Tag Archives: farms

Carolina Poutine with Pulled Pork

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Did you say poutine? Yes, yes! This is your all local poutine inspired by the abundance that North Carolina offers. I am receiving compensation from the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to raise awareness about purchasing pork at NC farmer’s markets. All opinions and content are my own.

IMG_7515Every once in a while a great opportunity comes along and you get a little more bang for your buck when it comes to being a cheerleader for all things local–you get a whole TEAM of cheerleaders. I’ve partnered with the NC Department of Agriculture’s Got to be NC program along with bloggers across the state, to highlight some of our local farmers. Bloggers like me, who love local goodness (I’ll call them my SQUAD), are shopping at their local NC farmer’s market, buying the ingredients for a meal and sharing the recipe with folks like you. We’ve got chicken and pork coming at you. I’ll share links to those at the end of this post.

My farm is Mill River Farm in Mount Airy. I’m actually familiar with farmers, Kim and Steve, as I subscribed to a CSA with them a few years back. Such quality meat and produce!  I looked forward to what would be in my box every Saturday when I picked it up from the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Farmer’s Market.  market - booth2

Kim and Steve have an abundant farm and they sell pork products such as bacon, pork belly, pork butt and loin, chicken, grass-fed beef, eggs, produce of all varieties like lettuce, kale, peas, beets, sweet potatoes, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage and I could go on and on. You can visit them at the farm (details here) or at the Fairgrounds Farmer’s Market, where you can speak to them directly and find out more about how they raise their animals and grow produce that you can feel so great about.  They’re both super knowledgeable and enjoy sharing what they do. Kim even has a cookbook called Cook Like a Farmer .  It’s full of great recipes. The thing that we don’t want you to forget is: When you visit your North Carolina farmer’s market, don’t forget the meat!

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When I saw Kim and Steve, they weren’t in their traditional digs inside the farmer’s market since the fair was in town. But they had enough yumminess on hand for me to purchase the main ingredients for my #GotToBeNCPork Carolina Poutine.  Poutine? Yeah, baby! Poutine is typically french fries and cheese curds with a rich brown gravy.  If you’ve had it, you know it’s like the guiltiest pleasure ever. Mine is a riff on that.

Let’s take a look at my truly local…

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Carolina Poutine with GotToBeNCPork
Serves 2-4

2-4 Sweet Potatoes (count on about one per person), preferably #gottobeNC
Pulled pork (from a 2-3 pound #GotToBeNCPork butt or shoulder)
Ashe County Cheese Curds
BBQ Sauce of your choice (I used a blend of chipotle sauce with some Eastern NC sauce I had on hand)

To prepare the pork: Give the pork a good liberal rub of your choice of seasoning plus plenty of salt and pepper. If you’re able, grill the pork on all sides. I don’t have a smoker, so I let my grill and my slow cooker do the work for me. Get it good and browned on all sides, then place in the slow cooker with about 1 1/2 cups of water or broth (beer or a mixture of bbq sauce and water is fine too–you just want a flavorful liquid). Allow to cook on low for 4-6 hours.  Once tender and falling apart, remove from cooker and shred it, baby.

Cut your NC Sweet Taters into fry-sized sticks. Coat with oil (I used avocado oil, but you can use whatever you have on hand) and sprinkle with smoked paprika (optional), salt and pepper. Bake at 400-degrees until lightly browned and crispy, about 30 minutes.

Just before you remove the fries from the oven, heat up the sauce. I simply used my favorite Sam Jones Eastern NC style sauce and added some smoky chipotles to it.  You will want that sauce to be PIPING hot so that it can melt the cheese curds as it hits them.

On a platter or pan, place the crispy sweet potato fries in heaping pile. Top with shredded pork, cheese curds and drizzle the sauce over the top. The sauce should be hot enough to start melting the cheese curds. If not, it’s okay to blast it under the broiler until they appear to be just melting.

Garnish with chopped green onions and enjoy!

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I want you to know that this delicious and fun recipe is simply a guide. If you can slow cook your meat on a smoker, so much the better. As I said before, I don’t have a smoker but I do have the grill and a slow cooker. I get a really good crust by grilling on high, though I keep an eye on it as the fat and any sugar on the outside can cause it to light up. You can also bypass the slow cooker and modify by cooking on a low heat in the oven for 2 1/2-3 hours. The sauce is also up to you. A mole would be amazing with those sweet potatoes. Play around with your flavors and have fun!

So… what makes it poutine? To a purist, is it still poutine if it doesn’t have real gravy but rather a sauce?

I’m not here to debate that. I just do know this poutine delicious party, nosh, use-up-leftovers kind of fare that tastes great with a NC craft beer. Support your local farmers at your local market. I’ve got links below to plenty of convenient locations and some of the best pork in North Carolina.

PS: You are going to have plenty of pork leftover for another poutine, tacos, breakfast…or a good ol’ BBQ plate.

Here’s a list of the pork and chicken from my squad:

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Got To Be NC Pork at Your Local NC Farmers Market

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Watch Heidi’s video!

Got to Be NC Chicken at your NC Farmers Market

 

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Recipes and Review: Joyce Farms

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I’m excited to let you know that Joyce Farms has an improved, customer-friendly website that you must check out. I’ve been on their site a few times before the new design and I was excited to see the changes that make it easier to navigate around the new version. Anything that saves time when shopping online is a bonus. What’s better though, is the lovely selection of poultry and other locally-raised meats using sustainable farming practices. And with this site, you know where your food is coming from and isn’t that what triadfoodies is always preachin’?

I’ve told many a friend..and my hubby knows for certain, that usually the last thing I want to cook is a roasted chicken. For something that’s such a “go-to” meal for many a home cook, it is just not my thing. Not because I can’t do it…I’m just sort of grossed out by chicken (sorry, poultry farmers). And lately, at the store, the chicken is just so…greasy and the skin is so thick. But I was very excited to try my hand at my very own Heritage Breed chicken…A Poulet Rouge Fermier by Joyce Farms. Poulet Rouge is a world-renowned French farm chicken…and the Joyce Farms breed is the Red Bro Cou Nu…or red feathered naked neck—here’s a pic!

Poulet Rouge Fermier Photo courtesy of Joyce Farms

Poulet Rouge Fermier Photo courtesy of Joyce Farms

I first came to know about Poulet Rouge and Joyce Farms via Competition Dining, when it was a featured ingredient in one of the battles at Fire in the Triad. There was a lovely video with all these happy chickens running about on the farm, with an all-vegetarian, free-range, low-stress life. They actually do call them “happy” chickens. And Poulet Rouge is the choice of many a chef for the texture of the meat and the thin, crispy skin. I totally agree. The skin is so crispy and light, and we barely got any of it because that’s my son’s favorite part and he ate a LOT of it.

So here’s a look at my Poulet Rouge chicken, which eventually became chicken stock and Chicken and Rice Soup (sorry no pic) and my Poulet Rouge Griller (a mostly de-boned, smaller whole chicken with only the drummette remaining). Recipes are included.

Roasted Poulet Rouge Fermier

1 3-4 lb Joyce Farms Poulet Rouge Fermier chicken
1 T. Ghee or Olive oil
2-3 T. Fresh or Dried Herbs (I used a combo of Thyme, Lemon Thyme, Rosemary, Oregano, Lavender)
Lemon, halved
Salt/Pepper
Instructions: Rinse/pat the chicken dry. Lavish that bird with oil or ghee, then the salt, pepper and herbs. Be sure to give it a good rubbing underneath the skin too. You can use any rub you want and stuff it with herbs or onion, garlic. I just stuck the lemon halves in there and that was it. Along with the chicken, I roasted carrots, onions and brussel sprouts.

Roast breast-side down in a preheated, 400-degree oven for 30 minutes, then flip over and finish roasting until the chicken is done (depending on the weight, total cooking time should be about 1 to 1 1/2 hours). My whole bird took an hour and 5 minutes.  The Joyce Farms website recipe page says to baste it midway and I did that as well. Here’s how it turned out.

Roasted Poulet Rouge Fermier

Roasted Poulet Rouge Fermier

Gorgeous right? So we pretty much devoured all but some dark meat so I took what was left, threw it in a stock pot with some onion, garlic, salt and simmered a stock out of it, took all the meat off the bones and a couple of days later used the stock and meat and some frozen soup veggie blend, herbs and rice to make a Chicken and Rice soup. There’s no recipe for that. I simply got it all hot and flavorful, then added some rice and simmered until the rice was soft.

Then on date night, we took another Poulet Rouge…this one, a Joyce Farms griller (seen here).

Poulet Rouge Griller

Poulet Rouge Griller…see that thin skin?

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Kinda looks gross, but it smelled luscious!

We marinated it (for a couple of days as it turned out) and ended up with this magical feast…

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Here’s what you do…the key is Dijon mustard (with or without herbs) and that wonderful sweet Thai chili sauce that you get in the Asian food aisle…it kind of looks like marmalade in a tall bottle. You’ve probably had it with Calamari or a Spring Roll. The result is a sweet and tangy, herbaceous chicken.

Dijon & Sweet Chili Marinated Chicken
(Note: This marinade can be done with any cut of chicken, pork or meat..but it was super tasty with this skin-on griller)

1 Joyce Farms Griller (it’s enough for two people)
1 T. Dijon Mustard
2 T. Olive Oil or Ghee
1 T. Thai Sweet Chili Sauce
1 Clove garlic, smashed or chopped
1 T. Fresh Rosemary, chopped
Salt/Pepper

Instructions: Sprinkle griller with salt and pepper, pour the remaining ingredients over chicken and rub it real good…make that happy chicken even happier. I marinated mine in a plastic bag, but you can use a shallow dish. Marinate at least four hours. On medium-high heat, grill  or sear flesh side down first until lightly browned, then flip over and grill skin-side down until cooked through and the skin is crispy. You can even finish off in the oven if you prefer.
Serve with your sides of choice. We used collards and herbed mashed potatoes. And there you have it, Date Night-In and no boring chicken either.

Joyce Farms has a whole selection of awesome Naked Chicken Sausages like Apple Raisin, Blueberry Maple and an awesome Chipotle just to name a few.  We seared the Chipotle the other night with some sauteed peppers and onions, and wrapped in a tortilla with salsa and guacamole. No pic…just close your eyes and imagine. Good! And it tasted fab! There’s also Naked Chicken breasts, thighs, Heritage Beef, Game–like duck and rabbit and some prepared items as well. Everything comes within a day or so of ordering in cooler with a dry ice pack.

Shopping Joyce Farms’ site is great way of an easy, no-hassle “Buy Local” experience from a company with a long history of working with small local farmers.

Joyce Farms
336.766.9900
www.joyce-farms.com

Disclosure: triadfoodies was compensated for an independent review of Joyce Farms’ website functionality as well as delivery and quality of Joyce Farms products. A blog review was not required nor even requested by Joyce Farms. triadfoodies only reviews products and businesses that we are passionate about and all opinions herein are our own.