What to Buy from Local Butcher Right Now

Local Butcher Meat CounterWith the Local Butcher open for about a month, hopefully you’ve had a chance to experience just how easy this place will make your life. Not only do they have freshly made sandwiches and salads, but you can also grab a quick lunch (read: no waiting for them to make your muffaletta). Their upstairs kitchen is also churning out a slew of products to make any cook an (amateur) chef. I walked around with owner and Chef Will Bradof and asked him to highlight of his favorite items. Other than the obvious selection from the butcher counter, here’s what not to miss (thanks to Hannah Hardaway for sharing her photos).

Chicken Pate with Fig Balsamic Reduction

Pate is usually reserved for a restaurant meal. Who knows what comes in the grocery store versions packaged in a plastic tray. But this house-made spread comes in a small jar, so it’s ready to put on my charcuterie tray with zero effort (other than unscrewing the lid).

Local Butcher Pate

White Anchovies

Here’s another one that I just flat out won’t buy at the store. Brown anchovies in a tin? No thanks. But these are packaged in oil and vinegar, and are super fresh. Bradof says to use them in a Caesar salad, or top them on a cracker with some mustard. These little fishes are also great chopped into vinaigrette and tossed into a salad. Basically, use them in anything to add umami flavor.

Fresh Pasta

With a variety of options on their pasta maker, Local Butcher can crank up to seven types of pasta, from garganelli to papardelle. Look for their experiments, like a beet pasta (infused with beet juice instead of water). Grab some of their homemade marinara, and boom, dinner in minutes.

Local Butcher Pasta

Chicken Pot Pie (and other ready made dinners)

These are going to be lifesavers on busy days when that last thing I want to do is cook. Chefs are making time-consuming meals items such as chicken potpie and lasagna from scratch. These convenient, restaurant-quality meals are ready to pop in the oven, making dinner one less thing I have to do.

Stocks

I spend at least one day a month boiling bones for hours on end to have homemade stock in my freezer. Not anymore. Local Butcher is doing all the work for you. The veal stock, for example, took them five days to make and package.

Sausage

With house-made blends and flavors like huckleberry maple elk sausage and their Local’s popular pheasant sausage, there’s no need to buy this ground at the grocery store anymore.

Scotch Eggs

When I told my husband that Local Butcher offers ready-made Scotch Eggs, he was ready to drop what he was doing and head on over to buy a dozen. Hard-boiled eggs wrapped in house-made sausage and then baked with a breadcrumb coating. What once was reserved for dining out can now be easily eaten at home.

Local Butcher Scotch Egg

Easy Apps

Having people over? Make it easier on yourself by shopping premade items like Elk in a Blanket or Bird in a Bed. Simply pop in the oven, slice into bite size pieces and serve with some honey mustard. This would be an easy a Super Bowl snack. The charcuterie bento box is full of meat, pickled veggies and more, literally read to go for your serving tray.

Ham

I’m totally guilty of buying the pre-sliced prosciutto that comes in the plastic container and costs $7.99 or more. Bradof let me know to stop doing that immediately. With a rotary slicer that can cut ham into tiny shavings, Local Butcher can give you twice the amount for half the cost. They offer three types: prosciutto, Iberico ham and Benton’s Country Ham.

 

Posted in ,

Cara Rank

Also originally from the South, Cara Rank discovered cooking was a creative outlet that helped her relax after long days writing magazine and newspaper articles during the past eight years in Jackson. Really, she just missed Southern food. A lot. During a 12-year career as a journalist, Cara has won numerous awards for her work and has written about everything from rodeo queens to Dolly Parton tomatoes. She spends her weekends making jars of pickles and jam and amazing dinners for friends. She loves shishito peppers, Chicago-style hot dogs and elderflower-spiked cocktails.