Welcome all to Week 1. Each week I'll send out a Newsletter on Tuesday after lunch. At it's core is the bag contents for the week. But really, the newsletter is so much more.

I like to nerd out about the food and farmers. I've been very fortunate in the last decade to meet so many interesting people and learn so much! The newsletter is for you and my attempt to share my good fortune with you.

If you ever have questions or want to learn more, please reply back and ask. It helps me know how to tailor the experience.

At the warehouse we pack your share into plastic totes. These totes are color coordinated so you should get the same color each week. Inside the tote, there is a clear plastic liner bag for food safety. The liner bag is not intended to transport your groceries to your car.

We suggest bringing your own reusable bags, box, or whatever works for you. Please unpack your tote at the stop and check it against the bag contents sheet. We are human and make mistakes on packing the totes.

One of the most common reasons someone doesn't renew their share is that they get too much food with Fresh Fork. Let me help you read between the lines. They throw out their kale because it went wilty before they could use it or didn't make it to the snow peas.

Eating in season is very affordable, healthy, and tasty. With about a half hour of prep work each week, you can keep dollars in your pocket and feel like an Iron Chef in the kitchen.

Step 1: Unpack your bag when you get home.

Step 2: Wash, peel, and prep your veggies. If your veggies are ready to cook, you will more likely cook them when in a hurry.

Step 3: Use the most perishable or unusual item first (lettuce or kale, for example in this week)

For example, this week's bag includes a whole chicken. Don't put it in the freezer. The freezer is where food goes to die slowly. Thaw your chicken on a dinner plate in the refrigerator.

Lettuce: wash and pack in a zipper bag with a damp paper towel.

Kale: strip from the vein, wash, and pack in a zipper bag with a damp paper towel

Parsley: wash, spin dry, and store in plastic bag or closed container

We have recipes on our website easy to find and matched to the Fresh Fork experience. Visit the recipe section here.

The weekly share can be thought of as your base package and access to the store. For this model to work, we need weekly subscribers so that the farmers can grow efficiently, our trucks can run full, and we can guarantee work to our staff. The subscription model allows us to offer affordable prices and a big bang for your buck.

To maximize your experience, consider a special order. We have access to hundreds more products than what is in the weekly bag. From milk and eggs to meat and additional veggies, the best way to round out your groceries for the week is to place a special order.

Each week we try to highlight a new product or a producer we love in the Newsletter.

This week we are excited about a current release from Dean at Kuhweid Creamery in Sugarcreek. His organic, grassfed Jersey cow cheeses are awesome and his story is inspirational. Read below to learn more about Dean.

Dean’s mother was from Switzerland, and his father was from Germany, and growing up there was a lot of family history in the cheese-making business. In fact, Dean is the 27^th cheesemaker in his family, however it’s been a couple of generations since someone in his family made cheese. When he was living in and travelling around Germany, he got some real first-hand experience with all the lovely and tasty varieties of cheeses made in Europe. Over the years, Dean has fostered his passion for cheeses, and has created some really outstanding cheeses. 

Dean makes a variety of cheeses, all named from places he visited/lived in while in Germany, or named from the very valley in Switzerland from which his family immigrated. Even “Kuhweid” is the name of the familial house. Many of Dean’s cheeses are raw milk tommes. “Tomme” is a generic name for a class of cheeses typically produced in the French Alps and Switzerland. Tomme style cheeses can be distinguished by their circular round shape, distinct rind, and nuttier taste.

Dean walked us through the whole process. From getting the milk in house, to shaping the tommes, to taking them to the blooming room, the drying room, and the aging room. He likes to experiment with a number of washed rind cheeses, most recently using cider to wash the outside of the cheese. Dean told us that he’s thinking about switching over to a local port or bourbon for his next batch of washed rind. His favorite cheese to make is either brie or raclette. Raclette is a Swiss/French style cheese, that is most notable for being melted and served with potatoes or cured meats to dip.

At my farm - Wholesome Valley Farm in Wilmot - I specialize in grass-based livestock production.

I like to advertise that there is a season for chickens. Most chicken in the US is raised inside large barns with 0.7 to 1 square foot per chicken. That's fairly tight but some researcher figured out that's the optimum stocking rate to create cheap food. There are plenty of local chickens raised that way. We don't buy those type of birds.

As a reminder, you may log into your account online at http://csalogin.freshforkmarket.com/ and place a special order (select "shop for extra items" or "Shop" at the top of the screen) for delivery this week.

Your special order will be delivered only to your primary location as selected in your profile. Please review this BEFORE placing your order (adjust + save as needed). Please do not email or call to change the location of your special order. It sounds easier said than done. Our software prints a pick list per location for what products we must take along. If we attempt to move it manually there is a high probability that we'll mess it up and no one will be happy.

**Some locations have changed this year (North Olmsted & Shaker Heights) and

Ohio City Provisions has a new start time (3pm).**

For specific information by stop, click on the location name below.

Should I brine the chicken? Brining is the technique of seasoning a piece of meat inside and out by either submerging it in a bath (liquid brine) or rubbing it with seasonings (dry brine or a "cure" or a rub, depending on how hip and fancy you want to sound).

Summary: I recommend brining. It is, however, not necessary.

These percentages are percentages by weight of the "green weight." That means that if your bird weighs 5 lbs, you need 3% of that in salt. I do everything in metric. So 5 lbs x 454 grams per lbs equals 2,270 grams. 3% is 68 grams of salt. Most kitchen scales easily switch between standard and metric measurements. It is important to use weights as not all salts and spices weight the same per cup. A course ground salt will have a different density than a fluffy course crystal salt.

How to brine: Get your salt, sugar, and spices ready by weight. Figure out your brining vessel. It can be a non-reactive stainless pot, a dutch oven, a glass bowl, even a vacuum bag or plastic bucket. All that matters is that you have enough water to submerge the bird by an inch. The water is a medium for carrying the spices to the bird.

Step 1: So the easy technique is to pick your brining vessel first. Grab a mason jar and start pouring one pint of water at a time over the chicken until it is fully submerged. Count your pints and now you know how much water you need. Pour out the water.

Step 2: In a stock pot, add the amount of water you measured for the brine. Bring to a simmer and stir in the salt and spices. Refrigerate and chill the brine to below 40 degrees. Pour the cold brine over the chicken in the brining vessel and place the chicken in the refrigerator.

Roasting the Chicken: Remove the chicken from the brine a few hours before you want to cook it (ideally). Pat the skin dry with a paper towel.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Find your roasting pan. Ideally, you want a pan with low sides and preferably a rack in the bottom:

1) If the chicken is covered or the sides are too high, you won't get crisp skin

2) the rack allows the air to circulate around the chicken

If you don't have a roasting rack, you can use a baking sheet. Put some water or chicken stock in that pan to keep the drippings from scorching when they hit the hot pan.

Rub the chicken with a bit of oil and season liberally with salt and pepper. Place in your pan or on the rack and roast at 400 degrees (uncovered) for approximately 20 to 30 minutes until the skin starts to get brown. Drop the temperature to 325 degrees and roast until the internal temperature is 158 degrees. Pull from the oven and place chicken on a wood cutting board, loosely tented in foil, to "rest" for 15 minutes before carving. During this time the internal temperature of the bird will "carry over" and raise to 165.

Loosely Tent = set foil over the bird but leave the ends open to let steam escape

Taking Temperature = insert your thermometer into the thigh of the bird but not into the bone. You will feel the bone. It will give you an inaccurate reading. The juices should run clear from the thigh.

Carve your bird and enjoy!

Photos Below: Left, where to insert your thermometer. Right, a beautifully roasted whole chicken.

More bones:

At the online store, we have chicken backs on sale. You can buy a 5# bag of these to supplement the bones from your chicken carcass left after you eat this week's chicken. 5# bag for just $9. Order online at https://csalogin.freshforkmarket.com

Step 1: Don't even put your chicken backs or bones in the freezer. Put them in a stockpot right away. If you aren't going to make stock tonight, put them in the stockpot in the fridge to thaw so you don't forget about them.

Repeat. The freezer is where food goes to die slowly. Just start cooking it now.

Step 2: Add to the stockpot (optional) a few branches of celery (or frozen celery leaves from the summer), a few peeled carrots, an onion, a few cloves of garlic, and (if you have it) a few sprigs of fresh thyme or about a teaspoon of dried thyme.

Step 3: Fill the stockpot with cold water until the bones are submerged by about an inch or more.

Step 4: Bring the water to a simmer - just barely a boil - and let it simmer for at least 4 hours. I often find the perfect setting and let it roll overnight (be careful not to evaporate the water and scorch your pan).

Step 5: Strain out the bones and solids while the stock is hot. Pass it first through a colander to remove the large pieces, then a second time through a fine sieve (like a chinois) or a damp kitchen towel. Refrigerate overnight.

Step 6: The fat will solidify on the top after it is cold. Remove the fat. If the stock is not "rich" enough for you, simply reduce it down at a boil. Some like a lighter stock that is more of a broth, while other applications call for a rich stock that is thick in gelatin.

That's all there is to it. If you don't want to do it on the stovetop, you can also do the same thing in a crock pot. The fastest way to make stock is with a pressure cooker or Instapot - same process, just less time.

You've probably heard all the buzz around bone broth, right? Same thing. Drink it for it's health benefits. If you do drink it, don't forget to season it some with salt and pepper.

Stock is also an important component of cooking. Use it to braise a pork roast or as the base for a soup. It also can be used to make gravy or to add flavor to a ragout of asparagus and ramps or even a risotto. The applications of stock are endless. It has become one of the "staples" in my refrigerator that is in my toolbox for any meal that might arise.

Depending on the amount of stock you make, you may have "extras" to use at a later date. We recommend freezing in easy to use volumes -- like a quart. We keep our empty yogurt quart containers and recycle them for saving stock in the freezer.