You don’t need to book an expensive vacation or spend nearly a day flying to live like Australians do. Sinking your teeth into a satisfying cut of certified organic, grass-fed OBE beef is all you need to do to feel connected to the land down under for an epic journey into what it takes to create great tasting, sustainable food. After all, Aussies are the type of people who follow through, doing what they say and saying what they mean. So when 32 Australian farming families (some are second or third generation) – who have been producing certified organic beef since 1995 –wanted to take the traditions of the Australian outback global, they banded together to create the Organic Beef Exporters, or OBE (pronounced “OH-bee”), for short. They manage 16 million acres of certified organic land in central Australia’s Channel Country, named after the river and creek beds that cover the terrain.
This special region is what makes OBE beef unique. It’s geographically isolated from other farms to protect the area from their chemical use. These range lands, which are dry for most of the year, produce lush grass following a rainy season, after the water in these flood plains recede. The cattle roam freely, feeding on more than 250 native kinds of herbs and grass. Research has shown that cows that graze on fresh pastures, such as these in Channel Country, produce meat with higher levels of health-promoting conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and omega-3 fatty acids. A leaner red meat, grass-fed beef typically contains less total fat than grain-fed beef, and it contains higher amounts of stearic acid, the only saturated fatty acid that doesn’t impact total cholesterol.
Whether you want to sear it on the stovetop, broil it in the oven, or grill it on the BBQ, grass-fed beef needs to be handled slightly differently than grain-fed beef. Because it contains less fat (which you can see; a grass-fed beef cut has a darker and deeper color with fewer streaks of fat), it’ll cook in less time. Always remember to cook it on a preheated grill or pan, and lightly coat it with Fairway extra virgin olive oil for better browning. To avoid overcooking it, eat it rare to medium rare. But if you prefer to have your meat well done, then prepare it on a low temperature while it simmers in a sauce.
To enhance the natural flavors of the grass-fed beef instead of overpowering them, add moisture to the meat by marinating it. Lemon juice or vinegar work well as a base for a marinade that could include fresh or dried herbs and seasoning (such as Fairway’s Sea Salt and Tellicherry Pepper), and will work their way easily into the meat. To jazz up your OBE hamburger patties and steaks even more, which Fairway sells, put some vegetables, such as onions or peppers, on top of the meat to infuse it with more juice.
Regardless of how you like to heat up your grass-fed meat, Fairway will always hunt far and wide to find the best, flavorful, and most authentic products for your belly and your dollar. With OBE beef, we’ve delivered on that mission in spades, and Fairway is proud to be the U.S. supermarket that has been exclusively flying in this special beef for you for 10 years, at an unbelievable price. Plus, these OBE farmers also produce organic, grass-fed lamb, which is also available at Fairway!
