Food - Why you should kill your own meat!

Why you should home kill your meat

Buying bulk does not only apply to flour and rice. You can also stock up on meat from the farm. It will save you money and reduce the amount of packaging brought home from the supermarket.

Several years ago I became frustrated with the amount of Styrofoam trays and plastic my meat was wrapped in. I was doing the ‘eco’ thing and taking my green bags to the supermarket and then filling them with rubbish before I had even got home. Until I came across homekill.

Though not a new concept, homekill may be a foreign term for anyone under 60. Traditionally it is the slaughter and processing of farm animals for consumption. In other words, roast-leg-of-daisy-the-cow for dinner.

Nowadays, most of us don’t have cows and sheep roaming in our back yard. But we can buy a whole animal from the farm. This doesn’t mean a whole cow is dropped at your doorstep. Rather, the beast is culled at the farm and transported to the butcher for processing.

What arrives from the butcher is a neat package of separated cuts, roasts, diced meat and mince. You can even have some of the meat made into salami and sausages spiced to your specification. For several hundred dollars, though an outlay to begin with, you can make a huge saving if you work out the equivalent meat purchases.

It is a little different than going to the supermarket and getting the same cut of meat each week. There is no such thing as a cow solely of rib eye steaks. This means you have to get a bit creative in the kitchen. A slow cooker is excellent for tenderizing tougher cuts of meat and marinating is an essential skill to adopt.

So as urban dwellers, can we just rock up to the farm and order ourselves a cow? You could try, but it is probably easier to ask around. Word of mouth is the best way to get information. Ask your friends, ask the butcher, ask at farmers’ markets.

Some of the best local meat I have come across is from Jeremy Naylor at Okainamu Organic Farm just out of Brightwater. Jeremy is Bio-Grow certified (organic) with beef, lamb and venison. He can arrange for processing at Brightwater Home Processing to accommodate your needs. Jeremy also has smaller portions available on request.

Wild game is also an option. If you have a hunter instinct, this is as real as it gets, though butchering is something that many hunters aren’t so familiar with. Having a good butcher on hand to take care of a carcass is handy. Wakefield Butchers are well known in Nelson for processing wild game. In Marlborough there is Premium Game Meats, who also supply wild game to supermarkets and restaurants.

If purchasing a whole animal is not an option due to storage, you could also share a beast with another family or several families. This can get a bit complicated when working out who gets which cuts. Or encourage the supermarkets to reduce their packaging by removing your meat after the check-out and give them back their rubbish. It has been done before!

Melt-in-the-mouth Roast Lamb

You really need a slow cooker for this recipe, but if you don’t have one a low oven can also be used – details below.

Ingredients:
Approx. 1.5kg leg of lamb
5–6 large garlic cloves, peeled
Fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped
Fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
Approx 1/4 cup olive oil
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt and pepper

Method:
Note: When roasting meat, it is always best to bring to room temperature first.
Start by making 5–6 small cuts into the flesh of the leg. Push the whole garlic cloves into the holes.
In a mortar and pestle or food processor combine the herbs, spices, olive oil and lemon juice. Crush to a spreadable paste, adding extra oil to loosen if necessary. Season to taste.
Massage the lamb generously with salt and pepper and spread the marinade paste over the leg.
Cover the leg and set aside on the bench to marinate for about 30 minutes.
Turn on the slow-cooker or preheat oven (160C) at this stage to bring to temperature.
When ready to roast, place the leg on a wire rack or inverted saucer (This lifts the meat off the bottom of the cooker, allowing heat to circulate and juices to drip away from the leg). Secure the lid and cook for 3-4 hours. Do not lift the lid until 3 hours, then quickly pierce the roast to check doneness. The juices should run clear or a little pinkish, but not bloody.
If using an oven, place the leg in a roasting dish on a rack. Cover snugly with foil to contain the heat. Roast for 2–3 hours until ready as above.
Rest the meat on a chopping board for at least 10 minutes before carving. Serve the succulent meat with new potatoes and spring salad.