Unboxing

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June unboxing with Rachel

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Hello fellow CSA members,

I had no clue when we first started our CSA journey many years ago that it would literally change the way we ate for the rest of our lives.

It catapulted us into the amazing and inspiring world of local food and agriculture. We are all the better for it, and like many of you, we know we couldn’t have done it without the support of our beloved farmers, Katia and Nathan.

It is why I was so happy that the people and the meat we have all come to know and love were not going away completely, just changing:

Double F Ranch is transitioning from monthly CSA deliveries to quarterly “Stock Up Days”.

Our household looks forward to continuing to support Katia and Nathan (we signed up for AUGUST and OCTOBER Stock Up Days) and cooking up many more great meals with their meat!

With this being our final monthly CSA share, I requested a “pork-heavy” share. With three My Choice options this month I was able to customize our share for the summer months ahead.

Let’s take a peek at my 20#/month share:

June 2024 CSA Share

  • Ground Beef (5)

  • Whole Chicken

  • Pork Loin

  • Pork Rib (2)

  • Pork Chop (2)

  • Ground Pork (1)

  • Sweet Italian Sausage (1)

Ground Beef

It is officially summer and there will definitely be burgers on the menu. I will use two packages because we love our leftovers. I will make homemade hamburger buns and homemade mayo to go with them.

For the remaining three packages I plan to make:

  • Ground beef and summer vegetable skillet. I toss in whatever veggies I need to use up from our summer vegetable CSA.

  • Mexican stuffed bell peppers

  • Asian ground beef, mushroom, broccoli slaw lettuce cup

Whole Chicken

Our last Double F Ranch CSA chicken will need to be a delicious summer meal. We will grill it and use a Peruvian style seasoning.

With our vegetable CSA I have to work hard to make the most of it each week. It is just as important for me to spend time finding great recipes for the vegetables as well as the protein. I think green rice and avocado cucumber salad will go really well with the grilled Peruvian chicken.

I will make sure that our propane grill is cleaned before cooking the chicken so as not to start a grease fire. I am definitely speaking from experience on this one.

Pork Loin

Nothing fancy for this cut. We will grill it to perfection and serve it with curried rice and toss in some fresh greens.

Pork Ribs

I love getting Double F Ranch pork ribs in the summer. I always save them for the 4th of July. I will cook these in the Instant Pot. The recipe says to finish them with sauce in the oven. However, we like to finish them on the grill. We coat them in BBQ sauce, cooking them for a little bit longer, basting them as we go for 5-10 more minutes.

I will serve them with coleslaw, honey corn muffins, and collard greens.

Pork Chop

One of our favorite weeknight summer meals is some sort of grilled meat with a salad combination of:

  • leftover roasted potatoes, rice or quinoa

  • greens

  • veggie kebabs

  • quick pickled beets or onions

  • a favorite sauce such as Karam’s garlic sauce or homemade honey mustard

We will marinate the pork chops, grill them, and use them for this summer salad staple.

Ground Pork

A Double F Ranch CSA summer favorite meal is Thai basil pork. I can easily make it on the side burner of our grill later in the summer when the heat picks up.

I get this tasty herb in our CSA every year, but I plan on growing it because I always want more of it. I see Thai basil pesto and Thai basil ice cream in my future!

Sweet Italian Sausage

I have been buying bread weekly at this new little bakery near my house. Every time I am in there I see focaccia in the display. I made it a long time ago but seeing it makes me want to bake it again. I plan to cook up the Italian sausage and crumble it on top.

Extras

We purchased 25# of ground beef to hold us over until the August Stock Up Day. We look forward to putting it to good use this summer.

Recipe Links

Mexican Stuffed Peppers

Asian Beef and Broccoli Slaw Lettuce Cups

Ground Beef and Summer Vegetable Skillet

Peruvian Style Grilled Chicken

Instant Pot Pork Ribs

Grilled Pork Tenderloin

Thai Basil Pork

Italian Sausage and Herb Focaccia

Grilled Pork Chops

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 4 pork chops

  • ¼ cup olive oil

  • 2 ½ tablespoons soy sauce

  • 1 teaspoon steak seasoning, store bought or make-your-own (see note)

Steps

  1. Mix olive oil, soy sauce and steak seasoning together in a small bowl.

  2. Add the pork chops to a large ziploc bag or flat dish and pour the marinade ingredients over the top. Refrigerate and marinade for at least 3 hours and up to 24 hours.

  3. Heat a charcoal, propane, or pellet grill to medium and grill the chops 6-8 minutes per side (depending on how thick they are) until an instant-read thermometer registers between 145 and 155 degrees F.

  4. Remove the chops from the grill, tent them with foil, and allow them to rest for 5-7 minutes. Slice the chops across the grain and serve.

Notes

  • Steak Seasoning: here’s an easy and delicious copycat recipe for the Montreal Steak Seasoning: 2 tablespoons paprika, 2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper, 1 tablespoon kosher/coarse salt, 1 tablespoon garlic powder, 1 tablespoon onion powder, 1 tablespoon coriander, 1 tablespoon dill, 1/2 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes. Combine all the spices together and store in an airtight container.