After launching our Treasure Trio Special we became aware that many of our customers don't have ground pork recipes in their repertoire. In addition to your basic meatball, Chinese stir-fry, meatloaf, burger, and chili go-top's for ground pork  John wanted to share his seasonal classic recipe for Pigs in a Blanket so you too can enjoy a lucky and prosperous New Year. 

My Italian mother had a panache for German cooking food.  Don’t get me wrong, she used to make homemade spaghetti noodles and sauce too, but she could do pork, cabbage, and potatoes with the best of them.  I guess she picked it up from the neighbors as I recall she claimed to have grown up the only Italian in a predominately German town just East of Pittsburgh, PA.  

Somehow, we maintained the Pennsylvania Dutch tradition of having pork and cabbage on New Year’s Day which represent LUCK (pigs root forward?) and MONEY (cabbage is green).  Of course, black-eyed peas make a good side dish (for you southern folks out there).

Stuffed Cabbage (or Pigs-in-the-Blanket) is a great way to enjoy our pasture raised ground pork and to honor the memory of my mother.  I spoke to her a few years before she passed away about how to make it, but I never wrote it down and only made it the following day, so when I set out to put together a New Year’s feast, I wanted to take a test run.  The pictures below are from the test run, but I’ve tweaked the recipe a bit based upon experience.  I think you can fill in the gaps.  Best wishes to you all for a lucky and prosperous 2021.  We certainly have been lucky to have made your acquaintance and have surely prospered from your support.

PS, I don’t follow recipes but when I was putting together this newsletter, I see there are several variations on this recipe which may make preparing easier - I’ll make note in the recipe below.  I’d advise you wander through Google and add your own flair.  I also see that this may be a Polish (not German) dish - but I’d imagine these things get muddled through history.  

Start by cooking some rice.  You want about 1cup once cooked (1/2 cup dried rice).
Let rice cool.

While the rice is cooking take a head of cabbage and remove the core and the thick stemmy part of the leaf adjacent to the core. 

Place the entire head into a pot and cover with water.  You’re going to parboil until the leaves come off (you can also steam or bake).  You want the leaves to come off whole, but don’t let them get too soggy or else they’ll shred while rolling. 

Place about 10 of the leaves aside to cool.  You can use the rest of the cabbage in another recipe.

In a mixing bowl combine the following: 

Cooked rice (1c)

Ground pork (2lbs)

Chopped onion (1c)

Chopped parsley (2Tbs)

Minced garlic (1Tbs)’

Salt & pepper to taste 

(check other recipes online for variations of seasoning)

Mix it all up and make hefty sized meatballs (about 1cup each)

Place the meatballs in the cabbage leaves and tuck and roll. 

Take about 2 cups of drained sauerkraut and cover the bottom of a casserole dish

Place the Pig-in-the-blankets onto the bed of sauerkraut and put another layer of sauerkraut on top of the “pigs”

In a separate bowl, combine a small can of tomato paste with about ¼ cup of chicken broth (you may try drained crushed or stewed tomatoes here too).  You want something about the consistency of a thick syrup - season as needed.  Pour this over the stuffed cabbages

Cover and place in the oven for 75 minutes at 350deg.  

Serve with a side of mash potatoes and black-eyed peas

In celebration of the New Year, we're extending our Treasure Trio Special. 

As the year comes to an end so do a few of our regular markets. Pre-order delivery is available at any market that is closed on the regular market day at no extra cost to you. You may also want to visit us at one of the other markets we attend or pick up at the Ranch. It's important to remember that we are open even when the markets are closed. 

The Pflugerville Pfarmers Market will close for the year after Tuesday, Dec. 15th and not reopen until March 2021. Pre-order delivery will be available during the weeks the market is closed. 

The Elgin Farmers Market is a year-round market that will remain open every Thursday. Pre-orders are encouraged. 

The Taylor Farmers Market is also a year-round market, but they will be closed on Saturday Dec. 26th and Saturday Jan. 2nd. The market will reopen for 2021 on January 9th.