No Mystery Meat Here! February 26, 2013

I am aware that other cultures eat horse meat, but I choose not to, having grown up with horses as pets and companions.

The recent (and widening) scandal about horse meat making it’s way into the food supply, (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21569645)   has people up in arms and wondering “how can this happen?”  Hopefully, like the major egg recall a few years ago, that sent many people to their local farmer’s markets in search of safer eggs, this will have people paying closer attention to their meat supply.  I have a friend living in London, where lots of the horse meat disguised as beef, showed up in the local food outlets.  She reports that people are flocking to their local butcher shops for safer cuts of real beef.

If you buy your meat at a local supermarket, you can get to know the butcher there, and ask about their sourcing, and if they grind their own meat in-house, and what not.

If you’d like to take it a bit further, we Central Texas folks are so lucky to have so many of local sources of all variety of meats available.  You can meet the farmers, ask them about their practices, visit their farms and see for yourself how the animals are raised and what you are going to get.  This way, the chain of control is diminished and the chance of shenanigans is next to zero.

Here is a list of some, certainly not all of our local protein purveyors, all from whom I purchase meat.  I have met all of these farmers, ranchers and purveyors and trust them 100%.

I’ll attempt to list all of the locations where I know they are available, but this will not be exhaustive either, so click the name and it will link to their site.  Many on this list are available for delivery through Greenling and Farmhouse Delivery.

Richardson Farms, Grass-fed beef, pastured pork, chicken, turkeys (seasonally), and sausages.   SFC Farmer’s Markets downtown, Sunset Valley and at the Triangle, Barton Creek Farmer’s Market, and Waco Farmer’s Market, (Jim Richardson is a veterinarian, which gives me great comfort in how their animals are treated) (they also sell eggs, popcorn, wheat and sorghum flours, cornmeal and sesame seeds)

Hausbar Farms  Freedom Ranger Chickens - Boggy Creek Farm Farmstand

DearRun Land and Cattle Longhorn Beef - Boggy Creek Farm, Farmstand – All cuts of beef as well as Summer Sausage

Dewberry Hills Farms, pastured chickens, (and they are delicious) - SFC farmer’s market downtown and Sunset Valley

Thunderheart Bison, All cuts of grass-fed bison (including the hump!) -  SFC Farmer’s Market Downtown, Pearl Farmer’s Market, San Antonio

Full Quiver Farms, Grass-fed beef, whey fed pork – Barton Creek Farmer’s Market (they also make yogurts and some of the best farmstead cheeses I’ve ever had)

Windy Hill Organics, Goat, Beef, Lamb - HOPE Farmer’s Market

Countryside Farm, Duck, Guinea, Chicken - SFC Farmer’s Market Downtown and at the Triangle

Smith and Smith Farms, Chicken, Lamb, Eggs – SFC Farmer’s Markets downtown, Sunset Valley, Triangle, Cedar Park Farmer’s Market, Mueller Farmer’s Market  and Barton Creek Farmer’s Market

Peeler Farms, Chicken - HOPE Farmer’s Market

Bastrop Cattle Company - All cuts of delicious beef – HOPE Farmer’s Market, Mail Order Delivery over a certain amount, Bastrop Producer’s Market

Madrono Ranch  Bison - Boggy Creek Farm, People’s Pharmacy

Broken Arrow Ranch, Broken Arrow Ranch sells wild game such as boar, antelope, nilgai, and quail, online and ships

Salt and Time Butcher Shop and Salumeria  Austin’s newest brick and mortar butcher shop, which also specializes in-house cured salumis

Dai Due Butcher Shop  Dai Due doesn’t sell cuts of meat, per se, but makes delicious things with them, charcuterie, sausages, pates terrines and lots of other wonderfulness.  SFC Farmer’s Market downtown, and Mueller Farmer’s Market

Now days, you can buy all of the same cuts of beef, pork, chicken, lamb and goat that you’d be able to buy at the store, directly from the farmers/ranchers.  They come in plastic vacuum wrap, without the styrofoam and “juice catcher” pad underneath that you’d see in the store.  The meat is normally frozen as soon as it is processed, for maximum freshness.   Less packaging leads to less waste in the landfill, which is an awesome added bonus.

Consumers have choices, and hopefully, if you are looking for local proteins for you and your family, this will be a help.  Is it more expensive?  Yep.  Is it important enough for you to pay more?  That’s for you to decide.

Just so you know that I practice what I preach – a sampling from my freezer:

Thunderheart Bison

Bastrop Cattle Fajita Beef

Smith and Smith Lamb

Richardson Farms Ribs

For dinner last night, I quickly defrosted a slab of Richardson Farm’s Flank Steak, seasoned it with salt and Springdale Farm’s smoked pepper mix, seared it in a screaming hot cast iron skillet, for about 3 minutes on each side; let rest for 20 minutes, squeezed some lime over it,  then sliced thinly, and served on  Blanco Valley non-GMO corn tortillas, with some Full Quiver Cheddar and my own pickled jalapenos and pickled onions.  So easy and good.

No Grocery Store Challenge, Day 378 – BLT and Fajitas! January 14, 2011

Ok, I know I was said I was tired of typing “No Grocery Store Challenge, Day ___” , but in reality, I kind of miss it.  So, I’ll insert one every now and then when I get excited about a new find or meal.  Today was both.

For breakfast, fresh squeezed tangerine juice from the farmer’s market.  This will dwindle soon, as their season is nearing its end.  I’m contemplating ordering grapefruits and oranges from C&S Groves, but haven’t done so yet.  For lunch, I knew I wanted a BLT, but wanted to make it healthier than it could have otherwise been.  I had Barrie’s bread from Antonelli‘s Cheese Shop, an abundance of cheese as well, and some already cooked Kocurek Family Czech Bacon, local farm tomatoes and my garden lettuce.  In my cheese box, was some Pondhopper and it smelled like the perfect party with the bacon.

The result was the Pondhopper BLT.

Pondhopper Cheese

I cut off a smaller end of the Ciabatta than I wanted, but intended to load up on veggies.  I slathered on some Texas Olive Ranch olive oil, and toasted it in the oven.  The resulting sandwich was Kocurek Bacon, Pondhopper Cheese from Antonelli’s, a Milagro Farm’s tomato and my home grown lettuce. on toasted Barrie’s bread.  I can’t think of anything better.

BLT with add ons

If you salt and pepper the tomato and lettuce, it really makes a difference, as does toasting the bread.  Just sayin’.

So after too many errands to deal with this afternoon,  I finally stopped by the house around 3:00 to put some dried black beans in to simmer.  The beans were a gift from my oft mentioned friend Kristi, from one of her farmer’s market visits outside of Austin.

I dumped them into a pot of water, threw in some garden herbs, and the biggest smoked hock thing I’d ever seen, which was from Salt and Time.

smoked hock

I also threw in salt, pepper, chopped jalapenos, a bit of chopped green onion, and some chopped tomatoes.  Then, I left the house for 3 hours and they were almost perfect when I got back.

I then went out again for more chores, then turned them off and decanted them in to tupperware for later.

I met a friend at Bar Congress for a glass of wine, then home for dinner.  We also shared fried green tomatoes, an appetizer.

Then, I had thawed some Richardson’s Farms Fajita meat.

Richardson Farms Skirt Steak

It looked like a single package, but once out, if was a lot of meat, thinly sliced and tenderized.

Richardson Farms Skirt Steak

I seasoned it with salt, pepper, cumin and some red cayenne seasoning seared until it was medium rare.  I heated up a little of the black beans.

I built two beef fajitas with black beans, Full Quiver Cheddar and of course, a drizzle of Taco Deli dona, on two flour Tortillas from El Milagro on 6th Street.   Garnish is garden cilantro (from under its freeze protection). Voila! Fajita dinner!

Taco Dinner

And there are leftovers of everything!

The Egg Came First January 3, 2011

I’m accustomed to reporting my meals, so for breakfast, a piece of amazing quiche, made for us by my friend Rachelle, with Salt and Time  Lonzino on top, and a gluten free crust.  I’m still amazed at the crust and the quiche was delicious and greatly appreciated.

 

The Gift of Quiche

I’m trying to cook for my mom and aunt while my father is in the hospital. This has taken some planning, but I’ve learned a lot in the past year.  I had thawed a Smith and Smith Farms chicken for dinner.  We had a little jaunt out to Con’ Olio and Barnes and Noble in the Arborteum.  I picked up some Tuscan Herbed Olive Oil, and some Mushroom and Sage Olive Oil, and several cookbooks.

 

I brushed the chicken with Tuscan Herbed Olive Oil and baked it in the oven.  I sauteed some Kitchen Pride Mushrooms from the farmer’s market with some amazing huge green onions from Springdale Farm, and garden cilantro.  I tossed those in with some Lowell Farms rice and with some leftover salad, we called it dinner.

Celebrating Local Good Food Day, Thunderdogs and Quail December 19, 2010

Since I’m off count, I’ll just call this celebrating local Good Food day!  For Breakfast, Dai Due Wild Boar Chorizo, with scrambled Milagro Farms eggs on an El Milagro flour tortilla, with some Taco Deli Dona Sauce.  I was puttering around the house, wanting to cook, updating the blog, tweeting, doing laundry, pondering dinner for my folks and me, (they have eaten some odd food lately).  I was thinking I should pay a visit to HOPE Farmer’s Market, for their last market of the  year, but really being rather lazy.  Then, it happened.  HOPEAtx tweeted, Thunderdogs! from Salt and Time.  I was off like a light, knowing exactly what a Thunderdog would be.  My beloved Thunderheart Bison, worked into a hot dog.    So, I wasn’t hungry, but there it was:

Thunderdog!

I’ve been to the Salt and Time kitchen, twice, and installed a garden behind it.  I know how pristine it is, and what an amazing person Ben, is.  The thought of a hot dog, with no mystery meat, no chemicals, no preservatives and meat from a source  I know personally, and trust, and with Ben’s amazing pickle, it was delicious.  Look for new and good things coming soon for Salt and Time.

I had several ideas for a cooking afternoon.  I wanted to make a large dinner to share with my folks, so that they would have leftovers for tomorrow.  I opted for a mushroom theme, having in my possession Dai Due Chicken and Mushroom Sausage, Dai Due Bacon and Mushroom stuffed Quail, and Mushrooms from Kitchen Pride from the farmer’s market yesterday.  So, I got started.

I did a fairly small dice on the mushrooms, and also diced the last two of my home grown shallots, and some garden thyme.

Crimini Mushrooms

The last two garden shallots and garden thyme

Taking a clue from Bola Pizza‘s mushroom pizza, I first sauteed the shallots in some Kocurek duck fat, then added the mushrooms and some white wine and garden thyme.

Adding liquid to mushrooms always confuses me, because they release so much liquid of their own, and I didn’t want a liquid mess.  I actually thought I over did it, and poured some off, later realizing that it would have eventually cooked off if I had left it alone.

So, next up I took the Dai Due Chicken Mushroom sausages from their casings and sauteed until done.  Once done, I added the sausage to the mushroom mixture, and set it aside.

Chicken mushroom sausage with mushroom mixture

I realize this is looking like a lot of food, but that was the goal.  Dinner for me, my parents, and leftovers for them.  So quit hating.

Next up, the mushroom and bacon stuffed quail from Dai Due.  There were four.

Dai Due Stuffed Quail

I took them out of their package, rubbed them with olive oil, and salt and pepper, and put them in a 375 degree oven.

Next, I cut up a slice of Kocurek Czech bacon and cooked it in a separate pan, then started cleaning the Springfield Farm spinach.

Springfield Farm Spinach

By this time, the water was boiling with the Texas Pasta Company pasta in it, and I needed to make the sauce for the chicken sausage.  I was out of local cream, so I borrowed a cup from my parents.  I threw that in the mushroom and sausage mixture, with a little VeldHuizen Farms Paragon cheese, and some Full Quiver  Neufchatel, for thickening and a bit more flavor.  Once I drained the pasta, I doused it with about a tablespoon of Con’ Olio Porcini Olive Oil for depth.

Then, I took the stuffed quail out of the oven to rest.

Yum, Stuffed Quail

I gave the spinach a quick turn in the Kocurek bacon, until it had wilted a bit, then packed up the meal for my parents, with enough for leftovers.  After taking dinner up the street, I came home and ate mine.

All local dinner

Hallelujah.

No Grocery Store, Days 353-355 December 12, 2010

Yikes, I didn’t realize how far behind I had gotten!  Time flies in December.

Day 353, was very long and I started with some yogurt, made from raw milk by my friend Jamie.  I had to take my mom to 3 Dr. appointments through out the day – we were either driving, or waiting all day.  We had lunch at 34th street Cafe, since it is over near all the medical offices, and I had the BLT.  It was one of my favorite things I’ve gotten there.   I did get an exciting call mid-day, from Marla Camp, the publisher of Edible Austin.  I had won the Better Bites of Austin blogger gift basket!  So, I picked that up before the last Dr. visit of the day.  It was huge!  Filled with Texas Gourmet pasta, Reel Popcorn, Delysia Chocolate, Texas Olive Ranch Olive Oil, Nazareth Olive Oil, Gluten Free products from Bona Dea, Coffee from Third Coast Roasting and more.  It was a lovely treat on a difficult day, and I greatly appreciated it.  I skipped dinner.

Day 354, yogurt for breakfast, lunch was a Deli Belly taco and a Bison taco from Taco Deli.  These were their 2 Eat Local Week offerings, and they were both delicious.  For dinner I had the Reel Popcorn from my Better Bites basket.

Day 355, I had Bola Pizza breakfast pizza, which I shared with a couple of vendors at the Farmer’s Market.  Breakfast has been a struggle for me this whole year, not so when Bola hit the market.  It is so good, with Full Quiver Cheddar, Salt and Time Pancetta, red onion, and a perfectly cooked egg.  Genius.  No lunch to speak of, as I hosted a Holiday Shopping party that afternoon.  The afternoon’s snacks included cheese from Antonelli’s cheese, a Full Quiver cheese ball, some cookies and savory cheese wafers from Food Food, gluten free cookies from Bona Dea, and cheese paired with Confituras preserves.  I knew we would be cleaning up at dinner time and wouldn’t want to cook, so I brought home several curry dishes from Thai Fresh from the farmer’s market, that that was dinner.

So, there are less than two weeks left to my No Grocery Store Challenge.  I’ll be reflecting back on the year, and the lessons learned in a post in the next couple of weeks.    So much has happened in the last year, and I’ve met so many wonderful people who have inspired and helped me along the way.  I appreciate you all.

No Grocery Store, Day 312 November 9, 2010

Boring food day, still hobbled by this dang pinched nerve.  For lunch, I made egg salad with house made pickles, and Salt and Time jalapenos.  The jalapeno juice adds a nice kick to egg salad.

For dinner, I had thawed a Richardson Farms ribeye, intending to grill it on the Big Green Egg.  Hoisting a bag of charcoal to make a fire wasn’t in the cards, and I broiled it in the oven.  I’ve never cooked a steak in the oven before, as I’m an outdoor grill gal.  It wasn’t as good, but sufficed for dinner with some farmer’s market steamed broccoli.

No Grocery Store, Day 298 – Chefs Under Fire October 27, 2010

My friend Kristi invited me to be her guest at the finals of Chefs Under Fire, sponsored by The Keeper Collection, which occurred Monday night.   I was too tired from my weekend fun to manage breakfast, and took my mother to lunch at Guero’s, where I had the fish tacos.  I wasn’t expecting dinner, just snack food at the Chefs Under Fire event.  Upon arrival at the AT&T Conference Center, we were treated to passed appetizers, from which I had the pork belly bite, the ahi tuna, and the waygu beef.  All one bite appetizers prepared by Chef Josh Watkins, were phenomenal.  Once ushered into the the ballroom for the big event, shared plates were provided, which included cheese from Antonelli’s Cheese Shop, Pork Rillettes from Salt and Time, Ciabatta Bread from Amity Bakery, and preserves from Confituras.  This was lots of my favorite foods on one plate, and it was awesome.

Once the chef judges, David Bull, Tyson Cole, and Kent Rathbun had been served each of the dishes prepared by the 3 final contestants, all incorporating red snapper, swiss chard, and sweet potato into their creations, we were served similar portions of each, which had been prepared by students at the Culinary School.  It was a fun event, and at the end of the night, Chef Christina Lee was crowned the winner.

Bola Pizza Now Open for Catering October 6, 2010

I’ve been watching this new business, the brainchild of my friends Christian and Jamie , evolve over the last year, and now after much hard work, Bola Pizza is open for catering business. http://www.bolapizza.com

I have been eating this pizza for a year now, and have looked forward to monthly pizza nights with great anticipation.  Christian has spent the last three years perfecting his crust, his toppings, and his cooking temperature and times, and with the addition of the new (gorgeously tiled) wood burning mobile oven, has elevated this pizza beyond anything you likely have had before.

Using as many local ingredients as possible from Kocurek Family Artisinal Charcuterie, Salt and Time, Antonelli’s Cheese, and his own garden (and sometimes mine), Christian has brought truly gourmet pizza to Austin.  And it is delicious.

So, if you have a party or event coming up and want to blow your guests away with amazingly tasty wood fired pizza, give Bola Pizza a try!

No Grocery Store, Days 276 and 277 October 5, 2010

Day 276 was Sunday, my favorite day for breakfast.  So, I sauteed some garden onions, and scrambled 2 Vital Farms eggs into the onions then loaded them down with garlic chives and tarragon from my garden and finished them off with some grated Full Quiver Cheese, and a dollop of Dona Sauce from Taco Deli.  Not hungry for lunch, and having done paperwork all day, I was kidnapped by friends who thought I sounded a bit down.  They swooped me up and took me to Antonelli’s Cheese Shop, the site of all things happy, filled with love and amazing cheese.  I bought a bottle of wine and some Salt and Time Genoa Salami and we went and had ourselves a little outdoor picnic of yummy cheeses, wine and Barrie’s great bread.  We sampled some olive oils and called it dinner.  Perfect.

Day 277, after a chilly walk around Lady Bird Lake, I managed to eat 2 boiled eggs for breakfast.  I was still full and skipped lunch.  I had defrosted a Richardson Farms 7 Roast over the weekend.   Ever since my lunch at Whip- In last month, I’ve been craving Indian Food.  I didn’t know anything about this cut of roast, but I figured low and slow was called for, so I rubbed it down with Garam Masala spice, and Cayenne Pepper, seared it and put it in the slow cooker on high with several cups of water, garlic and garden onions.  After an hour, I turned it down to low and let it cook for about 5 hours, until the meat fell off the bone.  (The bones were my clue that this was a tougher cut of meat.) The house smelled wonderful, with those aromatic Indian spices.  I ate it with some Lowell Farms Jasmine rice, having no other vegetables in the house.   I took some pictures to share, but beef roast is a hard thing to photograph, so I’ll spare you.   Some of my photos remind me too much of James Lileks’ Gallery of Regrettable Food.  (http://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/)

I really need to explore Indian cooking more, because I find the smells and flavors absolutely intoxicating!

No Grocery Store, Days 269 and 270 September 28, 2010

Day 269- After a crazy birthday month filled with yummy food events, and our wild pig roast, I’m afraid I’m going to have to dial it down.  It started Sunday.  No breakfast.  Lunch was a pork soft taco, with leftover pig and a flour tortilla from El Milagro on 6th.   Dinner was pork loin and some Lowell Farms rice.

Day 270 – Again no breakfast.  Lunch was leftover pork and a couple of Kocurek Ringo Peppers stuffed with rillettes.  I bought these for the porkfest and never pulled them out of the fridge, there was so much other food here.  They are good.

At dinner time, I was at the Chef’s Under Fire competition at the Texas Beef Council, and there were snacks.  Salt and Time had Mortadella frank samples with pickled fennel, Genoa Salami with pickled eggplant, and the most amazing Beef Tounge Pastrami.  I’m not a big tounge person,  but this was really good.  Ranch 616 had a beef appetizer on a crostini, and a beef fajita bite.   It was a fun event!