Rettland Farm

Rettland Farm

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Chicken CSA, Charm City Edition

Heads up, Bawlmer.  We're bringing our Chicken CSA to your town, Hon.

Thanks the generosity of Spike and Amy Gjerde, the owners of Woodberry Kitchen and Artifact Coffee, we are going to have a drop off point for a weekly Chicken CSA, right there in Hampden. 

This means that you can get your hands on a fresh, pastured, sustainably raised broiler chicken, from the same small farm that provides chickens to Woodberry Kitchen, and then take that sweet luscious bird home for your family dinner table. 

And you can do this EVERY WEEK for 30 weeks this summer and fall.

The drop location and day/time is TBD, but will most likely be at the Union Mill where Artifact calls home, probably on a Friday afternoon/evening.

So, if you are a member of the staff or a loyal customer of either Woodberry or Artifact,

OR if you live close by,

OR if you drive by on the JFX on your way home in the afternoon...

then, you should probably check out our CSA, and then sign yourself up today!

You can jump over here to get the basics on the CSA in general, contact info, etc.

And then CONTACT ME right away, to get your name on the list.  We have a limited number of spots available, and you need to be sure to get yours.

Your whole summers worth of personal chicken satisfaction may depend on it!


Friday, March 15, 2013

In My Inbox Today....

This was in my inbox this morning, from J.B, a longtime friend of the farm. 

It made me smile.  Proudly.  The wheels are starting to turn, folks, right here at home.

Hi Beau-
I just wanted you to know that I am spending the year on a research leave in Copenhagen DK. supposedly it is the food hub of Northern Europe, but The Danes are rapidly growing tired of my complaining about their absence of farmers' markets. I knew this all along, but going away from it definitely has reinforced what [a nice] food culture is in place in SC PA. Agri-culture, eh?
Hope all is well and best wishes for continued success. I look forward to getting on the meat share when we get back.

J


Saturday, March 2, 2013

Share-A-Swine, Month 3. (With Recipe!)

So, it's time for our third monthly pickup for the Share-A-Swine Program. 

And check it out.  We have a RECIPE!

First, this month's haul:

Chops:  Mostly rib chops this month, which are my personal favorite.  Love that fatty little tail on those suckers!

Bacon:  Most of you will find bacon in your Share this month.  However, we came to the end of the bacon supply for these two animals before all of the shares were filled.  So, for those who didn't get a share of bacon this month, you received an extra pack of pork chops as a consolation prize.  And we should have bacon again for the grand finale next month.

Sausage:  Three kinds of sausage this month.  Regular, Sweet Italian, and Hot Italian.  The regular works great in literally any dish, at any meal.  The Italians are generally used in pasta dishes around our house, but would love to hear how they are used in yours!

Minute Steaks:  We have these versatile little steaks again this month, representing the ham portion of our animal.  How did you use yours last month?  Read on to check out how one of our members used her Minute steaks.

We're really fortunate to have a recipe this month, from Amy L.  Amy is one of our Share-A-Swine members, and she sent me the following recipe that she developed to prepare the Minute Steak. She also mentioned that the recipe works just as well using plain ground pork that was in your share last month.  It sounds DELICIOUS! 

Here it is, courtesy of Amy:


TACOS AL PASTOR
2# pork chip (Minute) steak or ground pork
2 TBSP minced garlic
1 TBSP cumin
1 TBSP oregano
1 TBSP minced pineapple
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground Annatto ( Goya brand in the ethnic section of grocery store. It is an orange box. There are small pouches inside the box)
1/2 tsp pepper


If using the chip steak, place the steak in a large mixing bowl and add spices. Coat the pork with the seasonings,  (If using ground pork, mix all the ingredients together and shape into patties.)
Slice meat. It will crumble as you slice it. Heat a skillet on the stove with some olive oil. Add the chip steak and stir fry until cooked through. (If using ground pork, grill your ground pork patties until cooked through.)

You can add it to wraps or taco shells. Top with grilled pineapple, guacamole and salsa. You can also top it with sour cream.  (Amy makes a chipotle sour cream by chopping up one chipolte pepper in adobo sauce and mixing it into the sour cream.  Which sounds pretty tasty.)

There you have it, our first ever recipe shared by a SAS member.  How bout you?  Have you found any great recipes since we started Sharing the Swines?

Hope you all enjoy your shares.  See you next month!