meat! (2015)

Volume One’s Guide To everything meat!

GRILLING TIPS LOCAL MEATS PREPARATION AND MORE!

writers tom g i f fey editors tom giffey eric christenson

photos andrea paulseth design serena wagner

Bob Adrian readily acknowledges he can’t do anything halfway. When he decided to open an old-fashioned butcher shop in Altoona, he wanted to create a unique place to sell high-quality local meat. Over time, his dream grew to encompass a drastically renovated space, a wide range of grocery products, and a mind-boggling array of meats, ranging from eight kinds of bacon to specialty sausages to buffalo and elk (yes, elk).

Call it a petit filet mignon dream that grew into the big ol’ T-bone that is Rump’s Butcher Shoppe, 1411 Lynn Ave.

“Everything in here is top quality,” Adrian says of the shop, which opened in late October. The majority of the meat at Rump’s is locally sourced and all-natural; you won’t find meat pumped with hor-mones, flavored with MSG, or artificially plumped with injected salt water. The beef comes from Elk Mound, the buffalo from Rice Lake, and the elk from New Auburn.

“Our whole mentality is just do it right, and don’t cut corners,” explains

Adrian, whose love of sausage-making and career as a commodity trader eventually led him into the butcher business. “To me, it’s insulting the consumer to say, ‘They ain’t gonna know.’ ”

Considering the design of the shop, the knowledge of the staff, and the meat-

loving nature of the clientele, customers do know what they’re getting – or they can easily find out (if you need prepara-tion tips, just ask). Walk through the front door and you are greeted by agricultural antiques and walls clad in reclaimed wood from an old granary. Just beyond, behind display cases brimming with steaks and chops, the gleaming meat-cutting equip-ment stands out in the open, allowing shoppers to watch the butchers at work.

“I think it’s good for people to see

what you’re doing,” says head butcher Dan Horlacher, who has more than 20 years of experience in the meat business. Other than grinding beef, which is done in the freezer for sanitary reasons, all the meat is prepared within sight of custom-ers. “We bring quarters of beef out. You

should see people’s eyes,” Horlacher says, making wide circles with his hands.

Adrian says the success of his store

is linked to a societal shift toward want-ing to know where our food comes from – a desire to make a deeper connection to the things we eat instead of just throwing them in our mouths. Today’s shoppers are more likely to read labels and seek foods that are more natural and less processed.

Adrian says he’s bowled over by com-munity support for his venture: He fig-ured it would take a year or two to build the customer base Rump’s has gained in just over seven months.

“Best hamburger I have ever made came from Rump’s ground beef,” raved one of 87 five-star reviewer on Facebook. “If you are looking for beef sticks they are by far the best around!” wrote another shopper, while a third declared, “Best cuts of meat in the Chippewa Valley, with-out a doubt.”

While the store was closed as usual on a recent Monday afternoon, Adrian and Horlacher were still busy working inside. Adrian enthusiastically described the shop’s specialty products, from deli meats to asparagus-stuffed chicken breasts, while Horlacher prepared a batch of all-beef hotdogs, meticulously running the meat through a gargantuan grinder.

A hot dog may seem like one of the most humble things you’d find in a butcher shop, but it’s vitally important to Adrian. He grew up eating hot dogs from the famed (but now sadly defunct) Gutknecht’s Market on Chippewa Falls’ West Hill, so he knew he wanted Rump’s to have what he terms “amazing” hot dog – and what the shop sells fits the bill, he says: “You cook that up and bite into it – the casing just snaps,” he says with a grin.

Besides local meat, Rump’s also car-ries a range of other local edibles, from Sue’s Deluxe Bake Shop buns to Lazy Monk beer.

Rump’s also has a growing whole-sale business: It’s making burgers for the Brackett Bar and the soon-to-open Classic Garage, and this summer it will be supplying pulled pork and its specialty Railroader Brat (made with bacon, beer, and cheese) to Eau Claire Express fans at Carson Park. As wholesale and retail demand grows, it’s not unusual for the shop to make 1,500 hamburgers in a week.

And now that grilling season is in full swing, Adrian doesn’t expect demand to tail off anytime soon. “Every single day, there’s people coming in for the very first time,” he says.

Rump’s Butcher Shoppe • 9am-6pm, Tuesday-Saturday • 1411 Lynn Ave., Altoona • (715) 831-MEAT (6328) • rumps-butchershoppe.com • www.facebook.com/RumpsButcherShoppe

steaking a claim

RUMP’S BUTCHER SHOPPE EMPHASIZES QUALITY CUTSWORDS BY TOM GIFFEY // PHOTOS: ANDREA PAULSETH

VolumeOne.org May 27, 2015 28

JUICY, WELL DONE, PAN FRIED, ORGANIC SAVORY, MOUTH WATERING, GRILLED TO PERFECTIONmeat!

“Our whole mentality is just do it right, and don’t cut corners,” says Bob Adrian, owner of Rump’s Butcher Shoppe in Altoona.

If you’ve frequented the Eau Claire Downtown Farmers Market, you’ve undoubtedly seen the Wheatfield Hill Organics display, which typically over-flows with a rainbow of beautiful pro-duce, from asparagus to muskmelon, not to mention homemade fruit spreads and toffee. It’s a veritable vegetarian won-derland.

Wheatfield Hill, however, is the birth-place of more than just fabled fruits and veggies. The farm fills carnivorous crav-ings as well: Since the 1990s, the Winkler family has raised a herd of beef cattle. Like the produce, the black Angus cat-tle are certified organic, a process that entails all-organic feed, access to pasture, and other stringent requirements.

“It’s challenging, but I wouldn’t want to see it any other way,” Chris Kees Winkler says of meeting the organic cri-teria. “I want to feed your family what I’d want to feed my family.”

Winkler is part of the fourth of the five generations that have worked the fields of the family’s rolling acreage overlook-ing the Chippewa River near Durand. What began as a dairy farm a century ago evolved into a produce and beef opera-tion that became certified organic in 1997.

From a herd that ranges in size from 80 to 100 head, the Winklers produce two kinds of beef. Some animals, after they are weaned, are entirely grass fed: They are rotationally grazed in pastures in the summer and fed organic hay in the win-

ter. These grass-fed animals are destined to become lean ground beef.

By contrast, others are grain-finished to produce a different quality of meat.

After being weaned at six months of age, these cattle are fed hay, corn, and barley over the winter. The grain, Winkler says, imparts a different flavor and a heavier

wheatfield hill beefFOR DURAND FARM FAMILY, GOOD SOIL AND GOOD GRASS EQUAL GREAT MEATWORDS BY TOM GIFFEY


CHARBROILED, ALL NATURAL, BRAISED CHOICE, HEALTHY, DECADENT, SAUTEED, FLAVORFULmeat!

marbling of fat: “We always say fat equals flavor,” Winkler says.

So how does it compare to other meat on the market? Nik Novak, the meat buyer at Just Local Food Cooperative in Eau Claire, raves that the Wheatfield Hill steaks are the best he’s ever tasted. “You can practically cut it with a spoon,” he says. “It melts in your mouth.”

Novak praises the Winklers’ “holistic” system of raising and grazing their ani-mals, which are born on the farm and live their lives eating grass and grain grown there under rigorous organic standards. “They’re really growing soil and grass more than they’re growing beef,” Novak says.

As Winkler explains, “We like to take into consideration the life we provide for those animals we have here. We strive to give them the most humane treatment

and conditions and respect, because ulti-mately we end up taking their life so oth-ers can eat.”

Like fat in a well-marbled steak, such considerations are deeply ingrained the entire Wheatfield Hill opera-tion. Winkler’s parents – Helen and Bob Winkler – transitioned the farm to certified organic after a conflict with a neighboring potato farm that repeat-edly sprayed chemicals on its fields by helicopter. The Winklers were relatively early champions of the now-flourishing organic farming movement.

“At first my dad was a little hesitant,” Winkler says, “because to be honest with you, there wasn’t a lot of research, there wasn’t an opportunity for people to get together and brainstorm.” However, the Winklers became involved in Wisconsin-based pro-organic groups such as MOSES (the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service) and the Cornucopia Institute (for whom Helen now serves as

board president). Over the years, their operation has

continued to grow. The 320-acre home farm includes 100 acres of pasture and 100 acres of cropland. Some cattle are grazed on a relative’s land nearby, while more crops are grown on another 120 acres a few miles away. A few years ago, the family added a kitchen where goodies such as strawberry and raspberry top-ping, turtles, and toffee can be prepared.

Now that spring is blooming into sum-mer, the produce season is in full swing. As of mid-May, 1,200 pounds of aspara-gus already had been harvested, and in the coming weeks and months there will be tons (literally!) of rhubarb, cucum-bers, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, sweet corn, watermelon, muskmelon, raspber-ries, blueberries, squash, pumpkins, and more. The produce is available at the

Saturday (and, beginning in July, the Wednesday) farmers market in downtown Eau

Claire, as well as at farmers markets in Spooner and Hayward and at several stores in the Twin Cities.

In addition to family members – including Chris, husband Andy, children Lucas and Robert, and grandparents Bob and Helen – the farm relies on the labor of local high school and college students during the summer.

The family is passionate about farm-ing as a way of life and a source of life. Helen Winkler spoke eloquently on that subject in an interview broadcast in 2014 by the locally produced Wisconsin Public Television program Around the Farm Table: “Literally by bones and my blood, my marrow, my DNA, they’re built from the soil,” she said. “My mother formed me here. I was built here. My very composi-tion is of this soil. I do get emotional.”

Wheatfield Hill Organics, Durand • organic confectionaries, beef, forages, and produce • (888) 255-0491 • [email protected] • search for “Wheatfield Hill Organics” on Facebook.com


meat!BRANDED, DELECTABLE, TANGY

“They’re really growing soil and grass more than they’re growing beef,” says meat buyer Nik Novak of Just Local Food.


Bagging a big buck is the stuff of many Wisconsin hunters’ dreams, and the annu-al fall deer hunt (and its muzzle-loader, antlerless, archery, and other varia-tions) is deeply ingrained in our state’s culture.

Yet despite all this emphasis on Bambi’s family, hunting in Wisconsin doesn’t begin and end with the white-tailed deer. In fact, deer are just one the many animals you can legally hunt in the Badger State (just don’t hunt actual badgers, please). As long as you’ve got a small game license, some of these critters are fair game (pun intended!) year-round. Others require special permits or stamps. Hunting is subject to reams of regulations, so please check with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (dnr.wi.gov) before hunting, hooking, or trapping anything.

That being said, here’s a breakdown of Wisco animals you can put on your plate or mount for your wall – if you’ve got good aim.

TURKEYThere are spring and fall hunting

seasons for these would-be Thanksgiving entrées. You’ll need a turkey permit, a turkey stamp, and a turkey license.

BLACK BEARBear hunting permits are in high

demand: Depending on where you live, you might wait anywhere from one to nine years for one. That should give you time to mentally prepare for stalking a beast that could tip the scales at 700 pounds!

FUR-BEARING ANIMALSThe fuzzy mammals are most desired

for their fur, but we suppose you can eat ’em too – as long as you don’t mind the onslaught of Jeff Foxworthy-style jokes. (Possum, we’re told, tastes like chicken.)

n Raccoonn Fox (red and gray)n Coyoten Bobcatn Skunkn Opossumn Weasel

SMALL GAME MAMMALS

A small game permit is all you need to hunt these guys, because –

well – they’re small game. (Oh, and you should pay attention to the seasons, too.)

n Squirrels (gray and fox)n Snowshoe haren Cottontail rabbit

UNPROTECTED SPECIESThe DNR defines “unprotected spe-

cies” as “mammals and birds that can

be hunted year-round without bag lim-its or hunting hours restrictions.” All you need is a small game license. (To learn more, visit dnr.wi.gov/topic/hunt/smgame.html.) These species include:

n Starlingn English (house) sparrown Chukar partridge n Coturnix quailn Opossumn Skunkn Weaseln Porcupines n Feral pigs

GAME BIRDSWant to turn feathered friends into

your feathered enemies? Here are game birds that are legal to hunt in Wisconsin as long as you’ve got a small game license.

n Pheasant (you need a pheasant stamp, too)

n Ruffed grousen Gray (Hungarian) partridgen Bobwhite quail n Crow

MIGRATORY GAME BIRDSSome game birds come and go from

the state (kinda like beaked and feath-ered tourists). For these you’ll need a small game license and must be enrolled in the Migratory Bird Harvest Information Program (see dnr.wi.gov for info on that).

n Mourning doven Woodcockn Snipen Sora railn Virginia rail

WATERFOWLTired of playing Duck Hunt on your

Wii? Try shooting one of the real things (check with the DNR for the appropriate permits and stamps, of course).

n Ducksn Geesen Brantn Mergansersn Cootsn Gallinules

the shooting rangeSURE, MANY HUNTERS ARE CONTENT GUNNING FOR DEER. BUT FROM SNIPE TO PORCUPINE, THERE’S A LOT MORE THAN THAT TO HUNT IN WISCONSIN.WORDS BY TOM GIFFEY

SUCCULENT, RARE, TENDER, MARBLED BROILED, FREE RANGE, SPICY, MARINATED, CARVEDmeat!

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you want the official scoop on al l hunting regula-tions, how to get safety training, and how to get l icensed, don’t take our word as law. Instead, please visit the folks who actually enforce the law at dnr.wi.gov/topic/hunt/.

Opposum

Pheasant hunting

White-tailed deer

Snipe (yes, they’re real!)

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VolumeOne.org May 27, 2015 33Snipe (yes, they’re real!)

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LOCAL GRILLING SIDEKICKSSCONNIE FOODS SQUEEZABLE SAUERKRAUT

Accessibility has never been one of sauerkraut’s advantages, until now. The

locally made handheld condiment is a must when you’re out and about and need some kraut.

WATER STREET DELI’S HUMMUSAs much fun as meat is, society usually expects us to have some kind of side dish

(and no, hot dogs don’t count). Chips and hummus are the perfect extra with grilled goods.

SUE’S BAKESHOP ONION ROLLSYou’ve gotta put that burger on something, and there’s no better option than the onion

rolls from Sue’s. They add just the perfect flavor to what we’re sure is the delicious hamburger you’ve concocted.

LUCETTE HIPS DON’T LIEThere’s plenty of local beer that would sit well with a grillout, but the light, sweet

taste of Hips Don’t Lie make it ideal for standing out in the heat over the flames.

SILVER SPRING MUSTARDThe sweet, spicy local mustard is a perfect condiment for everyone: They offer all

sorts of crazy varieties. Still, nothing beats the taste of the classic blend on your brat.

meat!BRANDED, DELECTABLE, TANGY

VolumeOne.org May 27, 201534

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Lifelong food connoisseur and cookbook author, Rebecca Gray selects and infuses a wonderful-tasting standards with her own culinary wizardry and provides meticulous instruction on the best methods for cooking fish and game ... ideal for any meat-loving Wisconsinite!

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meat! (2015)

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