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RECIPE: Mongolian Beef
Mongolian Beef with Misty Brook Farm Shaved Steak Shaved steak is the highlighted Misty Brook product in this delicious meal. This thinly sliced cut of beef is most often seared hot and shoved between two hoagie rolls, dropped into a near-boiling bowl of Vietnamese pho, or served like we do here: in a savory, Asian-inspired sauce with veggies and rice. If you don’t have our shaved steak on hand, place some flank steak in the freezer and slice thinly when it is almost frozen thorugh. Ingredients: 1/4 cup plus 1 Tb vegetable or sesame oil, divided 3 tsp freshly-minced garlic 1 Tb freshly-minced ginger 1/2 cup soy sauce or tamari…
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Misty Brook Bacon
Bacon is a kind of salt-cured pork made from various cuts of the pig, most commonly the belly. It’s a favorite component of a classic American breakfast, and is also used to add a rich, salty, fatty element to many dishes. Think BLTs and club sandwiches, or chopped up and rendered with onions before flavoring a chowder. Our bacon is all from our Tamworth hogs, a heritage breed that is historically known as “the bacon pig” because their thick bellies and golden fat. Tamworth hogs originated in central England where forests full of beech and oak nourished them as they grazed year round. They are lean and athletic and are…
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Stock for staying home and staying healthy
Recipe and article by Robin Kerber Our flock of laying hens spend the cold months sheltered from the elements and protected by our watchdog Molly, and the long summer days on pasture, soaking up the sun and eating as many bugs as they can. They are rotated throughout our pastures and hay fields, directly fertilizing the land and eating a rich and nutritious diet that results in extra flavorful eggs with elevated amounts of vitamins, minerals, and Omega-3. But the pastured laying hen benefit to our farm is not limited to these eggs. We periodically cull some of our older layers to make way for new members of the flock,…
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Sheep Shearing
Article by Robin Kerber We had a wonderful turnout at this past weekend’s annual Sheep Shearing Day at the farm! In preparation for the upcoming lambing season, our flock was sheared by local shearing expert Jeff Burchstead from Buckwheat Blossom Farm. He brought with him equipment and a crew of ready and skilled hands who helped skirt the fleece and get them ready for processing. The history of sheep shearing is fascinating and dates back to 3500 BCE. Wool production is the oldest trade commodity, and was the first widespread international trade throughout ancient civilizations. Wool quickly became a determining factor in who could afford to be the major power…
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RECIPE: Veal Stew with Lemon Polenta
Article and recipe by Robin Kerber At Misty Brook Farm, we believe that humanely raising veal is a vital part of a healthy dairy farm. If you drink dairy, the responsible thing to do is also eat veal. Every year a cow has a calf in order to keep the milk flowing. About half of these calves are bull calves, and while most dairies sell their bull calves as soon as possible, we raise them here for either veal or beef. On our farm we raise all the calves and give them the best life possible. When it comes to raising animals for meat, we like to say: they will have…
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Rendering Veal Fat
Article by Robin Kerber Lard, tallow, butter… these words have a dirty reputation thanks to mainstream claims that these natural fats are bad for our health and our hearts. But if we take a closer look at these exaggerated ideas, many originated from a time when wealthy and powerful processed food companies like Crisco and Parkay (makers of hydrogenated vegetable oil) had a lot of influence in the American diet. These companies began mass producing hydrogenated vegetable oils that behaved similarly to their natural, animal fat counterparts, except they had an increased shelf life, were inexpensive, and contained nasty trans fat. In an attempt to inspire all American housewives to…
