Meat That Can’t Be Beat! Local Pastures….and more!

There is something special about discovering a small local ranch that reminds you what food used to taste like.

Recently, Al had meat delivered to my house from Local Pastures ( the meat was from Dietrich Ranch, a free-range ranch located in Morris, Illinois). I had never heard of them before, but after one meal, I understood why people are beginning to search out farms like this again. Their cattle are pasture-raised with no confinement, no hormones, no antibiotics, and no chemicals — just grass, fresh air, and open land.

I am old enough to remember when most beef was grass-fed. Back before the big push in the 1970s for corn-fed beef and flashy television advertising, meat actually had flavor. The steaks may not have looked picture-perfect under grocery store lights, but they tasted rich, deep, and naturally beefy. Then came the era of oversized corn-fed steaks that looked beautiful but often needed heavy seasoning, marinades, barbecue sauces, and complicated cooking tricks just to create flavor.

When the delivery from Dietrich Ranch arrived, I immediately noticed the difference. Everything was vacuum sealed with care, and the ground beef came wrapped in old-fashioned butcher paper — something you almost never see anymore. Right away it felt less like a shipment from a factory and more like meat from an old neighborhood butcher shop.

Naturally, I decided to turn the evening into a dinner party and a taste test. Everybody knows how much I enjoy feeding people.

To make it fair, I bought the same cuts of New York strip steaks and chicken from the local grocery store for comparison. I prepared the steaks two ways — one on the grill and the other using a reverse sear method. For the beef, I made one of my favorite French sauces, the famous L’Entrecôte sauce inspired by the legendary Paris restaurant Le Relais de Venise. For the chicken, I pan-fried it and finished it in a white wine reduction with mushrooms and mustard.

On the side, we served potato Dauphinoise, a simple green salad, and a French Burgundy wine. Nothing overly fancy — just classic comfort food done correctly.

The first thing I noticed while cooking the steaks was how quickly they cooked. Grass-fed beef is leaner, so you have to pay attention. If you want rare or medium rare, stay close to the stove because it moves fast.

When dinner was served, I sliced all the meats and placed the sauces on the side so everyone could focus on the flavor itself. The response was immediate. Everyone loved the deep, rich, meaty flavor of the Dietrich Ranch beef. Several people commented that they forgot beef could taste like this. I had to remind them: this is what beef is supposed to taste like.

The chicken was equally impressive — tender, juicy, and almost “fall off the bone” quality. Simple seasoning was all it needed.

Then came another surprise later in the week. I made meatloaf using their ground beef and tried a recipe I had never used before that called for adding one-third cup of milk to the mixture. I honestly do not know whether it was the milk or simply the quality of the beef, but it turned out to be the best meatloaf I have ever made. The flavor was rich and natural without needing much extra seasoning.

I will admit something that many people today would probably be afraid to say — I even tasted a small piece of the raw beef while cooking, just to understand the flavor. In Europe, many dishes use raw beef preparations, but nowadays you have to be extremely careful. That is why quality matters. You should never trust questionable grocery store meat for something like that. Buy from a real butcher or from trusted farms like Dietrich Ranch.

After this experience, I can honestly say I am hooked on their products. It reminded me of the way food used to taste before mass production changed everything.

I cannot wait until we interview the folks from Local Pastures because I have plenty of questions about how they select their farms,  raise their cattle, how they process the meat, and why more ranchers are not returning to this style of farming.

Tune in Sunday at 1 PM for Around The Town Chicago with Al, WCPT 820 AM radio , when we sit down with them and ask all the good questions.

To reach Local Pastures, visit www.localpastures.com or write them- support@local pastures.com or call/text 312-465-4688

UPDATE : MOTHER’S DAY

For those of you who listened to our broadcast on Mother’s Day, we were joined by  Rachel Travis, via telephone, as she made her way towards WCPT, and two things took place- First, all of you who place an order using ATTC10 will indeed get 10% off the prices on her website www.localpastures.com 

and the second thing was that she brought us some special filet mignon steaks for me to cook for Jane for Mother’s Day-

take a look:

First I unwrapped them and placed them on a paper plate so they could thaw