I missed last week's local summer entry due to the amazing powerless adventure, so I'm going to make up for it this week by doing two local meals. Tonight we had a skirt steak that looked bad (I think this cut is not a grilling cut) but tasted SO good. It was from Donnell Beef, just outside Jackson TN. I pre-steamed then grilled potatoes from Whitton Farms and dressed them in rosemary and my homemade mayonnaise. I also bought their green beans this weekend- delicious steamed and sauteed in some Mennonite butter one of our produce stores carries.Tims Family Farm from Ripley, TN provided the tomato and zucchini I grilled and dressed with olive oil and basil for a warm salad.
I cooked some extra potatoes to make gnocchi later this week, and I still have chard, green beans, zucchini, and cucumbers (not to mention peaches and plums!) from the market this week.
One thing about local meats- I'm not the biggest meat-eater around, but my boys love it. Buying local meat can be more expensive, but I think that the benefits- health and environmental- from buying sustainably raised and healthy livestock is worth the higher price, especially when meat is used sparingly. This piece of steak was nearly a pound and only cost me $9. For a special meal (like Father's Day), I think it is a bargain. I really try to stretch my food budget, but I am an avowed foodie. If I have red meat (or any meat, for that matter), it needs to be spectacular. Similarly, I'm not interested in chicken just to have chicken. It needs to be really good- no bland frozen chicken breast, please. I'm exploring a source for local chicken - I think I'm going with halal chicken provided by the west TN Mennonite community, because they don't use antibiotics or hormones on their farms. If I could find a local sustainable source for ground turkey (or any turkey, because I could grind it myself), I'd have all of my meat bases covered.
Hope everyone has had a great weekend.
4 comments:
Meat is one of the things I am a crazy person about and all of ours is local and pasture raised. No vegetarians here and we eat a lot of meat but I feel better knowing the animals were raised in an honorable way.
I'm not a bit meat eater either. If I did, It would definitely be local. Your local meal looks so delicious! I always find these local, summer days so inspiring food-wise!
when I was in college I stopped eating meat when I saw an obvious vein/artery in some pot roast. My family hunts- duck, venison- so I'd still eat a little of that, but my rule was "if it was raised for me to eat it, I won't eat it." I had no issues with anyone else eating meat, I just didn't want to do it. I go back and forth on not wanting to eat meat at all, but my boys love it, so I'm finding the best meats I can, and I love what you said, Jennifer, about their raising being honorable. And Jessica, I find everyone's meals inspiring, too!
I didn't know West TN had a Mennonite community.
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