Moscow Food Co-op Recipes

Local Grass-fed Beef Comes to the Co-op

Beginning this month, we will be selling locally-raised grass-fed beef raised by Joe and Nikki Eaton at their USDA-inspected ranch near Colton, Washington.

Their herd is comprised of Charolais and Black Angus cross-bred cattle. The cattle are never given any hormones, antibiotics, steroids, or ionophores, and are fed a strictly natural 100% vegetarian diet (they are not fed animal by-products). The cattle are free-range, grazing freely on pasture, not in feedlots.

When I was given a very thorough tour of the ranch in July, I saw that the Eatons’ strict emphasis on maintaining a sustainable process to raise their beef is the foundation of the management principles they use from start to finish. Even weed control is done manually, without herbicides. (By the way, Joe and Nikki Eaton are not related to our Co-op general manager, Kenna Eaton.)

Their grass-fed beef is leaner, cooks quicker, and has more flavor than conventional beef. Additionally, numerous studies have shown that grass-fed beef has more omega-3 fatty acids, conjugated linoleic acids, and is higher in vitamin E.

Nikki Eaton is happy to answer any questions you have about their beef. Check out their informative website at www.eatonbeef.com. You can even arrange a tour of their farm if you are interested in seeing, first hand, how their cattle are raised.

Omnivoria: Eaton Natural Beef

Tuesday Growers’ Market shoppers have been buying meat from Eaton Natural Beef all summer. The good news for people who don’t make it to the Tuesday market, or prefer to buy fresh meat on other days of the week, is that the Co-op will start carrying a full line of this excellent, local beef in September.

Joe and Nikki Eaton live in Wawawai, Washington, where Joe’s family has been ranching for over 60 years. Their ranching principles have not changed much during that time, despite the increased use of steroids and antibiotics in the beef industry at large. “We’ve always raised our cows this way, and then when Nikki joined the family she figured out we could market our beef as natural,” Joe says.

I went and visited Joe and his children (Nikki was out of town) at their ranch. Their house is nestled in a protected area in Wawawai Canyon, and although the herd of 250 cattle was at its summer pasture in Idaho, it was easy to see that this is a nice place for the cows to spend the winter. I don’t know if cows enjoy the views, but I certainly did. Clayton, the youngest Eaton, entertained my son with his toy tractors while Joe and I talked.

Joe clearly has a love for what he does, and talks about how he and Nikki are always looking for ways to improve their ranching practices. For example, they are looking in to getting goats to help control star thistle, an invasive weed that is a big problem in their area. They are also thinking of adding chickens to their ranch, which would eat bugs that might otherwise make the cows sick. The Eatons do not use hormones or steroids, and only treat cows with antibiotics when absolutely necessary. Treated cows are not marketed as natural beef, and Joe hates to have to take them out of his natural beef program. He sees having chickens that could help control disease in the first place as a better solution.

The Eaton cows are fed an all-grass diet for as many months of the year as possible. During the winter months when the ground is covered with snow and grass is harder to come by, their diet is supplemented with hay and grain, but they are always given the option of grazing in the pastures, and are never confined in the barnyard.

Joe Eaton likes to eat his beef as a t-bone steak, or as a hamburger. He believes that hamburger tends to be under-rated because people think of the ubiquitous hockey puck-like burgers from fast-food chains. Eaton Natural Beef is almost like a different food entirely; moist, a beautiful red color inside if you cook it a little (or a lot) rare, and wonderfully tasty. People interested in learning more about Eaton Beef can visit eatonbeef.com. And people with more freezer space than I have can also order a 1/4, 1/2 or whole cow directly from the Eatons.

As it is the end of summer, and the height of grilling season (and I happen to live with a master griller), we sampled Eaton Natural Beef as hamburgers. We had friends over who share our tastes for rare beef, and we all appreciated that we weren’t nervous about eating the beef barely cooked. Eaton beef has a wonderful meaty flavor, very different from the almost sour-smelling ground beef I remember from the fried burgers of my childhood. My friend Jessica reported the day after we had these burgers, “In addition to its many fine properties of taste, texture and environmental wholesomeness, the hamburger seems to have wonderful soporific properties! Sasha [her son] slept until 7:30 this morning and is now approaching the three-hour nap mark!” I can’t say that the same was true for my son, but he certainly didn’t show any adverse effects. Both boys gobbled up the meat as eagerly as we adults did. 

Burgers with Wasabi Mayo and Ginger-Pickled Onions
6 servings
From Food and Wine, August 2004

(Note: this recipe is really yummy, but has some strong flavors; beef purists may prefer to eat their Eaton Beef burgers simply seasoned with salt and pepper and garnished with plain old ketchup and mustard, which would be equally delicious.)

1 6-oz. jar pickled ginger
1 large sweet onion, sliced 1/4-inch thick
2 1/4 lbs. ground beef
1 Tbsp. wasabi powder
1 Tbsp. boiling water
5 Tbsp. mayonnaise
3 Tbsp. white miso
1 Tbsp. honey
2 tsp. soy sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tsp. Asian sesame oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
6 hamburger buns

In a large glass baking dish, spread 1/4 cup of the pickled ginger in an even layer. Sprinkle the ginger with 2 Tbsp. of the pickling juice from the jar. Lay the onion slices on top of the ginger in a single layer. Cover the onion slices with the remaining pickled ginger and pickling juice. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight.

Meanwhile, pat the ground meat into 6 burgers, season with salt and pepper, and refrigerate until chilled.

In a small bowl, stir the wasabi powder into the boiling water. Whisk in the mayonnaise and refrigerate. In another small bowl, whisk the miso with the honey, soy sauce, rice vinegar and sesame oil.

Grill the burgers over a hot fire for 3 to 4 minutes per side for medium rare. Spread the wasabi mayonnaise on both sides of the buns, lay a pickled onion slice on the bottom of each bun and set the burgers on top. Spoon the miso sauce over the burgers, close the buns and enjoy. 

Alice lives in Moscow with her husband, Nick Wallin, their son, Rex, and two pug dogs who didn’t even get a tiny morsel of Eaton beef, because the humans enjoyed it too much.

Copyright: Copyright on articles, recipes, and images are jointly held by the Moscow Food Co-op and the respective authors, except were otherwise noted.

Return to Resource List

For additions or corrections to this page, please contact the Webmaster.