"This Milk Tastes Sweeter than Normal" and a totally Local Feast

Who's Your Farmer?

Celery starters from one of my farmers, Harlequin Organics.

Today was our first day as hosts for Western Montana Growers Co-op here in Helena. They deliver the boxes of our area's participants (all 13 of them) to our home and we make sure the food stays safe in our garage until its family comes for it. Sadly, this year the co-op is now sold out of shares, but those that got in early are very lucky people in deed.

There were a few minor glitches. The truck, which was supposed to arrive between 10 and 12 arrived a few hours late, at 3:00. There were a few folks that stopped by looking for their goodies prematurely, but they were sweet and understanding and returned later. Also, I ordered two dozen eggs from Mission Mountain Farms and only received one. These things though, I am willing to endure as the produce and extras we received were amazing, and so was the customer service. I emailed the co-op at 4:00 to let them know we were a dozen eggs short and by 5:00 someone had gotten back with me and assured me they would send the dozen the next week.

The produce we received was unbelievable! Kale, romaine, salad mix, spinach, radishes, beets, and we ordered extras by way of milk, eggs and cheese.

My kids love to try every kind of food that come through the doors. I remember Commissary day when I was little, my dad hefting paper sacks into the pantry still in his uniform, and my brothers and I digging through endless containers of goodies. Today felt a little like ti when my kids saw the new kinds of cheese and our usual milk and asked for both.

As my 6 year old drank his glass of milk, probably produced from the cow less than a week ago, he remarked, "Mom, this milk tastes a bit sweet and kind of grassy."

I smiled, knowing this was due to our dairy, Lifeline Dairy, being organic and biodynamic, meaning they contribute to healthy animals and a healthy community, growing most of their feed for their cattle and re-purposing the cattle waste. All things that go into a cow come out of it in its milk. It is milk, after all, and like human breast milk it will pick up the flavors and nuances of what the mother ate that day. This time of year, after the weeks of rain we've had, that flavor is going to grass. Lifeline does pasteurize their milk, so it is not raw, but they do not homogenize it, so much of the cream and flavor stays with the milk.

Dinner tonight was 100% Local. This is what we ate:

Spring Greens Fritatta

Ingredients (And ALL of these came from within 120 miles of my home):

1 tablespoon bacon grease (rendered from bacon my parents raised)

1 tablespoon butter

2 cups fresh kale

1 cup fresh spinach 

4 baby garlic

6 pastured eggs

1/2 cup whole milk

1 cup freshly shredded raw milk cheddar cheese (from Lifeline dairy)

With handy cast iron skillet in hand, I pulled out my not so secret fritatta secret ingredient, BACON FAT. Yes, I keep a fat jar from my bacon dripping, and like my grandmothers before me, I cook with it. Mind you, not every meal and every day, but on fritatta day, I am not afraid to slap a spoon of bacon grease in my pan. You can do this if you are not ingesting grease through daily McDonalds or Taco Bell. Its ok. I weigh 115 pounds guys and do some killer yoga three times a week, and I eat bacon grease on occasion.

Warm up your cast iron pan, with bacon grease inside, on medium heat while you also preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Saute your greens and baby garlic in the bacon fat, stirring, wilting and inhaling the goodness of them. The fat also helps break down the fat soluble vitamins in the greens, and makes them delicious in doing so. Grate your cheese while you wait.

After your greens are totally wilted, about 10 minutes later, ready your eggs and milk together, whipping with a fork in a bowl or using an immersion blender to totally liquify them. Remove your pan from heat and add in your butter, to add a bit extra lubrication to the pan for your eggs. Melt the butter fully and then and in your eggs and milk mixture, then your cheese, and use a fork to mix the cheese about in your eggs.

Move your pan to the oven and bake for 40 minutes, checking at that point with a knife to see if it fully cooked. If it is, remove from the oven and allow to cool a bit.

Enjoy the flavors of Spring!