Winter Week 7: Soup weather is in the air

-- Winter Share Week 7 --

Good Afternoon Trevor-

The holidays are behind us, and I don't know about you, but this weather really puts a damper on my motivation to get much done. Anymore, it seems like soup weather and I've nearly always got a pot simmering on the stove with bones from the freezer.

This week I changed it up a bit and took some ham hocks from the freezer to make broth. From that, I was able to recycle some older root vegetables in the fridge, some potatoes, and even frozen greens in a variety of soups.

This week's bag reflects a similar theme. The early season storage crops, like winter squash, are all starting to break down and the cold crops like broccoli and cauliflower are all gone. We are transitioning to our freezer and gearing up for some prepared items in future bags.

Also in this newsletter:

Beef Stroganoff Bundle

Cheese Short-ish date SALE

if you missed out on stocking up on some cheese over Christmas and New Years, we have select varieties on sale again this week. They have an upcoming best buy date (end of Jan), so take advantage of this sale while you can!

Lard is back

We've had several requests for this lately and we finally have it back in stock and quite a bit of it this time around. Lard is a great substitute for butter or oil for pan frying a burger or toasting buns on a flat-top. It is also a valuable resource for the baker, making the flakiest pie crusts and tart shells. I prefer lard to butter in the kitchen as it can sit on the counter at room temperature for weeks and is easier to scoop. It's also healthier than seed oils like canola or vegetable oil, and can easily be used in place of those in quick breads or as a general grease in the kitchen.

Have a great week!

Trevor

Pork Stroganoff Bundle

On these chilly, rainy Ohio winter days, a one-pot warming meal like Pork Stroganoff is on my mind. So, this week's promotion pairs together the necessary ingredients for a home cooked stroganoff.

Bundle includes: - $25

1 pork boston butt roast (2-2.5#)

1 pack Flour Pasta Pappardelle Noodles

8oz farm-made Sour Cream

1 quart Chicken Stock

6oz mushrooms

INSTRUCTIONS

Sautee veggies first -- I mixed onion, peppers and mushrooms and added garlic last. Season with salt and pepper. Once those are done, remove from the skillet and set aside. You can use this same skillet for the next steps with the meat.
Then cut the meat into cubes. Coat with flour once cubed up.
Add the meat cubes into the skillet.. After the meat has been browned and seems like it's getting a coating on it, stir in the stock. You'll want to bring this to a boil and then let it simmer to start thickening.
I also added thinly sliced carrots at this point, plus the sauteed veggies in step one, and put the mixture into the oven at 350 degrees for about 20-30 minutes to continue to simmer together.
At this point it becomes a bit of personal preference with the thickness of the sauce. If it gets too thick, you can add more liquid, or continue cooking it to thicken the sauce up more. Keep in mind that you'll be adding in sour cream and this will thin the sauce out a little bit, too.
Fold in the sour cream. Start with half the container and adjust to preference.
Then, serve over the pasta.

Weather, Pickups, and Changing Locations

Fortunately in 12 years of doing winter seasons, we've never missed a delivery or had to cancel it due to the weather.

There have been a few calls already asking about the weather and concerns that it may snow on Friday and Saturday.

In the event it snows, we will still run delivery routes on schedule. If you can't make it to your location, you are welcome to pickup at any other location without notifying us. We have pickups Wednesday thru Saturday. A full list, addresses, and times of winter locations can be found here: Winter Locations

Fall Animal Harvests

This is one of my favorite signs from years past. This is from a couple years ago at the facility that slaughters our cattle and hogs. It's a very small processor slaughtering about 10 beef and 25 hogs per week.

During deer season, they also process deer. In years past, this would create a bottleneck for them. The farmers were scheduled, but then hunters would show up by surprise with deer. At some point, there wouldn't be enough hands to cut and process all the meat.

Over the year's we have worked out better systems that work for both parties, but in general for most of November and December they don't kill beef and hogs. They only accept deer.

This creates a challenge for us to keep stocked at OCP and Fresh Fork . So what we've come up with is that during November and December they continue to kill for OCP and reserve one cooler just for us (as we can cut our own at OCP). If they get ahead on cutting deer, they start to chip away at our animals hanging there, making cuts available for Fresh Fork.

But in general, we get backed up on animals in November and December then start slaughtering again in January. Right now we are hauling in fat cattle and hogs to be cut for FFM. So you should expect in the next couple weeks to see more beef roasts, stew meat, and steaks available.

For those curious, I was at the slaughter plant yesterday and the last deer from muzzleloader season were making their way in. They are up to 1065 deer so far this season! Most guys like to ask what's the biggest deer they get; I want to know the smallest. I know the deer always looks bigger in the scope on the gun, but some of these deer are sad. This year's smallest deer yielded 21# of boneless meat and the hunter spent over $250 in processing!

BAG CONTENTS

OMNIVORE

Onion

Carrots

Shallots

Black Beans

Sweet Corn (frozen)

Grape Cider

Black Beans

Ham Hock

Chicken Thighs

VEGETARIAN