Late August: Where does the time go?!!

Boy howdy, it's been a long time since I got a blog post done! Sorry about that--there's been a lot going on! 

First off, in this share: 

• Rib Steaks (2)
• Ground Beef
• Pork Sausage or Ground Pork (or Lamb Sausage for No-Pork shares)
• Chicken!

Our livestock steward, Katy Riley, shared a great recipe for that pastured chicken--see below for details.

In other news, GOATS! We've added goats to our repertoire in a partnership with our Trustees colleagues at Chestnut Hill Farm, Weir River Farm and elsewhere. The goat-herd is based at Chestnut, but spends the summer grazing season performing brush-clearing and invasive-plant management duties at Moose Hill, Weir River, and eventually other Trustees properties.

Watch for them on Instagram:

@chestnuthillfarm_trustees

@weirriverfarm @moosehillfarm_trustees

Delicious, tender goat meat--milder than lamb and more tender than beef--will be available in shares starting this fall. 

As promised, here's Katy's chicken recipe:

Pastured chicken is a whole different animal than a conventional bird. They require different cooking because they have a different fat-to-meat ratio and texture. My favorite way to cook it is our No-Fuss Weeknight Roast. It is a set it and forget it recipe that takes about 1 1/2 hours in the oven with very little monitoring. 

Tools: 🔸Dutch oven or a roasting pan with a lid. Any oven safe dish with at least 1" sides can be covered with foil. 🔸Meat thermometer 🔸Oven preheated to 350° F. 

Ingredients: 🔸One of our whole pastured chickens 🔸1 T sea salt 🔸1 t black pepper 🔸3-4 cloves of garlic, smooshed or finely chopped 🔸1/4 c olive oil (or butter. I love butter. A mix of half butter and half olive oil does a really nice job.) 

Steps: Rinse the chicken in running water and pat dry with paper towels. Place the chicken in your pan of choice. Rub the chicken down with the oil/butter, coating top, bottom, legs, and wings. Sprinkle the salt, pepper, and garlic over the bird. Cover. Place the pan in the oven and set your timer for 35 minutes. I like to check the temperature (our goal is 165°F in the thigh and 160°F in the breast) and flip the bird over at this point. Flipping the bird is basically self-basting. Put the pan back in the oven and set your timer for another 35 minutes. If the chicken hasn't reached 165° by this point, no worries. Just check every 10 minutes until you're there. You can also remove the cover for the last 10-15 minutes of your cook time to get a lovely golden brown color. Remove the pan from the oven and let rest for 10-15 minutes before carving. Amazing with a crisp salad, seasoned rice, or all on its own. Leftovers make a stellar chicken salad and the leftover bones can be made into healthy and delicious chicken stock.

Take care, y'all.

December shares include...

December Monthly Shares: 
Chuck Roast,
Pork Breakfast Sausage,
Pork Sausage (Sweet or Hot Italian),
Lamb Loin Chops,
Ground Beef

Happy December, Folks!

Our second monthly distribution is a nice mix of beef, pork and lamb. There is a fair amount of variability in the chuck roast weights, so some of the lighter roasts will be paired with a soup shank and/or an extra pair of lamb chops. Also, you have a choice of sweet italian sausage links or hot italian sausage. I tried to write notes about these choices on each package so you can get your preference of hot vs sweet sausage and maybe more lamb chops vs beef soup shanks.

No-lamb shares this month will have larger chuck roasts or beef shanks, while no-pork shares will get lamb sausage in place of the pork sausage.

Looking ahead to January, I plan to distribute broiler chickens in our January monthly shares. If you'd like, we also have soup hens available and you can substitute five (5!) soup hens in place of your broiler. 
We usually sell broilers for $30-35 per bird, while the soup hens go for $8-9 each so this is a deal if you like making chicken soup or stock.These are retired layers, and a few years old, so don't expect to roast them. They'll be tough and need to be cooked long and slow, but will give lots of flavor for soup. I'll send a box of soup hens to each site, but email me at meatcsa@thetrustees.org if you want me to reserve some hens for you. If you'd prefer the broiler, great, and no need to to do anything but pick up your share. Hens will also be available for sale if one or two sounds good but 5 is too many.

Happy Holidays,
Jesse

November Winter Meat CSA

Brrr, its cold and windy this morning! Days like this are perfect for a nice roast or steak in the evening, and yippee, we've got those for you! November shares include either an eye round roast (regular shares) or a top-round roast (no-pork shares). The top rounds tend to be a teensy bit bigger and helped balance the no-pork share weights better than the eye rounds. I'll try to make sure we swap those around in a future month.

Making up shares is always fun, although it can be challenging to hit 7 lbs each with the natural variety in meat cuts. My target is 7 to 7.1 lbs for everybody, but there will be the occasional share in the 6.9 range or the 7.2 range. It should all balance out over the season. This month, with relatively heavy cuts, there are more in the 7.2 range, so it's a bonanza. But, ok, you're thinking, a beef roast, but what else? Let's unwrap:

On the left we have the regular share, with 2 porterhouse steaks, bacon and a ham steak in addition to the roast. I figured bacon might be a nice treat for a family breakfast over the holiday weekend, and hamsteak could get cubed into a variety of dishes or go into another breakfast. 

On the right we have the no-pork shares, with the same porterhouse steaks, plus a pound each of ground lamb and ground beef. As I was packing these I was thinking about shepherd's pie and stuffed cabbage leaves. (There are a lot of stuffed cabbage recipes out on the internet, but this picture is of the our copy of Good Meat by Deborah Krasner, which I heartily recommend. The roast recipe below is based on one of hers as well.) 

I didn't include any lamb in the regular shares this month, but will do so in December--if you'd prefer not to get lamb in your shares please send me a note at meatcsa@thetrustees.org. Scroll down for a nice roast recipe, although with a little cream in the sauce it may not work for the kosher/halal no-pork folks. Sorry about that, and I'll find something for you next time!

That's all, but before I go I wanted to share this great shot Desiree got through her binoculars of a frosty hawk the other morning: 

Spice-Rubbed Eye Round Roast with Beer Sauce

I found the original version of this recipe for oven-roasted eye round in Deborah Krasner’s Good Meat (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2010), which if you don’t already have you should seriously consider buying. Allow almost 2 hours total preparation time, starting with defrosted meat, but actual cooking time is under an hour. Have a good sharp knife to slice the finished roast thinly.

For the spice rub: kosher salt, sugar, sweet paprika, ground coriander, ancho chile (or chili powder), ground ginger. I use about a tablespoon of each; some may prefer to go a little lighter on the paprika and chile.

For the sauce: 1 bottle dark beer, 2 Tbs heavy cream

Rub all but 1 tablespoon of the spice mix over the beef and let sit at room temperature for an hour. Preheat the oven to 350, and roast the beef, fat side up, in a pan that fits it as closely as possible, like an oval oven-proof frying pan or small sheet pan with sides. (The idea is to capture the juices while minimizing evaporation.) Roast about 15-20 minutes at 350, then increase to 425 for another 15 minutes or so to an internal temperature of 130 degrees. Let the roast rest on a platter, lightly tented with foil, while you make the sauce.

Use about 2/3 of the beer to wash all the juices and crispy bits from the roasting pan, scraping if needed, and add the last tablespoon of spice mix. (With a 2-3 lb roast you don’t quite need an entire beer, so its ok if you drink a little.) Add any juices that have settled from the resting roast. On the stovetop (you can use the roasting pan if its stovetop safe, otherwise use a saucepan), boil the beer and beef juices until reduced to about a cup in total. Remove from heat, and whisk in the heavy cream.

Slice the roast thinly across the grain, and serve with a drizzle of sauce. Delish!

Week 19: Brisket and Broilers

This week's share: Brisket &/or Skirt steak

Next week's share: Rib Steaks

Hi Folks--

Just a brief note this week as I'm pressed for time with moving animals and picking up inventory and other prep for Winter Meat CSA season. I moved what will probably be the last batch of broiler chicks for the season out onto pasture this past week. They are still in their "awkward" phase--partly feathered out--and I'm keeping busy opening and closing  their "tractor" AM & PM and giving them a little supplemental heat at night. The extra work of keeping them comfortable outside is worth it; the exercise and pasture greens are good for them and great for their flavor!

As promised, we're doing brisket this week. Skirt is an option if you'd prefer, but brisket is a bit of a treat because there just aren't that many briskets on a steer. I'm including this delicious crock-pot brisket recipe from Kitchn which seems perfect for this colder fall weather. This is best prepared a day ahead, and can cook all day (or all night--which is how I prefer to do it).

As expected we are filling up quickly for Winter Meat CSA, so if you haven't gotten around to signing up yet, please don't wait! The folks up on the North Shore are really taking to the Appleton Meat CSA offering!

Take care,
Jesse

Week 18: Winter Meat CSA FAQs

This week's share: Ground Beef

Next week's share: Brisket &/or Skirt steak

Hi Folks-- This week has been a whirl of prep for the Chestnut Hill Farm Harvest Festival and Southborough Heritage Day. Both are a great opportunity to meet folks and talk about the Winter Meat CSA. Plus they were fun events! We grilled beef skewers and burgers, made some pulled bbq beef, and had a blast!

Southborough Heritage Day

 As we move through Winter Meat CSA "signup season" I've gotten several good questions that I thought I'd address here.

I don't eat X. Can I substitute? With a few caveats, yes. This is the most common question I get! Whether you keep kosher/halal and won't use pork, or really dislike lamb, or whatever, I am happy to try to accommodate your needs. But, here are the caveats:

1. I need to know up front so I can plan distributions throughout the season. It is much harder to make a swap during pickup, so please don't ask! This will be a season-long decision, not a "can-I-have-beef-shanks-this-week-instead-of-lamb-shanks-because-my-relatives-are-coming-and-they-don't-like-lamb?" kind of thing.
2. Some meats are more limited than others. This year, broiler chicken and lamb will be harder to substitute in than pork or beef, and we will have more beef than anything else. So, everybody gets beef. If you'd prefer no pork, you'll probably mostly get beef in its place. If you're asking for no lamb, you'll get a mix of pork and beef in its place. No lamb and no pork will mean mostly beef with some chicken. (I don't have many people request no chicken!) All that said, I will have soup hens ("retired" layers) that I can substitute instead other meats upon request, and will do so at a discount--meaning that if you take a soup hen you'll get more than 7 pounds in your share to balance the lower value chicken.
3. Please try new things! This is directed towards the lamb skeptics, not the no-pork faithful, but if you haven't had good lamb in a while or ever, give it a chance. And soup hens make some delicious soup!

Will you let us know what's coming up next? Yes. Mea culpa: I didn't do a good enough job of staying on top of the blog during the summer beef CSA to give you a heads up for your weekly shopping and a few of you have asked for a longer lead time so you'll know what to expect. That's a fair complaint. I'm listening and I'll commit to supporting your meal planning with both "in this pickup" and "in next pickup" information.See up there at the top? Already implemented!

How will pickups work? As in, the actual pickup day logistics? In an effort to cut down on plastic waste, we won't provide a bag for each distribution, so plan to bring a reusable one. And unlike with Summer Beef CSA shares, we won't have you pick and pack your own--there will just be too many people picking up to manage inventory and hit our 7-lb/share target this way. Instead, we will usually bundle most of your vacuum-packed, frozen meat in butcher-paper-wrapped packages so you can "grab-and-go." If there is a choice of say, flank steak or hanger steak (like last week), we'll either have folks sign up for their choice the distribution beforehand or we'll wrap them and it will be the luck of the draw. Some larger items--broiler chickens and possibly larger roasts--we'll have you take separately.

Those are the big 3 questions I've been getting, but if you have others, send me a note or comment on this post!

Cheers everyone,
Jesse

P.S. -- I just have to share this picture of my daughter with that big sirloin tip ("flap meat") from the week before last. Oh my, grilling deliciousness!

Week 16: Fall Bonanza!

This week's share: Flap Meat aka Steak Tips or Sirloin Bavette

 Wow, this time of year is busy--and its the time of year when we turn the corner, inventory-wise. Rather than slowly emptying, our freezers have begun to rapidly fill! In the past week we picked up our lamb from Adams Farm Slaughterhouse and sent the pigs and the first trailer load of steers off harvest! Raised by Trustees staff at Katama Farm (aka The Farm Institute) on Martha's Vineyard, the lamb looks delicious: beautiful loin and rib chops, sweet and hot italian sausage, and kabobs to boot. Look for these in the winter meat CSA this year!


Speaking of which, the signup for winter meat CSA is almost live! Our web team is testing and double-checking the signup page and I hope to be sending current members the link in the next day or two with full public access next week! I expect a lot of interest--we've had really strong interest at Powisset Harvest Fest and at the Boston Local Food Festival, and I expect the same at Chestnut Hill Farm's upcoming Harvest Festival on October 8th. (Pssst, you should come! More info here!) What's more, we had a nice article in the MetroWest Daily News on Saturday, online via wickedlocal.com, here. What I'm trying to say is: don't delay when you get the signup email!

In other news: chicks! Our last batch of broilers for this season is just starting and boy-howdy they sure are cute when they're all tiny and fluffy.

Ok, enough about winter meat CSA. In this week's share we're offering "Flap Meat"--or sirloin bavette, if you're a francophone. here. The sirloin tips are a little heavy for our 2-lb summer shares (2- to 2-1/2 lbs), so take one each and enjoy! This is the classic cut for steak tips; delicious, with great beefy flavor, but needs to be cooked a little more done than some other steaks. Seriouseats did a great article (w/ recipes!) on it a few years ago, here.

And just because I'm so worn out with all the climate-disruption-induced havoc of the past few weeks, a reminder of what grass-fed cattle look and sound like when they are helping displace feedlot emissions and sequester carbon:

Take care, everybody!
Jesse

Week 14: Welcome to Southborough!

This week's share: ribeye steaks (2)

We are we going?

Well, it's a fair bit later in the season than I expected, but I hauled the first steers from Moose Hill Farm to Chestnut Hill Farm yesterday evening. The rainfall this season has meant that grazing pressure on the grass wasn't too bad at MHF. It was an easy ride over and they settled right in for the night after a quick walk around to explore the new pasture.  I like to walk with them, make sure they get a sense of where the fence is before dark and bring them to the water, but it's probably more for my benefit than theirs. They just want to find the best grass.

Dawn found them getting to know the new neighbors, my family's resident goats at Chestnut Hill Farm. The goats have been cleaning brush from around some old stumps up behind the "Hangar" barn, and everyone was very interested to meet each other.

Cheers,
Jesse