The Hungry Hoosier

Berkshire Porterhouse

Last night for dinner my family and I had not just pork chops but "Berkshire Porterhouse" chops. These amazing chunks of meat came from Flora Berkshire Pork from Carroll County, Indiana (574-967-3484) via Goose The Market. These may just be the most amazing pork chops I have ever had. I had Chris cut them extra thick - a generous 1-1/2 inches. I dusted them with some seasoned flour, pan seared them, and then moved them to a 375 degree oven to finish.

I bought three of these giant things thinking it would certainly be enough for the family. My boys (6 and 3) usually eat like little birds but they could not get enough of the pork, eating the chop I cut up for them to share and a good portion of mom's and dad's.

If you would like to learn more about the Berkshire breed, check out this link. This is not "the other white meat" most of us are used to. This is the way pork once was, well-marbled, flavorful, and juicy.

November: Time to Talk Turkey

Originally published in moist and juicy newspapers on November 1, 2007

For those of us who like to cook, much of our spare time in November will be spent planning for and procuring needed supplies for Thanksgiving Dinner, the Super Bowl of cooking and eating holidays. In years past, I’ve encouraged readers to bypass the grocery store birds to try a farm-fresh turkey. This year, your hearing more of the same from me.

Here in central Indiana we have several options for local birds, from both farmers and now a couple retailers. Here are a few of those options.

Promised Land Farms (9781 W 275 N Thorntown) offers free-range birds that can be ordered and picked up a couple of days before Thanksgiving. You can arrange a pre-Thanksgiving visit to see the turkeys in action and meet Jim and Nancy Whelan. It is a fun trip for the whole family. They can be reached by phone at 765-483-9268. Their website is www.promisedlandfarm.us.

Humphrey Family Farms (3981 S. Grant St, Williamsport) raises all sorts of birds - geese, ducks, chickens, and turkeys. The Humphreys take orders at the Traders Point Creamery Winter Market in Zionsville (www.tpforganics.com) and deliver the birds there for pick up. The Humphreys can be reached by phone at 765-762-3160. You might want to also keep them in mind for a Christmas goose if you want to have an old fashioned Charles Dickens sort of holiday.

Purple Rock Farm (2282 E. 250 N, Frankfort) is also selling an all-natural bird. Gina and Travis Sheets have already processed their birds. They are frozen and ready to pick up anytime. Proceeds from Purple Rock sales go to support the Sheets’ missionary work in third-world countries. Gina and Travis can be reached by phone at 765-659-5310.

Joe’s Butcher Shop (111. W. Main Street) is Carmel’s butcher extraordinaire and Joe is selling all-natural free-range turkey’s raised across the state line in Ohio. Even though it is not an Indiana farmer, I think this is a good choice. Joe has a commitment to quality and sustainable practices. This is guaranteed to be a delicious bird. Joe is taking orders until November 10, 2007. He can be reached by phone at 317-846-8877 and online at www.joesbutchershop.com.

Goose: The Market (2503 N. Delaware St., Indianapolis) is a brand new retail shop in Indy’s Fall Creek Place specializing in top-rate foods from both near and far. They have a terrific year-round selection of meats, cheeses, and all sorts of delicious foods. For Thanksgiving, they too have gone to Ohio to procure all-natural, pasture-raised turkeys. You can count on Chef/Owner Christopher Eley to provide you with a quality product. Goose is taking orders through November 5th. They can be reached by phone at 317-924-4944 and online at www.goosethemarket.com.

The last several years I’ve gotten my bird from an area farmer. I can honestly say these have been the best turkeys I’ve ever had. This year I decided to order from Joe’s Butcher Shop in Carmel. I wanted a whole bird and an extra bone-in breast for plenty of white-meat turkey sandwiches! Joe was able to handle that request. Next week, I’ll provide some tips for how I’ll be preparing my bird this year.

Birky Family Farms Country Market, Valparaiso‎

Jake and Emma Birky established their Porter County farm in 1919. Now, the third generation of Birkys is leading the operation. They have built a reputation for offering high-quality pork raised with, as they put it, “No antibiotics, no growth hormones, no animal by-products, and no bull!” Their convenient Country Market features a wonderful selection of their products, including meaty ribs, thick-cut pork chops, a staggering variety of sausages, lean hot dogs, tenderloins, country bacon, smoked hams, pork steaks, and pork burgers. Birky also has a Pork Patty Wagon that provides catering and on-site grilling for events. Their products can also be ordered online. Call (219-766-3270) for market hours.

Purple Rock Farms

Lots of businesses have missions, but Purple Rock Farms takes mission to a whole new level. Travis and Gina Sheets sell pastured poultry, highland beef, and farm-fresh eggs to support their work with World Mission Builders, an organization that builds churches in third-world countries and recruits ministerial students to serve in the churches.

Their customers not only get great tasting farm products but also get the satisfaction of supporting World Mission Builders. The Sheets welcome visitors. Call to make those arrangements. They’ve also been known to ask folks to stick around for lunch or dinner! Their products are also available at Flavors Coffee House & Deli located on the square (63 E. Clinton St.) in Frankfort.

Purple Rock Farms is located at 2282 East C.R. 250 N in Frankfort. Travis and Gina can be reached by phone at 765-659-5310.

Kobe in the Heartland

Originally published in fork-tender newspapers on August 16, 2007

Want to set aflutter the heart of a carnivorous foodie? Mention Kobe Beef! In the mid-1990s, the most elite of the who’s-who-in-food began buzzing about beef coming from the Kobe region of Japan. Stories of how the cattle was raised seemed outrageous - daily massages, a diet that included beer. The fascination grew and a staggering number of people began paying prices of well over $100 per pound for this Japanese delicacy.

David Rosengarten of the Rosengarten Report, a popular newsletter for those into food, recalls his first experiences with Kobe. “I remember eating it deliriously in the late 1990s at New York steakhouses…I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and tasting - beef that, when raw, was so intensely marbled with fat it looked like it had been gang-injected with cream cheese. And the mouth feel was literally unbelievable: this stuff didn’t metaphorically melt in your mouth, it literally melted in your mouth, accompanied by wonderful waves of sweet beef and butter flavor.”

It did not take long for the American entrepreneurial spirit to take over and Kobe beef was being raised here in the U.S. As it turned out, the secret was not in the beer and the rub downs, but in the basic genetics of the breed of cattle - Wagyu. This type of cow is an anomaly among cattle. Its meat is much more marbled than any other breeds and it has a higher ratio of mono-saturated fats to saturated fats. Some claim that it also has high levels of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Amazingly, this is not only some of the most delicious beef in existence, but may also be some of the healthiest. 

You may be saying to yourself, “This is all quite interesting but I don’t get to New York City very often.” Well, you don’t have to go quite that far. In fact, Kobe is now not only available in Indiana, but being raised here. In 2003, the famed Joseph Decuis restaurant in Roanoke, Indiana began serving American Kobe as a featured menu item and it was an immediate hit with their discriminating clientele. Restaurant owners, Alice and Pete Eshelman set out to learn more about Kobe. They met and became friends with the handful of people who were pioneering Kobe beef to the U.S.

The Eshelmans set their sites on raising American Kobe beef themselves on the Joseph Decuis Heritage Farm, located just six miles from the restaurant. They acquired the finest breeding stock, consulted with the experts, and began raising cattle in a healthy, drug-free, stress-free environment. The calves born at the Heritage Farm are part Angus and part Waygu which produces robust beef that maintains the Kobe tenderness.

They now are their own supplier to the restaurant, making them the only establishment in Indiana, and perhaps the Midwest, serving home-grown American Kobe beef. Not only do they serve Kobe at the restaurant, they also sell it directly to the customer at their Emporium, located next door. Since there is no middle-man, their Kobe prices are much lower than you would find nearly anywhere else.

Joseph Decuis Kobe is available in halves or in individual cuts. A half Kobe will provide about 200 pounds of meat. The number of halves available is limited, so customers are encouraged to call and lock-in an order. Halves start becoming available each April. Individual cuts for purchase include filets, ribeyes, strip loins, and ground steak (this makes a phenomenal hamburger). Phone orders and shipping is available for Indiana customers only. The Joseph Decuis Emporium is located at 191 N. Main Street in Roanoke and they are open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am to 7 pm. They can be reached by phone at 260-672-1715. More information is available at here.

The Big Freeze

I finally got around to buying a chest freezer this week. In the house we have a stainless steel side-by-side fridge/freezer combo. It is sleek and modern and fits our retro/industrial motif we've got going in our kitchen. After living with it for a few months we realized the freezer side is nearly worthless. It is so narrow, that the capacity is limited and what you can put in there gets lost because you have to put one things in front of another. As a result, we don't buy many frozen goods at a time. I had been meaning to get a chest freezer for the garage and finally did.

Today I made my first purchase. I called up my chicken guy, Stan Skillington (see here), and stocked up on six whole birds, and about ten pounds of boneless skinless breasts. I also picked up some pork he gets from a nearby hog guy. Stan's birds can't be beat. There's lots more room in that freezer and my goal is to fill it up.

Irvington CSA: A Taste of the Country in the Heart of the City

Irvington Community Supported Agriculture is a great example of how an urban CSA program can work. They've got a great blog (here) to keep shareholders up-to-date with the latest news, what's in season when, etc. Very cool. We need more efforts like this.

An Impromptu Chutney (Thank's Blue Sky Berry Farm!)

We had friends over on St. Patrick's Day and we started with a Ploughman's Platter. As I shopped for the components, I got panicky when I couldn't find chutney at my local Kroger. In the past, I had purchased the basic Major Grey's Chutney at this store, but none was to be found on Saturday. I hadn't really planned on making my own but realized I would have to.

When I got home, I decided to make it a blueberry chutney (not really Irish, but that's okay). I reached for a jar of Blue Sky Berry Farm (Wanatah, Indiana) 100% Fruit Blueberry Spread. I plopped about a cup's worth into a sauce pan and added a splash of red wine vinegar, some red pepper flakes, ginger, cloves. and a handful of raisins. I brought this to a boil, let it simmer for a few minutes, let it cool, and I was all set - blueberry goodness spiked with the complexity of the other ingredients.

I had met Jennifer Van Meter and her one-year-old son Kyle last week at a local foods expo in Valpo. Along with the fruit spread I picked up some blueberry syrup. Can't wait to fix pancakes. Jennifer and her husband Lew have been in the blueberry business since 2001. They offer U-pick, Ready-pick from July 1 through mid-August. All of their products (i.e., fruitspread, syrup, etc.) are made with their own berries,    

Judy Schad is a Rock Star

Indiana has a handful of Local Foods Rock Stars. They are literally a handful because they can be counted on the fingers of one hand and you can have a finger or two to spare. Judy Schad of Capriole Farms is one of them. What qualifies someone as a Local Foods Rock Star? Someone who is producing foods of unparalleled quality and distinction and recognized by great chefs and discriminating consumers.

Judy Schad's Capriole Farms goat cheeses fits that description. Chef J. Joho of Chicago's award-winning Everest Restaurant could choose any chevre for his menu but he turns to Judy. Foodie Bibles like Saveur repeatedly heap on the praises.

The latest publication to profile Capriole is the April issue of Midwest Living (article not available online - pick up a copy at your local newsstand). The piece does a great job of capturing the cheesemaker and her craft. Judy explains why her cheese is so special.

"What limestone does for Kentucky bourbon, it also does for my goat milk. The limestone base makes for sweet grasses, alfalfa and clover - and more flavorful cheese."

Indiana needs more local foods rock stars like Judy - people who figure out Indiana's unique natural and cultural assets - our soil composition, our climate, our heritage - and use those assets to do something better than anyone else.   

Hey, I Know a Guy!

Originally published in the Lebanon Reporter on December 7, 2006

“I know a guy.” Most of us have an acquaintance for which this is a familiar refrain. The person who is connected. Need a used car? “I know a guy.” A good hunting dog? “I know a guy.” For me, it was my uncle. His name was Homer but we called him Frog. In his retirement Uncle Frog had a perpetual garage sale filled with a constantly rotating inventory. Looking to add to your collection of ceramic insulator paperweights? He either had it or Uncle Frog knew a guy.

My uncle is long gone but I’m finding myself following in his footsteps. Albeit the guys, and gals I know can hook me up with Indiana’s best food rather than obscure electrical equipment. Doing research for my upcoming book, Home Grown Indiana: A Food Lover’s Guide to Good Eating in the Hoosier State, I’m getting to know farmers, restaurateurs, shopkeepers, and artisans from all four corners of the state.

Although caviar from the shores of Lake Michigan and goat cheese from the banks of the Ohio are great to have in my network, what is even more exciting is the quality producers much closer to home. Last week I had the opportunity to spend an hour or so with a guy who is a true innovator in the world of all-natural poultry, beef, and pork, and he’s doing it within five miles of where I live.

Stan Skillington got a taste of farming earlier in life, helping out at a friend’s farm. As he carved out a successful high-tech career and started a family, the idea of a life on the farm was never too far in the back of his mind. When the opportunity presented itself to buy some land on the outskirts of Lebanon, the Skillington’s took this opportunity to get in touch with their inner agrarians. As Stan researched various types of farming, he became interested in production practices of Joel Salatin, a Virginia farmer who pioneered an innovative method of small-scale, pasture-raised poultry, beef, and pork sold exclusively within his local “food shed” and marketed solely by word of mouth.

Over the last seven years, Stan has adopted and adapted many of Salatin’s methods and added his own innovations, providing a growing number of food-conscious Central Indiana families with all-natural beef, pork, and poultry produced without hormones, antibiotics, growth stimulants or animal byproducts in the feed.

On a recent visit, I was impressed by his passion and ingenuity and I walked away with a couple of whole chickens, some boneless skinless breasts, bacon, chops, and some ground beef. Most of Skillington’s customers buy in bulk - quarters of beef and pork and several chickens at a time. The products are processed several times each year and available for pick up at the farm

So far I’ve worked my way through some bacon and one of the whole chickens. The bacon was smoky and pleasantly moderate in the amount of saltiness. Last Sunday morning we paired Skillington’s bacon with some farm-fresh eggs and toast for a hearty weekend breakfast. On Sunday night I roasted one of the whole birds to use in a Chicken Hash for dinner on Monday and for lunch-box chicken salad sandwiches through the work/school week. The chicken was delicious - moist, tender, with a much more flavorful than the typical grocery store bird.

The Skillington’s have big plans for the future. They have constructed a large building that eventually house a federally-approved processing facility allowing them to produce even more chickens, a customer service area, and eventually a commercial kitchen. We were so impressed with the few things we picked up last week that we’re planning on purchasing a freezer and buying in bulk from Skillington Farms. Now when people talk to me about needing chicken, pork, or beef - “Hey, I know a guy!”