Posts

UPDATE – Turkey Preorders are closed. We had a large loss to dogs recently. The remaining turkeys are spoken for. Thanks for considering local pastured turkeys for your Thanksgiving.

We are raising turkeys for Thanksgiving. These birds are moved regularly, getting fresh grass which they love. They also receive locally grown organic grains. As they get larger, they will be allowed to free-range during the day, which they really enjoy.

We are taking preorders for these turkeys – $20 down which will be put toward the total when you pick the turkey up. Preorder price is $5.25/lb through Saturday, November 4. November 5 and following they will be $5.50/lb. They will probably be 12-16 lb. We can try to accommodate your size preference, but please be willing to take something a little smaller or larger as needed.

Turkeys will be ready on Saturday, November 18 after 3 p.m. They will be fresh and can be refrigerated for up to one week. Let us know what you would like – how many, what weight range, if you want the giblets (heart & liver) – and how you would like to pay $20 down (in person or by invoice). Email us at sales@tojfarm.com , call/text 315.200.2341, or use our order form.

When we cut up chickens to sell recently, we ended up with the chicken carcass, which consists of the neck and the back, the breastbone and rib cage, a skin-fat portion from the lower back, and some meat and skin. We packaged these, two in a package and are selling them as chicken carcasses for broth. (My daughter-in-law doesn’t like the word carcass, but the synonyms are remains, skeleton, and body, so I think carcass it is.)

I thawed these carcasses and then covered them with about 6 quarts of water. As with all my broths, I covered the pot, brought it to a boil, turned it to low and let it simmer for 2-3 hours. This pic is of the broth with the carcasses still in the pot.

I then made 2 batches of soup with the broth.

The first one had the leftover meat, probably about 4 cups, some greens, celery, summer squash, cauliflower, and carrots. I had rice on the side for those who wanted that.

The second one was broth with vegetables. The broth had cooled in the refrigerator. It had a layer of yellow fat on the top. Very tasty! I used the vegetables that I had, in this case, carrots, celery, yellow beans, summer squash, and Swiss chard, and made enough for however many I was feeding that day.

As I thought, the chicken carcasses make a really nice broth. More meals for our fall and winter meats!

Meaty Shank Soupbones and Short Ribs are beef cuts that do well with moist slow cooking. They both have a bone, some fat (marrow in the shank bone), and some meat. I tend to saute the meat, saute companion vegetables, almost cover with broth or water, and let it simmer on the stove top for 2-4 hours. (After the sauteing, this could also be cooked on low in a crockpot for 6-10 hours.)

The flavor will change depending on the vegetables used. Winter squash, like butternut squash, or sweet potatoes will thicken the mixture. Diced or crushed tomatoes will give it a tomato flavor. Consistency will be more stew like if less water or broth is used. And if more water or broth is used, the consistency will be more soup-like.

Here are some links to similar dishes – Osso Buco , Meaty Shank Soup Bone, or Beef Barley Broth – many ways to enjoy meat shank soupbones or short ribs.

Here is what the young turkeys sound like. I think of it as pipping.

Pork roasts include shoulder roast, butt roast, and boneless loin roast. All of these have some fat that adds to the flavor. This fat should also be used to flavor other parts of the meal. So if I am cooking a roast in the oven, I will put sliced or chunked up potatoes with a little bit of water underneath the roast. As the meat cooks, the fat will melt and mix with the potatoes. (I do cover the meat and potatoes with aluminum foil to keep the moisture in. And I typically cook everything at 400F – I think that my stove runs cold and I have found this temp to work well for our kitchen.)

Roasts like these also do well in the crockpot. I put my veggies in the crockpot first. This could include potatoes, winter squash, beans, sweet potatoes, broccoli, or cauliflower (or whatever I have). Then I put the roast in the middle. If it is too high, I make a well in the veggies, so that the meat fits in it and the lid can seal on the top. I put a small amount of water in the bottom to give something to add steam. A lot of these roasts do well with moist heat, and the crockpot lets us provide this.

I don’t have an insta-pot, but it would work in a similar fashion. Follow the manufacturer’s directions.

Order your roast today!

Meat is meat. You can eat it whatever kind of meat whenever you want to. But some meats seem more suited to certain times of year. Roasts; whole duck, chicken or turkey; and slow cooked meats tend to be better suited to fall and winter. As they slowly cook in the crockpot, on the stove top, or in the oven, they help generate heat for the house. The warm food will also warm the body.

This series will look at the meats we have and ways they can be used. Especially in the fall and winter. Here are links to the meats we have written about.

Pork Roasts

Beef – Meaty Shank Soupbones or Short Ribs

Chicken Broth

This time of year we have patty pan squash. These bowl-shaped summer squash are mostly yellow with a green circle on the blossom end. They can be used in the same way as zucchini or yellow summer squash.

Here is a look at the inside of a patty pan. The top one was cut horizontally and the bottom one vertically. It is meatier than zucchini or yellow summer squash.

Two customers like to slice them horizontally and roast them. They put some basting oil with seasoning in the pan, place the patty pan circles on top, and add some onion or garlic. One customer roasts it like this for 20 min. at 400F, then flips them and roasts them until the edges are brown and it is sort of caramelized. The other customer, after placing them in the pan, sprinkles them with parmesan cheese and roasts them until the cheese browns. Both of them love patty pan season!

I am more simple. I tend to slice and boil them like I might with zucchini or yellow summer squash. OR I wedge/chunk them up and add them to the veggie stir fry mix for the day. With any of these ways they are a good squash, tasty and pretty!

Such lovely greens and yellows – enjoy these views!

Recently I made fried up hamburger and added veggies to make a dish to pass. Other than celery the rest of the veggies – green beans, beet greens, Swiss chard, and golden beets – came fresh from the garden. I also roasted potato wedges, lightly oiled, for the starch.

First I thawed the ground beef and then scrambled or fried it. Once the pink was gone I added veggies with generous glugs of olive oil: celery, green beans, golden beets washed and sliced, beet green stems and leaves, Swiss chard. I sauteed these, covering them and letting them steam/sweat in the heat and oil. Once I had steam I turned the heat to low and let them sit for several minutes. When they were soft enough, I took them off the stove and put them in the serving pan. They were a good addition to dinner.

Here is a variation. I cooked hamburger and then added these veggies. They were ones I had and also fresh ones from the garden – green and yellow wax beans, beet greens, yellow summer squash, zucchini squash, beets, patty pan squash.

This variation ended up looking like this. Tasty and delicious!

In the summer tacos are an easy meal. A traditional taco would have ground beef, ground pork, or chorizo as easy meat choices. Add some canned kidney or black beans, refried beans, lots of lettuce, and some tomatoes or salsa. Put it on corn or tortilla chips, or on flour or corn taco shells and you have dinner.

So what is chorizo? Ours is beef mixed with spices and garlic powder, giving the beef a Mexican flavor. It is in casing similar to our sausage. You can remove this to cook it like you would ground beef or cook it in the casing and chunk it up afterwards.

We have also made fish tacos this year. We saute fillets of fish (haddock, cod, perch) in lots of butter. Once it is cooked, it flakes apart easily. Next we make up mayonnaise coleslaw (cabbage, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower all grated and mixed with mayo). Then we spread the fish on a taco shell, cover it with coleslaw, and add some tomatoes and lettuce. Finally we fold it up and eat it. Good eating!