Gail in front of a freezer full of Fattoria!

As anyone who’s been to Evergreen Natural Foods in Crescent Valley knows, there are many treasures and treats to be found there; and Gail is one of them.  She’s been with Evergreen for almost 18 years (!!), and has been such a great supporter of Fattoria Local Foods.  Gail understands that when dealing with small farms, supply isn’t always at hand, and she is so patient and flexible.  She’s also such a pleasure to be around, and is definitely part of the magic of that lovely neighborhood grocery store.

I dropped her off a package of the italian sausages i’m now having made by Dave and Carolyn at Legendary Meats with Rock Creek pork, and she happily reported back to me that she made a pasta with it that her husband claims is the best she’s ever cooked up.  The recipe follows, and although i haven’t made it myself yet (this weekend!), i know we’re in good hands.

So stop by Evergreen and pick up some of my italian sausage, try this recipe out, let me know what you think…and make sure you say hi to Gail, and thank her for making local, humanely raised, all grass fed beef and natural, free range pork so readily available!

Jen

xo

SAUSAGE AND EGGPLANT PASTA

1 lb package Fattoria/Rock Creek pork Italian sausage

1 lb eggplant (salted and drained)

3 portabello mushrooms

1 lg onion

2 – 3 cloves garlic

Saute veggies and sausage.  Add:

4 cups tomato sauce (canned, fresh, or a combination is best)

1 bay leaf

2 T fresh or 2 t dry basil

1 t dried oregano

Simmer at least 1 hour.  Remove sausage, cut up, and return to sauce.  Serve over a substantial pasta, such as rotini or penne.

the delicious caitlin s

this dreamy recipe comes from my cousin caitlin, and you know that the ones passed among family members are always the best.   caitlin and her husband alex have a knack for finding the most obscure and delicious places to eat,  as well as  finding recipes like this.    caitlin also looooves love, and  possesses that remarkable ability to get you excited about and enjoying the simplest things.   trust me, she’s about to get you really excited about short ribs.

this recipe is so easy, and you will not believe the results.  the meat truly falls off the bone, and is sweet, savoury and sticky.  it’s the perfect dish for guests;  the prep is so quick, then pop it in the oven for hours and spend your time out of the kitchen and instead guzzling wine, smugly awaiting the sweet sweet praise you know is heading your way.

i bought a cheeeeap bottle of port ($10!) and had fantastic results, so don’t worry, no need to spend a lot .  a great idea is to stockpile the short ribs from your packages; there is usually only one per package, so wait until you have a few on hand.

SHORT RIBS WITH RED WINE AND PORT
8 lb short ribs, cut lenthwise or in large chunks
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 carrots, diced
1 cup port or dry red wine
3 sprigs fresh thyme
2 cups dry red wine
2 cups beef stock, chicken stock or water
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1) Pat shortribs dry and season generously with salt and pepper.
2) Heat oil in a large Dutch oven (or really big heavy-bottomed pot) over medium-high heat. Add shortribs in batches and brown well on all sides (this will take 10-15 minutes.) Remove meat from pan.
3) Discard all but 2 tbsp fat from pan. Add onions, garlic and carrots. Cook until slightly browned and tender, about 10 minutes.
4) Add port and thyme. Cook for 5 minutes, or until reduced to 1/4 cup.
5) Add wine, bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Add stock.
6) Return shortribs to pan. Liquid should come halfway up sides of meat. Cover shortribs with parchment paper and then with a tight lid or heavy foil.
7) Cook shortribs in a preheated 350F oven for at least 2 1/2 to 3 hours or longer, or until meltingly tender. Remove meat from pan.
Strain juices and remove fat. If juices have not reduces enough, boil on stove until you have about 2 cups. Add shortribs and reheat thoroughly. Serve sprinkled with parsley.

i’d love it if you stopped by the slocan valley co-op tomorrow between 11:30 and 5 to try out some of the recipes i’ve been posting here on my blog.  i’ll be doing a tasting there to give people an opportunity to try this wonderful beef, as well as to have conversations  about eating locally and humanely.  will be taking orders for residential packages as well.  see you tomorrow!

here’s a retro favourite…swedish meatballs!

i’ve made this a couple times for friends in the last couple of months, and both times everyone went a little nutso for them.  funny, it’s a simple recipe, but very satisfying and flavorful.  the nutmeg and allspice in the meatballs really make them…magic!  the recipe calls for ground pork as well as ground beef; that’s up to you.  finding naturally raised pork is really difficult…just replace the pork with more fattoria ground beef if you can’t. 

SWEDISH MEATBALLS

4 tbsp olive oil (approximately)

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

2 tsp salt

1 lb ground beef

1 lb ground pork

3 large eggs

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1 tsp white pepper

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

3 tbsp flour

2 cups beef broth

1/2 cup sour cream (i used light sour cream)

2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

heat about 1 tsp of oil in a large non stick skillet, add the onions with a pinch of the salt and cook until onions are soft.  remove onions from pan and let cool.

in a bowl, combine ground beef and pork, eggs, breadcrumbs, remaining salt, pepper, allspice, nutmeg and cooled onions.  mix by hand until all ingredients are well incorporated.

using wet hands, roll meatball mixture into balls a little smaller in size than a golf ball.  there should be about 50 in the end.

in the same skillet used for the onions, heat oil a drizzle at a time over medium heat to saute meatballs in batches until well browned on all sides, about 8 to 10 minutes per batch. 

once all meatballs are cooked, get out a whisk and , using the same skillet (and all the drippings!) heat up 3 tbsp of oil.  add flour, whiskt ogether and cook for about 2  mintues, or until nutty-smelling and light brown.  gradually stream in beef broth as you whisk away and sauce begins to thicken..cook for 10 to 15 mintues more, then add sour cream and give another good stir.  taste for seasoning. 

place meatballs in serving dish and pour gravey overtop,  add chopped parsley for garnish.

i served them with  roast garlic mashed potatoes, but rice or spaetzle would be great too.

i really am so passionate about these residential packages i’m selling.

i wanted to make it as affordable ($150),  and as easy as possible, in the hopes of getting ALL of you eating this beef.  the packages are 25 pounds, and size wise, come in a box that will fit into the freezer above your fridge, no problem.  with room to spare.  

i’ll bring it right to your door.  no matter where you are in the west kootenays. 

i evenly distribute cuts from the whole animal among the packs; this guarantees you’ll have higher end cuts, as well as less popular ones.  it also guarantees that the whole animal is being used.  this is important because more cows have to be killed to satisfy specific tastes people may have…we all usually gravitate to only one or two different cuts.  this way, less cows killed.   and along the way, i know you’re going to discover, just like i did, so many different and fabulous ways to cook with those cuts you used to shy away from…short ribs??  delicious, as it turns out!

this is the first time i’ve ever had this much frozen beef at my fingertips, and i’m loving it.  i’m cooking more often, more creatively, and having people over for dinner more often.   

and, most importantly, i feel really good about what i’m eating.  i know these animals didn’t suffer, i know that they were not pumped full of antibiotics in a terrible feedlot.  i know they were fed only grass, what they were meant to eat.  i know the farmer is being paid what he should be for the incredible dedication and hard work farming requires.  AND i know it’s so delicious!  you won’t be choking this down in the name of all that’s good, you’ll be so thrilled that on top of everything else, it’s the best beef you’ve had.

 so, call me at 250*505*7765, and let’s do this!  let’s make a difference together.

i owe miss sarah fawcett for this, well, stunning discovery actually.

she agreed to help me experiment with round steak: this is a cut you’re going to find in your residential packs that is almost fat free.  this makes it a nice lean cut, but one that needs a bit of doctoring to tenderize.   i told her that after googling up a storm, the one recipe that kept coming up over and over again was for chicken fried steak (a texan favourite), and we obviously didn’t want to make that.  have you ever had a chicken fried steak, she asked?  no, i hadn’t.  well, she replied, maybe it’s delicous.

as it turns out, no maybe about it.  despite my intent to try to stick to inventive, relatively healthy recipes, all that was thrown out the window with this recipe, and…no regrets.  au contraire mon frere…which reminds me,  my brother david backed up the idea by being reduced to a giddy fool at the mere memory of the chicken fried steak he had years ago (when he was stuck in florida for days after 9/11, actually).

it’s easy to make, inexpensive, and ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS.  in case you’re a little skeptical, it’s really a schnitzel, but with this incredible white gravy.  not the kind of dish you’re going to want to serve up often, but it’s sure to become a guilty pleasure. 

just make this.  trust me. 

CHICKEN FRIED STEAK

you’ll need:

round steak (1 good sized steak will feed four people; you take to it with a meat mallet)

3 eggs

approx. 1 1/2 cups flour

garlic powder

paprika

salt and pepper

olive oil  (or vegetable oil)

2 cups whipped cream (but you could probably use half and half and get really similiar results)

fresh thyme

white gravy

Cut the round steak into 4 pieces.  Place it between wax paper (or saran wrap) and pound it with the mallet.  go nuts.  this process, besides thinning out the meat, tenderizes it by breaking down the fibers and connective tissues. 

On a plate, combine flour with paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  I eyeballed this, but probably used about a teaspoon of the powder and paprika, and then seasoned normally with s & p.  In a larger soup bowl, beat the eggs, and season with salt and pepper as well.    Dredge the meat in the flour, then the eggs, then back in the flour again.

While you’re doing this, heat a healthy amount of olive oil in a frying pan, a quarter cup or so.  We used olive oil, but Sarah pointed out that oo tends to burn and smoke a bit more than vegetable oil, but it’s your choice.  The oil has to be really hot; you want the meat to have a big sizzle when you put it in.

Fry the meat approximately 2 minutes on each side…it doesn’t take long.  As soon as each side was a golden crispy brown we took it out.  It’s best to do one at a time; as you finish one place it in your oven, preheated to 250, on your broiler pan to allow any extra oil to drip off.

When you’re finished frying the meat, you should have about 3 tbsp of oil left.  Remove some oil if there’s too much.  To the oil add about 1 tbsp of flour.  Whisk it into the drippings until it gets brown and nutty, about a minute.  Ours turned into little brown balls, which we were obviously concerned about, but it was fine.  Slowly add the whipped cream to the pan, bringing to a gentle boil to thicken.  Salt and pepper VERY important here.  Season!  Add chopped fresh thyme for the last few minutes of cooking.  

hello lovah

Spoon gravy over the meat.  We served it with these fantastic little “gnochetti”s we found at safeway; just boil and toss with butter and salt and pepper.

okay, writing that recipe out makes me want to go and cook some more up right this minute.   i get it now, David.

gerry from bibo has been wonderful to work with.  he’s open to whatever cut i have available, and then works his magic.  this recipe is a little bit of that magic!

bibo!

there’s about 20 minutes of chopping involved at the beginning, and then you can walk away for hours and come back to some serious yummy.  what’s great about this recipe as well is that it utilizes those fattoria roasts you’re not sure what to do with.

i replaced the dates with dried figs, only because there were no dates at the store i was in.  they were gorgeous, i’d suggest giving them a go.

so prepare to be wowed.  and get down to bibo to enjoy more of gerry’s truly inspired food; we’re so lucky to have such a talent and such a special restaurant here in our little town.

TUNISIAN STEW OF EGGPLANT AND CRESTON BEEF
MAKES 6 SERVINGS

2 lbs Creston Blade Roast, heavy connective tissue and fat removed and cut in 1” cubes
Kosher salt
3 tbsp. Olive Oil
1 onion
2 celery sticks
28 oz canned peeled Roma tomatoes
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
3 cloves of garlic, minced
Small knob of ginger, minced
2 cups beef or chicken stock (enriched perhaps with the trim from the roast)
Handful of pitted dates

2 large eggplants
2 tbsp. minced parsley
½ cup roasted whole almonds, coarsely chopped

everystockphoto

Cut the roast up into 1” cubes and spread the meat out on a plate or in a large bowl to dry and come up
to room temperature. Salt the meat liberally.

Meanwhile cut up the onion and celery into medium dice. Mince your garlic and ginger; add this to the tomatoes along with the spices. Heat a large skillet over medium-high and when the pan is hot add half the olive oil and only enough of the dry and warm meat
so as not to over crowd the pan.  Preheat the oven to 325 °F.  Leave the meat to sear for about a minute, then flip it and leave another minute.

Transfer the seared meat to a roasting pan or Dutch oven and repeat the searing process with the rest of the beef, adding more oil if needed. After you have seared all the meat, reduce the heat to medium and add the onion and celery to the same pan. Add some salt. Sautee until the onions and celery are nicely coloured, perhaps adding some more oil. Deglaze with the stock.  Add the contents of the skillet to the beef in the pan, along with the tomato mixture and a teaspoon of salt. Put the stew, uncovered, in the oven and set a timer for one hour.

While the stew is cooking peel the eggplant and cut it in 1” pieces. Put the eggplant in a colander and salt heavily. Let the eggplant sit for half an hour or so and then rinse in cold water. Fry the eggplant, in two or three batches in a little olive oil and then add to the stew, along with the dates at the one hour mark. Taste the stew; probably needs a little more salt. After adding the dates and cooked eggplant to the stew, leave it to cook for another hour.

Remove the stew from the oven, check the seasoning and then serve topped with the almonds and parsley.

this is my first entry in a section of my blog i’m calling “life changers”.

these will be the things i’ve stumbled across that i can’t live without.  they may be recipes, products, a recipe book, a certain dish at a restaurant…who knows!  maybe not always “meat” related, but all must haves that i’m excited to share.  and hey…what are yours?

a little bit of heaven

this first one is the one thing i MUST have in my kitchen.  i was lucky enough to spend a few months in italy, and the olive oil there was something i’d never experienced before.  sigh. when i got home i embarked on a mission to find an olive oil here in canada that matched the crazy goodness of what i’d had daily there.  many bottles later…taa daah!!

PRIMO OLIO.

the good news is you can get it right here in the west kootenays, at star grocery in trail.  have you been out to star grocery?  if not, it’s so worth the drive.  many of their products are imported right from italy, and are true to what you find on the grocery shelves there.  they also have a selection of cheeses that i don’t think you’ll find anywhere else in this area.

this olive oil is so beautiful that you can toss pasta with only it, and some fresh grated parm/regg  (add garlic, or some fresh herbs like arugula too if you like) and you have a fantastic meal.  but my best tip, one i learned in italy:

true bruschetta (prounounced brew*sket*ta…the mispronunciation of this word is a strange pet peeve of mine) is toasted baguette, rubbed with a garlic clove, and then drizzled with primo olive oil and a sprinkle of salt.  you’re going to love me for this one!

and while you’re in trail?  come on, the colander of course.