Meeting Our Meat
For the past year and a half, we have belonged to the Chestnut Farms Meat CSA. Over the past several years, I’ve been reading quite a bit about meat (including beef, pork, and chicken) that comes out of the large agribusiness corporations. Since I started cooking for myself in college, I’ve never eaten that much meat, but the disturbing pictures exposed in the books caused me to step back and reconsider eating any at all.
I shared some of the books with Howard. We discussed various options. One thing we were sure about was that we didn’t want to become complete vegetarians. One option, of course, is to eat less meat. At home, between the two of us, we only eat three to five pounds a month. We’re on the higher end in the summer because we like to grill when the weather is nice. We eat less meat in the colder months when we make more stews and casseroles, and I will often double the vegetables and beans and halve the meat.
Another option was to seek out local farmers that raise animals in a humane and sustainable way. These animals would be pasture-fed, leading a healthy outdoor life. Pasture-fed meat costs more per pound, but if we’re eating less of it, it’s not extravagant. In the summer, it’s easy to find farmers at the local farmers’ markets, but, year-round, the options are more limited.
Fortunately for us, we were able to join Chestnut Farms Meat CSA. Each month, we go to a parking lot in Arlington Center where we meet Farmer Kim and pick up a cooler filled with 10 pounds of frozen assorted meats, including beef, pork, chicken, and in the fall, lamb. Occasionally, we can also purchase goat or additional cuts, bones and offal for the dog, and, if we get there early enough, there are also farm fresh eggs. For Thanksgiving, there is also an option to order a fresh turkey.
After a few months, we realized, the meat supply was building up in the freezer as we don’t eat 10 pounds a month. This was solved by finding a friend to share our share. We now alternate monthly pickups and it’s working out much better. At this point, at least 90% of the meat we eat at home is from Chestnut Farms.
Sunday, we took a trip to Chestnut Farms for their semi-annual Open Barn Day. The drive to Hardwick, in Central Massachusetts, was lovely. I think we’re past peak foliage, but the colors were still nice. I also spotted a hawk hanging out on top of a dead tree stump, a huge pumpkin patch, and a few glimpses of the Quabbin Reservoir (our water supply).
We parked the car, Kim gave us a map and some directions, and we set out to explore the farm. In the barn, there were sows with recently-born piglets nursing. There were also some young cows and sheep and a giant boar. We patted them all. Farmer Rich let me go into a pen with some baby pigs, but they were afraid of me until I crouched down to their height. There were also some week and a half year old Araucana chicks, the kind that lays blue eggs. I held one of the baby chicks for a while. So cute!
In the pasture, we also saw the pigs and two kinds of goats, earless La Mancha and Boer with floppy ears. The pigs and goats happily ate our spent apple cores. We also visited the turkeys getting ready for Thanksgiving.
They’ve set up an old schoolbus as a chicken coop for laying hens. The door is open so the hens can go in and out during the day. At night, they get locked up, safely away from predators.
We had an enjoyable afternoon visiting Kim, Rich, and Chestnut Farms. It is reassuring to see for ourselves that the animals that eventually become our meat have lived good lives and thrive under Kim and Rich’s stewardship. It confirms for us that the choices we have made about the meat we eat feel right for us. And one thing I forgot to mention, the meat is really delicious!
If you are interested in reading some of the books we’ve read, a bibliography is listed here.
French Fridays with Dorie: Vietnamese Spicy Chicken Noodle Soup
Last week when I had the tart finished by Thursday, I decided it was better to make the recipe for FFwD earlier in the week, leaving more time to write the post, so I organized myself to make this week’s recipe on Sunday. Unfortunately, my great plans for being organized went south (as they typically do).
Sunday afternoon, I was ready to start making Hachis Parmentier. After a quick visit the website, I realized that Hachis Parmentier is next week’s recipe. Oops. This week we are supposed to make the Vietnamese Spicy Chicken Noodle Soup. Because I had thawed the meat, that meant I had to make both. Oh, well. I’ll be very prepared next week because I’ve already made the recipe.
This week was pretty crazy. I wasn’t home for dinner most nights. Tuesday night, my book group had an outing to Harvard Square to hear Paul Harding read and answer questions about his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Tinkers, which we read back in August. He was an entertaining speaker, and it was fascinating to hear him talk about his path to becoming a writer.
Wednesday was the annual evening meeting for the Lexington Field & Garden Club. The program was an informative talk about the landscape of the nearby Minuteman National Historical Park. I had no idea how much the park has transformed the area over the past 30 years as major parts of the landscape have been restored to resemble the Minutemen’s surroundings during the fateful day of April 19, 1775. Trees have been cut down, asphalt roads have been dug up, and post-1920 suburban homes have been razed. I was most interested in the Park Service’s efforts to work to keep the agrarian traditions alive within the park’s boundaries. They land lease sections of the available pasture to local farmers. My favorite bit of information is the proper identification of the funky cows that graze on Route 2A. Initially, I was sure they were yaks. Later, I was convinced they were actually oxen. I learned that they are actually shaggy Highland Cattle.
Then, last night, I went to the movies with my movie buddy Jennifer. Out of an uninspiring field of current movies, we picked The Social Network, a movie about the origins of Facebook. It was much better than I expected. Even though he was a Harvard student, the Mark Zuckerberg character reminded me of so many of my classmates at MIT. Actually, all the computer geeks in the movie reminded me much more of MIT students than any Harvard students I’ve ever met.
Back to the soup. I made the broth on Monday night, but we didn’t get around to eating the soup until tonight (Friday’s) dinner. The comments from FFwDers that made the soup earlier in the week were mixed, so I wasn’t sure whether I’d like it. I did. Howard gave it “4 spoons out of 5”. I though the soup was perfect for the plentiful chilly days that have arrived for October in New England.
I used frozen homemade chicken stock, so it started with a flavorful base. The broth smelled amazing as it simmered. Based on the recipe, I was a little unsure what to do with the cheesecloth bundle and whether to strain the chopped vegetables from the broth. I was making the broth ahead, so I opted to remove the bundle and leave all the veggie bits. Like others, I was also unsure what two points of star anise meant. I ended up using two whole stars, but the flavor wasn’t too strong.
I had both fine rice vermicelli and wider rice sticks in the pantry. I opted for the rice vermicelli. I liked the texture, and they cooked really fast.
I served our soup accompanied by fresh mint (which I still have in my herb garden), lime wedges, bean sprouts, and some extra chopped cilantro. I had harvested the last of my basil last weekend. While I now have a large bag of chopped basil cubes in the freezer, that wasn’t going to work in this soup, so I skipped the basil. We also used the suggested condiments, adding a dab of hoisin sauce and a drizzle of hot chili oil to our bowls.
I’ll definitely make this soup again. I’m looking forward to leftovers for lunch tomorrow. I liked all the flavors. There’s not much I’d change about it. I’d probably use less chicken and experiment with adding some vegetables.
By the way, the reason I’m not including the recipe is that one of the rules for French Fridays with Dorie is that I’m not supposed to post the recipes. If you think a recipe sounds appealing, you can buy the book, or you can come for dinner.
A Plateful of Happiness 