All the Meat We Could Possibly Eat

A few years ago I was taking a Health & Fitness class to fulfill my school's physical education requirement. And also it seemed more interesting than track. But anyhow! Our instructor was not only an avid exerciser (is that even a word?), but was passionate about eating right. And not just low calorie, but eating right. He emphasized whole foods, cutting down on processed products, and eating ethical meat. He showed us a documentary on factory farmed pigs, and I've never been able to eat pork with quite the same gusto. But when you shop at Giant Food or Safeway, pork that isn't factory farmed is incredibly hard to find. So imagine my delight last week, as we walked past a stall at the farmer's market that sold pork! And imagine our further delight when we found out they offered a "meat CSA"!

For those who don't know, CSA stands for Community-Supported Agriculture. Traditionally, participants in a CSA buy a share of a farmer's crop. Their purchase allows the farmer to cover operating costs, and in return the patrons receive boxes of fresh produce on a weekly basis. It is a win-win situation. Small farms can stay in operation, consumers get to buy local and support local businesses, and the focus is put back onto eating seasonally.

So for this meat CSA, we purchased a share of... well, of their animals I suppose. Our money goes toward feed for the animals and payroll for the humans, and in return we get a box of locally raised, pasture fed meat once a month. Some is fresh, some frozen, and every month we get a variety of cuts of meat from chicken, beef, pork, and lamb. This Saturday was our first pick-up date, so off we went to get out 12 pounds of meat!

The reusable tote bag, full of meat:

North Mountain Pastures' logo:

The meat!

So we have, in order, pork ribs, beef short ribs, pork chops, and lamb shanks. I figured the fresh whole chicken was fairly prominent and didn't need a closeup.

So now the challenge is to find recipes that use these cuts of meat. Luckily, we have this phenomenal tool known as the internet, and I believe it may be of some help in this situation. So far I've located a recipe for stovetop pork ribs, and I have actually roasted a whole chicken before, so that shouldn't be a problem. I have never cooked lamb, so this will be an interesting experiment, but hey- that was part of the reason I wanted to sign up for this- the challenge!

Does anyone have any particular recipes they recommend for these cuts? And are people interested in reading what I do with them? If so, I'll do a collective post, so you won't get spammed with food posts.

We're not eating any of this tonight, as we have plans to go out for oysters. But tomorrow, that chicken is going in the oven, and it is going to be delicious!