#HFXFB - Seaport Farmer's Market 'FARM - MARKET - TABLE' Recipe Contest

I loved bacon WAY before it was cool to love bacon. And my love is definitely not a secret. I mean, come on - @baconandbaileys?

However, as much as I love bacon, I'm really not picky. I never discriminate when it comes to the pig.

Bacon, prosciutto, sausage, pork tenderloin, porchetta, baby back ribs, pancetta... I want it all.

And so, it seemed only natural, as I was slowly meandering my way through the Halifax Seaport Farmer's Market on a rainy Sunday that I would be drawn to the call of the pig.

For the Halifax Food Bloggers - Halifax Seaport Farmer's Market 'FARM - MARKET - TABLE' Recipe Contest I give you - 

Pork Meatballs with Oregano, Feta and Olive Bread wrapped in Westphalian Ham (makes approximately 24 golf-ball sized meatballs)

100g Boulangerie La Vendéenne Olive Bread, torn to bits

1/4C Feta brine + 100g Foxhill Cheese House Feta, crumbled 

700g Getaway Farm's Ground Pork

1C Shubie River's Greek Mountain Oregano, loosely packed then rough chopped

1 small or 1/2 of a large Noggin's Onion, finely chopped

1 Organically Fed Egg from Eastern Selected Farms available at Selwood Green

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

24 slices Roselane Farm's Westphalian Ham

• Preheat to 350 - line a 9x13 (or bigger if you have it) baking dish with parchment paper 

• Place torn olive bread in a bowl - toss with 1/4C of Feta Brine - set aside 

• With clean hands, mix feta, ground pork, oregano, and onion 

• In a small bowl, whisk egg, salt and pepper together - pour over ground pork mixture and mix well with hands 

• Add olive bread to pork and mix well - form into golf-ball sized meatballs - wrap each meatball with one slice of Westphalian ham

• Place in baking dish close together but not touching - bake 28-30 minutes or until cooked through (less time for smaller meatballs, more time for larger)

Carrots

I'm not sure if there's a name for these jewel-toned carrots from Noggin's - we got them at the Seaport Market yesterday. I asked Sean to put dinner on hold so I could capture their brilliant colour. 

Super Easy Homemade Beef Stock

The lead photo of this post is fairly misleading since I'm not actually posting a recipe for French Onion Soup (but I will tell you, I used the Cooks Illustrated recipe with all beef stock, no chicken stock).

I got a number of my ingredients for the soup at the Halifax Seaport Market - beef bones from Getaway Farm's Butcher Shop, onions and carrots from Noggins, baguette from The Seaport Bread Shop and cheese from Foxhill - but this post is going to be all about the glorious gelatinous beef stock I made as the base.

Super Easy Homemade Beef Stock (adapted from Emeril Lagasse) Yields 6 Cups of stock

5 lbs beef bones (if you ask really nice, Ben will give you a wicked assortment including marrow bones which are essential for great stock)

PC Black Label Taste #5 Umami Paste (link here)

2 medium onions, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

3 celery ribs, chopped

2 Cups red wine

small handful of black peppercorns

3 bay leaves

2 cloves garlic, peeled

4 L water

- pre-heat oven to 450 - place bones in a turkey roaster and cook 50 minutes - remove from oven, brush liberally with Umami Paste and return to oven until deep brown (almost starting to blacken), another 10-15 minutes

- remove bones from roasting pan and set aside - pour off excess fat into heatproof container - add 1/4 cup cold water to roasting pan and, with a wooden spoon, scrape up as many crusty bits as you can, leaving them in the pan - add onions, carrots and celery to pan and place back in oven until veg starts to brown, about 15-20 minutes

- remove pan from oven and immediately add 2 Cups red wine - again using wooden spoon, scrape up as much of the stuck on crusty bits as you can from the bottom of the pan

- in a large stock pot, combine roasted bones, veg-red wine mixture, peppercorns, bay leaves, garlic cloves and water - bring to a boil - reduce heat and gently simmer 8 hours

- after 8 hours, scoop out all large solids, then strain stock 4 times through a fine mesh strainer - leave stock to cool at room temp then place in fridge - fat will separate from stock and once chilled, will harden into a layer that you can easily scrape off - discard top layer of fat - benaeth should be beautiful beef jelly (don't worry, the stock will turn to liquid again when you heat it)

Chilled stock with layer of fat scraped off of top. 

 

Getaway's beef bones, pre-roasting.

 

Getaway's beef bones, post-roasting.

I know that lately it's been sunny and warm during the daytime as we head into spring, but the nights are still chilly enough to enjoy a savoury, hearty bowl of soup.