Wednesday, November 27, 2013

The Secret To Groovy Gravy At Thanksgiving

Pasture to plate, farm to table, nose to tail, and let's not forget my favorite--heads & feet--when it comes to
How does your turkey stock stand up?
poultry, it's time once again to take a good, hard look at not only how we vote with our food dollars, but how we reduce waste by extracting as much nutrients as possible from the animals that have given their lives to sustain us. Today, more people are making the switch from inhumanely, industrial-raised, antibiotic and chemical laden to locally, pasture-raised with non-GMO birds that  have not been mutilated, trucked  hundreds (if not thousands) of miles and have met with the most gruesome of end only be to dunked in toilet bowl cleaner, embalming fluid and acid to reduce the super bugs harbored in their inflamed digestive and respiratory tracts.
Rich stock from heads & feet makes the BEST gravy

Almost twenty years ago, I began raising heritage turkeys in the foothills of the Ojai Valley where they feasted on stone fruits, citrus and avocados that fell from the trees in the orchard I lived. I only raised about two dozen, enough for myself, neighbors, friends and co-workers. Bourbon Reds were my favorites, but no matter what I did they never developed the larger breasts that everyone associated with their holiday meal. But they were tasty!

Butchering day was always balmy, usually in the high 60's, low 70's. We'd set out two pots of scalding water on the Camp Chef Cooker so that when one got foul and cool a fresh one was ready. A bottle (or two) of great wine, good music and my helper was always sent home with the bird of their choice for their own holiday meal.

"What you do wit da feet?" my Thai co-worker asked when I put up the sign for turkey delivery at the software company where I was working at the time.

"Dog treats," I responded.

"No, no, no...I want them, all of them," she responded in earnest. And so when delivery day arrived, so did a bag of forty severed bird legs.

On the following Monday I returned to the office to find a fifty dollar bill on my desk with a note of thanks. While that had been the average price for a whole bird, I was a bit taken back by the amount for....well, what I had considered the scraps.

All clean & ready to simmer.
Upon trying to return the money to my co-worker, she insisted while tearing up. "That was the best time my family had since leaving Thailand. We hid them into movies and ate. Just like home. Feet and  heads, best parts."

"Heads?" I questioned.

"Oh yeah, make best soup, very good!" she responded excitedly. Seeing as her husband owned one of the best Thai restaurants in town, I could hardly disagree.

As the years rolled by and I purchased a farm and raised more turkeys, my curiosity got the better of me. At first, I started making stock from the feet. The first time I did it I realized that I failed to properly clean the feet as I shared pictures with my Thai friend.

Just like taking off a glove.
"Why you no clean feet first? You put them in pot dirty," she admonished me, "You peel dem first, take off toenails." I felt like a fool, but lesson learned.

And so as the years went by, I began to clean the feet and include them along with the rest of the giblets. If customers didn't want them, they could simply toss them out or feed them to their dog. But for some reason, the mention of heads just stuck in my mind.

Fast forward a few years to the advent of the Paleo/Primal movement and the maturing of the sustainability movement. The more I learned about the nutritional benefits of the parts that normally get tossed out, the more I began to experiment. Bone broth became standard fare in my home not just for its culinary attributes but as a health elixir.

As I became more deeply in tune with the animals I was raising, the mindfulness that they were giving up their lives, the choice to limit what I wasted, I toyed with the idea of those heads again and asked my processor to save the heads along with my hearts, livers, gizzards, necks and feet. They came back in a bag, but were fed to the dogs as treats instead. I felt like a failure.

But when I started using a new processor this season for my poultry, he asked if I wanted to keep the heads as well as the feet. I said, "yes" and then I began cooking them down for stock in my crock pot.

Wow. Wow...effing, wow!  It was one thing to eat the feet, but the combs, the wattles, the snoods! What incredible stock I made throughout the season and here I was at Thanksgiving wanting to simmer down those big, fat heads along with the feet this year, but there was only one problem....I didn't raise any turkeys.

Yep....I'd opted for raising a dozen batches of broilers this year instead of my little T. rexes as I like to call them. There's only so much Hoop Coop space and pasture to go around. Either I could do broilers or I could do turkeys, but I couldn't do both.
Popping off the outer nail.

Given that the local Amish and Mennonites have gotten into the turkey act, I figured I'd let their numerous brood take care of the labor instead of me. Plus, at all my metropolitan markets there were plenty of people raising turkeys to the point I didn't feel as if I'd be letting down any of my customers. Instead, they got a steady stream of fresh broilers throughout the market season. Worked for me.

Although I had procured my bird from a fellow farmer, I'd failed to asked for the feet and heads so I contacted my processor whom I knew was dispatching my organic feed dealer's holiday birds. Yes, they did not want their feet and heads. Yes, I could have them. Score!

But when I picked up my goodies, I realized that neither the heads nor feet had been prepared for simmering. This is one thing that many producers fail to inform their customers about...how to ready heads & feat for making the BEST stock they will ever have.

Heads....while they may be devoid of feathers, one must still give them a good scrubbing to remove all the external dermis. Additionally, the outer beak and chitinous membrane in the nostrils is also easily removed after scalding.

Feet.....turkeys are, indeed, little T. rexes. Their feet are scaled just like reptiles. Prior to cooking, one must remove the outer scales and the toe nails. It's practically like taking off a glove. If the toe nails don't come off as easy as you would like, simply use a regular ol' dinner knife to pop them off from the nail bed which will yield the most awesome gelatin for your stock. Sound gross? Wait until you make the gravy and don't need any flour to thicken it to a silky consistency.

I know this may be too much for the everyday consumer, but for those of you who are really concerned about sustainability, animal welfare and most importantly, your own health, when you purchase a turkey (or chickens) from your favorite local farmer, next time make sure to ask for the heads & feet!


The scales from cleaned feet.

The bones from a batch of broth.
Filtering the broth.
For all the people who have called or asked me how to make the best Thanksgiving gravy ever, here is my recipe. I like to make a double batch (ie. a full quart) so there are enough leftovers for my favorite post-Thankgiving leftover delight of Waffles & Gravy.

Sandra's Groovy Gravy Recipe
2 cups Turkey Broth
1/4 cup pan scrapings (optional, if you want a smoother gravy)
1/2 cup of either white wine or cider (pear cider makes an out-of-the-ballpark gravy)
1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
Salt & Pepper

In a sauce pan, bring the broth and scrapings to a simmer. Thoroughly mix the arrowroot powder with the wine/cider and then whisk into the simmering broth. Stir until gravy reaches desired consistency. Season to taste.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Veal Chop with Pears & Brussel Sprouts

My favorite time of year at farmers market is when the fresh brussel sprouts begin to arrive. Sometimes they're still attached to the stalk with that wonderful cabbage-like tuft on top {TIP: don't toss it out, it's delicious and some farmers even harvest them to sell separately} or already cut off and sold by the pint or quart ready to be tossed into a pan. Really want to have fun with them? Add them to a batch of fermenting veggies. Additionally, fall also brings about the harvest of the veal calves and the arrival of pears, apples, quinces and freshly-pressed ciders. 
This dish is my go-to meal throughout the fall months when I need something quick and easy.  For anyone who laments, "It's just me," that's no excuse not to eat healthy and locally produced foods from your farmers market. This meal took about five minutes to prepare and ten minutes to cook and costs about the same that one would pay for a half-decent sandwich at a deli.

Veal Chop with Pear & Brussel Sprouts
 
Ingredients:
1 Painted Hand Farm Veal Chop (rib or loin)
1 tablespoons butter
1 small shallot, minced
1 fresh pear, peeled & cubed
1 cup fresh brussel sprouts, cut in half
2 tablespoons fresh cider
Salt & Pepper
 
Instructions:
In a skillet, brown one side of seasoned chop using half of the of butter (about five minutes). Turn chop and add shallot brussel sprouts and pear with remaining butter. Saute three minutes, add cider, cover pan and simmer for 3-5 more minutes. For variations, try using leeks instead of shallots, apple instead of pear and Calvados or white wine instead of apple cider. Cranberries & orange juice are also a delicious combination to dress up your chops. 

Enjoy!

Friday, November 15, 2013

A Delicious & Easy Fall Dinner

 This is one of my favorite fall meals because it is quick, easy and all the ingredients are readily available this time of year at the farmers market. Most of all, I enjoy experimenting with all the different types of wonder artisan and farmstead cheeses and charcuterie. Or try switching out the spinach for something a little tangier like fall mustard greens. Or give your squash an Asian flair with toasted sesame oil and ginger.  Any way you choose,  humanely-raised rose veal cutlets make a quick and delicious meal.

Stuffed Veal Cutlets with Roasted Winter Squash
Prep time - 30 minutes
Serves: 2

Ingredients
  • 2 veal cutlets
  • 1 small winter squash, such as butternut or acorn, peeled, cut into 1.5 inches thick pieces 
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
  • 1 teaspoon maple syrup or honey
  • 2 slices cured ham
  • 8 spinach leaves, trimmed, washed, dried
  • 2 ounces artisan cheese, sliced
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400 °F.
  2. Toss squash with one tablespoon olive oil, salt, pepper, maple syrup and rosemary.
  3. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper.
  4. Arrange the squash on prepared tray. Bake on top shelf of preheated oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown and tender.
  5. Meanwhile, place a piece of veal on a clean work surface.
  6. Top with a slice of cured ham, four spinach leaves and a slice of cheese.
  7. Fold over to enclose filling and secure with a toothpick. Repeat with the remaining veal, ham, spinach and cheese.
  8. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium high heat.
  9. Add veal and cook for 2-3 minutes each side or until brown. Transfer to a baking tray and cover with foil.
  10. Bake in oven for a further 5 minutes or until hot. Remove from oven.
  11. Place veal on serving plates and serve with winter squash.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

PART FIVE: VEAL--Getting It On The Plates

This is the fifth and final installment of a five-part of posts regarding veal production for small-scale farms and why educated eaters dedicated to local foods and sustainable agriculture should be eating veal as well as beef.

SALES & MARKETING

The two questions I most often encounter are
  1. How do you figure out how to price the veal?
  2. How and who do you market to?
Let's address question #1 first.

Determining Price
One of the best workshops I ever attended at the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture's annual Farming for the Future conference was given by Mike and Chick Debach, owners and operators of Leona Meat Plant.   In their presentation, they broke down the numbers associated with processing animals adding into the formulas those things I had previously never considered such as shrink (the amount of moisture a carcass loses when it hangs), cut-out (fat, connective tissue, bones) and transportation. Previously, I only worked with the cost of production, live weights and hanging (hot) weights. And then there was the BIG expense I also overlooked, especially as I entered the world of farmers markets---marketing.


The first step is to know the production cost of the live animal and the live weight. This will give you the cost per pound to produce. For example:

    1. Purchased Calf  $50
    2. Milk replacer     $150
    3. Feed                  $25
If the calf is raised to 300 pounds, the formula to determine the production cost would be:

Total Production Cost divided by Live Weight
(50+150+25)/300 = $0.75 per pound Live Weight

The next step is to determine the percentage of live versus hanging weight.  Over the years, I have found that calves in the 300-pound range typically have a 50-55% range depending on their body condition. You must also consider that there can as much as 15 pounds of matter in the digestive tract if the animal has been fed within 12 hours prior to slaughter. For this example, we'll assign a value of 160 pounds for a Hanging Weight.

Hanging Weight divided by the Live Weight X 100
165/300 = 55% yield

To determine the cost per pound for the Hanging Weight:

Total Production Cost divided by Hanging Weight = Cost per pound Hanging Weight
(50+150+25)/165 = $1.36 Hanging Weight

Most folks who typically sell by the carcass stop at these numbers and then just add the butchering costs on to the bill, but if you are going to market individually wrapped cuts via farmers markets, CSA or buyers club, it's well worth continuing with the math to get a better idea of total production costs.

I have patronized abattoirs who charge a flat fee for calves up to 300 pounds and ones who have a set kill fee with a cost per pound for cut, package and labeling. Similarly, I've had processors who provided a custom label for me once I had paid the set-up fee (around $100) and ones who have required me to procure my own labels (around $300 per 10,000)

For this example, I am going to assign a set processing fee of $110 per calf with labeling included which is typical to what I currently pay for processing. One of the significant processing costs that tends to be overlooked is transportation. If you are traveling a significant number of miles to and from the processor (remember, you make TWO round trips--one to drop off the animals and one to pick up the finished product), it helps to include the transportation cost per animal in this part of the equation. I know that delivering live animals costs approximately $25 in fuel and to pick up finished product, $15. If I take three calves at a time, my transportation costs per calf are approximately $13. That would bring the Processing Costs to $123 per calf.

To acquire the cost of processing: 

Hanging Weight divided by Processing Costs
165/123 = $1.34 per pound for processing

Now you have a better understanding of the true cost per pound of finished product. 

Cost per pound Hanging Weight plus Cost per pound Processing
$1.36 + $1.34 = $2.70 per pound 
 
But wait, we can't stop there, especially if you are going to go to farmers markets. This number is a lot trickier to come by unless you've got a season of markets under your belt and have an idea of your total sales versus your total market costs which include market application fees, vendor fees, liability insurance (this is different than your farm or homeowners and required by most markets), transportation, health department licensing fees for each jurisdiction in which you sell that requires them, etc. In my experience over the years, I've found these costs will add as much as 35% on to the cost of getting a product in the hands of a customer. That means
$2.70 * .35 = 0.95 
 $3.65 per pound wholesale cost per pound

That might still sound inexpensive at this point, but we've not yet factored in the most important part of the equation....PROFIT. Yes, farmers have to profit or we'd all be out of business and everyone would starve (or eat very poorly). Just as in typical retail, mark-up is 100% bringing the minimum cost per pound of product to $7.29 per pound average for the entire carcass. 

While some cuts are more expensive than others, the first few times (and occasionally as time goes by) I inventory every single salable piece from a calf and determine what the average cost per pound for that specific animal amounts to. If I'm not hitting my numbers, it's time to examine my prices on all cuts. 
While there is an art to determining how to cut a carcass, there is also one for pricing products. After determining you average cost per pound, now it's time to bring individual cuts into alignment with the open market. Premium cuts, such as tenderloin, scallopine, cutlets, loin & rib chops as well as specialty items like ossobuco, are going to command a premium price while stew meat and ground are going to be at the lower end. 

I highly suggest also doing local reconnaissance by visiting other markets--bother farmers markets and retail locations--to gauge prices. The two biggest mistakes you risk by pricing your products too low are:
  1. Losing profits from not charging what the current market may bear. 
  2. Pissing off fellow vendors who are more experienced and knowledgeable by undercutting them. 
Although many have been led to believe that prices direct from the farmer should be less expensive than at a supermarket or retail store, keep in mind that a product such as humanely-raised veal, rose veal, meadow veal or naturally raised milk-fed veal (whatever you're going to brand your product to describe your farming practices) is a premium product. It is NOT the commercial, pasty pale cardboard that passes for veal.

The notion that your product should be cheaper than what's in the grocery store is entirely incorrect. I had my eyes opened to what the market price would bear when I went to the upscale grocery store less than a mile from one of my metropolitan markets and found scallopine priced twice as much as mine. Judging from the size of their rib chops, the marbling and the color of the meat, I could tell the calves had been crated or chained, fed predominantly grain, had no access to grass, were anemic and probably weighed close to 500 pounds when they were harvested--certainly not a premium product. What a wake-up call. How was I to compete?

And this is where the second part of the equation comes in.....marketing. 

Setting Your Product Apart From the Others
The difference between marketing and advertising was once explained to me in simple terms. Advertising is the methods through which  you tell potential customers you have a product for sale. They are going to buy it because they need it. Marketing is telling the customer why they should buy your product.

Thanks to the animals rights campaigns against industrial veal during the 1980's, veal has been vilified as an ugly product from which anyone with half a conscious steer clear. Veal is a product that you can not take to a public market, put up a sign advertising and stand back waiting for sales. People will walk by and sneer, they will make openly rude comments to you, they will complain to the market manager, they will threaten to picket your stand, your market, your farm. That is why for anyone interested in raising and direct-marketing veal it is critical for you to learn how to market your products, to tell  your story of why your product is different, is better.

The foundation of my marketing has always been to have an open door policy at my farm. Customers are welcome to visit to see firsthand how their meat is raised, not just with veal, but with all types of livestock, poultry and produce. 100 % transparency without a hint of hesitation has swayed many potential customers on the fence toward a purchase.

Next, tell your story with lots of pictures. There are images of veal calves in pasture on the banner displayed at market, on the farm's website, on Facebook, on Twitter and in the farm's monthly newsletter. I show customers where my calves come from, how they are raised, what they eat and ultimately, where they are processed. But it doesn't stop there.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



ROSE VEAL: UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENCE



Painted Hand Rose + versus Veal Commercial White Veal -

+ Stays with cow after birth     
- Taken away immediately

+ Naturally nursed with colostrum    
- Force fed antibiotics & electrolytes

+ Transported directly from local family dairies to Painted Hand Farm.    
- Trucked hundreds of miles, often through large auction barns.

+ Fed all non-medicated whole milk products  
- Fed only medicated powder milk which is often soy and plasma based

+ Fed with nipples  
- Fed in buckets

+ Never injected with hormones  
- Synthetic estrogen implants used illegally to promote rapid growth.  
+ No antibiotics. 
- Prophylactic use of antibiotics.    

+ Raised outside in small groups  
- Crowded inside with hundreds of other calves in individual crates. 
+ No mutilation. 
- Ear-tagged or notched    

+ Lots of grass & sunshine  
- A life of concrete & darkness

+ Processed at a family-operated local USDA facility.   
-  Trucked thousands of miles to a large scale processor.



I believe in 100% transparency for our food system.

Feel free to visit our farm any time and see for yourself.
-------------------------------------------------------------
This is a sign I post at all farmers markets. 


Most folks haven't grown up eating veal, let alone cooking it. Instructions, recipes, ideas have always been an important part of my marketing plan in addition to eduction. Recipes get posted to my website, blog and Facebook with pictures included. Printed recipes are always available at market.

Customers want facts about their food. We've become a nation of label readers. Share scientific nutritional information with your customers, especially in comparison with other meats.

Beef Nutritional Facts
For instance, these are Nutrition Facts of Beef versus Veal. Customers can see that veal is lower in calories and fat compared to beef.
Veal Nutritional Facts
In some situations, depending on where you are located and what the local health department regulations are, sampling your veal products is a great idea. When I attended an indoor market and had access to electricity and a sink I would cook veal sausages in an electric skillet for customers to taste. But at outdoor markets and with new regulations, the licensing and health code requirements became so restrictive I chose to no longer sample meat products.

The key to marketing a niche product such as veal is for the producer to be knowledgeable enough about their own products that the information can be easily and quickly shared with potential customers, especially those who make disparaging comments. Here are some of my most frequent exchanges.

Customer: How can you be so cruel to those baby cows, keeping them in boxes in the dark and feeding them all those antibiotics and hormones.
Producer: My calves are hand-raised in large paddocks and on pasture. They are free to move about their entire life and receive no chemicals or drugs. Hormones are illegal to use in veal calves and wouldn't make much of a difference if they were used. Plus, the milk replacer I feed contains no soy or plasma. My calves are never chained or mutilated. They live as natural a life as possible until they are harvested. I am the farmer and you're welcome to come out to the farm and see for yourself anytime. 


Customer: I can't eat veal. It's a baby and I don't eat babies.
Producer: Essentially all animals you are eating are technically "babies". Meat chickens are harvested at 6-8 weeks, pigs at 4-6 months, lamb and goat at less than a year and even beef which don't reach maturity until they 2 1/2 to 3 years old. Beef producers need to get their animals to weight prior to 30 months or their processing is $80-100 more because the USDA requires the spinal column to be completely removed because of potential mad cow disease. My calves may be young, but they still weigh as much as 400 pounds. I am the farmer and I don't want to handle big animals. 

Customer: I'll eat organic, grass-fed beef, but I won't eat veal. It's not humane. 
Producer: Do you consume dairy products like milk, butter and ice cream? If so, you're contributing to the commercial veal industry as cows have to have babies in order to produce milk. The reality for male offspring of dairy cows, especially for smaller breeds such as Jerseys and Guernseys, is they are sent to auction or killed at birth because they are not economically viable to be raised for beef. They can be trucked dozens, if not hundreds of miles only days after birth and many often die. Sometimes the farmer ends up losing money after paying a hauler and the auction barn commission when the market for calves is down. I source all my calves within five miles of my farm from small dairy farms run by local families--some are even Certified Organic. My farmers give the calves a good start on mother's milk for 3-5 days before I pick them up. Plus, I always pay the farmer a fair price for the calves regardless of what they're going for on the open market.  They are started in pairs on bottles for the first month so I can ensure they are getting enough nourishment, then out on to pasture in groups of four to eight where they can run. The truth is at a certain point dairy calves' growth rates stall and it takes a lot of input to get them over the hump to where they'd make a decent beef animal. In terms of resources, such as feed, water, space and fuel, naturally-raised veal calves are much more sustainable than beef.

Customer: That's not real veal because it's not pale in color.
Producer: According to the USDA, this animal has been classified as veal. It is pinker in color because this animal had access to grass for most of its life and it was healthy. Veal that is extremely pale in color is because the animal was anemic and was most likely crated or chained its entire life. The idea that the paler in color the better the veal was a marketing campaign by the Beef Checkoff program when veal production in the U.S. became vertically integrated and industrialized. Pale veal has little flavor and a mushy consistency. That's why its often breaded and covered in sauce. One of my loin chops is like eating a little T-bone. It tastes just fine by itself. If you don't believe me or like them, I'll return your money.  

In these conversations, I've not only assuaged the customer's concerns, but go a step further to educate them about my farming practices versus industrial practices. And no one has ever asked for their money back.

But unfortunately, not all exchanges end positively in a sale. I've tried for years to get a trendy local food coop to carry my veal, but their answer is always the same, "We're worried it would upset our members." I have offered to write an educational article for their newsletter as well as their website and hand out samples with a educational display in their store, but they still declined. Yet as I peruse the store on a regular basis, I see products from farms with less-than-stellar agricultural, environmental and social practices. It is that stigma that I hope to diminish through sharing my experiences with raising and selling veal.

Who are the customers and where do you sell?
Over the years I've sold my veal through a variety of outlets in a myriad of cuts--whole carcasses, by the half, off the farm, through CSAs and buyers clubs, to individuals, upscale butcher shops and restaurants, but by far, my most successful avenue has been through direct sales at farmers markets. While the majority of buyers tend to be middle to upper income educated people who have traveled internationally, many of my customers also include many immigrants for whom veal was a staple of their diet in their homeland and they all say the same thing, "You raise real veal," as they are often appalled at the quality and price of products found in grocery stores and specialty meat markets.

Early in my veal rearing venture, I'd imagined that restaurants would make up the bulk of my business, but that was prior to the popularity of nose-to-tail establishments and practically all the chefs only wanted the choice cuts in quantities I didn't have the resources to provide.

For instance, the first thing most chefs ask for when I tell them I raise veal are the sweet breads, which are a fatty gland (thymus) found in the throat of a young animal. Recently, I had three calves processed and ended up with a half pound of sweet breads. Considering a trendy joint can go through twenty pounds of sweet breads a week, that would equate to processing one hundred twenty (120) calves each week just to meet the demand. Similarly, kidneys, liver and tongue are frequently requested items--all each in very limited quantities per animal.Chances are if you see these items as standard fare on a menu, they are coming from a not-so-nice place.

Another popular items chefs want are the bones. Any restaurant worth their salt understands the depth and clarity veal broth and demi glaze brings to fine dining.

"I go through fifty pounds of veal bones a week," said the chef of a local establishment when I was picking his brain at a party. Quickly I did the math in my head. Three hundred pound calf yields twenty to twenty five pounds of bones if I part it into cuts and thirty to thirty five if I turn all the meat into sausages, ground and boneless cuts. Later I would learn that places such as the Greenbrier go through as much a four hundred pounds of veal bones every week. This was definitely not my market.  

Similarly, I have had chefs want to 'cherry-pick' the cuts and then demand a wholesale price. When I explain that the only way they are going to get wholesale price is by taking a whole carcass, they've tended to balk. While this is not true for all establishments, many want term of 30 to 60 days and sadly, I still have outstanding invoices from a number of now-defunct restaurants who wanted to only source local and sustainably-raised ingredients. 

As CSAs and Buyers Clubs gain in popularity, they too, should be considered an option. However, as veal is not a staple item on American family menus, it tends to be pushed into the "specialty" category with lamb, goat and rabbit as opposed to beef, pork and chicken.Consider partnering with an existing produce CSA to offer products on a monthly basis. Also gaining steam are local "food hubs" where producers drop off product to be picked up by multiple purchasers.

Regardless of which audience you choose to market your veal, your job is not just to produce a phenomenal product, but to also educate your customers about the benefits of purchasing your product. For me, that means championing:
  • Humane
  • Pasture-raised
  • No antibiotics or hormones
  • Environmentally sound and sustainable
  • Small carbon footprint
  • Healthier
  • Locally produced and processed
As the popularity of local and sustainable foods increases, customers are taking pride in the fact they are choosing grass-based and artisan foods, but tend to shy away from the meats which have the potential to make the biggest impacts in animal welfare, farm viability and the environment.

When I'm in an in-your-face mood, I like to tell people that if you are drinking organic/raw/local milk and eating locally farmstead/artisan cheeses or ice cream, then you should also be consuming the veal that is produced by these dairy farmers. Just as consumers have moved away from industrially produced mainstream dairy and meat products in lieu of ethically and sustainably produced foods, the same should hold true for the consumption of veal.

In my experience, the farmers who truly care the most for their animals are more than happy to establish a relationship with a new/beginning/small scale farmer who wants to humanely produce veal. Repeatedly, I've been told that sending calves to auction is one of the most distressing parts of being a diary farmer, but in their all-to-busy lives, raising and marketing calves for veal is something there just isn't time for. Worse, for some dairy farmers who sell their fluid milk to a cooperative, their contract stipulates that they cannot raise veal for sale using the milk for which the coop has agreed to purchase.

Highlights of this installment....

  1. Factors and formulas for pricing your product.
  2. Tips and ideas for marketing veal in a positive spin.
  3. Determining your market.
As someone who has worked in both the food and farming industries, I see a huge opportunity for both sustainably-minded farmers and consumers to participate in an equitable and sustainable paradigm by choosing to raise and eat veal. 

PART ONE to this series can be found at this link.  
PART TWO of this series can be found at this link.
PART THREE of this series can be found at this link.
PART FOUR of this series can be found at this link. 

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Bone Broth--Delicious, Nutritious, Healing & Sustainable

A few weeks ago, I visited local farming friends and mentors, Jonas & Judi Stoltzfus who own JuJo Acres over in Perry County where they've been raising Certified Organic, Animal Welfare Approved, 100% grass-fed Limousin beef since 1972. As soon as I got out of my car, the aroma hit me like a wave. Something delicious was cooking and I secretly hoped that was lunch.

"Come here. I've got something to show you," Jonas said excitedly as he greeted me. Walking down behind their farmhouse we approached a huge bubbling stock pot. I don't mean the kind you can jars in or even deep fry turkeys in, I mean a HUGE stockpot--probably 40-50 gallons in size--and it was full of beef bones simmering away.

Healing
Jonas is a firm believer that good bone broth from grass-fed animals (not just beef) is not only nutritious and delicious, it's also healing. As a personal testament to his belief, four years ago I suffered a knee injury when I was violently kicked, hyper-extending my leg completely backwards. While I was fortunate enough not to suffer and breaks or tears, the tissue damage and instability had me petrified that I would endure joint problems for the rest of my life.

Fortunately, the injury happened in the early fall, when my bone supply is always at an all-time high. Squirreling away plenty for myself, each week I made a huge pot of my own broth, eating it in soups and stews as well as drinking it like tea. Veal bones, beef bones, pork bones, goat bones, lamb bones, turkey & chicken feet--each week a different type of broth simmered away in my slow cooker.

I stayed off my leg for nearly a month, thanks to friends helping out with farm chores. Gradually, I added in walking daily. I lost weight. I wore a brace. I cut out inflammatory foods, such as grains, dairy and processed sugar and I kept consuming bone broth--as much as quart--daily. 

Six months later without any surgery or medication, I hiked to the top of Blue Mountain atop the tunnels of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. It was slow going and coming down was actually harder than going up, but I made it without any pain during or after.

A year later when I returned to see the orthopedist who told me initially that I would eventually need surgery, they were shocked to see that no scar tissue had formed. "If I didn't know how old you were, I'd say I was looking at the knee of a woman 15 years younger," I was told and considered myself healed.

The analogy I like to use when talking about food and our bodies is think about your car....if you put crappy fuel and oil into the engine, it's not going to run very well or for an extended period of time without significant problems. It's really that simple.

Nutritious
Sure, there are plenty of vitamins, supplements, pills, potions, lotions and elixirs all claiming to enhance our performance and keep us healthy. And you know what? They are all expensive. On top of that, you can not verify the quality of ingredients used in their production.

A few years ago, I was asked to write a guest post on a Paleo/Primal blog that catered to people interested in fitness training after I made a comment about whey powder from a farmers perspective. (You can read it here.) I was amazed at the responses I received from people I'd never met before thanking me for getting them off their powdered protein drinks. "I can't believe how much money I wasted on that stuff before discovering bone broth" and "Wow, I can't believe how much better I feel" were two of the most common statements.

Consider this, a bag of bones, depending on the size and type, will cost anywhere between $5-25 dollars and yield 1-3 gallons of bone broth while a 24 ounce tub of organic, gluten-free protein powder will set you back $45. Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), a fat-soluble antioxidant is $30 for a 120 capsules. Cellular supplement capsules with organic gelatin for younger looking skin will empty your wallet $48 for a 60-day supply.

"According to Sally Fallon's cookbook, Nourishing Traditions which has become the tome for the Weston A. Price Foundation, there are numerous health benefits to natural gelatin alone include:
the
  • Hair, nail & skin health
  • Joint recovery and maintenance
  • Aids digestion
  • Dietary collagen
  • Helps build muscle  
Composed primarily of the amino acids glycine and proline (which many people don't consume in adequate amounts from the Standard American Diet), gelatin is found in the bones, fibrous tissues and organs of animals. But here's the kicker....these amino acids are needed not only for proper skin, hair and nail health, but for optimal immune function and weight regulation! Considering Americans spend over $50 billion dollars a year on weight loss products, who would consider a bag of bones in a pot with some water could make your butt smaller?

Delicious
Anyone who knows me understands that for me, it's all about quality. I can't say it enough, Life is too short to eat bad food. Nothing makes the difference between mediocre and out-of-this-world food than a rich base of good stock made from meaty bones, especially ones with lots of natural gelatin like joints, ribs, feet, heads and especially the bones of young animals such as veal, lamb and kid goats. Unlike commercial broths and stocks, there's silkiness imparted by home made broths than can't even begin to compare. And nothing beats the aroma! 

But the question that always comes up when I talk about making bone broth and stock is "How do store it?"  You can:
  • Freeze it. I like to use 1 quart freezer bag. (Hint: lay them flat on a tray to freeze first before storing. They will stack neatly. Also, freeze in ice cube trays and then store in bags. Works great when you just need a few tablespoons of liquid for cooking.)
  • Can it. Don't have room in your freezer? Don't like using plastic?  Processing in glass jars means no energy needed for storage. 
  • Use it. During the winter, I like to always keep a slow cooker (Crock Pot) going with bone broth. Or store it in a glass jar in the refrigerator for up to a week. 
There are so many recipes and ways to use a good bone broth as a base--stews, soups, bisque, pho. It's also a great liquid for braising larger cuts of meat. 

And if you really want to be decadent, first, roast the nice marrow bones and then scoop out the luscious goodness, spread it on little points of sourdough toasts or just eat it plain if you're eschewing grains & gluten. Marrow is food of the Gods. Then you may make stock out of the leftover bones.  

Sustainable
As a livestock producer, I spend most of my time raising animals for food. Outside feeding, cleaning, birthing, raising and taking to the processor in all sorts of weather, nothing irks me more than having to waste a single part of the animals which I've so lovingly cared for in order to feed others.  Nothing goes to waste.

In my recent Painted Hand Farm Newsletter, I wrote about using poultry heads and feed for stock after receiving a barrage of negative comments when and image was posted to my Facebook page of a slow cooker full of the offending objects. Despite the trendiness of sustainability, farm-to-table and nose-to-tail eating, acceptance of using as much of the animal as possible for food is still far from hitting the mark. 

And I say this because myself, as well as every other livestock producer I know, ends up with a freezer full of bones, feet & heads originally destined to our customers for broth and stock, but we often use them ourselves, feed them to our animals, give them away or throw them out. What we want to be doing is selling them to our customers. That's why we're in this business. It takes money to raise, process and bring products to market--even the bones! Many producers rely on selling their bones and offal to offset the ever-increasing costs of processing. As regulations become more stringent, energy and labor costs rise along with that of equipment and packaging, our butchers pass those costs on to us. We need to sell every piece of the animal possible if we're going to remain in business. When customers demand cuts such as tenderloins, New York strips, kabob and stew meat, etc., we're faced with significant cut-out weights. That's why those cuts are often so expensive.  

This is not the first time I've written about bones on this blog. You can read about my adventures in bone broth HERE (Waste Nothing), HERE (One Last Hurrah) and  HERE (Dem Bones) which also includes my basic recipe for bone stock.    

Ready to give bone stock a try? See me (or any of your favorite farmers market meat vendors) at your local market & CSA and ask them about their bones. As always, you can find recipes at HERE or at the Painted Hand Farm stand at market.

Saturday, September 28, 2013

One Last Hurrah for a Laying Hen

There's a chill in the air signaling the changing of seasons. There's also lots of feathers in the barnyard--the telltale sign of the seasonal moult of laying hens. During this time, egg production decreases significantly as all of the bird's energy goes into growing new feathers.This is also the time hens should be on their best behavior here at the farm. If you're moulting and a constant escapee, you get a one-way ticket to the processor and  ultimately, the stew pot.

So it's no surprise this seasonal product--the fatty stewing hen--is starting to show up at farmers market along with their younger, premium brethren--the tender, young broiler.

Don't understand the difference?  Think of dairy cows versus beef cattle. One is designed to push their energy into milk production, or in the case of the laying hen, egg production. The other, of course, has been bred to lay down as much meat as possible in the shortest amount of time with the least input (feed).

Just like cattle, there are also "dual-purpose breeds", many that fall into the "heritage" category.  However, as producers who rely primarily on animal production for income, many of us have learned that we need to balance market price with affordable production.

Would I like to raise all heritage breeds, which tend to be more colorful and unique? Absolutely! Can I afford a production time twice as long to produce the same amount of meat? No way. The truth is a good farmer worth their salt can feed a utility breed, like the Cornish Giant, a non-GMO feed and raise them outside on pasture making them just as tender, juicy and tasty as their Old World counterparts.

Similarly, as much as I would love to let my old ladies live out their natural lives here in peace on the farm, the reality is that there needs to be a return on my investment and that boils down to eggs or meat.

And just what does one do with a fatty stewing hen?

Here are a number of recipes for you to try as their flavor is unparalleled when it comes to making stock for soup. Fair warning however, their meat is best when shredded, diced or ground.

Schmaltz (aka Jewish Penicillin) 
This is rendered chicken fat used in place of butter, lard, tallow, etc. in cooking. Hint: use it to make the crust for Chicken Pot Pie. 


Ingredients:
1 fatty stewing hen

Directions: 
Remove all fat and skin from carcass. Blot dry with paper towels. Cut into small pieces about the size of a dime using scissors. Place in an  uncovered skillet and heat on medium low for 15-20 minutes until liquid fat pools in the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat and strain liquid fat using a mesh strainer into a glass container. 

At this point, if you want to make gribenes, the equivalent to cracklins when it comes to pork, add the cooked fat bits back into the pan with a thinly sliced onion and cook until crispy, but not burned.

Chicken Corn Soup 
This is a Pennsylvania Dutch staple in late summer.


Ingredients:

1 whole chicken
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped (note: I like to substitute chard stems)
6 ears fresh corn, kernels cut off cob
4 hard boiled eggs, chopped
8-10 threads saffron
1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced
Salt & Pepper

Directions:
Cover chicken in stock pot with water and bring to a simmer for 2 hours. Remove chicken and pick all meat from bones. Sauté onion, celery and corn until onion is translucent. Add to stock along with picked meat and saffron. Simmer for 20 minutes. Season to taste. Add hard boiled egg and parsley a few minutes prior to serving.
NOTE: Some variations include adding noodles or rivels (pea-sized dumplings made from flour and egg and then dropped into the simmering soup.)


Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken
1 medium onion, chopped              
1/2 cup celery, chopped
2 carrots, sliced                             
1 cup peas or lima beans
2 tablespoons flour                       
1/4 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon minced herbs Salt & Pepper
Crust or Noodles

Directions:
Cover chicken in stock pot with water and bring to a simmer for 2 hours. Remove chicken and pick all meat from bones. Sauté onion, celery, peas and carrot until onion is translucent. Add meat, stock, flour and herbs. Season to taste and simmer until thickened. 

To make traditionally Pennsylvania Dutch Pot Pie, add the liquid stock and large flat egg noodles, simmering until noodles are cooked. 

For a crusted pie, add chicken and vegetable mixture to crust and top with either another crust or breadcrumbs, cheese and butter. Cook at 350 degrees until bubbly and crust is golden brown.