After the 15-minute drive out Route 202 to Wales, take a right onto Leeds Junction Road, and before you know it you’ll be at Farmers’ Gate Market — a full-scale butcher shop that offers fresh, locally grown, grass-fed and pasture-raised meats.

Owners Ben Slayton and his wife, Erin Cinelli, opened Farmers’ Gate (formerly part of Little Alaska Farm) in 2010, soon after Slayton completed an apprenticeship at an organic farm in Italy. Using Slayton’s experiences with small-scale livestock farming, the pair recognized the value of expanding the offerings at the shop to include butchering.

Slayton sees butchering as “an interesting and important way to keep connected” to the food source; he said this connection between the farmer and the consumer promotes accountability and helps develop a more transparent system in the food industry.

The meat coolers are now filled with beef, pastured pork, pastured lamb and range poultry — acquired through several Maine farms, all of which have met certain criteria to be considered as vendors.

“We have basic guidelines — sustainable ways of farming that the farmers follow,” Slayton said. In addition to being committed to continuous improvement, he said  Farmers’ Gate partners must follow pasture-based farming systems; treat their animals humanely and with respect; and basically, he said, “be good and honest people.” To be sold in the Farmers’ Gate coolers, meats must have been raised free of medicated feeds, growth hormones and animal by-products.

Because cows can survive on just grass all year long, all of the beef at Farmers’ Gate is 100 percent grass-fed.

Slayton noted that meat quality depends in part on diet; the better the grass, the higher the potential quality. He said it may take a farmer upwards of seven years to improve the conditions and nutritional qualities of their pastures. “Good farmers have figured out how to cut grass at its highest nutritional quality, to use as feed all winter.”

Another factor that can affect quality is the season in which the animal is slaughtered — better cuts of meat will have more fat, which he usually sees in late August or September.

Farmers’ Gate butcher, Ryan Goodrich, called it “inter-muscular” marbleizing. While adding flavor to the meat, he said, it also helps keep it tender while it melts during the cooking process. Goodrich is considered an “old school butcher,” working with quartered cows or half-pigs using an old-fashioned rail system. Slayton said Goodrich (who spent a few years in the restaurant business) also has a gift when it comes to cooking grass-fed beef: “He has a sense of when to turn up or turn down the heat!”

Goodrich is willing to share his advice and cooking tips while you’re shopping — he will point out the pros and cons of a cut of meat, what cooking temperature to use, or how to season it with a steak rub or a marinade. He even grills up samples for customers. You can see the Farmers’ Gate crew making garlic-cheese sausage, slicing fresh bacon and grilling up sirloin sliders (miniature burgers) at www.sunjournal.com.

Slayton and Goodrich both pointed out that practice makes perfect when it comes to cooking pasture-fed meat. Slayton suggested that if you purchase a slightly less expensive (perhaps “chewier”) cut of meat, you should use a very sharp knife and cut it across the grain, at a slight angle: “Let the knife do the work, instead of your teeth,” he said. Alternately, you might consider slow-cooking or braising, to help keeps things tender and more flavorful.

“Most of the meat we sell is vacuum-sealed in clear plastic,” Goodrich said, and if well-refrigerated, a butchered piece of meat generally stays fresh for seven days. An exception to this rule of thumb would be ground meat products — such as fresh burger or sausage — which should be cooked (or frozen) within three to four days.

When it comes to cooking previously frozen meat, he said there can sometimes be a slight loss of internal moisture during the freezing and thawing process. To take that into consideration, he suggested using “wet cooking” techniques, incorporating additional liquid while cooking.

The philosophy of Farmers’ Gate is to attempt to bridge the gap between the dinner table and the origins of our food. “We’ve become separated from where our food is coming from,” Goodrich said. “The whole subject seems very important these days.”

To make the process of buying locally grown meat for consumers even easier, Slayton has organized what he calls a “Meat Up” — an organized meat buying club, of sorts. You place your order, and he delivers it to a designated drop-off location. The nearest one is at Calm Health Works on Center Street in Auburn, which helps organize the orders and receives delivery for customer pickup on a predetermined day each monthly.

Rib eye and New York strip steaks

“These are the best boneless steaks going,” Farmers’ Gate co-owner Ben Slayton said. “They come from the loin that runs along the back bone (rib eye in front, strips in the rear). They are tender and tasty. You don’t need a lot of fuss – heat a little olive oil and add salt and pepper — it will give you something grand. If you want to shake it up a little, here’s a recipe that Erin and I like to use.”

Farmers’ Gate rib eye or strip steak with balsamic caper vinaigrette

Ingredients:

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup minced shallots

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus a little more for steaks and grill prep

1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

2 tablespoons drained capers

2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves

1.5-inch-thick grass-fed rib eye or strip steaks

3 garlic cloves, pressed

4 teaspoons smoked paprika

2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt

1-1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

Simmer vinegar in small pan over medium heat until reduced to 1/4 cup, about 6 minutes. Add shallots, 1/4 cup oil, and crushed red pepper; return to simmer. Remove from heat; whisk in parsley, capers and thyme. Season vinaigrette with salt and pepper.

Rub both sides of steaks with oil and garlic. Mix paprika, 2 teaspoons coarse salt and 1-1/2 teaspoons black pepper in small bowl. Sprinkle on both sides of steaks. Let stand at least 15 minutes and up to 1 hour.

Heat barbecue grill to medium-high heat, and brush grill rack with oil to coat. Grill steaks until cooked to desired doneness, about 5 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer steaks to plates. Spoon vinaigrette over the top before serving.

Arrosto di Vitello ai Funghi (roast beef with mushrooms)

(From Grazielle, the cook at Spannocchia, the farm in Italy where Ben Slayton did his apprenticeship. www.spannocchia.org.)

(6 servings)

Roast beef:

2-pound beef roast

5 sage leaves

3 cloves garlic

5 tablespoons olive oil

2-1/2 cups white wine

Salt

Pepper

Directions for roast:

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Place the meat in an oven-safe pan. Finely chop together the sage and garlic and put in a bowl with salt and pepper; mix well. Rub this mixture over the meat, drizzling it with the olive oil at the same time, coating the entire roast very well.

Put the roast in the oven and cook for 20 minutes, turning two or three times, helping the meat to develop a browned crust. Add white wine and turn down the oven to medium heat (300 degrees). Leave until cooked through all the way, approximately 25 minutes, again turning regularly. “A slight pink center is fine, as it means the meat will be more tender,” Slayton said. Set aside to rest until slightly cooled.

Cut into very thin slices and lay the pieces out evenly over a large serving platter. Add the mushroom sauce (see below) to the pan juices and then drizzle over the roast beef.

Mushroom Sauce

2.5 pounds mushrooms, fresh or frozen

5 cloves garlic

1 small bunch parsley

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup broth (water can be used, but Slayton prefers broth because it is much more flavorful)

Red pepper (cayenne powder)

Salt

Pepper

Directions for sauce:

Finely chop the mushrooms. Mince the garlic and parsley. In a frying pan, add the olive oil and then the garlic and parsley and a pinch each of red pepper, salt and pepper. Cook two minutes over medium heat, then add the chopped mushrooms and cook 10 more minutes. Add a cup of broth and cook for another 10 minutes. Serve over the sliced beef.

Farmers’ Gate Market

170 Leeds Junction Road

Wales

Phone: 933-3300

Website: www.farmersgatemarket.com

Shop hours are Thursday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The butchering and preparing of meats are done Monday through Wednesday. Pickup of pre-ordered items or butcher packs can be arranged by calling ahead.

Where it comes from

Among the many farmers that keep Farmers’ Gate supplied are:

— Oaklands Farm of Gardner, which raises its beef cattle on 100 percent certified organic pasture grasses, dry hay, haylage (wet stored grass) and some grain (spelt) as necessary during the winter months. They never use any artificial hormones, supplements, synthetic fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides in raising cattle or growing feed.

— In Durham, Old Crow Ranch produces pasture-raised beef and pork. The farm uses a strategic rotational grazing system to provide high quality grass to its herd, while focusing on building nutrient levels in its 40 acres of open pasture. In addition to fresh grasses, the cows are also fed dry hay and haylage, as well as a small amount of locally grown mixed grain. No pesticides or herbicides are used in growing grass. Their motto is “Meat so good a vegetarian would eat it!”

“Vegetables are interesting but lack a sense of purpose when unaccompanied by a good cut of meat.”

— Fran Lebowitz (Metropolitan Life)

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