Two new stories and a couple of classes

Last week, Leslie Cole’s story about the PMC, and also about the Ethical Butcher, came out in the Oregonian’s Food Day section. The story brought a lot of attention to PMC, and I’m impressed by the amount of people who have contacted me for more information, to take butchery classes, or two take part in the meat csa. I’ve had a few minor personal set backs in the past few weeks that have found me a little behind with PMC progress, but things should still be launching in the spring, including the website, which will be an integral part of the PMC, as it will be where members go to check out farms, sign up for CSAs and butchery classes, and to get more information about butchery, custom-exempt laws, meat quality, and more.

In addition, a story that I wrote for the Oregonian’s food and drink magazine, MIX, came out. I wrote this story about a good friend of mine, Levi Cole, who kills and grows most of his own food. He kills a pig or two each fall and the story traces that process. As it turns out, I’ve recruited Levi Cole to be a part of the PMC in the form of teacher, among other roles.

Meanwhile I have scheduled three trial PMC classes at Zenger Farm. They are as follows:

Basic Butchery with the Portland Meat Collective
Saturday, February 20th, 1:00pm – 5:00pm
Cost: $200
Learn the lost art of home butchery from the one of Portland Meat Collective’s butchery experts. Learn how to split two sides of pork into primals, and how to cut those primals into cookable cuts like ribs, tenderloins, ham roasts and shoulder roasts. The class will also include tips on how to cook various cuts, and everyone will go home with $100 worth of meat! Portland Meat Collective Instructors: Adam Sappington and Camas Davis

Real Coq au Vin (Chicken slaughter and butchering)
March 27th 2:00 – 6:00pm
Cost: $75
In this course, each student will learn how to kill their own rooster, and how to butcher it in preparation for making coq au vin. Once they have acquired these skills, they’ll learn how to cook coq au vin using this kind of rooster versus the more conventional organic chickens that are sold at retail butchers around town. At end of the course, the class will sit down to a meal of good red wine, coq au vin, and other homemade French treats. *Portland Meat Collective Instructors: Levi Cole and Camas Davis*

Portland Meat Collective’s Easy Home Curing
April 24th: 2:00 – 6:00pm
Cost: $75
Learn how to make your own pancetta and corned beef. Students will learn which cuts of meat are best to use for each curing process, where to find such cuts, which spices and smoking techniques to use, how dry versus wet curing works, and how to ensure you cured meat comes out tasting good.  Each student will go home with a sizable portion of tied and spiced pancetta that’s ready to be aged at home. They will also go home with their own cured corned beef, which will need to be aged in their refrigerator for a few weeks before its final preparation. The class will end with a meal of corned beef and cabbage, pancetta-spiked salad, and good wine. * Portland Meat Collective Instructors: Levi Cole and Camas Davis*

To register for any of these classes, visit the Zenger Farm website.