Here are some views of the animals on the farm – goats, cows, pigs, calf, and chickens – and a look at the tulips, opened and closed. Enjoy!
Spring on the Farm – 2019
Pie crust recipe
Here is the current pie crust recipe of choice. It works well and gives a consistent crust. It came from a friend who likes to bake.
Ingredients
Method
- Mix oil and water until frothy. 2 cup liquid measuring cup is a good place to mix it.
- Put frothy oil and water into bowl and add flour. Stir with fork or spoon until it sticks together. Try to touch as little as possible.
- Separate into 2 lumps. Put one lump between wax paper and roll out to size of pie pan. Put in pie pan and proceed according to pie recipe. Do the same with 2nd lump of dough.
Notes
You can divide the recipe in half for 1 pie crust - 1/3 cup oil, 3 tbsp water, 1 cup + 2 Tbsp flour. Follow the directions above.
I like this with a mix of whole wheat and all purpose flour. You can also do just one or the other.
Pumpkin Pie
Here is my favorite pumpkin pie recipe. It came from the back of a no-name brand of canned pumpkin. I cook down my pumpkin and use that in place of the canned pumpkin.
Pumpkin Pie - Makes 2 pies
This pumpkin pie uses milk, eggs, pumpkin, sugar and spices, nice and straightforward.
Ingredients
Method
- Mix pumpkin, sugar, spices and eggs together. Stir in milk.
- Pour into 2 uncooked pie crusts. Bake for 400F until knife comes out clean. It may take 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Cool and eat.
Notes
I use something between 3 and 4 cups of pumpkin, depending on how much I have.
Nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice can be substituted for some of these spices.
Here is the pie crust recipe that I like to use. Enjoy!
Cooking a Pumpkin – Oven Method
Recently I cooked a pumpkin in the oven to prepare it for making a pie. Here is how I did it:
First I washed the outside of the pumpkin. I poked it 3 or 4 times with a fork.
Next I put it on a pan with sides and put some water in the bottom. I baked it at 400F until it was soft, probably about 2 hours.
I removed it from the oven and let it cool. Then I peeled it.
Next I cut it into pieces and put about 4 cups in the blender.
I added water to the top of the pumpkin. I blended it until I had a nice puree.
Then I set it aside and blended some more. Once it was all blended I could use it or refrigerate or freeze it until I had something to do with it.
Cooking a Pumpkin - Oven Method
Here is a way to cook a pumpkin or winter squash in the oven.
Ingredients
Method
- Wash the outside of the pumpkin, poke it with a fork 3-4 times, put in a pan with sides, like a 13x9 pan, cover the bottom with water, put in the oven, bake at 400F.
- Cook until it is soft. This could take 2 hours. I check it at 1 hour and every 15-20 minutes after that. It will feel soft and it could shrink and sort of fall in on itself.
- Once it is soft, remove from the oven and let it cool at least 10-15 minutes. Cut it open. If it is still hot inside, let it cool some more.
- Once it is cool enough to handle, remove and discard the seeds. Pull off the skin or scoop out the meat of the pumpkin.
- Put about 4 cups of pumpkin in the blender. Add water to the top of the pumpkin. Blend until smooth. Add water if all of it can't rotate through the blending.
- Empty the blender and do another batch, repeating until it is completed. Refrigerate or freeze until you are ready to use it.
Shave Steaks
Shave steaks are thinly sliced steaks, cut from sirlion tips. If used for sandwiches, 2 steaks take about 5 minutes or less to cook. This batch of shave steaks has 8 steaks in a package and the package weighs about 1 lb. We eat the steaks on rolls with lettuce, cheese, tomato, and condiments.
Here is how I cook them: I put 2 shave steaks on a skillet over medium heat. They will start cooking and will visibly shrink. They will also turn gray/brown and will have red liquid sort of pool on top. At that point I flip them over and cook the other side. If red liquid comes up again, then I flip them one more time. And usually then they are done. I remove them to a plate and do 2 more.
This is the meat that you would make a Philly Sandwich with. You can also cut the uncooked meat into small squares and use as the meat of a stir fry. Enjoy!
Indoor Sprouts – 2019 Update
We are in our 3rd year of growing soil-sprouted greens during the winter. Here is the page describing the process.
Here are some of 2019’s adaptations:
- We are using paper egg cartons to hold the dirt and we set these on trays to protect the shelf or table surface.
- In addition to sprouting peas, we are sprouting other seeds, including beets/Swiss chard and beans. Peas are still our preferred sprout, but the others give a variety of flavors.
- We have a multishelf in a sunny window.
- After our first harvest, we let the sprouts grow a 2nd time. Some resprout. Others weren’t harvested the first time and are the 2nd time. After the 2nd harvest, the whole container is composted.
The Farmer plans his summer pea bed for at least 2 fifty-foot rows. One row will be for us to eat as a raw or cooked veggie. The other will go to seed. He will save some of the seed to plant the next summer and will save most of it for us to sprout in the winter. Gray Dwarf is the current variety we are sprouting.
Pot Roast with Maple Syrup and Mustard Sauce
Recently I made this tasty chuck roast in the crockpot. It has a mustard, maple syrup and vinegar sauce to flavor it. It is based on this recipe.
Ingredients
Method
- Set a large Dutch oven or heavy skillet over medium-high to high heat. Sear both sides of roast until golden-brown, about 10 minutes per side. Transfer the roast to a 6-quart crockpot.
- Reduce heat to medium. Add the onions and/or other vegetables and cook until starting to soften, about 5 minutes. Pour in a few tablespoons of chicken broth and bring to a boil, scraping up any of the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Pour the onions and pan juices into the bowl of the slow cooker.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the remaining chicken broth, mustard, maple syrup, vinegar, paprika, salt, and pepper until combined. Pour the liquid mixture over the roast. Cover and cook on the LOW setting until the meat falls apart and is meltingly tender, about 8 hours. If you only have 6 hours, you can do this 3 hours on high and 3 hours on low and it will still turn out fine. If you only have 2 hours, see Dutch oven directions below.
- Transfer the roast to a serving bowl or platter and let it rest for 5-10 minutes. Cut the roast into chunks or shred the meat and add back to the liquid. Serve over rice, potatoes, or bread.
Notes
Other variations:
- Bacon - Before searing the meat, replace the fat with 4-5 slices of diced bacon. Cook it until some fat starts rendering and it begins to turn golden-brown. Push the bacon to the sides and add the beef and sear it.
- Gravy - Pour the cooking liquid into large saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook until the gravy is reduced to desired thickness. OR Once the sauce boils add flour dissolved in water (1/2 cup water with 1/4 flour dissolved in it) and stir until it is thickened. Return gravy to crockpot and add chopped meat.
- Dutch oven - (Not tested yet, but I like the idea!) Prepare the meat for the pot roast in the bottom of a Dutch oven, then place all the ingredients on top of the seared roast. Cover and bring to boil. Then either simmer over very low heat OR cook in a 325°F oven until the pot roast is tender. Cooking time will be reduced, so begin checking the roast after about 2 hours.
Enjoy!
Chicken in Milk
Recently I made Chicken in Milk based on Jamie Oliver’s recipe. Here is my variation:
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Fry the chicken in a snug-fitting pot with a little oil, butter, or fat until golden, turning the chicken as best you can to get an even color all over.
- Remove from the heat and put the chicken on a plate. You'll be left with fryings at the bottom of the pan which may give you a lovely caramel flavor later on.
- Put the milk in the pan and mix with the fryings on the bottom of the pan. Add the cinnamon stick, sage leaves, lemon juice, unpeeled garlic cloves and stir. Put your chicken breast-side down back in the pot.
- Cover and cook in the hot oven for 1 hour 30 minutes, or until cooked through. The lemon juice will sort of curdle the milk, making a tasty sauce.
- Take the chicken out of the pan and put on a plate. Let it rest.
- To thicken the sauce in the pan, put the pan on the stove top and bring the sauce to a boil. Meanwhile, take 1/2 cup water and add 1/4 cup flour. Stir until it is mostly smooth. Once the sauce is (close to) boiling, add the flour and water mixture, stirring all the time. When it thickens, turn off the heat.
- Divide the chicken as you normally would. Put it on the plates. Spoon the white gravy over the meat. Serve with rice or potatoes and put the gravy over them as well.
This was yummy and well-received! Enjoy!
Bone Broth – Part 2
Last time we talked about bone broth. Specifically, we talked about using marrow bones to get a nice beefy broth good to drink or to use in smoothies or soups. But there are more bones out there than just marrow bones. Chicken, venison, pork, and goat are some of the ones available. All of these can be cooked together or by species in the crockpot for 36-48 hours and will produce a nice broth.
I tend to make my broths on the stove top and I do it for a shorter time period. Earlier this week we had chicken in milk. After we ate the chicken, I took all the bones, the carcass, the meat that was still on the bones and any skin and put it in a 4 quart pot. I filled it up with water to within 1 1/2 in. from the top. (If I can’t cover my bones with water, then I will use the 8 qt. stockpan.)
Then I put the lid on and brought it to a boil. Once it started to boil I turned it down to low and let it simmer for 3-4 hours. (I cook over gas and tend to have a hot stove top. If low doesn’t let you simmer the broth, then you need to turn the heat up a little so that it simmers.)
Then I turned it off to cool, so that I could handle it. And this time since I didn’t have time to handle it, I put it in the refrigerator so that it wouldn’t spoil.
When I pulled it out several days later, the broth had become soupy solid, a gelatin. As I wanted to use it and it is easier to get out of the container when it is a liquid, I heated it up again until it was not longer a solid. Then I added it to the soup pot, thinned it with some water and set my soup to boiling. I picked the bones over to get the rest of the meat off and set the meat aside for another meal for another day.
This method is a touch faster than the crockpot method. However, it doesn’t pull as many nutrients out as it could. But if the broth gets to the gelatinous stage, I consider it adequate. And the only way to tell if it is a gelatin is to cool it. In my experience 3 hours tends to be sufficient. Even if it doesn’t get gelatinous, I will still use it and won’t try to cook it down longer.
Once I make a broth I like to use it or freeze it. All broths can be used for all things. Chicken broth has the mildest flavor and is the most versatile. Beef broth or venison broth is good for vegetable soups. Pork broth or goat broth is good for bean soups. Smoked ham broth is good for bean soup or for split pea soup. All broths can be used for soups or as the liquid to cook rice or as liquid with veggies that you would put over rice.
If you purchase meat, look at it as being several meals, especially if it has bones. The meat proper is one meal, leftovers are for a second (or more) meal, and the broth is part of a third meal.
Pork Resupply – Part 2
And our pork is back! YEA!!! 🙂 We have frozen meat:
- Smoked pork – $7.00 / lb.
- Bacon – around 1 lb each
- Ham slices – These are 1 each in a package and they are about 6 in. ovals with a small bone in the middle and some fat around the outside – around 1 lb. each.
- Smoked pork chops – 3 smoked chops in a package, each package about 1.25 lb.
- 1 smoked ham roast – This will have a bone down the middle. It weighs about 4 lb.
- Fresh pork (unsmoked, frozen) – $6.00 / lb.
- Steaks – These are 2 / package, are about 5 in. long and 3-4 inches wide. They weigh about 1.75-2.0 lb.
- Chops – These are 3 / package. They weigh about 1.25 lb.
- 2 shoulder roasts – These have a bone in them and are about 4 lbs. each.
- 2 loin roasts – These have a bone on the side and are about 4 lbs. each.
- Ground pork – This is bulk ground meat that is in a tube and weighs about 1 lb. Each tube is $6.
- Spare ribs – This is a short rack of ribs, about 2? lb.
- Sausage – This is bulk sausage in a tube and weighs around 1 lb. – $7 each.
- Pork sausage or breakfast sausage – This is pork, salt and flavorings, primarily sage.
- Sweet Italian sausage – This is made of pork, salt, sugar, white pepper, fennel, paprika, anise and coriander.
- Hot Italian sausage – This is made of pork, salt, crushed red peppers, sugar, fennel, black pepper, and paprika.
- Other pork parts
- Liver – This is about 1 – 1.25 lb. $4.00 / lb.
- Heart and tongue – Both of these items are frozen together. They weigh about .5 lb. $4.00 / lb.
- Feet – This is 2 feet / package and weighs about 2 lb. $2.00 / lb.
- Lard – This is unrendered pork fat in frozen slabs. A bag is 5-10 lb and is $2.00 / lb.
- Bones – These are $2.00 / lb.
- Heads – This is the pig skull with most of the meat trimmed off. $6.00 each
These items are available from the farm or through the monthly Meat Subscription. Email me about what you would like to purchase.