was no soup-y-ness it was perfect.

December 19th - Break Time! Girlfriend's turn to cook and she made fried chicken and gravy. She gets her recipes from the Food Network. It is nice to be fed and she is really good at it. I could just sit back and enjoy!

December 20th - I decided to go to The Griddle Cafe which will be my next review so I don't want to spoil it... Stay Tuned. Laura was on such a role with cooking she made chili from The Better Homes and Gardens cook book. She added a little sour cream and cheese to show me some love on top. The only issue... She could not stop crying because of the onions. So i suggested the snorkeling goggles. As ridicules as it looks, it worked, so don't knock it till you try it.

December 21st - Another day on the JOB except this time it is advertising and it is for Russian Marlboro Cigarettes... Who would have thought? Aside from the fact that I was stuck in an out door tent in Downtown LA all day, the catering is always at it's best on advertising gigs. As boring as it may get I have the luxury of stuffing my face. I know your jealous!

December 22nd - Day 2 of Russian Marlboro and were in San Pedro and it is early. I don't mind getting up before the sun as long as there is a giant tub of bacon waiting for me when I arrive and there was. Heaven I tell you, can't get enough of this great food. In the evening I had the opportunity to try and stir up twitter with my fake UFO photos but no luck with that.

December 23rd - I am exhausted. Long work days and now I get a box of meat in the mail and I have to shoot my first YouTube video with no energy. I met Petit Jean Meats through Twitter and they sent me their Dallas Cowboys meat package and I just had to do an opening for them on YouTube. Of course it arrived the night before at the end of a long day and I don't want it to go bad. The very next day I cooked up some of their peppered bacon and smoked ham and made myself one of the best home made sandwiches ever. My friend Dan saw Santa Clause at a bar in North Carolina and I couldn't resist sharing it with you... He likes beer by the way, so don't waste your cookies. Check out Petit Jean Meats at: http://meatmeblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/gift-of-meat-petit-jean-meats.html#.TwUJr5jntRs

December 24th - Time to hit the road for Laura's parents house but not before revisiting the Burger Lounge on the way out. Hot Damn their food is good. Once on the road I notice to men behind us with mask's on. How ever people want to travel is up to them. I am guessing they had Tommy's for lunch and they are just being respectful to one another. That's all I can think of. Buddy is always up for a trip.

December 25th - Christmas! My favorite holiday and let's be honest it s the only day I get stuff. You can always tell which gifts are mine because they are wrapped in BACON!

December 26th - Jack Pot! Got exactly what I wanted. My own fryer! I am quick to make french fries and fried chicken. I think... It is nothing like what the girlfriend made the other day but it looks cool. I got all the fried chicken stuck to the fryer basket cause I just let it sit there. Lesson learned. I could not get the chicken to cook all the way through with out the fried part turning black. The fries were not even close to crispy. I tried 8-15 minutes with the chicken at 370º with no luck. Still working on it. The fries are supposed to be slightly cooked at 250º and then cooked all the way at 350º to be nice and crispy... All still a WIP.

December 27th - After spending 4-5 hours cleaning up after the fryer I decided to go back to the left over chili and add the sausage that I got from Petit Jean Meats and make a sandwich too. All together it was a tasty success. My parents gave me a box of Poppycock which still cracks me up. I guess it has been around forever but it still makes me laugh that at some point in that product development meeting someone said this is it... This is our next product. How they even came up with that name makes me laugh even more.

December 28th - Time to get down and dirty with Grandma aka Baka. That is Croatian for Grandma, it is what we call her. It was time to figure out how to make the family apple strudel and Cream Puffs. The strudel was awesome turned out great I will post soon on how to make it. Turns out the Cream Puffs were from a magazine and made with vanilla pudding. Which blows me away because it was my most favorite thing in the world. I did buy a french fry cutter but had the same results as before with the chicken. Someone told me the frier was too small to do whole chicken but was more effective with smaller items like buffalo wings... I have a feeling she's right.

December 29th - Back to The Waffle for my favorite shake and biscuits and gravy sub the biscuits for waffles and I am good. Can't get enough of this fabulous master piece. The girl and I were shopping and walked by the Godiva store they had that mountain of goodness so I just had to share it with you. Check out more of The Waffle: http://meatmeblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/remeat-waffle.html#.TwUR3JjntRs

December 30th - I sat down with my fishing buddies at Chabuya in Santa Monica for some lovely asian cuisine and remade Chef John's favorite Apple Pie... Again. Nailed It! I also got a book of 175 cheese cakes to make for Christmas and lets just say it is getting there, but at least the temperature is spot on. This was supposed to be Chocolate Fudge, Caramel, Pecan, Cheese Cake. It was mud and when I cut into it, it bleed fudge like a pig. The second one I made was a success so it is possible.

December 31st - Finally it is New Years! I made a Peanut Butter Fudge Cheese Cake which was also a stepping stone to a better cake some other time. My friend Dan loved it and at the party my Apple Pie was a hit which couldn't have been better described by my friend Niki, "Save that foodie bullshit for Yelp mother fucker and cut me a piece of your fucking apple pie!"

I look forward to a NEW YEAR of MEAT!

Screw Resolutions,
Sean Rice
aka MEAT ME

"THE GIFT OF MEAT!" - Petit Jean Meats

2011-12-22T14:25:00.000-08:00

Please note: The football packages are only available at their sister company: http://www.kountryspecialties.com

Don't be that JERK this Holiday Season. I get Deluxe Dallas Cowboys Meat Package form Petit Jean Meats http://www.pjmeats.com. I just think they are a great gift idea for people who love meat!!!

Here is their Facebook Page!
http://www.facebook.com/petitjeanmeats?ref=pb
Go get it PEOPLE!

Happy Holidays,
MEAT ME!

Go With Your GUT!

2011-12-19T22:34:00.000-08:00

Well it is that time year! No, not the holidays that’s for everyone else. I am talking about Fantasy Football! By now you have a pretty good idea of weither or not you are going to make the playoffs. I am not. This is always a given right after I draft my players. I usually look at my roster and think. WTF! What the hell happen what was I thinking. Like this year the only player that really worked out was my kicker. It is only my 3rd year and I am still learning, spread sheets, and all.

Ladies I am sure you are wondering why should I keep reading from this point on. The answer is, from one patient listener to another you need to know the stress that us MEN face on a daily basis. It’s important that you are sensitive when we break down because Jamal Charles is out for the season or Plaxico Burress won’t be playing this season because he shot himself in the leg. ESPN is our TMZ, Aaron Rodgers is our Kim Kardashian. We have a lot more in common that you think. Sometimes we need you to be our bro and not our problem solver.

So now it is that other time of year. Like I said last week burger joints are popping up everywhere and on Sunset Blvd you now have the wonderful Burger Joint. I figured I would make this fun and do a sit down with my friend and rival Matt Fite. I knew somewhere inside this, 6 time champ and 12 team fantasy owner, where some solutions to how one might make it into the playoffs.

I pulled up and walked in and this place was looking fresh. It has the fun of a burger stand and the vibe of The Standard Hotel. Very! Very! Fun! It was a place you would take group or individuals to go eat some midday lunch or a meet up for dinner before a night of dancing. I grabbed a seat there was no need to wait or ask for seating. After I sat down and turned around an entire team of UPS drivers were dying to get their burger on!

Soon enough my nemesis walks through the door! I can tell he, like I, needed to eat. We get in line and I notice right away these employees are lovin’ their jobs. There were so excited and bubbly to greet us and get exactly what we need. I look up at the menu and all their beef burgers are made from grass feed beef, the buns are made with unbleached floor, and the cheese is white cheddar or American. The soda’s are also all their own. I decide to get the beef with cheddar, grilled onions and the half and half of fries and onion rings. Fite decided on the Turkey Burger (health nut) with the Mexicane Soda and of course got the diet soda. Anything else? Of course I need the chocolate shake. All of this food for just under $40 bucks. Now that is want I am talking about. Normal pricing. Take that Short Order!

We get our number and went right to our table. They have this little device that you put the number in and pull out. It lets them know what table your at and if you need anything you just press the service button. Brilliant! I need one of these in the bedroom! Just kidding, Love You Honey!

Once settled I got right to the Fantasy Football questions…

MEAT ME: "When did you first find out about Fantasy Football?"

Matt Fite: "Wow... you're taking me back. It was my first year in California 1994. I was invited by a roommate to join the California Dream League. A league I am now the commissioner of. There have been so many changes since then. I remember my first draft pick of any fantasy draft ever; it was WR Jerry Rice and it was the 6th overall pick."

MEAT ME: "What was it about Fantasy Football that sucked you in?"

Matt Fite: "I like the idea of managing a sports franchise; albeit a virtual one. All sports fans have thought at one point or another. If I were the GM of "that team" I could turn them around. Whether it be while watching Free Agency periods of the draft. In fantasy football you get the opportunity to be the power broker... It also gives you something to root for or against in virtually EVERY NFL game.. not just the one's your favorite team is involved in."

MEAT ME: "So with that said most people (i.e. me) have a hard time managing just one fantasy team. How does one get involved with 12 Fantasy Football Teams?"

Matt Fite: "Well it doesn't happen over night. For over 10 years I only managed 1. Then I did two. Then 3. Once I hit 4-- the transition to 12 wasn't all that difficult. Most of my leagues are CBS gold leagues with $30 buy ins and $200 winner take all payouts. You just check in once a day when you have time... watch the waiver wire etc. It helps when you can work from home and set your own hours. That's for darned sure."

*note: My chocolate shake came at this point and it was so delicious that this point I am mumming the questions to Matt. It was not super rich. Just Right! Nice and thick like a shake should be.

MEAT ME: "How much time would you say you put in per day/week doing research, setting line-ups, and trades for your fantasy leagues?"

Matt Fite: "It's tough to quantify that on a day to day basis... preseason draft prep is the most time consuming. During the regular season? Maybe an hour on average... but some days none at all. I mean I'm not a professional fantasy football player."

MEAT ME: "If you, a 12 team fantasy owner does not consider yourself a "professional" what would you consider yourself? What does it take to be a professional?"

Matt Fite: "I guess it isn't about how many leagues your in as much as how much is on the line to me. A "professional" in my eyes could make a living off of his winnings. My leagues are relatively low stakes. It's like playing poker to me. Playing a $20 a week even if you play it online doesn't make you a professional. But playing in big stakes tourneys is the determining factor to me."

MEAT ME: "So it’s Sunday morning it is 9:30 am and you have all 12 line ups set. How do you know you have made the right decisions?"

Matt Fite: "My friend Eric who is a number and stat obsessed money manager and fantasy football rival in two leagues and I always argue over player values. I tell him routinely that while I prone to vote Democrat in elections that my approach to fantasy football is right out of George Bush's neocon playback. I don’t need no stats or facts. I go with my gut."

MEAT ME: "How many championships have you won with that GUT?"

Matt Fite: "Yikes... I dont know if I remember... 3 CDL, 1 XGL, 2 CBS Gold Leagues... so at least 6... and still in the running for 3 Gold line leagues next week."

MEAT ME: "So what are the most titles you have won in one season?"

Matt Fite: "I've won two leagues in a season before. Getting to the playoffs takes a lot of skill and a little luck. However winning the championship game takes a lot of luck and a little skill. It's all about winning two weeks in a row against two of the other best teams in two of the most unpredictable weeks of NFL action what with team having clinched playoff seeding in some cases and resting star players."

MEAT ME: "What is your most memorable Fantasy moment?"

Matt Fite: "Winning my first title for sure!"

MEAT ME: "Was it a close call or did you win by a mile?"

Matt Fite: "My first title? I believe it was a healthy margin without quantifying it as "a mile."

MEAT ME: "What advise would you give someone interested in getting into Fantasy Football?"

Matt Fite: "Oh that's easy. Try to pick players you like whenever possible, avoid chronically injured guys, and have fun. It's a game."

On that note the food came. Matt and I waste no time and dig right in. It's really, really good. Matt is very satisfied with his Turkery burger and I am just loving mine. This is what you can expect from cows that are grass feed. This is a fattier beef and that just tastes better. There is no need to over season, the beef will flavor itself plus the onions were just the right touch! Matt says his Turkey burger was just as tasty. It is nice when you don’t feel like you are suffering by not ordering beef. The onion rings and fries come in a paper cup. A little rings on top, fries in the middle, and more rings on the bottom. Love That. They are very nice and a little crispy. Not over or under crispy, just right. I hate places that leave these items sitting in the frier because they are busy doing other things. At this place they care.

The atmosphere is awesome. It smells of success and I wish Matt the best of luck in the rest of his leagues in the playoffs. I am being nice because he is in last place in my league (laughing inside). The experience was awesome and with all that shake left I am going to have to “Go with my GUT!” and finish it another time. Be merry and MEAT ME!

For more information on Burger Lounge go to:
http://burgerlounge.com/

Find our more about Matt Fite at:
http://www.marketinggigs.com
http://www.funeraldirectoryusa.com

No Guts, No Glory,
MEAT ME!
aka Sean Rice

Don’t get frustrated with your FOOD!

2011-12-14T21:41:00.000-08:00

Yes don’t! You could ruin your experience. You might as well take your food, throw it on the floor, pick it back up and try and eat it. Good luck with that. I see burger joints popin’ up left and right. I mean they are everywhere. This trend definitely has Los Angeles by the balls. In LA restaurants open and close as often as your mouth. One day something is open the next it is closed. It is really hard to keep track of. Often it’s the same owner, they open up, get bored, close it, and open something else. Gotta be on trend I guess.

So last week I was driving on Sunset Blvd and I saw a place called the Burger Lounge. I went back the next day and found out it was not open yet. One of the construction guys said it would be open this Friday. I emailed the owner asking him when it would be open he said Monday, and he would love to get me some food on the house for my review. I politely declined and said no worries my reviews are not just about the food, they are about the experience. I got it, and if you don’t figure out its me with the camera I will leave you my card on the way out.

So I went back a 3rd time on Monday, I even twitted to them that I was going. I got there and they were still doing construction. Some one guy said to me that they are open tomorrow. Today is that day. I went down there for the 4th time around 1:13 pm and I still see them working on a few things, but they have servers now. Probably training but they told me they would be open tonight… Sorry I just can’t do it. Maybe Friday like the original guy told me. I don’t blame them completely but what are you going to do. Uggggggg! It is what it is. Nonetheless I am frustrated.

I did read a review from http://foodlatio.com/ (awesome blog by the way!) about Short Order that opened (When I did The Farm I was looking for it. Turns out it was on the other side of the Farmers Market, I know I am a tard!) at the Farmers Market. So I decided to go there. It is Holiday Season so the parking lot is full to the brim so I have to park at The Grove and walk all the way back.

By this time my already hungry girlfriend is starving and is now in hunting mode. So I am sure you can guess my frustration level is like an 8 out of 10 now. I am even walking faster. We arrive and I of course need to take pictures of the outside. So I try to avoid the eager beaver from getting in my shots, well saying it in the nicest way possible of course!

So I snap a few off and we head in. Now they have an upstairs that we did not check out, or this little out side area. I figured I would pick the closest possible seat to avoid sharing any decision making. Plus the lighting was very nice so that made it easy too.

We sit down and how nice the place matt is the menu and I notice right away that this is one of these fancy themed restaurants that likes every little thing to be trademarked to their brand. Also they are out the butt organic. This place is great so far just remember I am frustrated! So they have all their own organic sodas. Not the normal Diet Coke that I was hoping for (its like my crutch) so I stay positive and think of this as an opportunity to try something new so I get the Cream Soda and a water. It comes in one of their fancy jars… Lovely.

Now at this time it is cold (to the girlfriend) and the wind is picking up equaling more frustration because now we have to strap down whatever comes to the table.

One thing I did notice around me is that wither people were eating or waiting for food everyone was really happy. The people that worked there were very pleasant which is very nice to experience and easy on my frustration. It is time to order and I go strait for the “What is your most awesomest thing and they said… blah blah blah with bacon and I said I will have that! It is the Nancy’s Backyard Burger. A beef blend with artisan bacon, comté, avocado, tomato, onion, iceberg, spicy mayo. Laura got the Tuna Melt described as being flaked albacore, mayo, chives, cheddar, comté. At this point I need food. I don’t care what it is. I need to eat before I punch someone in the face! Sooooooo I also get the short order spuds, “old school” fries, and a chocolate flavored custard shake to help myself feel better.

In a mater of minutes that shake is on my table and in my mouth! That shit was heaven! It was an absolute spot hitter. It was a sexy, heavy, Strauss Dairy, SUPER SUPER rich chocolate custard shake. To be honest after a few sips I never got it back from the girlfriend (My fault I was taking pictures.).

It could have been a minute or two later and the food was here. Great service always makes me feel better. You would be proud of me for the second time in a row I had them leave the vegetables, but after Jim Gaffigan’s tweet of, “Lettuce on a cheeseburger is like a fat guy in shorts.” I think that trend with me is fading fast. Who knows we’ll see.

I made Laura wait so I could grab some shots of her tuna melt (which is fresh albacore poached in house) and lets just say that it was the equivalent of putting a raw t-bone in front of a lion and telling him to pose for a picture. It is a bad idea and someone is going to get hurt. Especially when they have not eaten all day.

We both took our bites and looked at each other and it was like we fell in love all over again. Tasty, juicy, flavors, after every bite, a real party in my mouth. Some crunch from the veggies but that’s ok. I tired Laura’s T-melt and it was, as she said, “Really light and fluffy!”

The tuna and the bread really complimented each other well, and it wasn’t pack full of vegetables like I hate. So this was probably one of the best I have ever had. The burger was everything I wanted it to be. Even though Laura was so cold she was almost wearing all of my clothes, with rising blood sugar, the outlook on life was looking a lot better.

The fries and spuds were delish and super duper crunchy too. They really did a nice job with the spuds. Crispy outside and soft squishy inside, just like me. It was kind of the perfect meal.

Yep except for a few fries the entire table was demolished and soon was my wallet. I got the bill it was $47.03 with tip $55.03 total. Ouch. I was not expecting that at all… May be high $30’s but I guess I ordered a lot of stuff, and I am paying for organic.

Trust me I love organic. Fatten those cows up I want that juicy beef, but it hurts me to have to pay for it. So until I can make some more money to afford more food you can go and MEAT ME!

You can find out more about Short Order at:
http://www.shortorderla.com/
They wanted me to share with you that they are now offering an Adult milk shake called "Charlie Brown"
Vanilla Custard Peanut infused 114 proof Old Grand Dad, house made chocolate ganache & salted peanut sauce, finished with toasted peanuts.

Shut up and EAT,
Sean Rice aka MEAT ME!

“I’m not leaving without sticking that Schlong-Dog in my mouth!”

2011-12-10T22:26:00.000-08:00

I was in shock. It was the biggest fucking hot dog I had ever seen. I walked into to The Fat Dog and I asked the waitress what food they were known for? She mentioned a few things, we ordered, we sat down and the guy sitting next to us gets this GINORMOUS hot dog. I’m in shock! He looks at me and says, “Yea want to take a pictures of this?”

I pointed my camera in the air snapped a few photos and when the waitress came back I told her I needed to have one of those.

It was a nice Thursday afternoon Laura and I decided to get out. Tons of people have been telling me about this butcher shop on Fairfax called Lindy & Grundy and that I needed to go check it out. The shop opened up about 8 months ago and is run by two young women. The idea is that all the meat is organic and prepared right there in the butcher shop. This place has everything. Lamb bacon, pork bacon, beef bacon, as well aged meat they prepare right there on the spot…

I have been interested in doing an interview with Amelia and Erika to launch my pod cast next year. So I wanted to introduce myself and see if they would entertain the idea of me doing a blog post, photos, and a pod cast. They were a bit busy at the time so Laura and I decided to get something to eat. Next door was a coffee shop called the Commissary and then right next to that was The Fat Dog. Screw it! Let’s check it out.

It was only 3pm so it wasn’t really busy but I could imagine on a Friday night that this place would be hoppin’. We checked out the menu and I saw meat so it was good enough for me. The server said to sit wherever. The booths were nice and big and long. Perfect for the big boys like me.

I asked the server what they were known for on the menu. She said everything was very good, she pointed out the Jalapeño Mac and Cheese. So we got that; you can add hickory-smoked bacon and crab, so of course I added both. She also recommended a dish called “The Flight” it was 3 different mini burgers (1) Bacon & Guacamole (2) Mushroom & Swiss (3) Caramelized Onions & Gruyére. We got that as well and decided to wait and see how we felt afterwards to decide if we might want more (I always want more but she is in charge!).

Our drinks came quick Laura got the Coronado Islander (IPA) and I of course got the epic diet coke. I was told the beer was tasty with a kick but smooth on the way in. Medium, not too heavy, a great compliment to the food, and a perfect excuse for a nap afterwards.

The vibe here is really nice and laid back. They have wifi (password is the phone #) it is not too busy, not dead, but just enough people watching to entertain you while you work. The food came quickly and it looks marvelous. The mac and cheese was nice and stringy with chunks of bacon, minimal crab, and just enough kick to remind you there are jalapeños in it. It is not too wet or dry, but just perfect. Eat it too quickly and it may get a little spicy. Very little crab, not enough for me to get excited over but just enough flavor for sure.

The burgers were nice little handfuls of tastiness. There is a hint of extra flavor in each burger, just enough to go well together, but not enough to have to take a break between. The fries were crisp, thin, and simple. You could tell lots of love went in to those dishes and the cook wanted you to know that.

So as we where sitting there eating I see the waitress walk over to another table near us with a GIANT (at least 18”) hot dog with a bunch of little topping dishes next to it. I mean it was huge… This was the John Holmes of Hot Dogs. You knew it meant business and at the same time couldn’t stop thinking about how phallic it was. I knew right away I wasn’t leaving with out sticking this Schlong-Dog in my mouth. So the second I saw the server I said, “Yea, I need to have what he is having!”

In minutes I had the most hung hot dog I had ever seen right in front of me. Lets just say yea Laura was jealous. She was already full from all the food so sneaking a bite wasn’t an option. The dog came with a side of ketchup, mustard, onions, pepperoncini, relish, and jalapeños. The flavor wasn’t anything special, it was your typical beef hot dog and standard bun, but all in all it was a complete blast.

The whole experience was awesome. The fun getting to take on something that everybody is starting at. That is what I call “Shock Food” people come from all over just to see someone eat it. The only issue is more often than not it ends up being all about the shock value and not about the flavor. I just wish there was some flavor pay off to eating this gigantic hot dong.

If I am going to get stared at for shoving something that big in my mouth I at least want the taste to be the pay off. Unfortunately I was not able to finish, but left with just a few scraps on the table.

So if it is not always about the prize, and more about the journey along the way I recommend you journey to The Fat Dog and see if you can finish this impressive beast of a hot dog… And if you can’t you can go MEAT ME!

For more information on The Fat Dog go to:
http://www.thefatdogla.com/hollywood.html
Twitter https://twitter.com/thefatdogla

I went back to Lindy and Grundy and they are totally into the idea of doing a feature with me. So make sure you look for that next month. In the mean time you can check them out at:
http://lindyandgrundy.com/index.htm
Twitter https://twitter.com/lindyGrundy

Me Love You Long Dog,
Sean Rice aka MEAT ME!

The Story of the Lettuce and the Hair…

2011-12-05T21:53:00.000-08:00

Could vegetables make my meat taste better? I have been in denial for so long. I had even avoided the combination on vegies and meat at the same location/restaurant. I just hated it. Literally could not stand it. Every cheeseburger I have gotten since I could remember was just beef with mustard, mayo, and cheese. All that and it was heaven. Until NOW!

Laura, my girlfriend (Yes! I finally said her name, I am tired of coming up with pronouns to describe my better half.) and I were out trying to have lunch at the much talked about Animal on Fairfax (BTW why does the northern part of Fairfax look like a dump?). Well couldn’t find it and when I called they were closed for a private party. So that was the end of that. I figured we would head to the “Grove” down the street and see what they had. I knew there was a burger place opening up, in the farmers market. Of course it is not open till the 18th. I can’t remember the name. So shit out-of-luck again. I remembered something about The Farm Restaurant, Beverly Hills right next to the movie theater, I heard it was not bad so third time is a charm.

The weather was not to chill so we sat out side… My nice camera was with my friend Tony in Japan (that thing has been more places than I have) so I am stuck with my little Canon digital elph. I need as much light as I can get. They sat us outside and my chair was right on top of a pole. So we moved everything over. I am a big guy and the place was pretty open so they stick the fat guy in the tight corner between the post and the table. Back in the day when I hosted we actually thought about people. We didn’t just stand there on a smart phone spewing out insecure garbage to random people on Facebook hoping someone will like me. We were aware of people’s personal space and how they would be most comfortable.

The menu here is pretty basic and they claim to use only the freshest farm food locally and organically grown. Even the hair that comes with it! (Hold on I am getting to that.) I could not find anything that really grabbed my eye so I asked our waiter what was the shit on the menu (You know what there known for!) He recommended… The Ahi 3 ways, boring had that before. Something else (can’t remember, it was boring and then the Buffalo Blue Burger… Organic buffalo, melted blue cheese, fresh and oven-roasted tomatoes, caramelized onions, butter lettuce & mayo on a King’s Hawaiian sweet roll. I stopped for a second. Now I could take all the veggies off, I always do that but what would it taste like if I left everything on … Fuck it! I can always take it off.

Laura got the Pear & Brie half sandwich with a cup of cauliflower soup. Drinks came quick service so far, pretty good. FYI they clam local and organic which I am not doubting, but I can’t remember the last time I have seen an actual Buffalo in the area of LA so I am guessing locally caries a wider definition than mine. I am not nit picking, just taking note (Laura says they have buffalo on Catalina Island).

I look over and this seven foot black women walks buy and there are 2 paparazzi following her clicking off camera’s going nuts. They follower her all the way up to the door harassing her with questions. She goes in and they stand outside and wait for her to come back out. It looks like stalking. Now I have no idea who this is (if any one knows tell me) but it just seems crazy to live like that. You must really have to love what you do to put up with that. Cause let me tell you there are days that I am out-and-about in a horrible mood (when I am haven’t eaten of course) and if someone even looks at me in a weird way I snap. I could not imagine having that type of self-control with people that in-your-face!

Most of the time “The Grove” is a very nice and peaceful place. This is the first week in December and this place is pretty chill. Even the babies are pretty quiet, probably because they know Santa is watching. In general this is a great place to come and enjoy a nice day. The music is always season appropriate.

The food comes and this burger is stacked, Laura’s sandwich is oozing sex. I mean look at it that is a sexy sandwich. Yes I am talking about the sandwich. My burger is so gorgeous. It really is colorful. The whole presentation overall is very exciting. I pick it up and I kid you not. It was like holding a little puppy. I loved it but I was so unsure with all the vegetables. It looked like a lot of veggies. I had the same feeling I did as a kid right before I might dive into a pool for the first time… Scared to death! So I bit in. Laura said my eyes opened wide like I had pooped my pants. It was like I discovered something for the first time. It happened, this burger was bully I finally confronted. It wasn’t that the buffalo meat had no flavor, it’s that the cheese and veggies made it so much better. There I said it!

It was the difference between watching Avatar on a 16” television in standard definition versus watching it in 3D on a 72” HD television. The movie itself is awesome but in 3D on a big television in high definition it’s fucking captivating. Just like this burger. The French fries were like that kiss you get right after sex. The perfect compliment.

Laura’s sandwich just about melted in her mouth. All except for the bread, it was tasty and she let me have a bite. Her soup was described as tasting just like Christmas. So between the location, the temperature, and the flavor nothing could be better.

So I am done right? No! I am finishing off my fries and I look and notice a big ginormous hair. It gives me the chills just thinking about it. I finally found a place to enjoy a nice day and then the record scratches and it is all over. Why? Why did it have to end like that? I really wanted to believe that it was mine (I can feel the acid building in my stomach that’s how grossed out I am) but my hair isn’t black and neither is Laura’s. So it had to be theirs.

I could have complained but everything was just so perfect. My newfound love for meat and veggies together was so exciting and I didn’t want it to be about this stupid fucking hair. GOD I have goose bumps writing about this. I did not say a word about it. I just tipped and left. Sure, if I wanted to make the meal about one horrible hair I could but that was up to me and I decided to make it about the meat. It should always be about the meat!

I figured eventually people would call me on it and I would have to eat my meat with veggies anyways (They do rave about it sometimes). At least this way I got to do it on my own. So this week I encourage everyone to try something they haven’t eaten since they were a kid. In the way that the people we grew up with look different now, may be flavors will taste different in your mouth.

Please share your renewed food stories on Facebook @ http://www.facebook.com/meatmeblog I would love to hear about food you hated as a kid but love now or you can go MEAT ME!

You can find out more about The Farm Beverly Hills @
http://thefarmofbeverlyhills.com/

Make it about the MEAT,
Sean Rice
aka MEAT ME

"I put ketchup all over my Coney's!"

2011-11-29T02:08:00.000-08:00

The second Darin did that Jim’s jaw dropped in shock. I guess it is the equivalent of dipping an Oreo in mayonnaise… You just don’t do it! With the LA auto show wrapping up Darin the creative director from Car and Driver Magazine and Jim Fets the Audi photographer, both from Detroit, were only here till last Sunday. I was on a mission to make sure they went out in style. I knew the Wings were here in town so it was only fitting that I take them to the Kings game at the Staples Center.

That morning at 9 am Darin hit me up for breakfast to watch the Michigan, Nebraska game. Both Darin and Jim were staying at the London just across the street form the Detroit Style Coney Dog. It was only fitting that we all start the day off with 2 giant chili dogs and some chili cheese fries.

10 minutes after I got off the phone I left to meet up with them. As soon as I arrived I looked in the window and some how they were all ready eating. My only guess was that being on Detroit time was still working to their advantage. I entered to the smell of fresh hot dogs. That smell woke me up faster than coffee (I don't even drink coffee). I turned around and there they were giving me shit about wearing a Kings jersey and they hadn't even said hello yet. Fuckers!

I sat down and the first words out of Darin's mouth were "This is awesome!" "Who would have thought I could travel half way across the country and find a place that would make me feel at home."

Darin was telling me there is a place in downtown Detroit called the Layafette Coney Island in downtown Detroit made by Winter's Sausage in Eastponite, MI and taste just like this hot dog. This restaurant truly was all out authentic. Family run and very hands on. I spoke to the owner and it turns out everything is sourced right from Detroit. Actors Adam Sandler and Tim Allen are some of the investors. How cool is that! This is the reason I love living in Los Angeles. The entire city is made up of people from all over the world. You could have two places right next to each other and both are authentic. One could be Indian and the other NY Pizza. It truly is a blessing living in such a culturally diverse city!

After sitting down for a few minutes Darin has these 2 chili dogs with mustard and onions on top. They were, and I hate to say it, too darn cute… Cute enough to stick right in my mouth. The waitress then asked what I would like. I didn’t even have a chance to look at the menu and I said the obvious… “I’ll have what he is having!”

I got the Coney Dog and the Coney De-lux. Both are chili dogs with mustard and onions, just one has the ground beef in the chili. Normally in LA I feel at home with my Kings jersey on but not around these two. Little did I know it I was gonna feel like a bullied kid. ALL. DAY. LONG. Thank God the food came it was time to take one for team "Sean’s Stomach".

These dogs were awesome. Just a pure mesh of chili, onions, mustard, and of course hot dog. I have an issue with a lot of hot dog places out here most of them are really rubbery. You have to bite hard and almost pull the hot dog right out of the bun. Places like Pinks and Carney’s are a lot like this. This hot dog was no work at all. It was a real pleasure.

Now I had always held my Coney Dog from the bottom before I put it in my mouth. Jim was quick to point out that I was holding it wrong. I was supposed to hold the hot dog from the top, not the bottom. How stupid could I be! This was not explained to me but I am guessing it is so the topping falls on my plate instead of my hand. I am sure if Jim knew me a little better he probably wouldn’t have wasted his breath. It doesn’t matter how I hold my food it is guaranteed to get on me no matter what. Sure enough before long I had chili all over my Kings jersey. I was hoping it was good luck but later I found out it was not. Damn you CHILI!

After I finished the regular Coney I went right on to the de-lux. The 2 really complemented each other. Normally I don’t like onions on anything but thanks to this blog I have been pretty open to trying new things. The onions really made this meal complete. They added a richness and a spice that kept the flavors alive.

Jim ended up ordering a plate of chili cheese fries that quite honestly looked like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I really didn’t know what to say. It is over whelming when everything is this good. How do you top perfect with perfect?

Great college football, Michigan ended up beating Nebraska. Their selection of beer was right on with what they have to offer in Detroit. An epic meal and with rowdy company how could you go wrong? The Kings lost to the Wings 1-4, that's how. I had to hear about it all day long (I think I can still hear it now).

If you are looking for good college football, great hockey and the best chili dogs in Detroit. I recommend the Detroit Style Coney Dog. Spend 30 minutes here, you’ll get the best Detroit has to offer without having to go there.

I still want to go to Detroit to see what all the hot doggin' is about and hopeful watch the WINGS go MEAT ME!!!

Find out more about Detroit Style Coney Dog at:
http://www.coneydogla.com/

Hold your fuckin' hot dog right,
Sean Rice aka MEAT ME!

“Fuck Thanksgiving that’s a good lookin’ burger!” – Steve Cooper

2011-11-24T04:54:00.000-08:00

That’s exactly what I was thinking. I wish thanksgiving were about hunting for my own food, skinning it, barbequing and then celebrating with the men I hunted with. Don’t worry the women there too… they’re were just pampering us (I know… It’s a wish remember?). Instead we dress up a turkey, sit around a table with a bunch of people we can barley tolerate, and complain about the people who aren’t there suffering with us. Just shut up and EAT.

I had no idea that there would be so much pressure around the holiday’s blogging about food, especially with the biggest foodie holiday being Thanksgiving. I had not prep time and no idea what to write about. I didn’t have holiday tips or tricks. My job is to eat the food and that’s it. So I invited my good friend Steve Cooper out to have lunch with me and shoot the shit over some BBQ. Steve lives in Burbank, CA not exactly a place known for great BBQ let alone great food. To me Burbank is known for places like Bob’s Big Boy and the Coral Café.

The only place known for its BBQ is The Handy Market. It is a deli and they only BBQ on Saturday. So I went strait to Yelp and typed in great BBQ in Burbank. A few places came up and The Hollywood Way was one of them. The pictures of the food were not doing this place any favors. I had lived in Burbank for about year and never heard of it so I was a little skeptical. I texted Steve our options and with out a doubt he chose The Hollywood Way.

We decided to meet on Tuesday around 3 pm right after he was done recording his radio show. I pulled up an the parking lot is attached to car wash. I got out and started taking pictures. It was kind of a mess out side. I am not gonna lie a little dumpy looking but since I am aiming for a good review will call it “divey”.

As I am standing there waiting I see this guys pull up in his Lance Armstrong bike and helmet and walks right in. Only in the valley do people exercise and then and then drink in the same hour… Drinking and well anything go together. At this point I am hoping he made the right decision.

Steve pulls up in his… lets just call it a red car. His head shiny as ever and it looks like he is ready to eat some good food. We walk in and it’s a little empty but that’s to be expected. I see the beautiful waitress come and greet us as we walk in. I look right at Steve and I am thinking, "Did he pick this place because of the view or because they actually have good barbeque. Oh well I am sure I’ll find out."

We sit down and get our typewriter style menus. We got to chatting and right away the waitress comes up and I ask her the usual what are you known for on your menu. She said the, “ Pulled pork and the Tri Tip!”

They have those items pretty much any way you want them tacos, quesadillas, and sandwiches. I ask her what am I going to get the most meat out of and she recommended the center stage, which is just a big slab of meat. She also said their sandwiches are pretty good size. As she is building up this food I can see Steve’s eyes getting bigger and bigger. "If you’d like I would recommend the Memphis Burger", she says, “It’s a Cheeseburger with BBQ pulled pork on top of the beef with grilled onions!”

It was like my brain hit a wall. What did she say? Pulled pork on top of a cheeseburger! How the fuck was this place barley empty? This idea was so genius I had a hard time hearing anything she said after that. I was still trying to wrap my mind around this phenomenon. Steve looks at me and says, “I’ll have whatever you order!” He's pretty much overwhelmed at this point.

I can see it in his eyes. The meat humbled him. So I ordered the Tri Tip sandwich and the Memphis Burger. Of course at a BBQ joint you have got to get an appetizer and that has to be a meat as well. You can only complement meat with meat... It't the MEAT ME way! So I order the Rib appetizer. At this point I can’t wait...

Steve has an online radio shot called Cooper Talk at http://www.925kyhy.com on Wednesday’s at 4 pm you should check it out. Steve has a lot of celebrity guests and he’s one of the funniest guys I know.

We spend a little time catching up and in minutes the ribs are here. You can really tell right out of the gate that they really take the time to smoke these ribs and do it right. The taste was spent on with what great ribs should taste like. The hickory flavor can be strong but these were just the right amount. We dipped the ribs in the sauce and it was pretty much quite time after that. We both had a nice umm… umm… umm… conversation back an fourth until the main course showed up.

Our waitress shows up and the first words out of Cooper’s mouth are “Fuck Thanksgiving that’s a good lookin’ burger!” This burger was amazing. The burger got the same look Steve gave the waitress when she walked by a few minutes earlier. To me that was all the confirmation I needed that he was happy with what I ordered. The sandwich and the burger were just amazing and totally worth dying for. We decide to share halves of each sandwich and if Steve wasn’t such a nice guy I probably would have eaten his halves when he wasn’t looking.

Aside from the fact that he hilarious (I almost chocked) he’s a good spotter. I couldn’t count the amount of times this guy said, “Your dripping!”

How often have you been out and come home with an entire meal on your shit? I don’t think I have a completely clean shirt in my closet. My girlfriend gave up on me long time ago. So thanks to Steve she have to ask me about my day rather that just look at my shirt.

Not only had this place earned my respect it was affordable too. Steve was so put in his place he was ready for a nap and a colonic! Why was he screaming for a colonic? Who knows some people just can’t handle their MEAT.

You can find out more information about The Hollywood Way’s website @:
http://thehollywoodwaybbq.com/

You can check out some of Steve Comedy! http://www.925kyhy.com

I'm thankful for Steve,
Sean Rice aka MEAT ME!