Our new meat share will start this week just in time for July 4th weekend and there still are a few spots left. If you pick up at the farm and wanted to sign up, hopefully you were able to find someone to talk to and if you have your share delivered later in the week, send us an e-mail ASAP to let us know you'd like to sign up. The way it works is that it will be $50 a month for 4 months ($200 total). Each month you'll receive a package of our certified organic meat that we have selected. Each package will include one of our chickens, about 2 pounds of ground beef, and then a mix of other beef and pork cuts (chops, steaks, bacon, ham, etc.) that we pick for you. Each package will have a total retail value of $55-60 (so you'll be saving 10-15% off retail prices). We'll also be posting some suggestions about how to prepare the meat.
We'll be doing the meat shares the first week of each month. This first one is a week early to make sure that you've got your meat in time for 4th of July grilling.
This month's share includes:
1 4-6 pound pasture-raised chicken
2 pounds (roughly) of grass-fed ground beef
1-2 pounds Top Round, Sirloin Tip, or London Broil Steak
1-2 pounds Pork Chops
Preparation tips and recipes:
All of these meats are great on the grill but here are a few tips anyway.
Top Round Steak - Top Round steak is slightly tougher than steaks from the loin but has great flavor which lends itself well to marinating. It is very lean and thus care should be taken not to overcook it (it's best cooked rare or medium-rare). It can be cut up into cubes for kabobs, sliced thinly for a stir fry (with your scallions and bok choy) or grilled whole. Here's a recipe for a teriyaki marinade that I often use.
1 1/2 cups soy sauce
1/2 cup water
1 heaping tablespoon brown sugar
5 or 6 cloves garlic, pressed
2-inch piece ginger root, grated
1/3 cup white wine
4 whole scallions, sliced into 1/4-inch pieces
Poke steak with a knife or fork before marinating to tenderize and to better allow marinade to penetrate the meat. Mix the marinade ingredients together in a bowl. Trim fat from meat & marinate 2 to 4 hours. Drain & pat dry & grill over high heat. Slice against the grain. This marinade works particularly well with the steak but is great also with the chicken (cut into quarters before marinating) or the pork chops.
Sirloin Tip Steak - Sirloin Tip is very similar to Top Round steak so like Top Round, it's especially good for marinating, stir-frying or putting on kabobs (this is the cut that is used for "steak tips").
London Broil - London Broil technically refers to a way of preparing steaks rather than a particular cut but it is gradually being used more and more to refer to a steak cut from the shoulder (or chuck). This steak is valued for its flavor. It can be slightly tough, especially if not prepared correctly. It's best marinated and cooked quickly at high heat (on the grill or under the broiler). It then should be sliced thinly against the grain, before serving.
Please let us know what you think of the meat share and if you have any recipes or other ideas that you'd like to pass along to others. Hopefully there weren't any complications Friday with the pick-ups and have a great 4th!
Monday, June 28, 2010
CSA Week 4: June 28-July 2
*The first meat share is this week!*
Did you know that cows with names make more milk? Every December The New York Times Magazine has its "Year in Ideas" issue. One entry in particular caught my attention last year; a study of British dairies found that cows with names produce, on average, 6% more milk than cows without names. This struck a particular chord with me given the amount of time I've spent coming up with names for the little piglets here. The study did not conclude whether this fact was causation or simply correlation (the cows with names probably received better care and more attention than those without names) but either way, I have to agree that our animals (many of which have names) taste much better than those unnamed animals you encounter in the supermarket.
On that note, let me introduce you to Flo, our eldest sow here on the farm. Flo is the mother of Randy (our other sow) and Saturday night, she gave birth to 12 new piglets (Congrats to Tim for winning the farm pool about how many piglets Flo would have; his confidence earned him a maple creamie courtesy of the rest of us).
Flo nursing her piglets in their farrowing hut.
A well-deserved mud bath break. Pigs don't sweat so in order to cool off, they take mud baths.
The piglets playing in their hut.
Flo came to the farm 6 years ago and has been a very good mother in her time here.
Right now, it sort of feels like we've just gotten over the hump. All the squash, peppers, tomatoes, and potatoes have been planted for the their and the first group of meat birds is in the cooler and freezers. Everyone is pretty tired and would love a break, but that's not really how farming works. The rain we've gotten over the past week has resulted in an explosion of weeds. Meanwhile all the heat has the greenhouse tomatoes out of control and in desperate need of clipping. Then we need to make sure we don't fall behind with successional seedings of beets, carrots, and a variety of greens. Fortunately, we now have a little time to deal with these things.
On to this week's share:
* Monday we didn't have enough cucumbers for all the small shares to get the cucumber they were promised last week so some small shares received Broccoli instead of a cucumber. Friday smalls should receive cucumbers.
Preparation Tips:
Pretty straightforward veggies this week. Check last week's entry for ideas on scapes and bok choy.
Beets - Check last week's entry for ideas about using the beet greens. Beets are very versatile, great both raw and cooked. I really like grating them raw in salads, either by themselves or with some greens and other veggies (cucumbers, etc.). They also are great boiled or they can be chopped up, tossed with some olive oil and salt and roasted in the oven or (if you don't want to use your oven on these hot days) on the grill.
Scallions - These can be sauteed just as you would onions or they would be great stir-fried with your bok choy, garlic scapes, and zucchini along with a little soy sauce and ginger root.
Lettuce - Everyone knows what to do with lettuce but some people might not realize how easy it is you make your own salad dressing. I've never really found a bottled dressing that I like so I always find myself coming back to this simple, delicious, and healthy dressing.
Maple Vinaigrette
3 tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tbs Maple Syrup (the darker the better!)
1 tbs Red Wine Vinegar (Balsamic works too but its sweetness sometimes masks the maple syrup)
1 clove garlic, chopped (or try a finely-chopped scape instead)
Dijon Mustard to taste (I usually use about a half-teaspoon)
pinch of dried herbs (Basil, Marjoram, and Oregano all are great)
salt and cracked pepper, to taste
Throw it all in a jar and shake it up. This recipe is very easy to scale up (that's never enough dressing for the farm crew here), I just always keep the basic 3-1-1 oil-maple syrup-vinegar ratio.
Parsley - Parsley is a very nutritious herb. It has more vitamin C than oranges and more vitamin A than carrots. Its often used as a garnish and is great on potato and rice dishes. It also is excellent in soups and stews. For something a little different, try tossing some of your parsley into your salad or add it to your stir-fry toward the end.
That's it for this week. As always, comments, questions, and feedback of any kind is much appreciated. Have a good 4th!.
Did you know that cows with names make more milk? Every December The New York Times Magazine has its "Year in Ideas" issue. One entry in particular caught my attention last year; a study of British dairies found that cows with names produce, on average, 6% more milk than cows without names. This struck a particular chord with me given the amount of time I've spent coming up with names for the little piglets here. The study did not conclude whether this fact was causation or simply correlation (the cows with names probably received better care and more attention than those without names) but either way, I have to agree that our animals (many of which have names) taste much better than those unnamed animals you encounter in the supermarket.
On that note, let me introduce you to Flo, our eldest sow here on the farm. Flo is the mother of Randy (our other sow) and Saturday night, she gave birth to 12 new piglets (Congrats to Tim for winning the farm pool about how many piglets Flo would have; his confidence earned him a maple creamie courtesy of the rest of us).
Flo nursing her piglets in their farrowing hut.
A well-deserved mud bath break. Pigs don't sweat so in order to cool off, they take mud baths.
The piglets playing in their hut.
Flo came to the farm 6 years ago and has been a very good mother in her time here.
Right now, it sort of feels like we've just gotten over the hump. All the squash, peppers, tomatoes, and potatoes have been planted for the their and the first group of meat birds is in the cooler and freezers. Everyone is pretty tired and would love a break, but that's not really how farming works. The rain we've gotten over the past week has resulted in an explosion of weeds. Meanwhile all the heat has the greenhouse tomatoes out of control and in desperate need of clipping. Then we need to make sure we don't fall behind with successional seedings of beets, carrots, and a variety of greens. Fortunately, we now have a little time to deal with these things.
On to this week's share:
* Monday we didn't have enough cucumbers for all the small shares to get the cucumber they were promised last week so some small shares received Broccoli instead of a cucumber. Friday smalls should receive cucumbers.
Preparation Tips:
Pretty straightforward veggies this week. Check last week's entry for ideas on scapes and bok choy.
Beets - Check last week's entry for ideas about using the beet greens. Beets are very versatile, great both raw and cooked. I really like grating them raw in salads, either by themselves or with some greens and other veggies (cucumbers, etc.). They also are great boiled or they can be chopped up, tossed with some olive oil and salt and roasted in the oven or (if you don't want to use your oven on these hot days) on the grill.
Scallions - These can be sauteed just as you would onions or they would be great stir-fried with your bok choy, garlic scapes, and zucchini along with a little soy sauce and ginger root.
Lettuce - Everyone knows what to do with lettuce but some people might not realize how easy it is you make your own salad dressing. I've never really found a bottled dressing that I like so I always find myself coming back to this simple, delicious, and healthy dressing.
Maple Vinaigrette
3 tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tbs Maple Syrup (the darker the better!)
1 tbs Red Wine Vinegar (Balsamic works too but its sweetness sometimes masks the maple syrup)
1 clove garlic, chopped (or try a finely-chopped scape instead)
Dijon Mustard to taste (I usually use about a half-teaspoon)
pinch of dried herbs (Basil, Marjoram, and Oregano all are great)
salt and cracked pepper, to taste
Throw it all in a jar and shake it up. This recipe is very easy to scale up (that's never enough dressing for the farm crew here), I just always keep the basic 3-1-1 oil-maple syrup-vinegar ratio.
Parsley - Parsley is a very nutritious herb. It has more vitamin C than oranges and more vitamin A than carrots. Its often used as a garnish and is great on potato and rice dishes. It also is excellent in soups and stews. For something a little different, try tossing some of your parsley into your salad or add it to your stir-fry toward the end.
That's it for this week. As always, comments, questions, and feedback of any kind is much appreciated. Have a good 4th!.
Monday, June 21, 2010
CSA Week 3: June 21-25
So the original plan was to start this blog for the last 2 months of the winter share so that everything would be straightened out and ready to go for the summer season. Obviously that didn't happen but hey, better late than never. So as I wrote a couple months ago, we're hoping this blog will serve several purposes: to give people a sense of what is going on at the farm and to tell CSA members what will be in their shares ahead of time as well as offering some ideas about how to prepare some of the items in shares.
The last month has been extremely busy here at the farm (a big part of the reason this blog is being started in the third week of the CSA season). We've finally gotten all of our field tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants transplanted into the fields. The corn was transplanted into the field this past Friday and today we (finally!) got the potatoes planted. All while trying to keep up with greenhouse tomatoes - most of which have long since passed me in height, the weeds, and the harvesting for farmer's markets, restaurants and of course, our CSA.
Tomatoes and Peppers in the greenhouses.
On the animal front, we've started a new group of pullets (young laying hens). We have several groups of meat birds, the first of which were "harvested" this past Wednesday and are available fresh at the South Royalton and Norwich farmers' markets, as well here at the farm during the Monday CSA pickup. Charlie, our Devon bull, and his group of ladies have produced 9 new calves. And most importantly, Randy, our young sow, had her first group of piglets on the last day of May. They all received names last week and if you come to pick up your share here at the farm after 5, you can find one of us and we'll introduce you to Randy and her 9 piglets. They're pretty cute ....
Randy and her crew.
The oldest meat birds
On to this week's share:
* Those who have their shares delivered on Friday will be receiving Bok Choy (flea beetle-free!) instead of Kohlrabi.
Preparation tips and recipes:
Basil/Mint/Oregano - If you don't have any immediate plans for these herbs (or if you're already tired of Basil), you always can dry these bunches for later use. Simply hang the bunch from a nail or string in a warm, dry place out of direct sunlight.
Kohlrabi - Hopefully you've all become acquainted with Kohlrabi the last couple weeks and realized that it's that strange purple or green bulb. Kohlrabi does not need to be peeled (although it can be) but it is best to trim away any tough parts. It's great raw in salad or even eaten like an apple with a taste like a mild radish. Cooked, it adds a great crunch in stir-fries and provides a cabbage-like taste when cooked longer.
Garlic Scapess - With the warm days of summer upon us, garlic scapes are making their first appearance! Garlic scapes are the beautiful green curly tendrils that split from the stem of garlic. The scape is the immature flower stalk and harvesting it forces the garlic plant to devote its energy to producing a larger bulb. The scapes have a mild garlic flavor and are delicious chopped like scallions and put in omelets, stirfries, rice, or pasta. They also are great tossed with a little salt and oil and thrown on the grill or even eaten raw (if you really like garlic). Garlic Scape pesto is a great treat and freezes well, too. Feel free to try out these yummy recipes with the scapes in your share:
Garlic Scape Pesto
• 6-7 garlic scapes, chopped
• approx. 1 c. olive oil
• 1 c. grated parmesan or asiago cheese
• pine nuts, to taste
• fresh tomatoes
Using a food processor, combine scapes and olive oil. After this is blended to the desired consistency mix in the cheese by hand. Add to pasta and garnish with pine nuts and fresh tomatoes.
Lemon Scented Pasta with Garlic Scapes and Veggies
(Serves 2 as a main course or four as a side dish)
1/3 box of spaghetti
5 or 6 garlic scapes sliced thinly
6 Sun dried tomato halves sliced thinly
3⁄4 c. fresh corn
1⁄2 c. flat leaf parsley
Zest of one lemon
Juice of one lemon
1 c. chicken stock
Cook the spaghetti till al dente and set aside.
Sauté scapes and tomatoes till fragrant then add the corn, parsley, lemon zest and lemon juice and simmer lightly.
Turn the heat up a bit; add the chicken stock and pasta and toss everything to coat and until the sauce is slightly thickened.
Serve garnished with additional parsley.
Kale/Beet Greens/Swiss Chard - These cooking greens are quite versatile and can be prepared any way you would use spinach. Kale in particular is great added to soups. Any of them are great stir-fried with other vegetables or simply sauteed with a little onion, garlic, and maybe a dash of lemon juice, vinegar, or soy sauce depending on your taste. Both Kale and Chard have tougher stems than leaves so one option is to separate the leaves from the stems and cook the stems slightly longer than the leaves, although cooking everything together results in a nice variety of textures.
Bok Choy - The Bok Choy that the Friday share members are receiving this week should be much nicer than previous week's. We were able to cover this Bok Choy to protect it from the flea beetles. Bok Choy is great stir-fried by itself or with other vegetables (Kale, Chard, Beet Greens, Garlic Scapes, Kohlrabi, anything really). I like to add a little soy sauce, garlic, and fresh ginger.
That's it for this week (thanks to Dashaina for reminding me to finish the bit about the cooking greens - sorry it took until Friday to happen). Please let us know what you think and please add any recipes or cooking suggestions you may have in the comments section (or you can e-mail them to me. One of the benefits of a blog (as opposed to a weekly e-mail) is that it allows many people to share their ideas, recipes, etc. Feedback of any kind is much appreciated and can be offered in the comments section or sent to me at jpsmith09@gmail.com.
Have a good one!
The last month has been extremely busy here at the farm (a big part of the reason this blog is being started in the third week of the CSA season). We've finally gotten all of our field tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants transplanted into the fields. The corn was transplanted into the field this past Friday and today we (finally!) got the potatoes planted. All while trying to keep up with greenhouse tomatoes - most of which have long since passed me in height, the weeds, and the harvesting for farmer's markets, restaurants and of course, our CSA.
Tomatoes and Peppers in the greenhouses.
On the animal front, we've started a new group of pullets (young laying hens). We have several groups of meat birds, the first of which were "harvested" this past Wednesday and are available fresh at the South Royalton and Norwich farmers' markets, as well here at the farm during the Monday CSA pickup. Charlie, our Devon bull, and his group of ladies have produced 9 new calves. And most importantly, Randy, our young sow, had her first group of piglets on the last day of May. They all received names last week and if you come to pick up your share here at the farm after 5, you can find one of us and we'll introduce you to Randy and her 9 piglets. They're pretty cute ....
Randy and her crew.
The oldest meat birds
On to this week's share:
* Those who have their shares delivered on Friday will be receiving Bok Choy (flea beetle-free!) instead of Kohlrabi.
Preparation tips and recipes:
Basil/Mint/Oregano - If you don't have any immediate plans for these herbs (or if you're already tired of Basil), you always can dry these bunches for later use. Simply hang the bunch from a nail or string in a warm, dry place out of direct sunlight.
Kohlrabi - Hopefully you've all become acquainted with Kohlrabi the last couple weeks and realized that it's that strange purple or green bulb. Kohlrabi does not need to be peeled (although it can be) but it is best to trim away any tough parts. It's great raw in salad or even eaten like an apple with a taste like a mild radish. Cooked, it adds a great crunch in stir-fries and provides a cabbage-like taste when cooked longer.
Garlic Scapess - With the warm days of summer upon us, garlic scapes are making their first appearance! Garlic scapes are the beautiful green curly tendrils that split from the stem of garlic. The scape is the immature flower stalk and harvesting it forces the garlic plant to devote its energy to producing a larger bulb. The scapes have a mild garlic flavor and are delicious chopped like scallions and put in omelets, stirfries, rice, or pasta. They also are great tossed with a little salt and oil and thrown on the grill or even eaten raw (if you really like garlic). Garlic Scape pesto is a great treat and freezes well, too. Feel free to try out these yummy recipes with the scapes in your share:
Garlic Scape Pesto
• 6-7 garlic scapes, chopped
• approx. 1 c. olive oil
• 1 c. grated parmesan or asiago cheese
• pine nuts, to taste
• fresh tomatoes
Using a food processor, combine scapes and olive oil. After this is blended to the desired consistency mix in the cheese by hand. Add to pasta and garnish with pine nuts and fresh tomatoes.
Lemon Scented Pasta with Garlic Scapes and Veggies
(Serves 2 as a main course or four as a side dish)
1/3 box of spaghetti
5 or 6 garlic scapes sliced thinly
6 Sun dried tomato halves sliced thinly
3⁄4 c. fresh corn
1⁄2 c. flat leaf parsley
Zest of one lemon
Juice of one lemon
1 c. chicken stock
Cook the spaghetti till al dente and set aside.
Sauté scapes and tomatoes till fragrant then add the corn, parsley, lemon zest and lemon juice and simmer lightly.
Turn the heat up a bit; add the chicken stock and pasta and toss everything to coat and until the sauce is slightly thickened.
Serve garnished with additional parsley.
Kale/Beet Greens/Swiss Chard - These cooking greens are quite versatile and can be prepared any way you would use spinach. Kale in particular is great added to soups. Any of them are great stir-fried with other vegetables or simply sauteed with a little onion, garlic, and maybe a dash of lemon juice, vinegar, or soy sauce depending on your taste. Both Kale and Chard have tougher stems than leaves so one option is to separate the leaves from the stems and cook the stems slightly longer than the leaves, although cooking everything together results in a nice variety of textures.
Bok Choy - The Bok Choy that the Friday share members are receiving this week should be much nicer than previous week's. We were able to cover this Bok Choy to protect it from the flea beetles. Bok Choy is great stir-fried by itself or with other vegetables (Kale, Chard, Beet Greens, Garlic Scapes, Kohlrabi, anything really). I like to add a little soy sauce, garlic, and fresh ginger.
That's it for this week (thanks to Dashaina for reminding me to finish the bit about the cooking greens - sorry it took until Friday to happen). Please let us know what you think and please add any recipes or cooking suggestions you may have in the comments section (or you can e-mail them to me. One of the benefits of a blog (as opposed to a weekly e-mail) is that it allows many people to share their ideas, recipes, etc. Feedback of any kind is much appreciated and can be offered in the comments section or sent to me at jpsmith09@gmail.com.
Have a good one!
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