Learning about Canadian Beef at Safeway!

I was invited to be a part of the Love Your Local Safeway and Canadian Beef campaign and being a fan of both, I was really excited to take part. I met with the Safeway meat merchandiser, Mike Peet, where he answered all the questions I had about Canadian beef. I actually learned a lot of interesting facts about beef, and I'll post some of the more interesting ones below.

Q: Where do the beef come from?
A: The beef is only from Canada and comes from Alberta.

Q: How often does Safeway get beef shipments?
A: Depending on where the Safeway is located and the traffic to the store, shipments come 3-4 times a week.

Q: Why do you want to age beef?
A: When you age meat, enzymes break down, make it softer. Triple A beef at Safeway is aged a minimum of 14 days, and restaurants will age their meats as well.

Q: How long does the beef last in the store?
A: The beef found in the fridge section at Safeway is good for 10 days after receiving it in the store. The triple A beef in the glass case is good for 14 days.

Q: How do you know if beef is fresh? Can you tell by the colour of it?
A: The colour of beef actually is not a very reliable indicator of freshness. Beef is actually a deep purple colour but turns red when it is exposed to oxygen. Ground beef can also have a brown colour, but this is because of a small amout of oxygen present. The beef should be safe to eat up to the best before date.

Q: How long can you keep beef in the freezer?
A: 2-3 months for ground beef and 6-12 months for steaks and roasts. Use a vaccum seal if possible, or push all the air out of any bags you put them into.

Q: What are the most popular cuts of meat?
A: It really depends on the time of year!

Safeway has plenty of cuts of Canadian beef to choose from, and there are different sales each week.

Triple A beef in the meat display - pricer than in the regular meat section because these are the best cuts that are hand picked and aged for at least 14 days to ensure tenderness.

There are plenty of interesting facts and beef recipes that you can find over at www.beefinfo.org.

I personally enjoy cooking with ground beef because it is so versatile and you can pretty much put it into anything to add a bit of protein to your dish. I decided I try my hand at my my own hamburgers. I never really tried before because I always thought it was hard, and why not just pop on over to the nearest McDonalds? Of course, once I started to make it myself, I realized it was actually really easy, and the fast too!

What you need:
- Ground beef
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 1/2 mushrooms, diced
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup crushed crackers
- salt (to taste)

1. Mix up all the ingredients in a bowl (the fastest way is to use your hands!).
2. Form a meat patty. You can make it any size you want, but you want to make sure the beef cooks all the way through, so don't make it too thick!
3. Place patties onto frying pan and cook until done (10-15 minutes).

With one package of ground beef, I was able to make six medium sized patties. The smell of the hamburger patties cooking made my mouth water, and it was definitely very tasty! You can mix it up by adding other ingredients to the patty as well - cheese, bell peppers, green onions - the options are limitless! 

My family had burgers for dinner, and I got to eat it for lunch as well the next day. Now that I realize how easy it is to make your own burgers, I think I might do so more often!