February 10th Offerings
“No love joy comes to bodies misfed.” Seneca, Roman Intellectual
With Valentines Day approaching, I have a little love note to share with Mel. Mel doesn't just fill countless orders every week. Mel cooks for you. And I think that's part of what differentiates Mel's food from most. Mel marinates a chicken for Sam. Mel forms a loaf of sourdough or two for Holly. Mel makes a batch of etouffee without gluten for Laura... Because people move Mel, and she is utterly devoted to all of them. Every Wednesday while we farm box, I field phone calls from my dad in Chicago, who hardly made anything other than tuna melts before last March, and now I talk my dad through cooking dinner regularly. He texts me photos of the meals he makes, and I proudly share them with Mel. Mel quickly figured out my parents’ favorite foods that required more skill than a simmer sauce. She made them porchetta, smoked beef ribs, and duck confit, vacuum sealed and froze it all, and delivered it to me so I could overnight it to my parents. This is love.
"Without bread, without wine, love is nothing." French Proverb
For Valentine's Day, we've got a classic steak dinner. Mel found a local cattle ranch where the cows are grass-fed, and carrot finished. (Santa Carota Ranch… which is Italian for holy carrot.) She went to meet the butcher yesterday and sample some of their cuts, and she's going to visit the farm next week. For your Valentine's Day meal, she settled on an 8 oz sirloin that is tender and tastes of sweet cream butter. Mel will sous vide the steaks to rare with butter, thyme, salt, and pepper. All you need to do is char them on the grill or sear them in a pan to get them hot and form a crust. She's also making steakhouse mixed mushrooms, and Remy and Jordan are making celery root and potato gratins with more of Coleman's sweet celery roots.
I also asked Mel to make green goddess dressing because of all the dressings, this is the one I wish I made more often, but it takes more than a minute to make and requires a lot of tarragon, which is sometimes hard to find. Green goddess also goes well with little gems, beets, radishes, and avocados, all of which will be in the box this week. Or dollop it on some Ora king salmon, which we're also offering. Since Mel isn't spatchcocking and marinating chickens this week, we will have whole free-range chickens available. We are also getting small, boneless pork shoulder/collar roasts from Peads and Barnetts. This is a forgiving cut that is hard to mess up and easy to impress your loved ones. This is the cut you use for carnitas or pulled pork, but you can also rub it with rosemary, fennel seed, and garlic à la porchetta. We'll post pork shoulder recipes.
For sweets, Jared is making hot fudge sundae fixings. You just need to get ice cream and whipping cream. Jared's chocolate brownies are super dense and fudgy and happen to be gluten-free. We keep them in the freezer and slice off bites when needed. He's also making hot fudge and candied walnuts. The candied walnuts are also great for snacking or adding crunch to salads. For a vegan, raw treat that eats like cookie dough, Natacha is making date balls, which I thought sounded perfect for Valentine's Day.
Lastly, we are offering protea bouquets from Peads and Barnetts. They raise pigs and drought-tolerant plants, and their flower arrangements are stunning and last a while.
Click each item below to add to your cart. All orders due by Sunday, 2/7 at noon.
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