Rain!

The good news is we got some much needed rain this week! The bad news is that rain coupled with conflicting schedules prevented us from visiting our scheduled farmer this week. We will be back at it next week!

Today at the Market

It was a beautiful day at Rose City Farmers Market! Those clouds looked mighty promising! We sure were praying they'd bring our farmers some much needed rain! The market had it all this week; face painting, music, coffee, cocktails, baked goods, amazing artisans, and of course gorgeous East Texas produce. 

Here are some highlights! Thanks to the team over at the market for providing the pictures. Be sure to visit their Facebook page! http://facebook.com/rosecityfarmersmarket

This is my little cutie showing off her dinosaur. 

It's our friends Colby and Houston from Whislter's Farm! If you haven't already check out our last post where we visited their farm!

Wow! Look at those onions!  Courtney also had some delicious strawberries

Farm Feature: Whistler's Farm

  Most people's vision for retirement is a laid back leisurely one. Perhaps spent on the beach with a cool drink in hand. Houston Morrow is not most people. His retirement dream looks like, well a whole lot of work. Houston bought his 17 acre homestead a little over a year ago and has been working tirelessly with the help of his family to turn it into his dream of a self-reliant family farm. This lifestyle is more than just a dream to the Morrows, it is engrained in who they are. It's rooted in a deep respect for the land and animals that was evident as Houston and Colby, his son and right hand man, showed us around.

  Sunday we spent the day with the guys behind Whistler’s Farm and are truly impressed by what we experienced. Colby took his time showing us their operation as Houston would join between working to tell us history about the buildings and animals. The three large plots of land dedicated to growing fruit and vegetables are full of young plants all started from seed( non GMO/heirloom/organic). No small accomplishment given that the land has not been worked for the past ten years. No harmful chemicals or pesticides are used on their crops because; well they’re not good for you or the soil.

 There are a lot of animals at Whistler’s Farm. Besides the quail that they are known for, they have chickens, goats, ducks, turkeys, rabbits, and two cows. The love and care they have for their animals was easy to see as they walked us around often introducing the animals by name and taking time to stop and show them affection.  This is why they take the extra effort to butcher their quail by hand instead of using a machine that can bruise up the meat.

  After our tour of the farm, we invaded their kitchen to make our own version of a fried meat pie. We had prepared the crust the day before, but everything else we needed was picked, plucked, and butchered that same day. We used the ingredients they will be bringing to market this week including potatoes, quail, quail eggs, and a fresh salad using baby spinach, radishes, and the vinegar from the pickled eggs.

 Whistler’s Farm is truly a family operation that requires lots of hard work. From tending the fields and taking care of the animals to pickling eggs and baking bread everyone does their part. We had the pleasure of meeting Houston’s wife Joyce, daughter Whitney, and Colby’s girlfriend Katie. Everyone was so down to earth and made us feel welcome. While I am sure it isn’t always easy, the amount of cooperation and love it takes from a family to accomplish what they are doing is something to be admired and aspired to.
Thank you Morrow family for welcoming us into your home and being the first of our farm visits. We are truly grateful.
Click on the recipe tab for the recipe!

Quail Meat Pies- Whistler's Farm

Quail Meat Pies (makes 12 pies)

This is a great recipe for any time of year. The filling and pie dough can both be made in advance. We served it with a salad of spinach, mesculin, sugar snap peas, radishes, and strawberries all picked fresh from the Morrow’s garden and simply dressed with olive oil and a little of the leftover brine from their pickled quail eggs. (We would have put the pickled quail eggs in the salad also, but we inadvertently ate them all while preparing the meal.) Together, the salad and the meatpies made the perfect dinner for a late spring evening.

Pie Dough
 3c Flour
6Tbs Lard (cold)
¾ tsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp salt 3/4c milk
 1 egg
 Sift the dry ingredients together. Cut in the lard until it resembles coarse cornmeal. In a separate bowl, mix the egg and milk together. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix until a dough is formed. Portion the dough into 12 pieces and roll each into a 5 inch circle. Wrap individually in plastic wrap and chill.

Filling
12 Quail eggs
 3 Quail salt and peppered
6-7 small new potatoes, diced
2 small noonday onions, diced small, tops sliced and set aside
2 sprigs Rosemary, finely chopped
2 sprigs Oregano, finely chopped
1/2tsp Old Bay 1/2tsp Ground Red Pepper
1/2tsp Paprika Salt and pepper to taste
1Tbs Flour
1c water
Lard
1 Egg mixed with 3 Tbs water

Heat enough lard to coat bottom of the pan (about 1tbs) to med high. Season the quail liberally with kosher salt and pepper and place in the pan breast side down. Cook quail until they are medium rare and have good color, turning once half way through (about 15 minutes). Remove quail from the pan, and let rest for 5 minutes. Pull meat and set aside.
 Meanwhile bring 1 quart of water and 1 cup of white vinegar to a boil. Using a slotted spoon, gently add quail eggs and boil 2 ½ minutes. Remove and place in ice water to cool. Peel and set aside.
 After removing the quail, reduce heat to medium and add potatoes to the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes begin to get color. Add in onions and cook until translucent, soft, and sweet. Return pulled quail meat to pan and add Old Bay, rosemary, oregano, chile powder, and paprika. simmer until quail is cooked through. Mix 1tbs flour with 1 cup of water and stir into to the quail mixture. Add the sliced onion tops. Bring to a simmer and let cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

 Assembly
Remove the pie dough from the refrigerator. Place about 3 tbs of filling in the center of each round. Place a quail egg in the center of each mound of filling as if it were sitting in a nest. Brush edge of each round with egg wash, fold over and crimp edges together with a fork. In a cast iron pan, heat enough cooking oil (I prefer lard) to come half way up the side of the pie. If using a deep fyer, heat oil to 360. Fry pies in batches until golden brown on both sides, turning once half way through. Be sure not to overcrowd the pan. Once cooked, blot excess oil on a cloth or paper towel and enjoy!

Benefits of Buying Local

We can't wait to start getting to know our local farmers and producers! First we thought we would share why we believe it's important to buy local. We understand that buying local takes extra effort and sometimes is more expensive, but think you'll see that there are great benefits.

• Greater control of what you're putting in your body. 

Getting to know your farmer means you will know what kind of practices they use. Pesticides? Organic? The ever increasing amount of pesticides used in commercial crops is greatly concerning. Just last month it was made known that the toxic herbicide glyphosate was found in the breastmilk of American women. This after Monsanto (don't get me started) has claimed for years that it doesn't accumulate in the body. NOT OKAY!

• Freshest and most nutritious food available. 

Most produce you find in the supermarket is picked 4-7 days before it hits the shelves and it travels 1500 miles to get there!! That is if it is even coming from the United States. Food starts to lose nutrients from the time it's picked. Local farmers are often picking produce the day before they go to market! This ensures you're getting the most nutrients possible!

• Support your local farmer!

 Family farmers are a dying breed and rely on community support. By selling directly to the public they are able to cut out the middle man and get the full retail for their hard work.

• TASTE!

 Have you tasted a grocery store tomato? They're (usually) flavorless! Did you know those tomatoes are engineered for convenience? For instance 5 x 6 tomatoes are engineered to fit in a box roughly 5 rows by 6 columns. They're also picked green (even the "vine ripened" kind) and gassed for days to turn them that vibrant red. Local farmers are able to use a variety of different breeds full of delicious flavor.

• Support the local economy. 

As much as twice the money stays in the local economy when you buy local! How can that not be a good thing?!

• More humane treatment of livestock. 

Knowing your farmer couldn't be more important than when it comes to livestock. You can ensure that the meat you buy is of the best quality and comes from healthy animals raised with respect.

• Discover new foods. 

By committing to seasonal eating you will be experiencing a variety of new produce and even cuts of meat. It may be intimidating at first, but that's what we're here for!
We hope you will chose to reap the benefits of the wonderful products your local growers have to offer!

 http://content.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1903632,00.html
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_29697.cfm
http://www.localharvest.org/buylocal.jsp