In her first book, The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook, author and livestock farmer Shannon Hayes introduced a radically simple concept: sustainable practices like pastured-based farming translate into food that is tastier, healthier, and better for both people and the planet.The key to getting the most out of pasture-raised meats, though, is understanding how to cook them properly. In her newest book, The Farmer and the Grill, Hayes offers useful tips on grilling, barbecuing, and spit-roasting all cuts of pasture-raised meats: beef, lamb, pork, and poultry. Dozens of simple, straightforward recipes provide all the basic cooking instructions, plus directions on how to make a variety of herb rubs, marinades, and barbecue sauces to accompany the meats. Traditional techniques such as Southern barbecue and Argentine-style asado cooking will help readers grill like the pros. And specific notes from pastured-based farmers on dealing with natural variations in grassfed meats will ensure success every time out.Creative and mouth-watering recipes include Tamari-Orange Whiskey Kebabs, Grilled Steaks in a Cilanto-Olive Paste, and Rack of Lamb with a Spiced Fig Crust. Plus, special sidebars on choosing meats, basic cooking techniques, and other topics mean that socially-conscious cooks will gain a real understanding of grassfed meat and why it is starting to occupy a central place on the American dinner plate.
WARNING: BLENDING AUTHENTICITY WITH JOY MAY AROUSE CONTEMPT.
Shannon Hayes writes and farms with three generations of her family on Sap Bush Hollow Farm in West Fulton, NY, where she grew up. The family raises all-natural grassfed lamb, beef, pork, and poultry. She holds a BA in creative writing from Binghamton University, and a Masters and PhD in Sustainable Agriculture and Community Development from Cornell.
Shannon is the author of three books: The Grassfed Gourmet, Farmer and the Grill, and Radical Homemakers. The latter two are published by Left to Write Press, a company that Shannon and her husband Bob started as a way to enable them to live in Schoaharie County without having to sell-out to corporate media.
Shannon's essays and articles have appeared in myriad regional and national publications, including The New York Times, The Boston Review, and Northeast Public Radio. Hayes' quirky lifestyle, her controversial attempts to live a life of personal accountability and sustainability, and her current research and writings about homemaking as an ecological movement have landed her and her family on the pages of the New York Times, Brain Child Magazine, Lancaster Farming, Small Farm Quarterly, Hobby Farm Home Magazine, The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, National Public Radio, American Public Media, Grit, Yes! Magazine, Elle Magazine, the national newspapers of Germany, Turkey and Canada, Arab News and the Pakistan Observer.
Shannon currenly blogs for Yes! Magazine, and her books are available through most conventional channels, as well as directly from the author at RadicalHomemakers.com and GrassfedCooking.com.
Shannon's newest book, Long Way on a Little: An Earth Lovers' Companion for Enjoying Meat, Pinching Pennies and Living Deliciously, is due out from Left to Write Press in 2012. Left to Write Press is distributed by Chelsea Green.
Contact Shannon Hayes directly through shannonhayes.info to learn more about her upcoming event schedule or to discuss speaking fees and scheduling.
Selected previous venues:
ACRES USA
American Dietetic Association National Conference, Philadelphia, PA
Citizens Alliance for Responsible Ecofarming, Lancaster, PA
Cornell University
Eno-Terra Restaurant, Kingston, NJ
GRAZE-Fest Alabama, U.S. Grassfed Society
JUST FOOD
Mansfield University
New York City Watershed Agricultural Council Farm to Market Conference
New York State Grasstravaganza Annual Conference
Northeast Organic Farmers Association-NY Annual Conference
Northeast Organic Farmers Association-VT Annual Conference
Organic Valley Kickapoo Country Fair
Rocky Mountain Sustainable Living Association
State University of New York at Albany
State University of New York at Cobleskill
State University of New York at Oneonta
Vermont Grassfarmers Annual Conference
Virginia Independent Farmers and Consumers Farm-Food Voices annual meeting
Whole Earth Center, Princeton New Jersey
Williams College
Wisconsin Graziers Annual Conference
Weston A Price Foundation
