Thanks to Little Guy, mama-to-be Toka awaits the blessed event

Two weeks ago, after much procrastination, we took Little Guy, the only buckling born on the farm last spring, to the Windham Butcher Shop. We had held off because we worried about Charlotte’s reaction–anxiety that turned out to be completely unfounded when she declared that she thought he would be delicious, and then asked if we could make his pelt into a blanket for her bed. (We shipped the hide to The Tannery, in Lander, Wyoming, and were told we could expect it, tanned, in a few months, just in time for Cha Cha’s birthday.)

I don’t think our children are exceptionally bloodthirsty, but I do think that they understand that the meat we eat was once a living being. Though they’ve seen us plucking chickens and have been prepared for absences from the barn, we’ve shielded them from the actual moment of slaughter, which is something I think we’ll continue to do until they ask to be present. We haven’t shielded them, however, from the reality that the flesh we consume had a life and a death, and that it’s our responsibility as farmers to make sure that both are humane. The girls are kind to our animals, eager to help in the barn, and anxious for the arrival of spring babies.

And so they were delighted when we discovered, just days after Little Guy’s departure, that Toka’s udder was beginning to fill out, and that her wide belly was wiggling even more than the usual gurgles of rumination. Because of Little Guy’s prolonged stay in the barn, the kids were together into sexual maturity and, well, nature took its course. We never saw Toka go into heat, so the date of conception is a mystery, but we’re expecting a baby goat or two in the coming weeks. In the spirit of the French: Little Guy is gone, long live Little Guy!

Goats breeding, goat, meat, pregnancy, slaughter

Ten Apple Farm duck breast prosciutto

I love cured meats. One of my great sadnesses since forgoing all meat of unknown origin (we only eat meat that we raise, or know the farm and farmer where the animal was raised) has been the inability of finding locally raised and produced prosciutto. We’d heard that you could cure duck breast and achieve prosciutto-like results, but have been either too time challenged, or scared to try. We thought that our 23 pound turkey might not be enough meat for our Thanksgiving gathering (what were we thinking?!), so we had defrosted a chicken and a duck just in case. We ended up with a thawed duck in the fridge, but having had our fill of roast fowl, we needed to come up with another use for the bird, and fast. Then it hit us. Cure it!

We used a very simple recipe from Tom Colicchio’s Think Like a Chef (recipe below), and the results were amazing. It took little time to prepare, and less than 2 days in the fridge. Next we plan to try something cured and aged. Stay tuned.

Tom Colicchio’s Duck Ham

1. Place the duck breasts in the freezer for 15-20 minutes. Using a sharp knife, remove the skin and most of the fat, leaving only a thin protective layer. (We didn’t remove any of the fat — we think the recipe may be assuming you are using a fattier standard Pekin duck, whereas we raise Rouen ducks, which is the traditional French table duck.)

2. Mix the salt, sugar, garlic, pepper, thyme, (shallots), and bay leaves. Lay two pieces of plastic wrap on a clean work surface. Place a quarter of the salt mixture on each piece of plastic. Lay the duck breasts, skin-side down, on the salt, then cover with the remaining salt mixture. Wrap each breast tightly and refrigerate for 24 hours. (We left ours in for around 36 hours.)

3. Unwrap the duck hams, discard the salt mixture, and blot dry with paper towels. Slice and serve or wrap in fresh plastic and refrigerate until ready to use.

Enjoy! We sure did!

Food, Recipes duck, Food, ham, meat, recipe, rouen