A passion for Belties beef

Initially, it was not our intention to make a living from the cattle, and it has only been in the last 13 years that this has changed. It is now our only income. During those early years, our four children were actively involved in the showing and exhibiting of our cattle at Canberra, Melbourne and Adelaide Royal Shows as well as regional shows within Victoria.

We are proud of our showing history and cattle industry connections and Allen is still connected to the Royal Melbourne Show and volunteers their each year. A significant influence on our business was a trip to Italy to attend the Terra Madre in 2006 and it was there that we got excited about beef smallgoods.

Some of the products we have may not be traditionally made from beef, but they help to keep us sustainable and to clear the whole carcass, they are also loved by our customers. By value adding we are minimising our waste and getting a better income from a secondary cut.

We are hands on, which means we are involved physically, with every process from conception, to weaning, to growing, to transporting to abattoir, to cutting, slicing, packing and labelling our beef ready for retail or wholesale customers.

The thing with our schnitzel is that it’s a family tradition.  My grandparents were Austrian and every few Sundays we would go down to their flat in Windsor and Grandma would cook up this massive platter of schnitzel with balls of rice around the outside (slow absorption method with plenty of butter and salt – delish) as well as lots of lemons to squeeze over the top of the schnitzel. 

It is the one meal that we all really love but the draw back is it’s time intensive when you are cooking for more that two people. I would do 1.5kg for 5-6 people.

There are about four different muscles in the ‘knuckle’ (round steak) and it is best to trim out any sinews or connective tissues so that you are creating smaller pieces but each piece will then have the same texture, making it better to eat. 

The way to tenderise is to use your knuckles to push on the flour and breadcrumbs firmly and never allow your butcher to put it through those ghastly metal machines that just create holes in your meat.

So, I do the following:

Break two good sized eggs into a flat bowl and whisk with a fork then add a dash or two of milk until well combined. Using greaseproof paper tear off two good sized pieces and put plain flour (approx. two cups) on one and breadcrumbs (approx. two cups).

 Arrange in a line in this order:flour, eggs then breadcrumbs because that’s the order you will crumb them in. 

Dip in flour and press on firmly using your knuckles then turn over and repeat – shake off excess flour and dip into egg (turning over to ensure both sides are covered).  Finally onto the breadcrumbs and again press crumbs on firmly with your knuckles. 

To cook:

You need a good solid base frypan. Heat on a med-high and when you put a good slab (approx.10-15mm thick) of salted butter into the pan it should foam.  Add the meat and cook for about two minutes, until crumbs are golden. 

Turn over and you may need to add more butter – cook another minute or so to get golden crumbs.  Then it’s onto a plate covered with foil.

Repeat until all meat cooked. If having in a sandwich, slice the cold schnitzel into 1cm strips across the grain and squeeze over lemon juice when cold.