Back in September, when I went to the Save Your Bacon event in Staunton, Virginia, I had the pleasure of being introduced to Tendergrass Farms and, founding farmers, David & Ann Maren.
 |
| David and Ann Maren |
At the breakfast on day two of the event, some of their pork sausage was served, and my life was changed. This was the best breakfast port sausage I've ever had.
 |
| Best pork breakfast sausage EVER. |
David stopped by my table and spoke to us about the quality of the products that they offer and how he provides the farms who produce it with an economical way for those small grass fed family farms to get their product to market - a large market--all 50 United States. He absolutely glowed while talking about the product quality, the thought and efficiency they've put into shipping and delivery, and his hope that it will help these farms grow in number.
So what's so great about the meat from Tendergrass Farms? The beef is 100% grass fed and finished. No grains are fed to these animals. The animals are never given hormones or sub-therapeutic antibiotics. The pastured chicken, pork and turkey are 100% pastured using rotational grazing systems like the ones I saw at Polyface Farms (Joel and Daniel Salatin supply pastured pork, chicken and grass fed beef to Tendergrass Farms). They are antibiotic and growth promotant free (scary that this needs to be specified). They are fed pure corn and whole roasted soybean based food that is 100% Non-GMO. The poultry is air-chilled.
When I returned home, I decided I'd order a variety of meats from Tendergrass Farms - including some of that pork sausage. I put together a order that qualified for the free shipping and here is what arrived on my doorstep (please excuse the paleo kitty proof ugly table cloth). On a customer service note, I had a few questions while I was picking out what I wanted and they answered all of my questions super quickly.
I opened the cooler, which is quite sturdy and reusable, this is what I found. Sweet.
Underneath the sweet message, I found dry ice. After I carefully deposited the dry ice in my kitchen sink and perhaps had a little fun with it, I continued to dig into the cooler.
I was glad to see that my order arrived fully frozen. This was delivered in mid-September when it was still quite hot here in in Austin. I know when I go to the grocery store, even with coolers and ice packs that its hard to keep my meat at optimal temperatures, so this to me is better, food safety wise, than me going to the store.
Look at all that lovely meat!
Slowly, I've been cooking through it. I had to start with some of that breakfast sausage. It was just as good at home.
I fried one of their flat iron steaks on my stove top and it was quite possibly the most tender beef I've ever eaten (and yes, I like my meat rare-I'm a vampire). I've also broiled one of their ribeye steaks. It too was quite tasty, but I liked the flat iron better.
 |
| A super tender Flat Iron Steak |
I used the short ribs from my order to make Mickey Trescott's Cranberry-Braised Short Ribs. Simply scrumptious.
 |
| Cranberry-Braised Tendergrass Farms Grass Fed Short Ribs |
I have also tried their aged ground beef and it was absolutely heavenly. As I continue to cook through my order, I'll update this post. I'm trying to find special recipes to best showcase this meat. Let me know if you have any recipe suggestions for beef brisket, chuck roast, chicken wings, chicken drumsticks, and/or pork chops.
The Paleo Review: Thumbs Up! I've been happy with my purchase from pressing the order button to plating the food I've cooked so far. I'm glad that I'm supporting small grass fed sustainable farmers with each delicious bite.
If you've seen Tendergrass Farms and have considered buying? Do it! If you order, consider doing so through my affiliate link. That way you're supporting grass fed farmers and your supporting the blog so I can continue to bring you the reviews.
While I was at the Save Your Bacon event, the Marens' had some Tendergrass Farms T-shirts for sale. I bought two. One for myself and one for a lucky The Paleo Review reader. It's really a nice soft shirt made from organic cotton.
 |
| The front of the shirt. |
 |
| The back of the shirt. |
To make this even more fun, the lucky winner of the shirt, will also receive a The Paleo Review mug just list this one!
 |
| Coffee tastes so much better out of this mug. |
So, if you'd like to win the shirt and mug, go take a look at Tendergrass Farms website and comment on this post with what grass fed meat you'd include in your first order from them. It's that easy to enter. Only one entry per person (if you comment more than once, you still get just one entry).
The fine print: I'll use randomizer to pick a giveaway winner. You must be at least 18 years of age and live in the 48 contiguous United States to win this giveaway. The contest will end on February 13, 2014 at 8 AM Central Standard Time. I'll announce a giveaway winner within 24 hours of the end of the contest here on the blog and the blog's Facebook page and will contact the winner with the email address the entrant provided to Disqus to leave a comment. The giveaway winner will have 48 hours to claim his/her prize beginning when I post the first announcement of the winner.
So tell me what would you like to order from Tendergrass Farms?
