Dickson's Farmstand - The Whole Beast - Part 1

Dickson's Farmstand Meats, in Chelsea Market has a wide variety of locally-sourced meats.  For Christmas, my parents got me two "Whole Beast" gift cards, one for beef and one for pork, which entitle me to a TON of FREE MEAT. Woohoo!  See the results, after the jump...

The first time I used the beef card, I walked into the store, showed them my card, and 1 minute later, was waltzing out with 4lbs of short ribs.  The second trip was for a pork shoulder - the card entitled me to 3lbs, but the shoulder they had came up a bit short -- to make up the difference they threw in some slab bacon.  I felt like a meat celebrity.  It was awesome.  You know what else was awesome?  The meals I made with this bounty of meat.

Below are the results of each card's first punch.

Red-Wine Braised Short Ribs with Wilted Spinach and Cauliflower Puree

Recipes adapted from Cooks Illustrated

Since there was so much of this leftover, on the second night I made some into a ragu, served over farfalle, and third night I made the last remnants into chili (which we noshed on at cookbook club).

Pork Shoulder Carnitas with Homemade Corn Tortillas and Pickled Onions

Recipes adapted from Cooks Illustrated, Rick Bayless, and David Lebovitz