Hi everyone, Jess here, hoping you are staying put as much as you can, and staying healthy. I’m not going to break down the inventory of the CSA crate today, but instead I wanted to focus on one item that will be coming home in the CSA crates – beef suet.
At CSA365, our goal is to “let no veggie go unloved” and this mission includes other farm items as well. At this time more than ever, we want to maximize the deliciousness that’s available over at Springdell. Today, we’re going to take a crash course in Beef Suet, Beef Tallow and Lard. Sometimes the words are used interchangeably and it can get confusing, so let’s break it down…
Suet is comprised of the fat that surrounds the kidneys of the cow, and the suet at Springdell is as good as it gets! (Lard is similar, but comes from the rendered back fat/leaf fat of the pig, but you might hear suet referred to as beef lard, and that’s ok.)You can render suet easily into beef tallow, which is SUCH a wonderful substance. If cooking, you can chop finely or grate off what you need with a cheese grater. Tallow can be used in candles, soap, or as a healthy butter or shortening substitute with a great shelf life. Tallow is Paleo-friendly and perfect to have on-hand for cooking. It’s high smoke point makes it a great option for frying, basting or roasting, and it’s awesome in baking biscuits or pie crusts.Move over, Crisco, we have the real deal here! This recipe from Southern Bite Works with straight suet or grated tallow in place of the lard.If you’ve never worked with suet, this all may sound overwhelming, but check out the recipe for rendering beef tallow, it’s really pretty easy peasy, especially if you have wax paper or some empty plastic containers on hand (such as the Echo Farm or Mozzarella House ones). If you couldn’t be bothered, no worries, the birds love this stuff, too! If you’re ready to take your tallow to the next level, try this tallow pie crust or these biscuits. Springdell suet is clean and can be used in baking as-is as well, but that’s more of an experiment for me. I’m active working on a sweet suet biscuit that can be made pre-tallow, but that one’s actively still in the kitchen… Stay tuned to the website or facebook page for an update!
I hope this helps you on your suet adventures! Don’t be afraid to experiment, be creative, give it a try! As always, feel free to reach me at jess@csa365.org if I can answer any questions, or if you have a tip, recipe or experience to share. Happy cooking!
