California Love

I am really looking forward to this first leg of The Ethical Butcher tour! Here are dates, menus and links about each event!

June 11th will hold the very first event of my tour. Ingel-Haven Ranch, formerly Magruder Ranch, has invited me to prepare a dinner on their 2400-acre ranch. Magruder was one of the first to switch to grass-fed beef and have been setting standards for over 30 years. I'll be using their feral-heritage cross pigs and vitteloni, an Italian-style young beef that is a far more humane alternative to veal. All of Magruder's animals are pastured, including their pigs. As heritage breeds were bred for hundreds of years in different regions and climates around the world and are thus not always suited to their current environments, Magruder has been experimenting with crossing heritage breeds with California feral pigs that are perfectly matched to their environment. This crossing of genes produces pigs that are able to forage the land and withstand the climate in which they live. This is a very interesting and unique tactic that I am excited to learn more about. We'll also be using Tamworth pigs from Lover's Lane Farms for a taste comparison, which should be tons of fun. Lover's Lane honey will be featured throughout the menu and meat from both farms will available for purchase after dinner! This will surely be a wonderful evening of eating, drinking, learning, and merriment. Come experience a meal from pasture to plate!

Menu for Local Harvest Supper Club:

Dukkah-crusted Chevre and Tapenade with Crostini

Pork Liver Baklava made with Lovers Lane Honey

Dueling Strawberry Petit Sele over Summer Salad

White Wine Braised Vitteloni Chops with Finocchia con Latte al Forno and Cippolini in Agrodolce

Woodland Herb Uncured Ham with Wilted Greens and Mustard-Tarragon Grilled Potatoes

Goat Milk Ice Cream with Pollen Sprinkles.

To reserve seats, go to magrudergrassfed.com. Seating is VERY limited, so act fast!

Check out http://www.loverslanefarm.com/ while you're at it!

On June 25th Avedano's Holly Park Market will be hosting The Ethical Butcher for an event that highlights an often overlooked issue. I will be turning my attention toward something that gets put on my back burner far too often: fish sustainability. It is a topic I have written about in the past, but with all the bacon talk and farm visits it keeps getting pushed aside for the things folks seem to be more interested in. This is something I am making a conscious effort to change, at the rate we're going, scientists say we may overfish our ocean's bounty within the next 30-40 years. That is an incredibly alarming thought. Aquaculture is definitely part of the answer, but since irresponsible fish farming is a huge part of the problem, there is much more to be done. Education and awareness are the most important keys to affecting any change. With that in mind, I have been doing these fish sustainability dinners where the menu is built uses strictly fish recommended by MBA's Seafood Watch. In fact, I try to uses mostly species on the "Super Green List". Three of the five choices on this menu are on that list, the other two are listed as "best choice" and "good alternative". The sturgeon is an especially favorite dish to prepare, as I developed it based on a recipe that is nearly 400 years old! In addition to enjoying a meal that is as delicious as it is sustainable, we'll be discussing many of the issues involved with seafood sustainability.

On a personal note, I am honored and excited to be doing an event with Avedano's. An all-woman owned butcher shop is not the standard in this business and I am more than thrilled to meet the butchers of this shop! Tia Harrison is actually also featured in Primal Cuts, the book I am more than ecstatic and humbled to be included in along with Joel Salatin and Josh Applestone. These are the people who are changing the way we eat and raise animals. I am really looking forward to checking this place out!

If you are in the San Francisco Bay area, please come and enjoy this special event!

Menu for Fish is Fish for Dinner:

Oysters with Strawberry-Gin Mignonette

Sardines and Lemon-Horseradish Bacon over Mixed Greens with Juniper & White Wine Vinaigrette

Orange-Tomato Curry Mussels and Crayfish with Garlic Crostini

1612 Sturgeon with Grilled Asparagus and Garlic Whistles

Local Fresh Fruit with Star Anise-Balsamic Reduction and Pignola Creme Fraiche

For info on reservations email at theethicalbutcher.com

Also check out Avedano's at http://www.avedanos.com

Lastly, I will be reading at a very non-food related event June 24th at the African American Art & Culture Complex in San Francisco. The National Queer Arts Festival is holding an event put on by the boys of Original Plumbing Magazine, a transmale cabaret featuring performers and artists of all types. I will be reading an essay that was published in a past issue of the magazine. This promises to be a fun-filled and raucous night, so head over to this link and get your tickets, this event is sure to sell out! http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/111554

Whew! June is looking like a busy, busy beginning to a wonderful summer! Tressa and I will be holding weekly BBQs all through summer and the BCN/PDX Fridays kicks off on July 2nd! Oh, and more info about our summer camp for kids will be out very soon! Portland parents, you'll be jealous of the activities your kids get to enjoy as part of this camp! Farm trips, lots of cooking, kombucha making and I am even going to pass on my bacon making secrets...let's just hope their young minds forget a few details.....

Are You Sleeping on Your Bacon Dreams?

Just a few more days to get one free month when you join BCN/PDX Fridays!! Join by May 31st and get one month free!

Join by June 15th to get in on the first BCN/PDX Friday on July 2nd!

Head to theethicalbutcher.com for more info!

Photographic Documentations of Libation and Degustation

I am horribly slow at posting photos and rarely have the forethought to have each of my events photographed. Here's are some images from the last few events, the launch of BCN/PDX Fridays and our first event at the new space. Lots of tasty meaty goodness is the theme here.

Don't forget to sign up for BCN/PDX Fridays this month for freebies!

More info at theethicalbutcher.com

On Deck.

Last weekend I made a nice drive down to Deck Family Farms in Junction City, OR. The reason for the trip was threefold. First, I've been curing bacon for Deck for a few months now, so it was time to get more bellies. Second, I wanted to see the farm and a family friend of theirs wanted a butchery lesson, so we made plans for a big dinner. Third, I had with me Marissa Guggiana, the writer of 'Primal Cuts'. She came along to see just how I play the game of meat. The book features the country's top 50 butchers, Joel Salatin, Tom Mylan and Tia Harrison are also in the book, I am more than honored to be included.

Just as my previous farm visits, the day took be to an overwhelmingly bucolic landscape. The day also started with a surprise. I had been planning on a butchery lesson, but I did not expect the animals we'd be cutting to be waiting, cluck-clucking away. This would be the day I had been waiting for, my first slaughter. I realize this is something that doesn't get many people excited, but it was an elusive next step in getting closer to taking full responsibility for my meat consumption. I was nervous, but ready to learn. I jumped right in, placing a rooster in the killing cone as directed, then stood back to watch John Deck do the first two. Ready to take the plunge I took the knife and went for the third rooster. I took a moment and made my move, quickly, and then it was over. Humane slaughter is an idea that gets many people up in arms. Let's think a little about what that really means.

It would be ridiculous to say that these animals enjoyed dying or felt great about being upside down for the last seconds of life. What it means to me is that in addition to having the best life possible before said slaughter, every step is taken to ensure the last few minutes are as free of stress and fear as possible and that the slaughter itself is fast and fleeting. What I saw that day were animals who were treated well up until their last breath. They weren't thrown around like ragdolls and the horrors of the more gruesome methods of chicken slaughter were avoided as the killing cone is agreed to be the most humane method. Essentially a traffic cone turned upside down with an enlarged hole at the tip, the killing cone does a few things to speed up the process. The shape of the cone cradles the birds in a way that calms them and just like when you do a headstand, the blood rushes to their head and makes them a bit woozy. Once they are in the cones and calm, the fatal cut is made and they are gone in seconds. Just like that.

Several people have asked how I felt. Was I scared? Nervous? I was definitely a bit of both. However, in that moment, it was not my place to be fearful or anxious. I wasn't the one to be concerned about and letting my fear become hesitation would only hurt the rooster. It would be unfair to pretend that moment was hard for me. I don't think that this was an experience that every omnivore must have to rightfully eat meat, some people can't handle looking at a scraped knee. What we all must reconcile is the fact that a life was lost for our meal. Know it, respect it and be thankful for it. One of my butcher's pet peeves is people that don't want to think or talk about the fact that their burger once walked around, (hopefully) grazing fields and chewing cud. This is what The Ethical Butcher is all about for me, challenging myself to truly take full accountability for every part of the the journey from farm to table. I am a butcher and chef, so I won't likely have a part in the slaughter of every animal I serve. However, after every farm visit I feel like I have gotten closer to what life is all about.

After our big dinner we headed out for a tour of the farm as the family performed their evening duties. We brought the goats back from the far end of their 320-acre farm and watched as the beef cattle were moved from one paddock to another. We then followed the goats back up the gravel road that traverses the property, toward the house and barns. Just as we rounded the bend near their home, two of the Deck daughters came running, shouting that two calves had just been born. Born to two different heifers, the calves apparently weren't expected for another 1 and 2 weeks, respectively. We eagerly set out for the opposite side of the property, a trail of us farmers and farm visitors alike, trudging across the farm in search of new life. We had to take the shortcut through the pigs and stopped to give a few back scratches along the way. Durocs and Hamps snorting and rooting, doing their piggy business. One followed noisily us as we left the barn and began to cross the field. With moms and babies finally in sight we were all walking with purpose, until a muddy bog attempted to foil our plans. The pig grew tired of our sojourn at this point and turned back. We, on the other hand, had a goal. The caravan forged ahead and our muddy shoes and soggy socks would soon prove no match for wait awaited us.

Two calves were up and testing their legs as their mothers munched grass. They weren't the least bit wary of us as we approached, a good feeling when you are near two tons of mommy cow. It was getting late and the sun was almost behind the ridge, Christine Deck said we had to get the new additions into the barn right away. Now we were really going to see what life on a farm entailed. It took three times as long to cross the muddy bog with two tired heifers and two new brand new calves. Christine even carried each of the calves for some time. I was in awe as she carried one up the final hill before the gravel road.

With everyone safe and sound in the barn, we finished the tour by meeting lots of turkey and chicken chicks. The decks then loaded us down with duck and chicken eggs, raw cream, honey and many other treats before we made the drive back to Portland. The duck eggs are perhaps my favorite thing of all. Ah, I love my job.

Many thanks to Deck Family Farm! Check them out at farmer's markets from Newport to Portland, and tell them The Ethical Butcher sent you!


Below is a slideshow of my visit. If you've read this post, it should be clear that some images may be considered graphic. There are lots of pictures of cute animals, too. It's all a give-and-take...

New Plans aka The New Gala

As anyone that has ever started their own business knows, plans always change. Always. Sometimes for the better and unfortunately, other times for the worse. This is thankfully a time that nearly every change in my plan is an improvement.

As I announced last week, Tressa and I have found a new space. We will be located in Northwest Portland as of May 1st, in a converted house with two kitchens. It is perfect for us, with tons of space for both of our businesses to grow as well as encourage the collaboration we both value so much. We have space for holding intimate dinners and a huge backyard for bigger events. We have wrangled, pruned, rototilled and will soon plant a garden to surround the solid wood picnic tables we built. The wood of the tables and raised beds is a perfect match for the glowing hazelnut shells we laid down. I am going to dig an Imu, a Hawaiian-style roasting pit, for use in events and dinners all year. It will, of course need a Northwestern addition, rain shelter. In our four garden beds, we'll be able to grow much of the food we cook with. We've also got a roof that is accessible and perfectly pitched toward the sun, an ideal place for lying drying mats for herbs, tomatoes and sprouting seeds.

My partnership and on a personal level, friendship with Tressa has been instrumental in my growth. We are both on similar paths with the philosophies that drive our practices in the food world. The move to a new space together solidifies that connection. Salt, Fire & Time and The Ethical Butcher will be under one roof, bringing good, honest, local food to the table and building momentum for change. Forget the labels, it is time for the proof in the proverbial pudding. A sticker only says so much-meet a real farmer, taste ripe strawberries and wild salmon in June, not December and cook at home once in a while. It is all pretty normal stuff when you get down to it. Would someone have eaten this 100 years ago? A "no" is dubious, but not not the end I tried to leave absolutes behind with my vegetarianism. Life is just to bleeping good to waste it killing your body with bad food, but it isn't worth it to hold yourself back from the pleasures of life. The changes don't have to be extravagant or expensive, and the elitism around "sustainable" food does more harm than good. Tressa and I look to be open sources of information and delicious and healthy food that makes no concessions on flavor, ingredients or sourcing.

I am so overjoyed with where this year has taken me. The Ethical Butcher blog has turned into my business, one that will hopefully soon be more than off the ground. I hope to change the discourse into one that is more relaxed, personal and approachable. The dinners have been a great tool for talking with folks about these ideas. The exchanges are always wonderful and I notice on many occasions diners trading cards and numbers after dinner. Farmers and writers sit next to artists and schoolteachers. The conversation is lively and the food and wine keep it going. The new space has potential to be even more dynamic, so I look forward this summer! The dinners have also been a fun way to introduce many of my bacon flavors before they were available for purchase. It has been 4 months of many unexpected hurdles, but I am finally in a space where it is possible!!

As I said in a previous post, The Ethical Butcher Bacon Gospel has a new face for BCN/PDX!

BCN/PDX Fridays is the best way to enjoy the wealth of variety in bacon flavors! It will be a new twist on the bacon-of-the-month club, using only local, heritage meats in a choice of monthly flavors. Folks can sign up for a year, six months or buy on BCN/PDX Lazy Fridays, when extra slabs will be sold on the spot. Doing the project like this helps me buy the best heritage breed meat, as I can buy from the smaller farms that can't sell a few pounds of meat at a time. One pig gives enough belly for 12-15 slabs of my bacon. Having a predictable base of customers to use that amount ensures that waste will not drive my prices higher than I want to. While BCN/PDX Lazy Fridays will be a way to buy without commitment, market prices will reflect the true cost of this product. The savings for members of BCN/PDX Fridays over what I need to charge for retail is considerable. At the $10 per pound for the year membership, specialty cured heritage breed pork, handmade locally is available at for the same or less than the commercially made bacon at natural food stores. The added bonus is that many of the farms I use are too small to sell to stores or restaurants. This is a product that isn't available in any meat department, regardless of price.

Check out the new site at http://theethicalbutcher.com/ for more details!

Now it is time to celebrate both the move and launch of BCN/PDX Fridays! It has been a long time coming and The Ethical Butcher is showing thanks for all the support with a big bacon party!

BCN/PDX Fridays Launch Party will be Friday April 30th. All sorts of tasty vittels and 3 flavors of bacon will be available for tasting. Chat it up with other bacon fans and be the first to join BCN/PDX Fridays! The flavors for the first BCN/PDX will be announced and those who sign up that night will get a very special added bonus!

No reservations needed this time around.

$10 at the door, guests invited to provide their own beverages.

BCN/PDX Fridays Launch Party

April 30th 7pm

609 SE Ankeny St. Unit A

See you there!

And check this out! What an honor! Thanks Grist!!

http://www.grist.org/article/2010-04-22-earth-day-40-people-who-are-redefining-green/P24

TADA! and Travels

So the big news is....I'm moving!

No, I am not leaving Portland. Tressa and I are moving to a new space! A space that has the potential to fulfill all of the goals we have set for our respective businesses. I am so grateful for the space I have been using for my dinners, but was having problems getting the kitchen certified for retail sales of meat. This new space is much better suited to meet the strict guidelines of both the Oregon Dept. of Agriculture and the USDA, so I will FINALLY be able to sell my bacon!!

The space is at 1902 NW 24th in Portland, OR. It is a beautiful, big house that has been converted with 2 kitchens, a wine cellar, dining area, backyard complete with raised beds and more. There's space for dinners and classes, which we'll start having several times a week, and lots of room for us to mold and change the space as our businesses grow. Absolute perfection! We'll be putting lots of work into the space in the next few weeks and I can't wait to announce the first event. This summer promises to be more than busy!

I have received emails from folks who are looking for me at the Portland Farmer's Market without success. Though it was my original goal, I decided back in January not to apply for the market. It just didn't feel like the best fit for me right now. There were many reasons for that choice that I won't get into in this forum, but I wanted to wait until I had a plan B before making that announcement. Now that such a plan has been found, I am happy to say that my bacon will be available for sale in mid-May!

Inspired by a customer's recent request for a great birthday present for her husband, I will be selling my bacon through a sort of bacon subscription, BCN/PDX will become more of a "bacon-of-the-month club", if you will. There will be two cycles going, with bacon available on the first and third Fridays of the month. Folks will be able to buy in for the year, 6 months and one month, with obvious savings the longer the commitment. There will be a choice of 2 monthly flavors reflecting what is available seasonally and custom requests will always be taken. Lamb bacon will also be available in season only, which is Spring and Fall. Many of Oregon's wonderful small farms will be represented. Much of the meat I use comes from farms too small to sell to restaurants or stores, so it will truly be a unique experience every time. More information will available in the coming weeks as I settle into the new space and hammer out details. Your wait for specialty cured bacon is almost over!

I am also proud to reveal the dates for my yet-to-be-named tour. Here's the basic itinerary for my travels this year. More details will be forthcoming and there's still room for a few more cities. I'd specifically like to include DC or Durham, NC in October and Atlanta,GA, New Orleans, LA or Memphis,TN in August. All of my projects will be making an appearance, so there's a chance to see it all! If you think there's a place for The Ethical Butcher to add, please send an email!

Reservation info and menus will be available just before each private, ticketed event.

June 11th at Magruder Ranch in Mendocino Valley, CA

Heritage Breed Supper Club - a 6-course dinner featuring Lovers Lane Farm Honey and Magruder Ranch pastured vitellino and wild boar/heritage cross

June 18th at Avedano's Holly Park Market in San Francisco, CA

Fish is Fish for Dinner - a sustainable seafood dinner and lecture

June 24th at Queer Arts Festival in San Francisco, CA

Reading at Spot of T

August 28th at Farmer's Fair in Cincinnati, OH

Sept 23rd – Oct 4th at Wheelbarrow Farm in Sunderland,ON

exact dates TBA-

2 days of pork butchery workshops at Wheelbarrow Farm

2 dinners in Toronto, ON and 1 dinner at Wheelbarrow Farm using heritage pork from butchery workshops.

Oct 8th & 9th at Le Pick Up Depanneur in Montreal, QC

Heritage Breed Supper Club and Bacon a Montreal - 2 dinners featuring heritage pork from TBD farm in Quebec.

October 21st & 22nd at Collect Pond in Brooklyn, NY

Heritage Breed Supper Club and Bacon for Brooklyn - 2 dinners using heritage breed meats from Upstate NY farms.

There are still 2 spaces available for the Icelandic Lamb Butchery!! Reservation info in previous post. This is a very special chance to take the sweetest, most delicious lamb home! Dolce Farms lamb isn't available anywhere else until Fall.

Kids and Lamb Butchery

Haha! Had you thinking of children brandishing boning knives, right? Well, sorry to disappoint, but I am talking about goat!

Next Friday, Tressa and I will be doing a menu featuring Cabrito (young goat) from SuDan Farm, just south of us in Canby. I am ecstatic to share this menu with you! As I am always pushing for more responsible consumption of meat, reducing our dependence on beef as the main red meat is central to that goal. We have to branch out from the American trifecta of Chicken-Beef-Pork. I talk a lot about going back to heritage breeds of those species for many reasons, but trying other meats is helpful too. The more our market demand is spread across local rabbit, venison, goat, ostrich, alligator and other sources for meat, the less we have to depend on the industrial varieties to provide our meat. Who decided that those were the three to go with anyway?

We are a very large country with many ecosystems to provide different sources for food. Here in Oregon, alligator may not be the most local choice; but if you live in Louisiana for instance, it is a much better choice than say, shipping wild salmon from Washington or Alaska. These are the seemingly small decisions that will make huge differences. Though the industrial food system has made it so that we can eat the same foods all around the country at any time of the year, this is not a win-win situation. Going back to regional and local sourcing is what needs to happen. The popularity of farmer's markets shows that people are starting to understand that when it comes to produce. Unfortunately, we are far from the folks making the same choices when it comes to their meat and fish. You want grass-fed beef in Vegas or oysters in Kansas?

Better wonder where it is coming from, but I digress...

This goat dinner may the first taste many will have of this meat, which is strange considering goat is the most commonly eaten red meat in the world. Nutritionally goat surpasses all other meat sources, it has a high protein to fat ratio, due to the goat's natural weight distribution. While most mammals store fat between and inside muscular tissues, nearly all of the fat on a goat is stored in a layer on top of its muscles. Translation: when you remove the skin from a goat, you remove almost all of the fat, resulting in a super lean meat, more tender and lighter in texture than lamb but very similar. Goat is a traditional meat in France, Spain, Latin America, West Indies, Africa and elsewhere. We're just a little late on the jump. It is time to give the goat its dues and rightful place on our menus and kitchen tables.

This whole animal dinner will be a bit more special for me. Not only will I be heading straight to SuDan Farms to pick it up, but I'll be present for the slaughter. Now, I know this isn't something that would get most people very excited, but if you've been reading this blog for a while, you know this is one of those moments I've been waiting for. I am very interested to share my thoughts afterwards in a later post.

Our menu will be themed around West Indian flavors, which makes me long for my Crown Heights days back in Brooklyn. I'll be doing a jerk goat, there will be lots of Rum and beautiful spices throughout this menu. The recent return of the rains has gotten us into a summer-or-bust sort of mood. We are ignoring the clouds and grilling up sunny flavors. The menu is posted below, please, put your reservations behind you, bring an open mind and adventurous friend and join us for CABRITO!!!

Bacon & Papaya over Coconut Braised Greens ---

'Mt.Gay' rum, fresh and crystallized ginger, allspice, clove

Jerk Cabrito with Rice, Housemade Cucumber Pickles, Roti

Fifty Licks Rum and Nutmeg Ice Cream with Chocolate-Honey Cookies

West Indian Cabrito Dinner
$28/person, 2 for $50. Guests invited to provide personal beverages. Reservation info below.
April 9th, 7pm

609 SE Ankeny St, Unit A

I am also very happy to announce another, and last, chance at Icelandic Lamb butchery!

I have reserved Dolce Farm and Orchards' last lamb of the season. This will be a strictly butchery event, very, very limited in size. With a small group of folks, I'll be demonstrating technique for breaking down a whole lamb. Participants will be able to take their portion of the lamb home, but not before choosing from a number of marinade recipes. This is a rare breed of lamb you will not find in stores, by many accounts the best tasting lamb around! I'll be helping folks french, bone and tie their cuts (if you don't know what those things mean now, you will after the class!). Again this group will be extremely small, as in 5 people. Reserve right away if you are interested!

Icelandic Lamb Butchery

$120/person, includes meat to take home and ingredients for marinades. Reserve below.

April 23rd, 6pm

609 SE Ankeny St, Unit A

For reservations for either the West Indian Goat Dinner or Icelandic Lamb Butchery, please click on the link below and enter: theethicalbutcher@gmail.com

https://cms.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/?cmd=_render-content&content_ID=marketing_us/send_money

On April 19th I'll be helping out with a dinner to benefit FRESH, a new movie screening

April 25th-29th at Hollywood Theater. Many local farms will be represented by their delectable products, prepared by myself and Tressa. The two courses I'll be adding are using meat from Deck Family Farms and Dolce Farm and Orchards and lavender from Lilla Farms.

'Iberian' Bacon over Finocchio con Latte al Forno and Cippolline in Agrodolce

port, fig and anise lamb bacon over milk-braised fennel and balsamic roasted cippolline onions

Lavender Petit Sele with Bitter Greens

lavender salt pork over dandelion, arugula and baby bok choy

April 19th more info at: http://saltfireandtime.com/about/seasonal-feast

609 SE Ankeny St, Unit A

$45/person, includes dinner and voucher to screening.

Last but not least. I can't help but tease. There will be a very, very big announcement coming in a few weeks. Bacon dreams are coming true and all the planning and hoop-jumping is finally coming to fruition! That's all for now....I am the worst bean spiller!