Early in the week we made burgers using ground beef from the Grant's M&A Farm - we bought a 1/4 of a cow, but they sell numerous cuts of beef and pork as well as duck, chicken and eggs at the farmer's market in Saratoga. Earlier in the week we also had some kielbasa from the Grant's - definitely worth the trip to the market. We topped the burgers with mesclun from New Minglewood, onions and tomatoes from the Kilpatrick's.
On Tuesday we paired beef tenderloins from the Grant's with a root crop hash of celeriac, golden beets, new potatoes, and kousa squash all from KFF once again.
Two weeks ago Jonathan Kilpatrick had a bunch of his chicken's processed, so Tamara and I loaded up on chicken for the summer. I gave the grill a break - even though it was 100 degrees - and made fried chicken. I can say with confidence that pasture-raised chicken is a completely different animal than the bastardized product peddled by the likes of Purdue. Check out Eat Wild and Joel Salatin's Polyface Farm for more detailed information on pastured meats. I cut the chicken into 6 pieces instead of the traditional 8 and soaked it in buttermilk for about three days before frying. It was literally the best chicken I have ever had - I could feel my ego growing, my head about to burst.
Last, but not least, last night we made some kabobs and got the grill going again. Using Sirloin tips from our cow and squash, onions, and cherry tomatoes from the Kilpatrick's, this was an easy and perfect end to the weekend. I also made a potato salad with greek yogurt from the Argyle Cheese Farmer, a bit of mayonnaise and dill, and of course new red potatoes from KFF.
And for further proof that we didn't live like a wild pack of carnivores here this past week, I should also mention that I made a gazpacho on Tuesday. I made enough to last all week and it has been a constant refreshment with all this heat. I used tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, and sweet red carmen peppers, basil and parsley from KFF. A little full circle tomato juice (not local, but organic - I can settle occasionally), sherry, olive oil, and red wine vinegar went in as well. To thicken the soup I boiled an egg and mashed it with two or three cloves of the fresh garlic now becoming increasingly available with each passing week at the Saratoga market. It sounds a bit odd perhaps but it really did the trick and doesn't impart any boiled egg flavor onto the gazpacho. We garnished it with some of the greek yogurt and dill. It was our appetizer of the week, going well with all that local meat.
FEED ME!!!!!!!!!!
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