Beutler Meats, Lafayette

Last weekend, I was making a rather nice dinner for some friends and a whole beef tenderloin was going to be the entree. This dinner for six was actually something I auctioned off for charity and it went for a significant amount of money so I wanted it to be of the highest quality. My description of the auction indicated that I would be using fresh, local ingredients. You can see the menu here. I ended up using products and ingredients from 11 different Indiana farms or businesses.

I really debated with myself about the tenderloin. The best case scenario would have been a grass-fed, local, fresh piece of beef but I couldn't find anything that met all of those criteria. All the grass-fed beef I could find was frozen. The only fresh grass-fed beef I could find was at Wild Oats and when I asked where it came from the answer was an origin that required a boat, a planes, several trucks, and loads of fossil fuels to get it to Indiana. Not exactly local. I ended up with a tenderloin from Joe's Butcher Shop and Fish Market. It was not grass-fed bit it was free of antibiotics, and growth hormones. It came from a few states away and the price was great - $13.99 a pound.

A few days later I learned that I would have had another option had I known about them. Beutler Meats in Lafayette carries only Indiana beef and they have both fresh and frozen. It comes from conventionally raised cattle. The dinner party was over but once I learned about Beutler, I wanted to check them out. I stopped by a picked up a rib steak. I had not heard of this cut before and the helpful staff gave me the 411. What I had in-hand was a large-end rib steak which is a cut from very near the ribeye. I grilled it last night and found it a very good steak. Beutlers knows what they are doing, having been in business for over 50 years. If fresh, local, conventionally-raised beef is important to you, visit Beutlers at 801 South First Street in Lafayette.