Miller's Orchards Farm Market
Cooking & Recipes
Cooking our Sausage:
Cooking with pastured meats is a little different than cooking the average corn-fattened animal. Our gloriously healthy animals actually have muscles from all their outdoor carousing, so their meat needs extra love and care to break down those muscle fibers. And in the age of microwaves and fast-food, we find it helpful to share a little advice to ensure you are always satisfied with your meal. Generally, pasture-grazed meats taste better when they are cooked over longer periods of time on lower heat settings. The marvelous things a crockpot does with grass-feed meats are astounding. So we always recommend to use your crockpot on long and low. But if you’d like to see some of our favorite recipes and additional cooking tips…keep reading!
Our recipes are simple: from our kitchen to yours! We strongly encourage people to enjoy the ease of cooking with just a few yummy ingredients-nothing fancy. Most of our seasonings and spices are mild enough for all to enjoy. That said, you know what you like. Your family might detest mushrooms or have an unnatural affinity for garlic (as mine does), so never be afraid to add an extra onion or more pepper to taste. We have had so much fun over the years cooking and eating these amazing meats, and we want to pass our knowledge and recipes on to you!
If your dish doesn’t turn out well, by all means, call us!!! Our meat naturally tastes better and is healthier than store-bought meat because it is raised differently. It should never be tough or stringy! We want to ensure that you love your food, so never hesitate to contact us with questions, problems, or concerns. We are happy to chat with you and help in any way we can to turn our fantastic foods into your family's mouthwatering meal!
Basic Chicken Broth
Ingredients:
· 1 Miller's Orchards Chicken
· Water
Place chicken in crockpot and fill with water so that it covers the chicken. Cook on low for 12-48 hours. Remove and eat yummy meat, then store/freeze chicken broth.
We like to cook them longer to extract more flavor and nutrients from the bones. Feel free to add seasonings, onions, celery, and carrots depending on how you want your broth to taste. Simply strain these additional items from broth prior to storing it.
Breaded Pork Chops
Ingredients:
· 4 Miller's Orchards Pork Chops
· ½ cup Whole Wheat Flour
· ½ cup Panko Bread Crumbs
· 4 TBSP Butter
· 2 TBSP Olive Oil
· Salt, Pepper, Herbs to taste
Put flour and seasonings in a plastic bag, and then shake pork chops individually. Coat the bottom of your baking dish with olive oil, then place floured pork chops in and cover with bread crumbs. Add one tab of butter to the top of each pork chop, then cover dish with lid or foil. Bake pork chops for 2 ½ hours on 250°. Then remove foil, and cook additional ½ hour to crisp up the pork chops. Enjoy!
Chicken Marsala
Ingredients:
· 2 Miller's Orchards Chicken Breasts
· 1–2 TBSP Olive Oil
· ½ stick Butter
· 4 cups Sliced Mushrooms
· ¾ cup Marsala Wine
· 1 cup Basic Chicken Broth
· Salt, Pepper, Whole Wheat Flour
Pound chicken breasts until they are flat and have an even thickness throughout. Then dredge breasts through flour and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook breasts in frying pan with oil until both sides are golden brown. Remove chicken from pan and cover. Add butter and mushroom to pan and cook until they are golden brown. Add Marsala to the mushrooms, cooking on medium heat until it reduces by half. Then add chicken stock and chicken breast back to the pan and lower heat to simmer. Cook until the liquid reduces into a thick sauce. Enjoy!
Country Gravy
Ingredients:
· ¼ cup Bacon Grease (From Miller's Orchards Bacon, of course!)
· 1/3 cup Whole Wheat Flour or Spelt Flour
· ½ tsp Salt
· ½ tsp Pepper
· 2 cups Milk
In a saucepan, melt bacon grease. Then stir in salt, pepper, and flour using a whisk. When it is thoroughly mixed, slowly add milk. Continue to whisk gravy until boiling. Serve immediately and Enjoy!
Crockpot Chili
Ingredients:
· 2 lbs. Miller's Orchards Ground Pork (or mixture of pork and beef)
· 2 quart jars of homemade tomato sauce or equivalent of your favorite sauce
· 1 Large Onion, chopped
· 1 Large Pepper, chopped
· 1 cup Black Beans
· Seasonings to taste. (My suggestion: 2 tsp oregano, 1 tsp pepper, 2 tsp seasalt, ¼ tsp chili powder, ¼ tsp garlic powder)
Soak beans overnight in crockpot with 6-8 cups of water and optionally add 2 TBSP yogurt or lemon juice to the water, which aids in bean digestion. In the morning, brown the meat, peppers, and onions. Drain and rinse the beans. Put all ingredients in crockpot on low for 8 hours. Enjoy!
Crockpot Pulled Pork Barbecue
Ingredients:
· Miller's Orchards Pork Roast (Butt or Picnic Roast)
· 1 Large Onion, chopped
· 4 Cloves Garlic, minced
· Favorite Barbecue Sauce
Place onion and garlic in the bottom of the crockpot. Feel free to marinate your meat in additional seasonings for up to 24 hours if you like more spice. Then place meat in the crockpot and fill 2/3 with water. Cook on low for 10-12 hours. Drain liquid, remove any bones, and shred the meat with forks. Return meat to crockpot or serving dish, add barbecue sauce, and enjoy!
Crockpot Ham
Ingredients:
· Half Miller's Orchards Smoked Ham
· Pineapple Slices
Place ham and pineapple in crockpot and fill ½ full with water. Cook on low for 12-18 hours. Enjoy!
*If the hams are smaller (daisy/football hams), cook 8-10 hours. If the hams are fresh (not smoked) cook longer- I do 20 hours for a half ham. Also with fresh ham, add pineapple during the last 2 hours of cooking instead of at the beginning.
Easy Crockpot Chicken
Ingredients:
· 1 Miller's Orchards Chicken
· Water
· 3 TBSP Sea Salt, 1/2 tsp Pepper, 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
Place your amazing chicken into the crockpot. Fill crockpot half-full with water. Add seasonings. Cook on low for 12 hours or longer. We usually remove the extremely tasty meat, discard the bones, and make yummy gravy with the broth. Enjoy!
Oven Fried Chicken Legs
Ingredients:
· 4 Miller's Orchards Chicken Thighs & Drumsticks
· 1 TBSP Olive Oil
· ½ stick Butter
· ½ cup Panko Bread Crumbs
· 2 TBSP Miller's Orchards Minced Garlic
Sprinkle olive oil on the bottom of your baking dish and add chicken pieces. Sprinkle bread crumbs over the chicken, then put a tab of butter on top of each piece of chicken. Cover chicken and cook on 250° for 2 ½ hour. Then remove cover and allow chicken to crisp up, usually 15-20 minutes. If the bottom of the dish looks dry, add more butter. We love to poor the drippings over the chicken and rice/potatoes when eating our meal. Enjoy!
Roasted Chicken
Ingredients:
· 1 Miller's Orchards Chicken
· ¼ cup Water
· ½ stick Butter
· 1 TBSP Sea Salt, 1/2 tsp Pepper, 1/2 tsp Garlic powder
Place your amazing chicken in roaster dish, then add water. Smear with ¼ stick butter. Put ¼ stick butter inside bird. Sprinkle with seasonings and cover. Bake for 3 hours on 250°. If you like a crispy skin, remove lid and allow chicken to crisp for 15 minutes. As always feel free to add additional seasonings like fresh garlic or rosemary. Enjoy!