Oxford is extremely fortunate to have two local farm families committed to selling us sustainable and humanely raised meat — Bill Miller and Sibyl Harris Miller’s farm and the Johnson family’s Reserve Run farm (the subject of another column in a couple of weeks).
Sibyl Harris Miller and Bill Miller are both offspring of several generations of Oxford-area farmers. And they are a “Miami Merger.”
Sibyl’s father Robert K. Harris, a prominent fixture in the Oxford farm community until his death in 2008, was a pioneer in the organic agriculture movement in this area, and a source of much information and inspiration to the many farmers in the Oxford area committed to sustainable agricultural practice.
Harris-Miller’s certified organic beef comes from cattle that have free range of the farm. Much of the farm’s revenue actually comes from growing organic crops that end up in certified organic food products.
Their crops and livestock are intertwined in an ecologically sound way. The farm produces the hay for the herd, and the cattle in turn fertilize the fields.
Sibyl tells me that the cattle have handled our harsh winter well. They have free access into and out of a barn, but prefer to huddle together much of the time out in the fields. They do have handsome thick coats.
Raised as free range with organic feed, the meat has a distinctive taste and texture. The taste is much more full-flavored and “beefier” than conventional supermarket and restaurant meat raised on GMO corn.
Organic steak is chewier than conventional beef. Because they wander around the farm, they are more muscular and less fattened than pen-confined cattle.
I find the organic filet mignon cut especially satisfying, with a pleasing beef flavor and mild chewiness. Supermarket or restaurant filets to me are too bland and mushy.
I cut or flatten an organic filet into 1-inch thick discs, sear quickly on both sides in a skillet with a bit of grapeseed oil, add diced onion and mushroom, season with garlic and pepper, splash in enough red wine to scrape up the bits that stuck to the pan, and serve before the liquid completely evaporates.
Some cuts of organic meat may seem too chewy or intensely flavored for folks who are used to bland supermarket offerings. If so, cut organic steaks into small pieces and add to a stir-fry, as I described here a couple of weeks ago.
Harris-Miller certified organic beef is available at MOON Co-op Grocery, Oxford's consumer-owned full-service grocery featuring natural, local, organic, sustainable, and Earth-friendly products. MOON Co-op, located at 512 S. Locust St. in Oxford, is open to the public every day. Visit the store online at www.mooncoop.coop.
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