From Farm to Fork with recipes

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The entry is brief and highlights a recent purchase of half a lamb that had been two days before walking in a field. Yesterday, it was butchered into food and today became a meal. It was yummy.

Typically, I use the sister blog to GeoFoodie.Org that is on Tumblr more as a curatorial tool. I tend to link GeoFoodie.org blog posts and also re-blog things I like that other people have done on that site (whereas this blog is entirely original and somewhat more analytical than the Tumblr GeoFoodie). I am taking the unusual step to reblog something I have post on the Tumblr blog here because I think there is some crossover. I hope you enjoy.

Here is the text:

On Thursday my diner was a lamb in a field. By Friday night it was butchered into food and available for pickup at my friend’s farm. Tonight it was a meal I shared with my son.

I am one of, these days, the fortunate few who know a farmer from whom to buy food from directly. Actually Chis is more than a farmer. He is an academic who researches arctic ice melt as one job and farms sheep and some chickens with his partner, Margie, as his other job. Maybe job is not the right term to use. Chris seems to have two vocations. It is clear when he talks about his farm that his focus and interest lies with that, but then when he talks about his research the passion is evident there. Lucky man.

When I went to pick up my half lamb I was handed a beer, enjoyed some wonderful company with some new friends, and my son, who is 14 was made to feel right at home. This welcoming feeling is certainly not something one experiences at a supermarket, even Waitrose. The experience is important for us as we have just returned to the UK from Hong Kong and anything that makes reintegrating enjoyable is particularly important to our sense of well-being and belonging.

I brought the butchered lamb home, put it in zip-lock type bags and put most of it in the freezer. The exception was the leg, which we ate tonight. It was wonderful. I cooked it using a recipe from the Moro at home cookbook (I love the Moro cookbooks—always wonderful food. The restaurant is great too).

Basically I inserted rosemary (which I am growing in my garden) and garlic into the flesh of the leg. Smothered the whole joint with a mixture of crushed garlic, salt, oil and honey and then sprinkled chopped up rosemary on top. It cooked for just a bit over an hour in a hot oven—though half way through I added a bit of white wine to the pan to keep the honey from burning. While the lamb rested I made a gravy out of the pan juices, about a tablespoon of flour and more white wine.

The side dish is a mixture (very loosely) modeled after one you might find in Ottelenghi. It is made of cooked large tabbouleh, asparagus, about 2 tablespoons of Chinese plum sauce—4 or 5 plums boiled with about a cup of sugar, 2 t Chinese 5 spice, and some star anise and then strained—about 1T of balsamic vinegar and an equal amount of olive oil and a good handful consisting of equal amounts of chopped parsley and Tai Basil (these last two also grown in my garden).

This was a lovely diner shared with my son and a skype call to my mother in North Carolina after. Three things that make a great meal: Conviviality, Family, and knowing where your food comes from!