SFist in the Kitchen: Marin Sun Farms
We loves us a good piece of meat, but we can't stand buying the factory-farmed animal products we find in most stores. An American obsession with cheap meat has left us with powerful producers who use their government-approved anonymity to wreak all sorts of travesties. (Have you read Fast Food Nation yet? You should.) We try not to contribute to this karmic sinkhole, and so we were happy to see Marin Sun Farms at the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market.
Photos by Melissa Schneider
The locally based company does a lot of things right with their cattle (and their eggs, as SFist Sam noted a while back). The cows eat grass rather than the standard industrial feed of corn and animal byproducts. The farm practices an eco-friendly "holistic agriculture." They don't use hormones. The cows spend their time in pasture instead of giant feedlots. Oh, and the meat tastes good.
Most meat producers hide their inner workings, but Marin Sun Farms offers tours of their properties. Go see for yourself how the cows are raised. Don't worry about visiting an abattoir on the trip: Marin Sun Farms outsources the actual slaughter to the one USDA-approved facility in the Bay Area.
This meat costs more, and not just because of the "Ferry Plaza tax" every farmer at that market seems to add. Marin Sun Farms' practices are expensive. But even we suggest eating steak in moderation. When it's on the menu, you can splurge if you eat it less often. We wish they dry-aged their beef for a month to let its flavors develop (few people do), but that costs even more money.
A simple steak dinner is easy and decadent. About forty-five minutes before you start cooking, take the meat out of the refrigerator and season it well with salt and pepper. Preheat a skillet over medium heat for ten minutes before the meat goes on. Season the steak again, place a thin layer of oil in the pan, and add the steak. You want to hear a continuous and active sizzle. Let sit in the pan for a few minutes until a crust forms on the bottom (it should lift from the pan fairly easily). Flip the steak over and get a crust on the top side. Continue to flip until steak reaches desired doneness. We like it super rare, but you may feel differently. Take the steak out of the pan, and place on a plate, loosely tented with foil, to let the juices redistribute themselves in the meat. Meanwhile, pour out the fat in the pan, and add a cup and a half of wine or beef stock. Use the boiling liquid to help you scrape off the little meat bits on the bottom of the pan, and reduce the liquid until it tastes good. Finish the sauce by whisking in some butter and the juices that have collected on the plate with the steaks. As always, season to taste. We like pan-seared steak with greens and roasted potatoes. We also like it with Cabernet Sauvignon and we hear there's a wine region fairly close to Marin that specializes in that grape. You might also opt for a rustic Zinfandel or a powerhouse Petit Sirah.