Waiting For the Warmup

Happy Frozen Wednesday, friends.

Here we go, once again leading with the weather.

Ten degrees. Gray. Slick roads, precarious sidewalks. Photos on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter of snow mounding on people’s patio furniture, bird feeders and grills.

Good times.

But it beats February 22 from last year — it topped out at 5 degrees. And tomorrow, with temperatures expected to only reach 20, triumphs over February 23rd from 2022, when we only reached 9 degrees. So we’ve got that going for us!

It may be frigid outside, but Eric has hot ideas about what you should be cooking across the rest of this cold winter. For one, pork Bolognese with mushrooms.

Traditional Bolognese often involves a mixture of ground pork and beef. Eric prefers braising pork shoulder in wine and aromatics in a slow cooker, and then incorporating the pork into a rich sauce, with fresh arugula. This will warm you up!

Eric Skokan’s Pork Bolognese

1. Heat oil in a saucepan, and brown pork shoulder until it’s caramelized on all sides; for four servings, you’ll want 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of pork.
2. Place browned pork shoulder in a slow cooker, along with an onion cut into chunks, a few carrots and stalks of celery also roughly chopped, four or five whole garlic cloves, any herbs you like, such as parsley. Cover with water, or Boulder Broth from the Farm Store (or a mixture of broth and water). Cook at low in slow cooker (if it offers temperature control, the heart of the bullseye is 174 degrees) for a few hours. When it’s ready, the meat will be falling apart.
3. Remove pork from liquid, and strain liquid over a bowl. Toss the aromatics.
4. In a Dutch oven or other large pot, sauté a diced onion, at least three garlic cloves and sliced mushrooms (the oyster mushrooms we sell at the Farm Store are wonderful) in olive oil until sweated and supple.
5. Add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of white wine to the Dutch oven, and cook for about five minutes, until the alcohol has drifted away.
6. To the pot, add two parts of tomato sauce to one part of strained braising liquid. Pro tip: We sell our own tomato sauce at the Farm Store, as well as our tomato and shallot fonduta, which is concentrated tomato sauce. A mixture of tomato sauce and a few cubes of fonduta is ambrosia.
7. Simmer the liquid for 15 or 20 minutes. 
8. While the liquid simmers, shred the pork shoulder. Just before serving, turn off heat, add shredded pork to the pot, toss in a few fistfuls of chopped arugula, stir a few times, and prepare to dine. 

This is perfect over bowls of pasta and polenta, among other things. Bon appétit!

We look forward to serving you at our Farm Store, open Wednesday through Sunday at 4975 Jay Road from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and at the most true farm-to-table restaurant in the United States, Bramble and Hare, open Tuesday through Saturday from 5:15 p.m. until 10 p.m.

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The Black Cat Organic Farm CSA

If you haven’t signed up for our 2023 CSA yet, spots still remain. Our CSA differs from most: Instead of us filling sacks or baskets with vegetables for you to pick up, for our CSA we invite you to visit the Farm Store 20 times between June and October and fill Black Cat CSA totes with produce. In addition, CSA members enjoy 5% discounts on all store items, plus a bonus U-Pick credit based on share size.

The link contains loads more information about how the CSA works, as well as a way to sign-up. Welcome to the Black Cat family.

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Farm Store

As we announced on Instagram (@blackcatboulder) late last week, pork is (finally!) back at the Farm Store. Due to a range of issues, we’ve been without pork for 2023 at the Farm Store. We (and you) have missed it. But now all of our cuts are back, and in abundance. We predict meatballs, pulled pork, stir fries, Sunday roasts and much more with our pork, from heritage Mulefoot pigs that we raise on our 425-acre farm.

More great news: Prior to today’s deep freeze and snow, we harvested mountains of greens from the fields. The Store is stocked with arugula, salad greens, kale and tat soi on the greens front, along with plenty of other organic vegetables, mushrooms, meats, provisions and more.

This week at the Farm Store, look for:

• Mushrooms
• Salad mix
• Kale
• Arugula
• Tat soi
• Spinach
• Cabbage
• Potatoes
• Beets
• Turnips
• Carrots
• Onions
• Squash
• Pumpkins
• Dried beans
• Ginger
• Parsnips

Black Cat Grains and flours

• Popcorn
• Flours from Black Cat Organic Farm grains

Meats

• Grama Grass & Livestock Beef
• Cuts of Black Cat heritage lamb

Black Cat Farm Provisions

• Tomato sauce with basil and garlic
• Mole
• Basque piperade
• Yellow Tomato Sauce with French thyme
• Tomato shallot fonduto
• Salsa amarilla con rajas
• Plowman’s Onion Soup
• Spicy harissa
• Ketchup

Local Provisions

• Plains & Prairie goods
• Humble Suds cleaning products
• Bee-Och Organics tooth powder, muscle pain rub, beard oil, deodorant
• Growing Organic probiotic soaps
• Purple Fence Farm lotions, soaps, bath salts, facial toners and salves
• Annie Bee’s Hand-Poured Beeswax Candles 
• Bluecorn Beeswax Candles
• Havenly Baked Gluten-Free Bread
• Pueblo Seed cookies, porridge, cream of wheat, chile powder and more
• Boulder Broth
• Bee Grateful Honey Caramels
• Bjorn’s Colorado Honey and doggie treats
• Boulder Valley Honey
• Bolder Chip salsa, corn chips and tortillas, and uncooked flour tortillas
• Green Tahini dips and dressings
• Heartbeets Veggie Burgers and doggie treats
• Spark + Honey Granola
• Mountain Girl Pickles
• New Beat Foods Quinoa Crackers
• Project Umami Tempeh
• Silver Canyon Coffee
• Table Mountain Farm Goat Milk Caramels
• French mustard
• Gorgeous Italian balsamic vinegar
• Ambrosial Italian apple cider vinegar
• Vegan charcuterie from Greece! 
• Italian risotto rice

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Bramble & Hare

You don’t often find rabbit on restaurant menus, which is a shame: It’s a delicacy. With a texture somewhat similar to chicken, and an earthy flavor, rabbit is extremely versatile and delicious. Preparations for chicken, duck and pork, for example, can all work quite well with rabbit.

We feature it now on the menu, a braised leg paired with polenta, ancho crème, braised cabbage and fennel salad. It’s a treasure.

Let us take care of you soon in the most welcoming, charming and atmospheric room in Boulder.