Such A Clod!

When our local farmer's market started carrying organic Paradise Valley Beef, locally raised, certified grassfed and, by the way, delicious, My Beloved and I were thrilled. Apparently, they are doing a good business, too, because they have returned each week while some of our other producers have dropped out.

They will bring specific cuts with them if you call ahead but, being the woman I am, I can rarely get my act together for that. I was looking for a tri-tip (again) but they had run out by the time I got to the market; instead, the young man behind the counter suggested I get a clod.

Okay, that's what I thought, too - "Is this guy being insulting?"

No, it turns out that a clod is not a hard nut of baked earth suitable for beaning one's enemies, it's a cut from the chuck region of the animal (he showed me a map which didn't make me much wiser, frankly, and that's probably just as well). He assured me it would be well marbled and not too chewy despite being a part of the cow's locomotion system, if only I didn't overcook it. Since My Beloved likes his beef still to have a blood pressure and I like medium rare, that seemed doable. It also looked like a good size for a few meals for the two of us, so I pulled out my money and took home the clod, frozen and nicely vacuum sealed for the freezer.

When I thawed it about a week later, I marinated it in the fridge in that marvelous Sartain's Marinade for half a day before grilling over lump charcoal. I remembered that another piece of beef had gotten very tough from, according to that know-it-all Chilebrown, cooking it on too hot a fire. So, this time I lit my coals and let them get very ashy before placing the meat on the grates. I turned it frequently, say every three-four minutes, until the finger poke test said "perfect." We didn't even let the poor thing rest, just carved slices and fell on it like a couple of wolves.

From now on "clod" is going to be a term of endearment for me; the beef was wonderful! It tasted much like a tri-tip but was smaller, so better for just the two of us or for a small dinner party, and had a lovely, tender texture that was lightly marbled but had no big slabs of fat. The Sartain's marinade gave just a little heat to the outer layer and a whole bunch of flavor. The clod is my new go-to cut for a perfect summer barbecue.