Sourcing
The picture is of some stuffed shells I made last week. We eat mostly vegetarian but I had some leftover shells and a package of incredible sausage from Crowd Cow. The dish was simple to make and delicious, especially once topped with a bunch of provolone and baked (sorry, the picture before I baked it turned out better).
Early in the pandemic I received a gift of Omaha Steaks. While we frequently utilize services like Blue Apron, I hadn’t yet tried anything like Omaha Steaks. Not that I had anything against them… I just wasn’t sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality, and diversity, of the food they offer. The box I received had steaks, chicken, pork, and even pre-prepared desserts (the chocolate mousse is delicious). After we made our way through the box I became a customer and continued to order periodically.
After a few months I decided to see what other options there were that were more focused on meat (even though I love Omaha Steaks desserts… did I mention the Sticky Toffee Pudding?). While I appreciate the wide product line that Omaha Steaks has, I was interested in better quality meat as well as making sure it was coming from suppliers that focused on organic and sustainable ranching and farming. I stumbled across Crowd Cow, a company that was started when some friends set out to “crowdfund a cow”.
The sausage in this dish was sourced from Gunthorp Farms in La Grange, Indiana which focuses on raising poultry and pork only. Their Duroc hogs are open pasture year round and they feed on natural grasses and non-GMO feed from other area farmers.
Quality ingredients are the key to making an outstanding dish. Don’t be discouraged if you can’t what you are looking for at your local grocery store. Many of the Asian dishes I make call for ingredients that are not readily available. Be creative. Find the small, ethnic markets in your area. I’ve also found that Amazon has an amazing amount of products that I have had delivered right to my door, including Korean black bean paste, pomegranate molasses, dried chilis, rose water, and Taekyung red pepper powder.