Tag Archives: self-sufficiency

A Winged Elm Farm Alphabet: “T”

Posted on by
Reply

T is for Turnips

And what did you expect? Of course “T” is for turnips. In spring or fall a few rows of turnips feed the eye and feed the stomach. Your greens and root vegetables in a perfect package: a glorious green with a pretty tasty root crop. They yield 15,000 pounds per acre for the root and 3,500 pounds of greens. That is a lot of food for the table. Or simply till them in as a cover crop and you will have just put a significant amount of biomass into your soil.

On this farm we like our greens. We like them in a stir fry or in long simmers with smoked pork and new potatoes. We like the greens and turnips in our kimchee or cooking the roots with potatoes for a spicy mash. Turnips make the garden look good and this gardener feel good.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Reading this weekend: A Short History of Progress by Ronald Wright. If, as a former boss once told me, you can predict the future by looking at the past, then “progress” doesn’t end very well.

Pig Jowls and Birthday Dinners

Posted on by
2
Guanciale wrapped

Guanciale wrapped

Guanciale unwrapped

Guanciale unwrapped

Each time we get our hogs slaughtered I make sure to get the jowls back fresh not frozen. The jowl is similar to the belly that is used for bacon. And it is perfect for curing. Hanging under the stairs alongside a ham or two there is usually at least one jowl waiting for our occasional dishes of spaghetti alla carbonara. The cured jowl is traditionally called guanciale when called for in a recipe.

Recently, in addition to the carbonara, I have discovered the joys of making roulade with pork cutlets wrapped in strips of guanciale. Since the cucumber harvest began overloading the kitchen counter at the start of the season we have been looking for ever more creative ways of using the surplus. Simple salads of cucumbers, onions, mint and yogurt or cucumber, tomato and basil have graced pretty much every dinner since May. But thanks to a New York Times piece a month ago we have begun fermenting our pickles. Big spears of cucumber with fresh dill, garlic, peppercorns and coriander seeds packed into jars with water and salt yield terrific pickles in less than a week.

So as we prepared my birthday dinner a few days back roulade was the perfect choice to take advantage of the pickle spears, the guanciale and the pork cutlets. We finished the dish with gravy made from some homemade onion jam, cream and fresh chanterelles. Dessert was Cindy’s banana pudding crested with huge waves of fresh meringue washing across the surface.

And if you think I am boasting and a bit of a braggart you are correct.

A Winged Elm Farm Alphabet Book: “L”

Posted on by
Reply

L is for Lard

Fear of fat, fear of flavor has driven from our less enlightened contemporaries knowledge that the word larder originally meant where the lard was stored or bacon hung. Replaced in the mid-twentieth century from its rightful throne by such offensive mass produced products as margarine and vegetable oil, lard deserves to be reconsidered.   

Rendering pork fat into lard for kitchen use is simplicity itself. Low in polyunsaturated fats and high in goodness it is hard to imagine our larder without jars of various rendered fats to choose from when cooking or baking. Leaf fat is rendered into the purest lard for baking; lard made from fatback for any recipe calling for butter; high heat lard smelling of porky goodness for Mexican dishes or slices of lardo, cured and hanging under the stairs, used to dress up some fresh baked bread, all have their times and uses. All pay homage to the pig and ones efforts at nose to tail eating.

Just remember that the cure for any “lard ass” is not the fat you use but the activity you choose. Get up off that aforementioned body part and move.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Reading this weekend: Wildflowers of the Smokies by Peter White

A Winged Elm Farm Alphabet Book: “K”

Posted on by
Reply

K is for Kraut

Kraut, kimchi or kraut-chi: That simple alchemy of veggies and sea salt yields delicious and shelf stable nutritious food in a few short days, championed by Misters Price, Katz and Vaughn. Made from whatever is in season but always benefitting from the crunch of cabbage. Chop your veggies, mix with salt and stuff into a jar and you are off.

Since joining the Church of the Holy Fermented Veggie we usually have a jar or two or five bubbling away on the kitchen counter. Combine cabbage with celery and caraway seeds for a straight forward kraut. Or add in apples for a nice fall dish. Or consider turnips and greens, poblanos or Sriracha, ginger and fish sauce, tomatillos and even anchovies, kohlrabi, pears, garlic, onions or Brussels sprouts in any mad combination you wish. And you will have only begun to scratch the surface of possibilities.

All will be tasty and good in the end. We promise… if not feed the extra to your pig. He will thank you and return the favor. We know.

 

A Winged Elm Farm Alphabet Book: “C”

Posted on by
Reply

“C” is for Crabapples

When planting our orchard crabapples were an afterthought in the main apple orchard. But thirteen years later the larder is full of jars of crabapple jams and jellies. Crabapples with rosemary, with pear, with blueberry and a few jars of apple butters all make buttered toast a more satisfying breakfast.

Thomas Jefferson was able to get 129 gallons of cider from his Hewes Crabapples. My output is more modest. Yet under our stairs are bottles of crabapple wine, cider and mead. The extra fruit is used to make sauces to spoon over pork chops or to spoon into pigs.

It is hard to imagine our orchard without our Calloway Crabapple tree with its bright red fruits each year.