Posts Tagged ‘Gathering Together Farm’
Burnheimer Meat Co. CSA Dispatch: Month One
Burnheimer Meat Co. CSA: Month 1 Box
Omnivorous flexitarian that I am, I still find myself in an off-again, on-again, feast or famine relationship with pork. It’s not the Jewish background: my Friedberg grandparents had their kosher friends over for ham. I’ve learned that meats as unctuous as pork–and all meats really–are best experienced as a condiment (with a nod to Thomas Jefferson and Chinese cuisine), used to compliment and flavor the fresh vegetables and whole grains that make up a bulk of one’s plates. Meat is a precious and rare resource, a great source of protein and sustenance that creates environmental challenges we can’t ignore. We should pay more for animals raised in a humane and Earth-friendly way, and eat less of that meat, with more reverence. With that spirit, this spring I signed up for our first (three-month) meat C.S.A.
First, I tackled the delicate duck breasts from Evergreen Creek Farms in Philomath. Brad promises me duck legs in April, so I can try my hand at confit.
Next time, I'll cure duck proscuitto. This time, just went with fennel-and-lavender-studded "Roasted Duck Breast with Bourbon-Braised Italian Prunes (I used cherries instead)," from Seattle chef Jason Wilson of Crush, included in Ivy Manning's standby "Farm to Table Cookbook."
At first, $80 a month (a $240 check) seemed a lot for three months of meat. But GTF charcuterie wiz Brad Burnheimer promised 10 lbs. of fresh cuts, sausages and bacon, from free-roaming heritage pigs. I picked my first box at Gathering Together Farm on March 2. Enclosed was the note:
Rhubarb Chutney
Rhubarb chutney.
I finally found a savory rhubarb recipe I like. It’s a sweet and sour chutney adapted from Gathering Together Farm here in Philomath. It was the perfect accompaniment for the local Carleton Farms boneless pork chops I had in the freezer. Or use it in place of mango chutney.
Here’s the receipe developed by GTF’s acclaimed chef, JC Mersmann, a charcuterie enthusiast who worked at Chez Panisse. In place of the orange zest, I used fresh kumquats snagged at Trader Joe’s and substituted dried apricots for currants. I wonder how this chutney would do canned?
Rhubarb Chutney
Makes about 4 cups
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 1/2 cinnamon sticks
1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange peel
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
4 1/2 cups coarsely chopped rhubarb (from 1 3/4 lbs. rhubarb)
3/4 cup dried currants
4 green onions, chopped
Stir first six ingredients in heavy large saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves and mixture boils. Add rhubarb, currants and green onions; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until rhubarb is tender but not falling apart, about 4 minutes. Cool to room temperature. Discard cinnamon. Cover and refrigerate chutney until cold, at least 1 hour. (Can be made up to 2 days ahead. Keep refrigerated.) Bring to room temperature before serving.
Chutney with a pork chop and escarole.
Valentine’s Day on the Farm
Mocha Brownie Torte with Raspberry Coulee
We really need to start cooking in for Valentine’s Day. We know restaurants exploit the Hallmark holiday, usually charging a premium that makes the meal cost more than it’s worth. But we couldn’t resist a chance to return to our favorite local farm, which had a dinner tonight though it is closed for the off-season through March.
Gathering Together has an informal ambiance: mismatched plates, they don’t replace silverware between courses, etc., but the food couldn’t be better and features the freshest local meats and produce. Meat tonight included a “Crispy Sweets with Honey Mustard Dip” appetizer. No, those sweets weren’t a succulent vegetable, but tempera-fried veal brains (the thalamus). The grey matter was moist and tasty, similar to sweetbreads (pancreas). Most memorable was the beet “ravioli” salad with chevre, orange, mizuna and pistachios. Instead of pasta, thin slices of beet sandwiching a lump of the goat cheese formed the ravioli. A playful trompe d’oeil, hmm?
It also revived the spirits to dress up in an actual dress and heeled boots. I put on some real make-up for the first time in months! Fashion is about the last thing one worries about in Oregon. Though I might have a wardrobe crisis when I return to New York next month.
Beet Ravioli
Crispy Sweets
Last fall day on the farm
Lunch at Gathering Together Farm before it closes for winter.
- Happiness.
The near perfect weather (nearly 60 degrees with the rare absence of rain) inspired us to head to neighboring Philomath today for lunch at the Gathering Together Farm cafe. They shut down to the public this weekend and will only sell at the Corvallis Farmers Market for a few more weeks. What will we do here come December, January, February and March?
We shared too nutmegy kabocha squash soup, a rabbit-lamb-pork sausage and red sauerkrat plate and a salad with bok choi-like greens. The laid-back garden cafe borders the farm stand and has an open tandoor clay oven.
What will you miss most this winter?
Gathering Together is one of the true gems here. Having brunch there in September right after we moved made me feel more at ease here. Maybe I should try to work there?
BaltimOregon to Maine 