*Please note exceptions to fee and RSVP info for Pig Carving 101.
Millstone Farm's beautiful coup-de-villes house their hens when they're not free ranging on pasture.
Pig Carving 101
Saturday, March 17: 12pm – 2pm
Tim LaBant, Chef and owner of The Schoolhouse at Cannondale Restaurant provides a comprehensive how-to on carving a full pig. We’ll also discuss benefits of the different cuts of meat, and how best to prep and cook them.
Soft drinks and rustic and seasonal farm to fork lunch will be available throughout the event. Feel free to BYOB to share and swap to keep things interesting!
Millstone’s Master Farmer, Annie Farrell, covers the steps and skills required to raise happy, healthy chickens in your own backyard. From incubating to egg collecting, you’ll be well prepared to care for your brood. The workshop includes a look at our state of the art mobile chicken coops and a tour of the farm.
Backyard Vegetable Gardening
Saturday, April 14: 1pm – 4pm
Become a backyard farmer and kick-start your growing season with an informative and interactive workshop on the basics of creating a productive veggie plot. Learn tricks of the trade, like growing in raised beds, companion planting, pest control, and more from Annie Farrell, then head out to our garden for hands on instruction in seed starting, direct seeding, and transplanting.
Summer Workshop Preview
May 5: Composting with Alexis Wilcox of Duck Truck Composting
June 9: Foraging & Cooking with Wild Edibles with Leda Meredith
About Millstone Farm
Heritage pigs at Millstone Farm, Wilton, CT
Millstone Farm is a 75-acre working farm in Wilton, CT helping rebuild the food community through small scale agriculture, educational activities, and events. Millstone raises pastured heirloom breed sheep, pigs, and poultry, and grows vegetables for a small CSA, local chefs, and family-owned markets.
Just because it’s winter doesn’t mean opportunities to eat food from local farms have all dried up. On the contrary, there are more ways to source local and sustainable ingredients for home cooking than ever before at this time of year thanks to four season farms and plentiful artisan foods. Eating out sustainably can be a challenge, but our list of restaurants, cafes, and coffee shops will help guide you no matter what town you live in. 2012 will usher in at least two new farm-to-table restaurants, and we look forward to covering them here.
Winter 2011-2012 Guide to Eating Green
Fresh winter vegetables
The Saturday winter farmers’ markets at the Granges (Norfield and Greenfield Hill) and the Westport farmers’ market at Gilbertie’s Herb Gardens on Thursdays are THE places to go to find potatoes, carrots, celeriac, garlic, onions, hardy greens and other winter crops. The Double L Market in Westport is a seven-day-a-week source for seasonal vegetables and The Farmer’s Table in New Canaan has a small selection in winter.
Local and sustainably grown meats and poultry
The Saturday winter farmers’ markets at the Greenfield Hill Grange host vendors Greyledge Farm (pastured chicken, beef and pork) and Sankow’s Beaver Brook Farm (lamb). Both vendors can also be found on Thursdays at the Westport farmers’ market at Gilbertie’s Herb Gardens. Eaglewood Farms offers natural beef and pork each Saturday at the Norfield Grange winter market. The Double L Market in Westport has everything from New York state bison to Vermont grass-fed beef and The Farmer’s Table in New Canaan typically has a small selection of meats from John Boy’s Farm in New York. Saugatuck Craft Butchery in Westport is a whole animal butcher (think oxtail, tongue, and offal in addition to all the regular cuts) specializing in fresh (not frozen) beef, pork and lamb from sustainably run family farms in New York and Connecticut.
Local and organic dairy products
The Farmer’s Cow’s rBST-free milk, cream, eggs and ice cream can be found in supermarkets including Stop ‘n Shop and Big Y. Visit the website for a complete list of retailers.
Cheese
The widest selection of cheeses are available at cheese shops like Fairfield Cheese Company, which is dedicated to sourcing from small artisan producers including Cato Corner Farm & Beltane Farm and other distinguished cheese makers from New England. The Saturday winter farmers’ markets at the Greenfield Hill Grange offers cheeses from Sankow’s Beaver Brook Farm. It’s worth asking for their fresh sheep’s milk ricotta for making homemade lasagna, ravioli, tortellini and manicotti. Sankow’s Beaver Brook Farm is also a vendor at the Westport farmers’ market at Gilbertie’s Herb Gardens, along with Beltane Farm, our state’s biggest producer of fresh and aged goat’s milk cheeses. Butterfield Farm sells goat’s milk cheeses at the Norfield Grange farmers’ market each Saturday. Walter Stewart’s Market in New Canaan and The Double L Market in Westport also carry Connecticut artisan and farmstead cheeses. When in New Haven, be sure to head to Caseus, where cheese is both sold at the fromagerie and served in the bistro.
Milk, cream, yogurt
The Double L Market in Westport carries Arethusa Farm’s (Litchfield) milk, cream and yogurt and milk from Smyth’s Trinity Farm (Enfield). Saugatuck Craft Butchery carries an organic, grass-fed yogurt from New York state that’s fantastic. Visit Sankow’s Beaver Brook Farm for sheep’s milk yogurt, both at the winter farmers’ market at the Greenfield Hill Grange and Westport farmers’ market at Gilbertie’s Herb Gardens. Beltane Farm does not milk their goats in the winter so there will be no yogurt until the spring. Take a trip to the Norfield Grange winter market for Butterfield Farm’s goat’s milk yogurt.
Daffodil Hill Growers sells honey and maple syrup and The Herb Basket sells honey, maple syrup and their own diverse line of specialty jams at the Greenfield Hill Grange farmers’ market on Saturdays. Daffodil Hill Growers and Gazy Brothers Farm, two vendors at the Norfield Grange farmers’ market, sell honey and maple syrup. Winding Drive, an award-winning producer of jams made from Connecticut fruit, is a regular vendor at the Westport farmers’ market at Gilbertie’s Herb Gardens. The Double L Market in Westport carries honey from a Fairfield beekeeper, an enticing variety of jams from Red Jacket Orchards in New York, and estate maple syrups from Vermont. Fairfield Cheese Company, Catch a Healthy Habit Café, Michele’s Pies (Norwalk/Westport), Aux Delices (Greenwich/Darien), Plum Pure Foods (Old Greenwich), Practically Green (Ridgefield), and Jones Winery (Shelton) sell single nectar source honeys and honeycomb from Red Bee Honey (Weston).
Home delivery of local and organic foods
Farm-to-door delivery services are practical and convenient for busy families. Order online and they’ll deliver to your door. Connecticut Farm Fresh Express serves all of CT and sells exclusively CT Grown and made foods, Graze (Fairfield County only) specializes in VT Grown and made foods, Concierge Foods (Stamford, Greenwich, New Canaan only) sells local, farm-fresh and sustainable foods and now sources from at least two Connecticut farms (Chef Alvarez will also cater your private party), Mike’s Organic Delivery (Stamford, Greenwich, Darien only) focuses on market baskets from small, sustainably run NY farms.
Eating Out
Fairfield County has watched the number of farm-to-table restaurants grow over the last year, and there are more to come. Bill Taibe, celebrated chef/owner of LeFarm in Westport and a James Beard Foundation Award 2011 Semifinalist for Best Chef Northeast, will be opening a new eatery in Saugatuck Center directly across from Saugatuck Craft Butchery in January. Chef Brian Lewis, best known for his collaboration with Richard Gere and Carey Lowell in creating the Bedford Post, will be opening Elm in New Canaan in early 2012. Chef Lewis describes his modern American cuisine as rooted in tradition and inspired by the seasons.
Restaurants serving farm-to-table and/or organic food and drink, from casual to fine dining.
Boxcar Cantina (Green Restaurant Certified), Greenwich, Southwestern food, also a regular lunch vendor at the Westport farmers’ market
Le Pain Quotidien, Greenwich and New Canaan (source organic ingredients whenever possible and have green business practices)
LeFarm, Westport (innovative local farm-to-table cuisine; Chef Bill Taibe is a James Beard Foundation Award 2011 Semifinalist for Best Chef Northeast)
Farmer’s Table, New Canaan (Southwestern casual fare made with local meats and vegetables; features in-store mini farmers’ market)
Harvest Supper, New Canaan (seasonal farm-to-table, named one of top 4 chefs in New Canaan by Patch in 5/11)
The Filling Station, New Canaan (hamburgers, hot dogs and sloppy joes made with organic raised beef from local farms, organic French fries, and hormone free & anti biotic free milkshakes)
Napa & Co., Stamford (“innovative wine country cuisine made from organic, farm-fresh, seasonal ingredients”)
Fat Cat Pie Company, Norwalk (pizza and salads made with organic and local ingredients)
Sugar & Olives, (Green Restaurant Certified) Norwalk (local, sustainable farm-sourced ingredients for a seasonal menu)
The Stand Juice Company, Norwalk & Fairfield(organic juice cleanses and casual menu using organic ingredients when possible)
Restaurant North, Armonk (refined farm-to-table new American fare)
Tarry Lodge, Westport & Port Chester (Green Restaurant Certified; some sourcing from local farms, sustainably farmed ingredients)
Artisan, Southport, (“seasonally inspired” New England cuisine)
The Perennial Chef, Ridgefield & Bedford, prepared foods and catering using their own organically-grown vegetables, locally sourced ingredients and sustainable seafood.
The Organic Market, Westport (also has a lunch counter, hot buffet and seating area). 285 Post Road East Westport, CT 06880-3613 - (203) 227-9007
Michele’s Pies, 666 Main Avenue, Norwalk, CT and 180 Post Road East, Westport, organic/Fair Trade coffee from Bean & Leaf, some local ingredients used in her award-winning pies www.michelespies.com
Do you have a resource to share? Please post in the comments below and/or on our Facebook page.
The Slate or Blue Slate variety was formally recognized in 1874 by the American Poultry Association and is growing in popularity according to the Slow Food USA Ark of Taste. Photo c/o Slow Food USA
Thanksgiving is just weeks away and plans for creating delicious and memorable family feasts are in full swing. Apples, pumpkins, winter squash, quince, chestnuts, sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, turkeys and just about anything else you’d need for this harvest celebration are available locally. While buying pasture-raised turkeys from local farms as well as Heritage breed turkeys has gotten easier, some advance planning is still required. Since these turkeys are highly coveted and in short supply, my best advice is to consult this guide and place your order immediately.
The following guide lists all know sources for locally grown and Heritage breed turkeys in Fairfield County that we were able to reach at publication time. I compile the guide each year to make it easier for you to find and order the bird of your choice. While Heritage birds are considerably more expensive than broad-breasted whites, the once-yearly splurge is worth it when guests tell you it’s the most flavorful turkey they’ve ever tasted.
Turkey Cooking Advice
Turkeys are tricky to cook because the breast meat is always cooked through before the thighs are. Every chef I have spoken to advises removing the thighs and roasting them longer than the rest of the turkey to avoid overcooking the breast. There’s no undoing overdone! So whether you cut off the legs before or after roasting, cook low and slow at 325 degrees, and take the turkey out of the oven when it reaches 150 degrees. Let it rest tented in foil and the temperature should gradually rise by 10 degrees or more. If any juices are not running clear as you begin to carve the bird, return the pieces to the oven until they do. Note: Always take the temperature of the stuffing to make sure it’s reached 165 degrees when removing the turkey from the oven. If it has not, remove the stuffing from the cavity and spoon it into a casserole, then bake it until it reaches 165. I prefer cooking the stuffing as a side dish that even my vegetarian relatives can enjoy and filling the cavity with aromatics instead.
A Word about Heritage Turkeys
According to Slow Food USA's Ark of Taste, the Black turkey originated in Europe as a direct descendant of the Mexican turkeys brought back by explorers in the 1500s. The turkey made the voyage back to the Americas with early European colonists where it was crossed with Eastern wild turkeys to create the Black. Photo c/o Slow Food USA.
Almost all the turkeys grown in the US are broad-breasted whites, an industrial breed created with the singular goal of producing a bird with more white meat that matures as quickly as possible. Although these birds don’t taste like much when grown in confinement on commercial farms, they have become so popular that other breeds of turkeys nearly became extinct. Less than 10 years ago, a concerted effort was made to save these endangered Heritage breeds by convincing consumers to buy them from the few farmers that were still raising them.
Not only are Heritage turkeys richer and more flavorful, they’re part of our cultural and culinary patrimony. These are the turkeys that generations before us ate before broad-breasted whites became ubiquitous. Heritage turkeys bear a close reassemble to their wild ancestors so expect long and lean-looking birds with a lot of dark meat. Heritage birds are raised on pasture on small sustainable farms, allowed to roam freely and forage, are supplemented with organic feed, and take twice as long as broad-breasted whites to mature. The price tag will reflect these additional costs. Note: You won’t typically find Heritage turkeys weighing more than 24 or so pounds.
The Naragansett is named for Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island where it was first developed by early colonists who crossed Eastern Wild turkeys with domesticated European turkeys (that were originally brought to Europe from Mexico) according to Slow Food USA. photo c/o Slow Food USA
I’m happy to report that the efforts of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy and Slow Food to return Heritage turkey breeds to their rightful place on our dining tables have been successful and it’s now easier than ever to purchase one of these special turkeys for your Thanksgiving celebration. The following Heritage turkey varieties are cataloged in Slow Food USA’s Ark of Taste and some are recognized as either “threatened” or “endangered”. It may sound strange, but the only way to save them is to eat them. This year’s demand for these rare turkeys will influence next year’s decisions by breeders and farmers about raising them.
American Bronze
Black, also referred to as Norfolk Black and Black Spanish
Bourbon Red
Jersey Buff
Midget White
Narragansett
Royal Palm
Slate or Blue Slate
Where to buy a local or Heritage turkey
Please read through the entire list before making your first and second choice selections. Pasture-raised turkeys from CT, NY, PA and VT plus a few options for Heritage breeds are available, but only in limited quantities.
Ekonk Hill Turkey Farm in Moosup is the largest grower of free-range, pasture-raised turkeys in the state and this year their turkeys are available for home delivery through CT Farm Fresh ExpressCTFEE (see more below) and at retail from Saugatuck Craft Butchery (see more below). While the breed is Broad-Breasted White, they taste nothing like supermarket turkeys from industrial farms. These turkeys are raised on pasture where they forage for bugs and insects and are raised without antibiotics and hormones. For anyone accustomed to eating store-bought turkeys, these are an excellent step up and a vote for local food!
Saugatuck Craft Butchery in Westport is offering three different types of turkeys and will take orders as soon as their doors open (any day now!) starting Saturday, Nov. 5 at 11 am when they open for the first time. Their Grand Opening will take place on November 19. Ekonk Hill Turkey Farm’s Broad-Breasted Whites are raised on open green pasture with free access to feed and shelter and full access to green grass, sunshine and fresh air. The turkeys are processed humanely right on the farm in a State Inspected facility by the farmers who raised and cared for them, treating them with kindness and respect throughout the process. The birds are raised naturally, meaning without growth stimulants or hormones. No additives or preservatives are added during processing. The turkeys come to you exactly as mother nature intended. Sizes and pricing TBA.
Owner Ryan Fibiger explained that the shop is making an exception to their local sourcing credo to offer something truly special this holiday season. “We’ve been incredibly fortunate to have a relationship with Bill and Nicolette Niman, true pioneers in sustainable farming and raising animals according to the principals on which we built Craft Butchery. Bill and his new company, BN Ranch, are raising some of the most unique and sought after birds in the country from the bloodlines of some of the original Heritage breeds. We have sourced a small number of these birds for a few lucky customers.” According to BN Ranch, their Heritage turkeys are direct descendants of five distinct old breeds (Standard Bronze, Narragansett, Bourbon Red, White Holland, and Spanish Black) from Frank Reese’s Good Shepherd Turkey Ranch in Lindsborg, Kansas. Frank Reese is a renowned breeder of American Poultry Association (APA) approved breeds and is recognized as a crusader in the movement to conserve Heritage turkeys. His turkeys, and those of farmers associated with his ranch, are otherwise only available to our market through Heritage Food USA, which ships turkeys via FedEx Overnight. On the Niman’s ranch the breeding flock is allowed to roam freely on grassy pastures most of the year, grazing and foraging to supplement their all-natural grain and soy vegetarian diet. They are never fed antibiotics or other chemicals to promote growth or replace good animal husbandry. Sizes and pricing TBA. Broad-Breasted Whites from BN Ranch are also available.
Connecticut Farm Fresh Express (CTFFE), an online seller of exclusively CT Grown foods, is selling fresh, Broad-Breasted white turkeys from Ekonk Hill Turkey Farm for home delivery by their drivers for $4.50 per pound. Ekonk’s turkeys are raised on pasture without growth stimulants or hormones. The majority of their diet has been grass and bugs; they are grain fed as a supplement only. To reserve your turkey, download, complete and mail this form with a $20 deposit to CTFFE. Home deliveries will be scheduled for Nov. 21 or 22.
John Boy’s Farm in Cambridge, NY, a “beyond organic” grower of vegetables, poultry and livestock, is offering something new this year: free-range, Broad-Breasted Bronze turkeys. They’re “a cross between the Broad-Breasted White and American Bronze varieties which have the characteristics of both the large breast and the heritage flavor” according to John Boy. These turkeys are GMO-free and are only supplemented with feed grow organically on the farm. Choose from 14-28 pounds at $5.50 per pound for pick up only. To place a turkey order, email johnboysmarket@aol.com right away with the weight and where you want to pick it up. Pick up options are:Nov. 20 at Muscoot, Pound Ridge or White Plains during farmers’ market hours and Tues. Nov. 22 at Erica’s Kitchen in Bedford from 3-8 p.m. Note: Your turkey is not confirmed without location.
Concierge Foods of Bedford Hills, NY, an online seller of farm-fresh and sustainable foods, is offering two different turkeys this year. Fresh, free-range, Broad-Breasted Bronze turkeys from John Boy’s Farm in Cambridge, NY are “a cross between the Broad-Breasted White and American Bronze varieties which have the characteristics of both the large breast and the heritage flavor” according to John Boy. These turkeys are GMO-free and are only supplemented with feed grow organically on the farm. Choose from 14-28 pounds at $6.50 per pound. Also available are two heritage varieties, Bourbon Red and Narraganset, from Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative of Lancaster, PA for $5.75 per pound up to 22 pounds in size. These birds are grown on small, sustainable family farms where they are free to roam and forage. Turkeys are delivered fresh to your door up until the day before Thanksgiving. To place an order, contact chef/owner Marc Alvarez with the variety, weight and preferred delivery date at 914-241-9200 or marc@conciergefoods.com. Concierge Foods currently serves Stamford and Greenwich communities.
Mike’s Organic Delivery is selling pasture-raised, Broad-Breasted White turkeys from Hemlock Hill Farm, one of the oldest working family farms in Westchester County, New York. The DeMaria Family raises their turkeys without the use of antibiotics or hormones and feed them natural, locally-grown grains. These birds are free to scratch in the fields and get plenty of sunshine. Size options are: 12-15 lbs, 15-18 lbs, 18-21 lbs, and 21-24 lbs. The smallest size runs about $115 and the largest size is about $175. Fresh (not frozen) turkeys must be ordered by Friday, November 18 for home delivery. Cooking instructions are included. Mike’s Organic Delivery currently serves most of southern Fairfield County, from Greenwich up to Rowayton. Delivery dates are Tuesday, November 22 or Wednesday, November 23, depending on location. All orders must be placed online via the website.
Graze, a specialty provider of Vermont artisanal and farm-fresh foods, is selling fresh, free-range turkeys from Misty Knoll Farms. Ten percent of the proceeds from the sale of these turkeys goes to support Westport’s Wakeman Town Farm, an organic demonstration homestead open to the public. When you order, please use the code WAKEMANTURKEY to activate the promotion. Misty Knoll Farms’ free-range, Broad-Breasted White turkeys are raised on the farm’s lush Vermont meadows, where they are afforded a natural, stress-free environment, a wholesome, all-natural diet and plenty of access to lush pasture, sunshine and fresh water. There are never any pesticides, hormones or antibiotics used to raise these happy birds. Graze will deliver FREE to your door throughout Fairfield County on Monday, Nov. 21. Email or call 1-888-WE GRAZE to reserve your turkey. Or, place your entire Thanksgiving order online at Graze.
Sport Hill Farmin Easton is selling fresh, pasture-raised, Broad-Breasted Whites from an Amish farm in Pennsylvania. Choose from Naturally raised and Certified Organic turkeys from 12-14 pounds up to 28-30 pounds. Naturally raised turkeys are $3.10 lb., certified organic are $4.29 lb., and both need to be ordered by November 10. To place an order e-mail farmer Patti Popp at farmgal596@yahoo.com or stop by the farm on 596 Sport Hill Road. Patti will e-mail buyers when the turkeys have arrived to arrange pick-up at the farm the weekend before Thanksgiving.
Greyledge Farmin Roxbury, well-known for their high quality, grass fed beef and pastured pork and chicken, usually sells fresh (not frozen) pasture-raised, Broad-Breasted White turkeys for pick up at local farmers’ markets. Please direct inquiries to 860-350-3203 or email the farm at inquiries@greyledgefarm.com or in person with Greyledge at the Westport and Darien farmers’ markets. No information was made available to us by publication time.
If you are unable to source a Heritage turkey locally, visit Heritage Foods USA online to place an order for direct shipment to your home. At publication time, only 8-14 pound turkeys were still available.
Butcher Paul Nessel separates the ham, which is the same cut used to make prosciutto, Italy's famous dry cured ham.
On Saturday, September 17, Ryan Fibiger and Paul Nessel of Saugatuck Craft Butchery deftly butchered a half pig in front of a crowd of very curious adults and children as part of the Slice of Saugatuck Festival. This public demonstration underscored their commitment to transparency in every facet of the business, but also provided the community with a rare glimpse into the origins of our food and the anatomy of a pig. Butt, picnic, tenderloin, loin, hocks, ribs, bacon and even skin for chicharrones were sliced (or sawed in one case), by Nessel before being discussed, wrapped, and stored by the duo in the cooler for the raffle.
Ryan Fibiger shows the crowd the loin, which can be further cut into chops.
In a few weeks, the butcher shop will open and Westporters and real food eaters from miles around will have ample opportunity to watch as steer, pigs, lambs, chickens and maybe even a goat or two enter as whole animals and exit as a premium cuts for the dinner table and lesser-known cut you’ll eventually learn to love. These are whole animal butchers after all, so expect the unexpected but also look forward to discovering pantry staples you’ll covet including lard and stock. Fibiger sang the virtues of leaf lard for home-made pie crusts and smoked hocks for soups.
Each cut was wrapped and stored in the cooler until the 3:00 raffle. Copies of "The Butcher's Guide to Well-Raised Meat" were another raffle prize.
The pig butchered that day was from Joseph Milo Farm in New York, a small family farm that uses sustainable farming practices, raises its livestock on pasture, and never feeds their animals genetically modified feed. After being humanely slaughtered, it was sold whole to the butchers, making it a total of 3 hands that touched the animal before it was raffled off to a few lucky Slice of Saugatuck attendees. Fibiger pointed out that this is the backstory of all the meat and poultry they sell. It’s a simple, old-fashioned one that fell out of favor with the advent of industrial meat production, but is being resurrected thanks to demand by educated and motivated consumers.
On Saturday, September 17, from noon until 3 pm, over 30 restaurants and retailers in Saugatuck are opening their doors to the public to provide us with a Slice of Saugatuck. Bring the kids and pop in the places that interest you the most for free samples. Check out the festival map to pick your favorite destinations and plan your afternoon.
Ryan Fibiger, left, is a recent graduate of Fleischer's Grass-Fed and Organic Meats' whole animal butchery program and the owner of Saugatuck Craft Butchery.
Among my top picks is Saugatuck Craft Butchery, where founder/owner Ryan Fibiger will be demonstrating how to butcher a pig just in front of his shop (which hasn’t opened yet) at 1:00 pm. Ryan has been holding private butchering demos in Fairfield County as he geared up to open his sustainable butcher shop in Saugatuck Center late this September, but this is the first public demonstration. All their products are expertly hand-butchered and sourced from small family farms in New York and Connecticut that employ sustainable farming practices. Saugatuck Craft Butchery will no doubt become a destination for anyone seeking out the highest quality beef, chicken, pork and lamb, for themselves and their pets. As a nose-to-tail, or whole animal butcher, no part of the animal is wasted, which means lots of premium scraps for fido. To learn more about Ryan and Saugatuck Craft Butchery, read our feature article, The New, Old-Fashioned Butcher.
TheBoathouse at Saugatuck can be found inside the Saugatuck Rowing Club and offers beautiful and relaxing views of the Saugatuck River that earned it a “Best View in Connecticut” accolade from Zagat. Chef John Holzwarth is a true farm-to-table chef, giving elegant treatment to seasonal vegetables and artisan food products. Like other fine area restaurants dedicated to serving local and sustainable food, Boathouse serves Westport Aquaculture’s oysters and other seafood. To learn more about the chef and restaurant, read a recent review by Elizabeth Keyser.
Celebrity chef, restauranteur, and author Mario Batali and partners opened Tarry Lodge Enoteca Pizzeria this July after achieving success with their Port Chester location. The restaurant is a “casual reinterpretation of the Tarry Lodge” in Port Chester and sports a wood-fired pizza oven and grill according to partner and general manager Nancy Selzer. Each property in the restaurant group is either already green certified or on target to do so with the help of full-time Green Initiative staff member Elizabeth Meltz. In accordance with the restaurant group’s commitment to source locally as much as possible, Chef Andy Nesser will initially rely on Westchester-based farms that currently supply the Port Chester location, but plans to shop the Westport Farmers’ Market and forge new farm relationships through the CT Dept. of Agriculture’s Farm-to-Chef Program.
Collyer Catering, a regular lunch vendor at the Westport farmers’ market, will be serving samples of a fall soup and guest vendor Planet Fuel will sampling their organic kids’ juices.
Please refer to the festival map for restaurant locations. See you there!
Fairfield Green Food Guide readers are officially invited take the pledge to go meatless one day a week by joining Meatless Monday, a growing national movement to eat meat-free meals one day a week. Each week we’ll post a seasonal recipe to support you in your efforts to eat a little greener (and healthier too!). We pledge not to compromise on flavor and to inspire you with new and exciting flavors. Area chefs are invited to submit favorite recipes too and right now we’re requesting veggie burger and cold summer soup ideas.
The Environmental Working Group has just released The Meat Eater’s Guide to Climate Change and Health, a handy online guide to improving your health and the health of the environment through sustainable meat choices. It includes a recommendation to practice Meatless Mondays, citing this quote from real food activist and author Michael Pollan.
“The single most important thing any of us can do to shrink the environmental footprint of our eating is to cut back on our meat eating — doing so has a bigger impact than eating local or organic.”-Michael Pollan, Author and food activist
When you do eat meat, avoid factory farmed beef, poultry, pork and dairy; choose grass-fed, pasture-raised, and organic meat and dairy instead. Approximately 99 percent of the meat sold in restaurants and grocers if from factory farms (CAFOs) where animals are raised in close confinement, fed an unnatural diet of genetically modified (GM) corn and soy, and are routinely treated with antibiotics to keep them from getting sick. Raising animals in this manner might produce cheap meat for the consumer, but what’s rung up at the register doesn’t factor in the true cost to the environment and human health. Don’t fall victim to the illusion of cheap food. The real cost of producing and eating food from the industrial food chain will have to be paid for by generations to come.
Where to find green meat for the rest of the week, while still eating less meat overall:
Many Connecticut farmers raise livestock and poultry on pasture and sell beef, pork, lamb, turkey, chicken and dairy products at farmers’ markets throughout the state and through CT Farm Fresh Express, an online ordering and home delivery service of exclusively CT Grown products.
Some farms offer meat CSAs that deliver to area communities, including Laurel Ridge Farm. Saugatuck Craft Butchery, a full-service sustainable butcher shop, will be opening in Westportin September.
Don’t forget to register your pledge with Meatless Monday and visit Fairfield Green Food Guide weekly for new recipes. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter @GreenFoodGal and subscribe to our newsletter so you don’t miss a recipe. When we reach 1,000 Facebook fans (only 25 to go!), we’ll announce a sweepstakes for a free vegetarian cooking class with a local chef.
Ryan Fibiger, a recent graduate of Fleisher's Grass-Fed and Organic Meats' whole animal butchery program, will be opening a retail butcher shop in Saugatuck Center to serve discriminating Fairfield County consumers.
Back in April I profiled Ryan Fibiger, a recent graduate of Fleisher’s Grass Fed and Organic Meats’ whole animal butchery program, in the post The New, Old-Fashioned Butcher. Ryan recently shared with me that he’s all set up to open his retailer butcher shop in Saugatuck Center during the first week of September. If you swing by the property for a peek, you’ll notice a restaurant being built out a few doors down. Offering outdoor seating and catering to the local lunch crowd, the restaurant will, according to Ryan’s, “be very complimentary” to what he’s doing. Wow! A snout-to-tail restaurant in Fairfield County. I see an outdoor pig roast coming!
You won’t have to wait until the shopopens to get a taste of Ryan’s organic and pasture-raised beef, lamb and poultry products. He’s starting a meat CSA very soon and will offer a variety of options – fresh or in cryo for freezing – to suit different consumers. This is the perfect opportunity to go in with a few friends on a whole animal or buy into a share. No fighting over single cuts now! We’ll release details as soon as the program goes live.
Ryan held his first private butchering demo last month and shared that “It was fantastic. We expected 30-40 guests and had 80-90 show up.” Pork in the Raw, a pig butchering demo he plans to hold in his raw retail space before construction begins, could be on the calendar by month’s end. Space will be limited so be sure to follow us on Facebook to get the news first. Ryan also plans to do demos at local farm-to-table restaurants and those could possibly be by invitation only. I’ll be sure to let you know when he opens up his email list.
Trying to utter the words meat and sustainable in the same sentence undoubtedly gives us pause. We know that 99% of the meat consumed in this country is raised on CAFOs (Contained Animal Feeding Operations) that pump the animals full of antibiotics and other pharmaceuticals so they can stay just healthy enough to be legally slaughtered and sent to market. In the case of steer fed a diet of cheap, genetically modified corn, these poor quadrupeds have been stripped of what should be an inalienable right of all ruminants – access to pasture where they can chew some cud.
Raising cattle wasn’t always like this. In the pre-CAFO days farmers grazed cattle on their farmland, herding them from field to field where they enjoyed a wide variety of native grasses during the warmer months and setting aside hay and silage to feed them in the colder ones. Thankfully not all farms were converted to CAFOs or closed down. It’s these small, sustainably managed family-owned farms that are providing some of the most humane and prized meat available in the marketplace. Connecticut residents are able to purchase this type of meat frozen and cryovaced directly from local farmers or through certain intermediaries, but rarely fresh at a retail butcher’s counter. A gaping hole exists in the retail marketplace for local-sustainable meat and that’s about to change.
Fleischer’s Grass-Fed and Organic Meats in Kingston, NY has been running an extremely successful and high profile whole animal butcher shop and school since 2004. You may have caught Fleischer’s co-owner and master butcher Joshua Applestone onThe Martha Stewart Show coaching her through the butchering of a side of pig while discussing the virtues of local and pasture raised meats. Joshua and Jessica Applestone’s new book, The Butcher’s Guide to Well-Raised Meat: How to Buy, Cut, and Cook Great Beef, Lamb, Pork, Poultry, and More, will be released in June and has already been called an “instant classic” by Marion Nestle. It’s a butcher’s guide appropriate for any food lover and cook.
Ryan Fibiger is a recent graduate of Fleischer's Grass-Fed and Organic Meats' whole animal butchery program and will be setting up shop to serve discriminating Fairfield County consumers by summer's end.
Graduates of Fleischer’s whole animal butchery school are blazing a trail from New York City (Tom Mylan at The Meat Hook, also featured in the new Williams-Sonoma book The Cook and the Butcher) toLos Angeles(Amelia Posada and Erika Nakamura of Lindy & Grundy’s) setting up retail shops that appeal to consumers in search of the most delectable and sustainable fresh beef, lamb, pork and poultry available. Fairfield County will receive such a treat when Ryan Fibiger opens his full-service, whole animal butcher shop late this summer. Fibiger traded in a career in high finance for an entrepreneur’s life where he will replicate Fleischer’s successful whole animal butcher shop model. Initially, Fibiger will source from New York farms that currently supply Fleischer’s (all within 100 mile radius of Westport), but his goal is to also source from the best of breed Connecticut farms. While a whole animal butcher shop will appeal to any discriminating consumer, it’s the health-minded and sustainable eaters that are most apt to rejoice and throw a party to celebrate their newfound access to a convenient source for real meat with a backstory. I know I’ll be one of them.
According to Fibiger, the Fleischer’s philosophy starts with the butcher knowing the farms that raised the animals, how they were raised, and how and by whom they were slaughtered. “We hold our farms and slaughterhouses to extremely high standards of quality, transparency and humane practices.” The butcher takes over from there with an unconditional commitment to expert butchery and to using the entire animal from snout to tail. Really. That means cuts not fated for the retail case are rendered for fat or used to make stock, and any trimmings are made into dog food. This also implies the return of the traditional butcher as educator, helping to inform the consumer about lesser known cuts and ways to prepare them.
Local farm-to-table chefs whose sophisticated clientele already support their dedication to seasonal and nose to tail cooking (think cheeks, tongue, and sweetbreads) are important wholesale customers for whole animal butchers. (I’m willing to wager that a pig’s head torchon will soon arrive on one of these menus.) Fibiger plans to follow the Fleischer’s model of training chefs and sous chefs to break down whole animals themselves (subprimals in the case of steer) and anticipates a strong reception over time. “There are unlimited options as a chef when you break the animal down yourself, as well as insight into the quality of the meat (and life of the animal) that can only be inferred from working with the whole animal” he explains. If all goes as planned, an A-list farm-to-table chef will set up a new restaurant a few doors down from the butcher shop and pre-opening events will including pig roasts in the outdoor plaza and café.
As exciting as this new store is, whole animal butchery will require some adjustments on the part of the consumer. Think of it as an opportunity to become informed and enlightened about cuts of meat you’ve likely never seen and how to prepare them in a delicious manner for family and friends. This is so critical to a sustainable butcher shop’s success that it’s a formal part of the business model. Expect video podcasts, live demonstrations and workshops, and a store staff that’s 100% Fleischer’s trained and ready to answer your every question, patiently and professionally. One lesson for customers will be that the meat carries no USDA grading. “Pastured-raised meat is not generally graded” explains Fibiger, referring to the USDA grades frequently applied to factory farm-raised steer (e.g. prime, choice, select, etc.), “However, the flavor of our meat compares favorably against even the best prime-graded cuts”. Also prepare for the most popular cuts to disappear quickly each week since there are a finite number of steaks and chops in each animal. As Fibiger is quick to point out due to the rising popularity on restaurant menus, in the case of hangar steak, there is only ONE. To ensure availability, it’s advisable to call ahead and place a custom order. They deliver.
Fibiger is also planning a whole animal CSA (fully broken down) and will begin taking orders in June. A butchering demonstration open to the public is planned for late May or early June and you can find both events posted on this site once details become available.
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