Rettland Farm Original Kielbasa

Time for the big debut!

I'm thrilled to announce that the first Rettland Farm Original sausage is on the market.

What is It?:

The first sausage developed exclusively by Rettland Farm to showcase our Berkshire pork is a Fresh Kielbasa.

Kielbasa typically features garlic and marjoram, and ours is no exception. What is different, though, is that I spent a lot of time trying to get the garlic right. I hate garlic that overpowers everything, and I want the meat to stand out in the sausage, not the seasoning. I used Organic garlic, and prepared it in a such a way to take the bite out of it, so the garlic flavor is there without having it waft through your sinuses and ooze through your pores all day long.

The marjoram was purchased from a small herb farm about 3 miles from here, Alloway Creek Gardens and Herb Farm.

Other ingredients? Water, Kosher Salt, Onion, and Black Pepper. That's it.

How to Cook It:

I think that most sausage really benefits from being fried in a pan or grilled, to put a nice, caramel color on the outside, and to give a nice "crunch" to the casing. Since we are a long way from grilling season, let's focus on the pan fry.

I'd strongly recommend adding a fat to the pan before adding the sausage , to keep the sausage from scorching. My fat of choice to cook sausages is butter . It browns nicer, and more importantly, tastes better than vegetable oils on the sausage.

Once the pan and butter are hot over medium high heat, I add the sausage and immediately cut the heat to medium. After getting a good sear on the casing after a minute or two, I flip it and cut the heat again, to medium low. After the second side is seared, I reduce the heat to low, and leave it there for the duration. Usually one last flip is all that is necessary to finish the job.

I cook the sausages to an internal temperature of at least 175 degrees. Don't worry--it won't be all dried out at this temperature, like a commercial sausage would be. It will still be moist, tender, and melt-in-your-mouth delicious. Trust me.

How to Eat It:

I think these sausages are great on a bun, with a slice of good cheese (not the individually wrapped oil-infused garbage, but REAL cheese) and some good old French's mustard. Fancy? No. Incredibly tasty? Yeah, pretty much.

For a larger meal, I think the sausage sauteed with onions and served with pierogies would be really great. And really Polish.

Once you have a chance to try the kielbasa, please share your serving suggestions in the comment section. I think it would be great to hear how other people are enjoying their sausage.

How to Get It:

Until the Farmers' Markets open in May, the best way to get this sausage is to get in through the Member's Club, our monthly home delivery service. If you're not receiving our monthly email newsletter, send me an email at farmer@rettlandfarm.com to be put on the list.

So there you have it--the first installment in the line of Rettland Farm Original Sausages. Once you get your hands on some, I'd love to hear your feedback, either here in the comment section, or privately at farmer@rettlandfarm.com. Your honest opinions will help me put the absolute best product out there, for the eating pleasure of all.

Enjoy!

Rettland Farm Sausage--The Beginning

This post signals the beginning of something new and exciting at Rettland Farm.

Those who have been regular readers may remember my interest in terroir--the concept of food or drink tasting a certain way as a result of the environment in which it was raised. Historically, terroir has been associated with wine, but recently it has been applied to broader categories of food by "food people".

In past posts, I've wondered about what influence pasture has on the taste of meats that we produce. While we're still developing and defining the effect on pork, I think it's safe to say that there is a noticeable influence of green grass (and all the other associated goodies) on our eggs and pastured broiler chickens.

But I wanted to take the concept of terroir further. I wanted a product that could, through terroir, sort of define the "Taste of Rettland Farm." This product would be firmly based on our meat products, but would also include other food ingredients besides meat.

So, the result of all this brainstorming, mulling and wishing is this:

Sausage.

In the very near future, I will be rolling out the first (of hopefully many) original sausages that will include our pork (and maybe chicken) and also other simple, all-natural ingredients. These sausages will serve as a kind of taste compilation of all things "Rettland", stuffed into a casing. There will be breakfast sausages, dinner sausages, grilling sausages--you name it. We'll have a sausage for every occasion. And since pork can now be considered a health food, you'll be able to eat a sausage daily...

The sausages will be hugely influenced by seasonality and the origin of the ingredients. In other words, the sausages containing springtime ingredients won't be available in November, and you can bet that there won't be many ingredients grown outside of Pennsylvania. There will also be some influence by holidays or other local events or celebrations.

The Rettland Farm Sausages will all have several things in common though:

1. The meat that we use in the sausages will be of the highest quality, and will include some of the best cuts of meat from the animal. Unlike commercial sausage, Rettland Farm sausage is a premium product, not just something to do with the leftovers.

2. All of the ingredients in our sausages will be used in a state as close to their natural state as possible. Aside from some grinding and perhaps some occasional heating, I don't expect or want a whole lot of processing.

3. There won't be many ingredients in the sausage. Some meat (usually pork), some salt, and maybe some herbs or other seasoning ingredients. Most importantly, none of the ingredients will sound like something you worked with in your college chemistry lab--that's a promise.

4. On a related note, my ultimate objective is to showcase the meat. This means that the seasoning ingredients will only be used to that end. I hope to have the supporting ingredients be just that--complementing and not overpowering the meat. Subtlety will always be the goal.

5. All of the manufacturing of the sausages will be done in a USDA and Pa Department of Agriculture inspected facility. Our good friends at Charles Nell Meats in Littlestown are going to be key partners in this venture by manufacturing the sausage for me to their own strict quality and safety specifications.

So that's the basics on the sausage. In the coming weeks, I'll feature each new addition to the sausage line right here on the blog, and I'll include some discussion on the ingredients and their origin, and the thought process behind the theme.

Check back often! This is going to be great!

A Fascinating Report on Dietary Fat

I stumbled upon this incredibly interesting report on the myths of a low saturated fat (what you find in animal products) diet, and the scarier facts about diets high in polyunsaturated fats (the stuff you are SUPPOSED to eat.)

The moral of the story? Eat more Rettland Farm pork. It's good for you! And the second moral of the story? Don't believe anything that is supposed to be taken as gospel.

Seriously, though. Check it out. It's a little lengthy, but it is truly worth the read.

http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/cardiovascular-disease/saturated-fat-and-heart-disease-studies-old-and-new/

We Need a New Word

I took a road trip today to pay a visit to a prospective client. We had a great discussion about our respective businesses, and I came away really charged about the "food" movement, especially in the mid-Atlantic region.

On my way home, I recounted to myself parts of our conversation, particularly the part about our shared frustration over the overuse and corruption of "buzzwords" in the "local food" movement.

The new client (hey, I'm optimistic) related to me that it was especially hard for her to sort out the real deal of sustainable, local, humanely produced food--from those opportunists who put the right words and a pastoral logo on a box of shit so they can charge a few extra bucks for it.

I gave her my somewhat standard answer, that the best way to keep out the posers is to do what she and I were doing at that very moment: sitting down, face to face, and talking. We build trust, we build relationships, and we (well, me, as the farmer) start to display our integrity by sharing our philosphies and practices. You can't bullshit people when they ask you directly what your pigs eat, or what the procedure for slaughtering the animal is--you either know it or you don't.

We can take it one step further, and the client can come visit the farm, and see with their own eyes whether the farm is really genuine, or just a slick marketing campaign.

But every industry has buzzwords, so what's the new buzzword for this kind of business? How do we sum up what we do in a word or two, and yet keep the wannabes from usurping it for their own nefarious causes?

I've used the phrase "Real Food" in the past, but I'm not sure about that. I also came up with "Verifiable Food," but that sounds way too stuffy and sterile.

As I cruised up the road this afternoon, though, I came up with a few that had a nice ring to them...

How about "Authentic Food?" "Give-a-damn Food?" Or maybe "Food Done Right?"

Are any of these winners? Any other suggestions?

Layin' Hen Blues

The original intent of this blog was for me to talk about what I'm doing and the thought processes that I go through in the course of producing food on the farm. As I looked back over my 2009 posts, I realized that I didn't do much of that at all. Not surprising, if you know me. I'm not really into talking about me.

Add to that the fact that when I did post, I felt obligated to defend the world against vegans and rogue Texas History professors (did that twice), and I didn't really talk about the farm that much at all. So, I'll work on that. Starting today.

We have produced eggs from free range hens for about two years. If you've never had an egg that came from a chicken that ate lots of green grass and insects, then you haven't lived, friend. They are superb. I really like them, my family likes them, and most importantly, my customers like them. I actually had a customer tell me once that she dreamed about my eggs. Yeah, they're that good.

The problem is, this year has not been a good year to be an egg laying chicken on this farm. To put it briefly, we have become a Four Star Dining Mecca for every damn predatory species within a mile (or more) of this place. We had a major chicken slaughter in the early summer, and we have never really gotten our production back since then.

I hatched my own chicks and raised them.

I bought some really beautiful black hens from another small farmer.

And yet, every week, our head counts continue to decline, to the point that I have the fewest number of layers on the farm that I've ever had.

I have taken steps to protect the birds, but it's been difficult, and largely ineffective. I have (until recently) insisted that the hens be allowed free roam outside during daylight hours. This stubborn, but well intentioned position has resulted in big losses during daylight hours in the last few weeks, to the point that I'm now keeping the hens inside. I hate to do it (and rest assured, it is only temporary), but it's less cruel to leave them in a spacious, well bedded henhouse than to allow them to die a horrible death in the jaws of a cunning, greedy predator.

So, we have to change a few things. I need to change my management style with the hens. I am going to have to move from the laissez-faire approach that has given the birds minimal safety but maximum freedom; to a more hands-on, managed system that allows me to provide them with the protection they need, while still allowing them access to green grass, sunshine, fresh air, and bugs.

I have always said, "If I have to raise chickens indoors, then I won't raise chickens", and that maxim is still true. But I have a few ideas that I'm going to try that will still give the birds great lives, and keep most of them off the menu at the Fox Cafe.

I'll keep you posted.

Who's YOUR Farmer?

So, Who's YOUR Farmer?

(That's how these T-Shirts are supposed to sound. Yes, I had multiple discussions with the printers, signed off on multiple proofs, and only after I took the finished product home, did I realize that I should've emphasized "YOUR"! On the shirts, it sounds more like "Who's your DADDY?!" than "What person do you entrust to produce food for you and your family?" Even a simple underlined "your" would have done the trick. Sorry. I'll know next time.)

Anyway, Who's YOUR Farmer?

Hopefully, if you're reading this blog with any regularity, the answer is an exhuberant, enthusiastic, "YOU are, Rettland Farm!"

The idea for this tagline comes from my belief that we all need a Farmer or two in our circle of people we rely on. We have our doctors, an accountant, maybe a lawyer, a mechanic, an insurance agent (if we actually care about quality service, and not just dirt cheap premiums, eh CBR? :) ).

Why not a farmer?

I would guess that 95% or more of Americans have no idea what country their food is grown in, much less the name of the guy (or gal) who's growing it. I think that should change.

I think that we should all have a few of the people that grow our food stored in our cell phones. If not that, then written on the door jamb by our home phone, or on the fridge, or in our email address book, or somewhere that denotes the importance of that person to our households.

But we can't stop with just posting the number. We need to use it.

We need to call our Farmers, even if it's just to chat. We should stop by the farmers' market just to maintain that relationship and that connection that we have both worked so hard to develop. We should fire off an email to see what's new on the farm, and how our future pork chops (or peaches, or brussels sprouts) are doing.

This person provides the third most important ingredient in your life and the lives of your family. Should that person be a nameless, faceless, stranger?

Who's YOUR Farmer?

The Ethics of Eating Meat

I don't usually feel the need to rebut those who rail against the consumption of meat on grounds of animal cruelty. My general feeling is that we all have our preferences, and if you don't preach to me about yours, I won't preach to you about mine.

This case is really no exception, but last weekend the NY Times carried an Op-Ed (well written, I must admit) by a "strict ethical vegan," and I decided I had a few things to say, after all.

The standard argument against whether or not eating animals is ethical is the co-evolution argument. This says that domesticated animals, as species, found it beneficial to sacrifice individuals over time for the benefit of humans. Humans provided them with shelter, food, protection against (other) predators, etc.

I agree pretty strongly with this justification. While we're on the subject of evolution, though, let's take it a step further. (Aside: Happy Birthday, On the Origin of Species!)

As Homo Sapiens, we have clambered to the top of, and sit defiantly astride, the food chain due to our ability to adapt to a multitude of environmental scenarios. A significant evolutionary adaptation is that which makes us omnivorous, able to eat and survive on a wide variety of foods from both plant an animal sources.

One need look no further than the teeth in our mouths to see that we are predestined, by force of evolution, to eat meat as well as plants--sharp teeth in front for biting and tearing (gasp!) flesh, large grinding teeth in the back for...well, grinding.

Our forward facing eyes are more similar to other predator species than they are to the wall- eyed prey species. That didn't happen just so we'd look groovy in sunglasses.

Finally, consider both the anatomy and physiology of our digestive tracts. Our bodies need fats, amino acids, and vitamins that we are physiologically unable to synthesize, and therefore must consume from sources outside the body. Guess what? Some of those nutrients are only found in other animals.

The other issue that the author of the Op-Ed touches on is that a justification used by meat eaters is that animals aren't capable of abstract thought, and so therefore aren't able to predict or comprehend what is going to happen to them. Probably true. But what I think what the gift of abstract thought really gets humans is moral quandaries like the morality of eating.

Do you think that any other meat eating species on the planet refuses to eat meat because of the suffering of its prey? Does the bear let the salmon go, because the salmon shouldn't be made to suffer? How about the fox in the henhouse? Does he consider the terror he's causing the chickens by chasing them around and then killing them?

No. Both these predators kill, eat, and survive. In the struggle to survive and reproduce, they don't have the luxury of ethical eating. It's only through the abundance and availability of food that we do.

So go ahead and refuse meat on ethical grounds. I certainly admire your self sacrifice, though the air of moral superiority tarnishes it a bit.

As for me, I'll be over here, munching on a pork chop, fulfilling my predetermined biological destiny.