Week 8: Spaghetti & Meatballs + Fresh Tomatoes

Good Afternoon,

It's our usual Tuesday afternoon time for the regularly scheduled newsletter. We sent it out early, and in case you missed it yesterday we're sending it again. This version includes some cooking instructions for the meatballs.

We are excited for a some new products and a new theme to our winter share -- Spaghetti & Meatballs + a feature of fresh, soil grown tomatoes -- yes, that's right. Soil grown tomatoes, from Ohio in January! Cooking instructions for meatballs below.

Mushrooms -- we just got word that we will have some extra Lion's Mane available to us this week! Find them in the Produce category.

Egg Update...eggs are sold out for this week. We're in talks with our famers to see if we can get any more in to bring to the stops as they're available. The eggs were not available as part of the "open to the public" shop. Since the demand for eggs is great and the supply is lower, we wanted to give current season members priority for this product. You were all very quick to order and they sold out before 5pm yesterday!

Also featured this week...Freezer Bundles. Prices marked at least 15% off regular price.

Sincerely,

Trevor and the Fresh Fork staff

Place FFM Special Order Here

Spaghetti & Meatball Share

Do you know how hard it is to photograph a plate full of raw meatballs in a poorly lit Victorian house? Well, trust me, they taste better than the photo suggests.

This week we've been working on for a while. We tapped into our team of chefs on staff at OCP to craft a custom meatball, one made of grassfed beef and heritage pork, blended with Italian seasonings, mozzarella, and parmesan cheese.

This week's share is rounded out with a few other exciting products, including Flour Pasta Company Spaghetti, soil grown Ohio Greenhouse Tomatoes, and creamy goat feta cheese.

There are only 40 one-time shares available this week for extra purchase. Order online before Tuesday at Midnight.

Full bag contents listed at the bottom of this email. Only omnivore shares are available as extra.

Note for larger families. The bundle includes 1 pint tomato sauce, 1 # of meatballs (8 ct), and 6 oz feta cheese. The package of spaghetti is 8 oz. There is probably enough meatballs, cheese, and sauce to cover two packages of pasta. If you need additional pasta, we have a variety of different noodles available extra online.

Meatball Cooking Instructions

We aren't here to take sides on the time-old debate about cooking meatballs. There are pros and cons to both roasting them and simmering them. Here are some considerations.

Roasting: Think of the meatball as a big hamburger. It's beef based, so you can serve it medium if you want. Take it too far, and it's going to be tough like an overdone hamburger.

Roasting a meatball can give it a nice crust and a tender inside when done properly. Roasted meatballs should be served immediately after roasting to provide the best experience.

Simply oil a sheet pan or any oven proof skillet. Preheat your oven to 375 and roast, turning once, until internal temperature reaches 125 degrees, but no more than 150.

Remove the meatballs from the oven and let rest on a wood cutting board for approximately 5 minutes before serving. They should continue to cook about 5 degrees. 125 will provide medium to medium well meatballs; 150 will provide well done.

For an extra crisp on the surface, consider turning on the broiler and moving the cooking rack near the top of the oven for the last third.

The downsides of roasting: splatter in your oven and potential to dry them out.

Simmering

Simmering a meatball in sauce enriches the sauce and provides a tender, fully cooked meatball. You won't need to worry so much about specific temperatures.

Start by getting a skillet hot, adding some oil, and browning them on all sides. Then there are two approaches to finishing:

Simple Approach: Move the meatballs to a clean saucepan just big enough for the meatballs. Cover in tomato sauce and simmer until tender.

Doctored Up Sauce Approach: Be sure you are using a skillet, not a saute pan, to brown the meatballs. Remove the meatballs to a plate and drain off the grease. Over medium flame, deglaze the pan with red wine, scraping the bottom clean. Reduce the red wine until almost gone, then add tomato juice, approx a cup. Reduce by half and add your meatballs back and your tomato sauce. Let simmer.

If you want to add mushrooms to your sauce, clean your mushrooms by removing the stem (saving for the stock pot) and slice the mushrooms. Over medium heat, add oil or butter to a skillet and add sliced onions and mushrooms to the pan, sauteing until tender. Fold into the tomato sauce and simmer with meatballs.

Tomatoes in January. From Ohio. Grown in Soil.

We field quite a few phone calls from farmers and local creators trying to sell their products. Sometimes it's a fit, other times not so much. When John from All Seasons Produce called, we got excited about this one! It almost sounded too good to be true...soil grown tomatoes in Holmes County?

Located in Big Prairie, just 45 minutes away from me at the farm, Allyson was itching to go visit the place and pick up a sample. I can't blame her as tomatoes in January surely does sound appealing. We were able to meet up with John, check out the greenhouse, and try some tomatoes.

Needless to say, we left with some tomatoes to take to OCP for the weekend and placed a large order (1700#!) for tomatoes for this week's share.

John recently retired and All Seasons Produce is his retirement gig. Prior to this, John didn't have any farming experience, however he saw a need for the gap in local produce during the winter months. So he purchased some property and immersed himself in all the things related to building a greenhouse and growing tomatoes. After what John calls the "worst tomato he's ever seen", John & crew made some tweaks to their practices and voila...now they have a healthy crop of slicing tomatoes. John is eager to grow more, the greenhouse is at max capacity already, and if all goes well there is room for up to 10 more greenhouses on the property!

Inflation Buster BUNDLES

WINTER WARMER BRAISING BUNDLE

Nothing beats a slow cooked roast on a cold day. This bundle gives you the best options from both beef and pork.

Approx 15# total.

Bundle includes: 2 Beef Chuck Roasts (~6#), 2 Boston Butt Roasts (~5#), 2 quarts Animal Stock (dark stock blend of beef, pork, and chicken bones).

Sale Price: $68

STEAK & NOTHING ELSE

100% grassfed beef for flavor and nutrition. This sampler bundle includes one each of:

Rib Steak (~1.3#)

T-Bone (~1.2#)

Sirloin (~1.3#)

Tenderloin (~0.5#)

Sale Price: $65

BONE BROTH BUNDLE - ONLY $30

Warm up with a pot of stock on the stove! Having stock on hand is one of my musts in the kitchen for easy weeknight soup dinners, braises and even just to sip on during these cold, wintry days.

Bundle includes: ~5# grassfed beef bones, ~5# pasture raised Chicken Bones and ~2# pasture raised Chicken Feet.

Your cooked yield will depend on how much you reduce the stock/broth. Estimate 2 batches of stock - 1 beef & 1 chicken - and approx. 10 quarts each at a minimum.