Old Stories, New Callings

The end of the holidays is here. Slowly and perhaps slightly grudgingly we are slipping back into our normal days. Little less visiting, little less family obligations, paying some increased attention to what we are eating. For some, it’s a return to the mundane, but for me it’s a return to normalcy. The aftermath of the Holidays is a time of relief where I don’t have to feel bad about declining sharing time with others. It’s nothing personal, no ill will. But as time marches forward and as there are no longer any little ones in my family, the magic and fun of this time of year simply doesn’t exist for me. On top of that there are two new empty places at the family table that will not be refilled, at least not in anytime soon. However, I do not believe this makes me a scrooge. Throughout this season I was extremely fortunate to share time with people that for whom my affection for knows no bounds, and within that there is something that stirs, which in the long run far exceeds any fleeting temporary moment of warm-hearted joy…contentment and peace.

I have contentment and peace in the fact that I have no regret in where I’ve decided to plant my life, or in the work that I’ve done to be at the place where I am at currently, despite the fact that I have so many failures and mistakes in that journey. I have contentment and peace with the people that over the years of me being a farmer have graciously interwoven the workings of their lives into mine and with that have built friendships that I can confidently hang my hat on…knowing that they sincerely want the best for me, even when I might not want it for myself. The value of those types of people in our lives can never be taken for granted as those people are few, rare, and far between.

The last blog that I had written was focused on the intention of making time for rest, taking into account how the obligations we set up for ourselves might actually not be good for us. This blog entry is of different color. I’ve had my time of rest, and contemplation, its time to move on. Its time to grab onto one job, one duty, one idea within the storm cloud of thoughts that occupy my mind and figure out how to make it work. Ideas are great. Dreams are great. Goals are great, but if you have fifty of them at one time and have no idea where to even start…you’re not doing yourself any favors.

*Little scruffy…but I can assure you those are the best damn chickens around.*

When I first came back to the farm, I was intoxicated with the potential. Don’t get me wrong…I produced good shit. Phenomenal poultry, Creamy Milk, Good Pork, Improving grazing management. At the same time, even though those products were good, my focus of attention was spread so thin between all of those avenues that none of them, although not complete failures, ever got to shine or reach the level of success that they could have. I didn’t market as I should have, I didn’t tell my story as I should have, I was not as consistent as I should have been, and the vision that I have for this place didn’t really get anymore realistic. Lesson Learned. Thank you Universe.

*Keeps a fellar tied down, but there’s something beautiful about milking cows.*

If you’re at a place where you feel like a dog chasing random cars, where you don’t have anything in your life that keeps you going with a sense of contentment and peace, and you have mountains of regret in which you’ve let yourself and others down tremendously…don’t give up, try to fix it. Just a little bit. Choose one small simple thing, and say to yourself “I can make this better…even by a ¼ of a percent” and then try it out…see what happens. Maybe it’ll brighten up your eyes and help lift up your head. The next day you can make that miniscule project even a little more better. Practice it. Even if you don’t know how. Something is better than nothing. There is so much more to you than what you think, help yourself to get there as you would help someone that you sincerely love. Maybe you’ll improve yourself just enough that other people could actually depend on you. That’d be pretty great, wouldn’t it?

Not to beat a dead horse, but this last year and half really changed my world and unleashed more challenges than I could’ve ever imagined in making sure that this place would still be here. It was hard, but the idea that really kept me grounded during that time was “This is where I’m at, how do I need to carry myself forward so, at the very least, I do not make this hell worse?” It’s a simple question, and more often than not the answer to it was fairly simple. Be honest, Show up, Don’t let the flood of emotions you’re experiencing dictate how you interact with what is right in front of you.

Much Peace~

RECIPE

Cassoulet//French Stewed White Bean Casserole

1-4 pound chicken quartered

½ - ¼ pound of bacon

1 pound of a high quality sausage, such as a kelbasa…I used Hungarian Ring Sausage from my pork. You can order that at the online store.

A few thick slices of a high quality smoked ham (optional)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 medium-size onion, quartered
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 celery rib (including leaves), cut into 3-inch pieces
4 cups, or 1 box of chicken stock

2 Cups of a dry white wine, or chicken stock, or water on hand if needed
1 head of garlic

A little under a pound of White Beans, I use a combination of Cannellini and Navy beans, soaked

Your favorite fresh or dried herbs

Salt and Pepper to taste

Bread Crumbs/Panko (optional)

How I do it:

I started off by putting my Dutch oven on the stove and turning up the setting to medium. You can use any pot of considerable depth as long as it can also work well in your oven. Preheat oven to 425.

Roughly cut your bacon into smaller slices and put into the dutch oven, I turned the heat down a smidge at that point. The goal is to render out the fat.

*The Bacon from this farm does perform well for this purpose~*

While that was going on I prepped my vegetables and took out one of my pasture raised chickens.

I pieced the chicken out out with a good sharp knife. If you’ve never cut up a chicken before there’s plenty of videos across youtube that can walk you through it. It’s often times cheaper if you’re getting your poultry from the store to just buy a whole chicken and cut it up yourself, and it doesn’t take that much time. If you’re using store bought chicken, I’d recommend using thighs.

I dusted each chicken piece in flour and set aside on a plate. I then sliced up my sausage into chunks and I sliced a few pieces of a really nice thick smoked ham with that as well.

Once the bacon was crisp and its fat was in the pan, I removed the bacon and started browning skin side down each piece of chicken, usually two to three pieces at a time. When the skin was light brown and crispy I turned the chicken over for a few minutes until the surface was cooked, slightly browned, but not cooked through. The point is to get some texture and color so that your chicken doesn’t fall apart.

*Chicken Browning, the Leg at the top could’ve browned for longer, but hey...it’ll work.*

After the chicken was browned I tossed in my sausage and ham, just enough to crisp up the sausage casing. After that I added the vegetables, and prepped my garlic. Do not be scared of garlic, when used well it will surely steal your heart and you will seek out ways to incorporate it into all of your meals. I just cut the head in half, removed the skin, and after the onions cooked down a bit I tossed it in. After I could smell the garlic in the air, I lowered the heat slightly and added my soaked and drained beans. Following the beans I added the bacon, sausage and ham. And then layered all of my chicken pieces on the top and poured in the stock. After that I added a bunch of fresh Thyme and lightly dusted the top with Panko. Cover the Dutch oven with its lid, and place it in the oven.

In about 20-25 minutes check it out to see how its doing. It should be bubbling and stewing. 30 mins after that I turn down the oven to about 375, and remove the lid allowing excess moisture to evaporate. You should see a fragrant dark caramel broth forming and a little bit of browning on top…if you don’t see any moisture add in that 2 cups of wine, stock, or water to help it out.

At this point, just let it cook. In a about 25-30 mins take it out, the broth should be reduced and the beans should be prominent. Taste a bean or two from different parts of your pot, to make sure that they are tender. If they are and your chicken has a nice color to it, I’d say its finished and you can dig in. This is a simple French peasant dish and goes great with a nice piece of crusty bread to soak up the broth on your plate.

Old Stories, New Callings

Why do This?

Winter Rest