November 30th, 2009 by Trevett
Last week I wrote in the notes that we wouldn’t be making goulash or cassoulet until the next back of Heilman’s Hogwash pork came in, but it looks like we won’t be getting any pork from them until the new year. It’s not for lack of pigs, but rather that deer hunting season is keeping their usual processor backed up. Thankfully, we’re able to get some healthy (but not local) pork for goulash and cassoulet through December. While we’d much rather use pork raised by people we know personally and who raise their animals with care, the reality is that large companies like Niman Ranch and D’Artagnan are our best alternative for bringing in naturally raised meat right now.
But it isn’t for lack of healthy animals being raised right here in PA (or lack of trying on our part) that we ship in meat from away. Quality animals are here, but the small farmers in this region are dependent on just a few large processors who make their money from the larger farms and the cash business during hunting season. These USDA inspected processors follow procedures written for and by big agribusiness. Under these circumstances, it’s very hard for small farmers like the Heilmans to have much control about when or how their animals are processed. As goofy as it is, it’s easier to get quality, naturally raised and properly processed meat from the Midwest or New York than our own backyard.
Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) is an organization that advocates, in their words “for a safe, sane, sustainable and fair food system.” The fact that perfectly excellent meat from our region can not easily find its way to our plates has a lot to do with legislation that has made it impossible for smaller meat processors to exist. To learn more about PASA and the important work they do, please visit their website.
November 16th, 2009 by Trevett
the week ahead
Weathervane Scallops will be on the menu towards the beginning of the week. Lobsters are coming in on Friday and we’ll be them as an appetizer with celery root, avocado, bacon and remoulade sauce. Not sure what kind of fish we’ll have for the weekend, but we’ll TWEET about it as soon as we know.
This summer we started paying attention to the pack dates on the Niman rib loins and realized that they were much better when they aged in their bags a week or two or three. Now we wait to serve them at least three weeks after the pack date. I’ve been reading a lot about aging beef lately, and supposedly wet-aging beef shouldn’t really take that long. However, it seems to us like the longer we forget about them in the walk-in, the better they end up tasting. The ones we’ll be serving this week have aged four weeks.
Lamb shanks from Jamison farms should be available Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with limited availability on Friday. This is our favorite cut of lamb to cook, and it usually sells out quickly. We’re also making another batch of lamb posole rojo this week.
We finally have a new vegetarian dish: Chickpea Stew with Red Pepper Paste, Cilantro, Mint, Pecorino and Saffron Noodles.
towards the weekend
Antelope was well received again last week. We’ll be serving it again towards the end of the week. We plan to offer antelope every weekend for the rest of the month. Sauerkraut will be ready for another batch of goulash towards Thursday. On Friday we’ll be offering Wagyu skirt steak as a special. We’re bringing in just a few pounds to see how it goes. Veal breast will be available on Saturday.
looking ahead
We’ve special ordered some buffalo hangers that are supposed to arrive next week.
November 3rd, 2009 by Trevett
Fall
This year I noticed for the first time that many of the vegetables we find in Western PA in the fall are the same ones we find in the spring. Last April and May we were cooking with wild mustard and dandelion greens, turnips and sunchokes. October and November finds us cooking with these same things again, though they have slightly different characteristics this time of year.
Leafy green things are the first thing to pop up in the late winter, and the last things to die in the fall. Mustard greens are bigger and more toothy now than they were in the spring. The dandelion greens are less bitter, almost sweet. (I had never known dandelion greens were any good after spring until last month.) Turnips are milder-tasting now than the over-wintered ones will be in the spring, when the flavor intensifies and becomes more complex. Just the opposite, sunchokes are much more intensely flavored now than they were last spring. (Last winter we kept sunchokes in our cooler for four months and they lasted until spring. We couldn’t believe it.)
Of course squash, cabbage, beets, pears and apples are upon us these days too. I just checked this season’s first batch of sauerkraut and it’s coming along deliciously. The vinegar from last year’s apple cider that tasted so harsh last spring is finally mellow enough to use. We’re using it in the green tomato-apple crisp (a million times better than it sounds), remoulade sauce and anything else that needs just a tablespoon or two of cider vinegar. (We didn’t make much last year so we’re being stingy with it.) Justin started the new batch of cider vinegar this week. (We’re quardrupling our cider vinegar production this year so we can be more free with it next year.) Squash and pumpkins find themselves in soups and desserts. Beets are just absolutely delicious right now (I wonder if it is the frost makes them sweeter this time of year??).
