ARROW J BEEF CO.

Grass fed, all natural, no hormones, humanely raised, dry aged and a local rancher (Susanville, California) are all the right descriptors for Arrow J Beef Co. We visited their farmer’s market booth in Susanville and picked up a 7-blade roast. As some of you know I am not a big fan of grass fed beef but am willing to give it another try. The Arrow J Beef Co. is a family run business. They also have a fancy brochure that touted all the health benefits of grass fed beef. Did you know 100 % grass fed beef is high in a nutrient called conjugated linoleic acid? (CLA). CLA has health benefits from combating osteoporosis, inflammation and so much more.  We are going to make some chili today.

The first thing we notice about this well marbled three pound piece of beef is the deep red color. It is the 7 Blade roast which needs to be braised to become tender.  We are going to simmer this meat in a pot of chili but first we are going to sear it on a very hot bbq grill. We seasoned the meat with a rub. It was then cooked for aprox 5 minutes a side turning a quarter turn to give grill marks. We let the meat cool briefly and then chopped into cubes. It was then simmered for an hour in a pot with garlic, onions, tomatoes, roasted green chile’s, spices and chili powder. It was time to give our chili a try.

The beef cubes had a little chew to them. They also had a touch of gaminess typical to grass fed beef; that I have experienced. This beef also had a deep rich beef flavor. This was a great meat for chili. It was savory and the little beef love (fat) it did have rendered and flavored our chili broth. We enjoyed this flavorful pot of red. I am still not a big fan of grass fed beef but Arrow J Beef Co. produced some beefy good meat for our chili.