FitFool

I pick up a monthly package of frozen meat from my Meat CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) membership. We asked for no beef so we usually get a mix of pork, chicken, and lamb (our favorite). But many times I'll get cuts of meat that I'm not sure how to cook. For example, I found this recipe by searching for "Leg of lamb that looks like a steak." Tasty and easy to make.

I made this one up! Back in February, my boyfriend came home from work earlier than expected. So I hurriedly whipped up this chicken dish. Tasted amazing to both of us though I tend to like any dish that involves lots of artichokes. I tried making it again a few weeks later but I must've forgotten how to make it because it didn't taste the same. Still tasty, just not awesome. The chicken wasn't cooked perfectly like the first time. Maybe I needed to pound flatter the second time. I had scribbled down some notes if you want to try making it.

Chicken with Artichokes

1. Start with split chicken breasts with bone. Pound them flatter.
   
2. Sprinkle with salt and pepper under the skin, on top of the skin, and on the back side of the chicken.
   
3. Sautee some minced garlic then push garlic to the sides of the pan.
   
4. Put the chicken in, skin side down for about 3 minutes. Then flip and let the other side cook about 4-5 minutes. Still not all the way done.
   
5. Remove chicken and deglazed the pan with some chicken stock.
   
6. Mix in the coarsely chopped artichokes.
   
7. Add back the chicken (keeping skin above the liquid) and let simmer another 5 minutes until it is just finished cooking.
   
8. Splash it with two squirts of lemon juice.
   
9. Serve with some rice or roasted asparagus.
   

Here's another recipe from my friends list. angel_vixen posted this amazing recipe that has been met with rave reviews both times I've made this now. I modified it slightly to use less honey (because I'm running low on honey and my boyfriend doesn't like things to taste too sweet). She originally made it with boneless chicken breasts, but I've made it with pork cutlets since that's what I had at home from this month's meat CSA share. First time served up with some curry-roasted cauliflower. Second time we paired it with green beans and mashed potatoes. Very satisfying meal for not much effort.

Ever since I joined the Chestnut Farms Meat CSA last year, the meals I've cooked at home have been determined partly by what shows up in our monthly share. Part of me loves being surprised. Part of me wishes I could just specify things so that I could do things like perfect the pulled pork recipe that I didn't quite get right the first time. And besides, some cuts I'm never sure what to do with. Anyone have a fool-proof recipe for Country-Style Pork Ribs? That's one where I tend to fail miserably. Oh and if I could request their bacon for every month, that would be great too.

We get the 10-pound monthly share and we had requested no beef since Brian doesn't eat beef. Here's what we got our last 2 shares:

August: 2 packs of pork loin chops, 2 packs of ground pork, 2 packs of pork cutlets, 1 pack of chicken legs, 1 pack of chicken breasts, and 1 pack of Pork Sweet Italian Sausage.

September: 1 pack of Greek Lamb Sausage, 1 pack of lamb for stew, 2 packs of ground lamb, 1 pack of lamb rack rib chops, 1 pack of chicken breasts, and 1 big chunk of Leg of Lamb. I supplemented and picked up 4 lamb tongues that are sitting in the freezer until I figure out what to do with them. Anyone have any ideas?

Clearly September marks the return of lamb. Great for us since we love lamb. They said that in October, they should be able to offer some goat too. Excited to try that though I have no idea how to cook goat. Luckily the internet should yield some ideas.

Tonight I plan to make Marcella Hazan's Split Chicken with Herbs with the chicken breasts. I haven't made that recipe in ages and I'm getting hungry just thinking about having it again. I hope it's not a disappointment.

I just put a bottle of white wine in the fridge for it. I love that so many places have cheap (yet drinkable) wine now. I'm not enough of a wine connoisseur to turn my nose up at cheap wine from Trader Joe's. Besides, I'm the only one who drinks alcohol in my house. At least if it's a cheap wine then it's not tempting me to drink the whole bottle by myself that night just so it doesn't go to waste.

Ten pounds of meat per month for 2 adults has been the right amount for us. At first I had worried whether or not that would be enough. I didn't want to buy more meat because I didn't think it would fit in our freezer. Besides, 10 pounds is already $80/month. We still eat out so we get more meat that way as well. But at home, we've cut back on our meat consumption. Not to the point where we don't get enough meat...just that now I think I eat the recommended 4oz portion of meat. Before, I more typically ate 8oz of meat and maybe even 10-12oz if there were going to be leftovers. Just because I could.

I had joined the meat CSA due to feeling guilty over how animals in the factory farming system were being treated. Since then, I've read more and more articles and books about the environmental toll that system takes. And it makes me think paying more for humanely and sustainably raised meat is worth it to me. So I'm going to keep up with the meat CSA for as long as we can afford it. He's been laid off so we're down to being a one-income household but so far, we've been able to keep it in the budget. We eat out less often. And if we do have to give up the meat CSA, at least I've adapted my eating habits to eat more reasonable portions of meat.

Neat! I just found a link to an NPR interview with Chestnut Farms:
Read or listen to the interview
They're having an open house Oct 11 so members can go meet their meat.

My friend, Jacyln, and I headed out to Busa Farm last weekend. To join its CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture), I paid $260 up front for the season and they gave me $280 worth of Busa Bucks (which works out to an 8% discount). Then I can use these Busa Bucks at their farm stand. The part that really grabbed me though is Busa Farm lets you go into the fields and pick your own vegetable and gives you 50% off the farm stand price. I imagine the discount is given since you save the farm the labor of harvesting the vegetables but for me, the opportunity to pick the vegetables fresh myself was a big selling point. I really need to remember bug spray though. The last few times I've gone out to the fields, I've been bitten by a ton of mosquitoes.

But the vague fear of picking up West Nile Fever is beside the point. The point is that Jacyln and I have enjoyed some truly farm fresh meals this summer. She's an amazing cook and I've picked up a few recipes from her that I need to post.

This is one from this past weekend where we wandered up and down the row of grape and cherry tomatoes, picking tons of tomatoes because they looked so beautiful. First there were the yellow ones, then red cherry tomatoes. Then we were lured away by the Roma beans and purple beans. That's right, purple beans! They're magic purple beans since they turn green when you cook them. At first I was fascinated by the change in colors but now that the novelty has worn off, I kinda wish they would stay purple. Anyhow, by the time we got to the end of the row of beans, that brought us to the other end of the tomatoes as well and then there were orange grape tomatoes to pick! So we picked a bunch of those too. We even found a few purple tomatoes. Bonanza!

I don't know if this is properly called a salad or not but that's its name until someone suggests otherwise. Jacyln's one of those intuitive cooks so the measurements aren't exact. But they're good and the recipe is very easy.

Visiting the farm and petting piglets and holding baby lambs was all fine and dandy but let's not forget what the end game is here. These animals end up as meat on our plates and many thanks for that! At first I had worried that 10 pounds of meat a month for two adults wouldn't be enough. Our first month of meat from the Chestnut Farms CSA included:

- 2 big pork ham steaks
- 2 chicken breasts (bone-in, skin included)
- 2 pounds ground pork
- 2 packs of lamb loin chops (0.6 pounds each pack)
- 1 pack of Greek lamb sausage
- 1 pack of Sweet Italian pork sausage

We don't eat beef so I can't comment on their grass-fed beef. Ten pounds turns out to be just about the right amount of meat, supplemented with some bacon and frozen shrimp. We ate out about once or twice a week. To stretch the meat, we ate smaller portions of meat and padded with more sides. We even cooked up a handful of vegetarian meals. We still have the lamb sausage and 1 pack of ground pork in the freezer. The last lamb loin chops are thawing in the fridge for tomorrow night's dinner.

We've been enjoying some fabulous meals this month. Take a look!




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This is a follow-up to my post exploring the options for buying humanely raised meat and then locally produced vegetables via CSAs.

CSA stands for Community-Supported Agriculture. Members pay up front to join the club for the growing season. Then from late spring through early fall, you get a box of vegetables each week in an Iron Chef challenge that often includes unfamiliar vegetables. From what I've heard, it can be hard to chow through everything each week. Typically, you get more than enough vegetables for your money. To retrieve your vegetables, you either meet up at a specified drop-off point or pick up at the farm and in one case, they even delivered right to you. For meat, it seems to come in frozen cuts once a month (also at pick-up points).

To my surprise, a lot of the popular ones are already sold out. I'm looking to feed just 2 adults but not all of the farms had a small or half-share option. For vegetables, prices ranged from $250 to $600 for the season. Meat was about $7 per pound.

I'm probably going to go with Busa Farms because they allow me more control over what I'll get and how much at a time. So I can load up on zucchini if I want or skip buying any vegetables on a week when I'll be out of town. Plus they were the cheapest option and I'm not entirely sure how this is going to work for me. They also let you go to the farm and pick your own for some crops so I'm really looking forward to picking corn again. I used to have a backyard garden and I really miss that flavor.

I've started buying meat from Whole Foods but reading Michael Pollan's book, Omnivore's Dilemma makes me unsure whether or not the animals are really truly out and about doing their animal thing. For meat, it'll likely be Chestnut Farms and that's just because they're probably going to be the first one to take me off their waitlist. (I could've bought from Pete and Jen's but I didn't get my order in fast enough.) The limiting factor for the meat farmers seems to be getting access to a slaughterhouse. A local slaughterhouses had burned to the ground and now she said she's been driving the animals out to NH and NY to have them slaughtered and processed.

I collected my notes and am posting them in case anyone else is looking for this kind of information.

( Click to see my notes on various sources for local meat and vegetables around Boston )