Foothills Family Farms

My lovely neighbor, Rose, tipped me off to this jewel when she told me that Black Mountain’s Johnny B switched gears this season from operating his Sprouts Café to having a Wednesday afternoon Sprouts Market. A small affair, with just a few complimentary vendors, you can buy all you need for a fresh, local grown dinner. (Try the NC caught fish Johnny sells. It has been an education on Eastern aquatic life!)


Our favorite find of the market is Foothills Family Farms’ pork shoulder roast. It is not the most expensive cut of meat and, when prepared, not the most distinguished, but it gets a 9 on the Mike eating noise meter. I slow cooked mine with two cans of Coca Cola and a little last minute prep to make a tender, caramelized pulled pork that beats anything at any restaurant I’ve had so far. Simple cooking with an excellent piece of pork is the key!

Frozen pork sholder in the slow cooker with two cans of coke. Cook on low for 6 hours.

Pull the pork from bone and fat.  Add fat and juice to pan for reduction, till glaze forms.

Add drained glaze into pulled pork.
I usually refrigerate over night and remove the seperated fat.

I’ve tested this recipe twice, so I know the first shoulder was not a fluke.

Foothills Family Farms is made up of a coalition of Old Fort family farms who "believe that by providing fresh, sustainably grown foods we can significantly contribute to a better quality of life for our farmers, consumers, neighbors and land." I’ve seen them at Sprouts Market on Wednesdays 3-6pm and at the Black Mountain Tailgate Market 8am - noon.

I bought mine at Sprouts Market in Black Mountain Wednesdays 3-6 pm.

Cane Creek Beef

So, I've been on the hunt for two things in the area of meat:

The first being a butcher. You would think you could find a good, old fashion, cut-in-front-of-you butcher just about anywhere in North Carolina, which is known for its whole hog barbeque. (I really miss Plow Boys!)  Well, guess what... WNC is not 'that' part of the state. In fact, I've been reading that, until recently, it has been pretty difficult to even find a uniformly celebrated barbeque restaurant. I am guessing part of this is due to the fact that the "best" barbeque is usually homemade here. But equally responsible would be the fact that WNC is part of the Appalachian region, which has a very different history with meat.  (Go see Dennis at Vance Birthplace)

The second thing I've been on the lookout for is a Community Supported Agriculture subscription (CSA).  For those of you new to it, you pay a subscription fee at the beginning of the growing season to a local farm and they provide a box a week of fresh produce; whatever is in season that week.  Great concept!  I don't even have to think about shopping AND Mike has to at least try a few new veggies every week.

So, while searching the internet for the CSA's in my area, I found one that also provided beef and pork, in package orders.  Cane Creek beef is a byproduct of their dairy operation (young males born from their Holstein dairy cows), lean, veggie fed, & without hormones or antibiotics.  I don't get the advantage of cut-in-front-of-me, but I do get a good variety of vacuum sealed fresh meat I keep in my freezer till I need it. And I know exactly where it came from and how fresh it is.

After getting Mike's car serviced near the Asheville airport, I realized I was pretty close to Cane Creek Valley Farm and could check it out as a potential CSA.  On a whim, I decided to call and see if I could get a pack of meat while I was there.  (Mike finally found a grill and it was arriving any day.  FYI: Barbeque is the method of very slow cooking on a low heat, where grilling is quick cooking on high heat.  And when cooking outside, you are having a 'cookout'.)

Jeremy answered the phone from the field he was working.  He very nicely asked if he could call me back, as he had to call in to see if there was a package ready for me.  When I got the call back a few minutes later, he said they would put one together, ready in 40 minutes.  The farm takes cash or check, so I had just enough time to find a no fee ATM (or face my accountant's wrath) and find my way to the farm (street signs can be hard to come by out here).  Amanda made up my Package #1, which comes with 2 - 14oz. Rib-Eye Steaks, 2 - 5oz. Filet Mignon Steaks, 2 - 12oz. T-bone Steaks, 1 - 8oz. Flat Iron Steak, 2 – 2.25lb Chuck Roast, & 8 - 1lb packs Ground Beef (90/10).

The Cane Creek Beef Package #1

The family was very nice and invited me to drive through the back side of the farm and see the dairy buildings, as well as the fields they were preparing.  It was really exciting to see the farm and think about having your food come out of that soil.  Especially after this winter of bad weather and lots of South American imported, tasteless produce. (Though it did save us from having to eat meat and potatoes all winter).

The Cane Creek Valley Farm April fields, getting ready for planting.

As for the meat, we started off with the hamburger, using it first for taco night then for hamburger night.  Both times, we were impressed.  We even bought comparative store brand for burgers and compared them.  The Cane Creek hamburger is a lean 90/10 blend, but has a great combination of juiciness, flavor and melted fat.  It in no way seemed dry or tasteless, where the store brand did both.  I'm not a hamburger fan, but this gets my vote.  I think the estimated price from the package total makes it an excellent buy.

Tonight we tried some steaks.  I was going to wait to add this review, because as I was cooking the steaks on our new grill AND trying to watch Em AND folding laundry, I realized I probably ruined them with my inattention.  But... they were so good!  I don't know if it is just because it was my first steak in almost a year, but the juices were perfect, the fat was present, but well marbled and you still had a full flavor beef. 

Cane Creek Beef is 14 day aged and each steer is processed individually, so all my meat came from one cow.  You can see the rest of their process on their web site.

I had a filet and Mike had a ribeye.  I seasoned them with sea salt and pepper only.  I can't wait to try one of the roasts.  I plan to buy some rub from Spice & Tea Exchange of Asheville for the occasion.

I bought mine from the source at the Cane Creek Valley Farm, in Fletcher, NC.

Goodnight Brothers Country Ham

On a trip up to Boone a few weeks ago, we were told to stop in at the Dan'l Boone Inn.  Yes, its touristy, but we are still tourists and we were trying to expose our Euro guest to Southern/Appalacian/Country.  So why not stop at the home of Daniel Boone, Appalachian State University and Goodnight Brothers Country Ham for a big southern comfort food extravaganza?

The Inn serves the ham inside buttermilk biscuits.  Mike loved these things!  He thought the ham biscuits were the most wonderful thing he's tasted so far.  I could tell because there were a lot of 'Mmmmms' and 'Ohhhhhhs.'  (Coming from the midwest, he appreciates this cuisine over my Northern California vegitarian cooking.)  Definitely salty, but so flavorful.  I am not a ham fan - I will eat this ham, though. So I bought some at the Inn's little shop.

Simple instructions are to griddle each slice a few seconds on each side.  Break the slice into smaller pieces and stuff them in the buiscut.  I made my own drop biscuts and the duos were gone by noon.  I had one.

A well distributed product, with multiple brands in the region, Goodnight Brothers Country Ham is a new and wonderful WNC find for our family.

I bought mine at the Dan'l Boone Inn Gift Shop.