From The Fyr (11.6.2025)

Dishin’ On the Cafe:   Did I say the Banh-Mi was my favorite last week? It was. But that was until this week’s ham sammie hit the menu. Ready for this? Smoked sirloin ham, havarti, marinated broccoli rabe, hot italian pepper aioli, and pepper jam. Of course, all of this deliciousness placed on our fresh, organic sourdough bread (another fermented food which you will learn about below!). As if that wasn’t good enough, the ham, peppers, and broccoli rabe are all from 8 Hands! Even the peppers in the pepper jam. Sweet and salty, packed with protein, fiber, local ingredients and more. If meat isn’t your (pepper) jam, the ricotta toast this week is fabulous with our own eggplant caponata and pesto, plus pine nuts, herbs, and balsamic, all on your favorite sourdough. But these are just two of the amazing choices on this week’s menu! Not in the mood for a sandwich? All good! This week’s turkish egg bowl, tacos, or squash and sausage quesadilla. Yes, I said quesadilla. What are you waiting for? Get on over to the cafe this weekend!

Made with Love in the Market : Gimme that Kimchi! Fermented foods are all the rage, and for good reason. Eating small amounts of fermented foods throughout your day (think kefir, yogurt, kimchi, sauerkraut, tempeh, and even sourdough!) can greatly improve your gut health. Here’s a quick lesson, in case you’re into this kinda thing: Our guts have a microbiome (or some may explain our guts are a microbiome, but everything has its own. Crazy, right?) and it's made up of trillions of bacteria, fungi, and other microbes.  These microbes help us digest food, produce vitamins, support our immune system, and believe it or not, help our mood, energy levels and inflammation! A healthy microbiome contains a wide variety of microbes. Think of your gut like a lush rainforest, packed with every different kind of plant and animal species, all living together in perfect balance.  When we consume a diverse diet packed with many different kinds of plants, we help feed our microbes (prebiotics). When we consume fermented foods we introduce our gut to more species of live microbes (probiotics)! That’s where the kimchi comes in (or yogurt, cultured buttermilk, sauerkraut, and even sourdough! We’ve got it all!). You don’t need a recipe - you just have to eat it. I eat fermented foods like vitamins. A spoonful of kimchi, kraut, or kefir, a few times per day.  But why buy it from us and not on your regular trip to the grocery store? Unless the product contains active cultures, it’s not beneficial to your gut in the same way. Non-refrigerated Sauerkraut in the pickle isle does not contain the live microbes needed to keep your gut healthy (not to mention - most of those jarred krauts contain nasty preservatives and ingredients like yellow #5). The same goes for sour cream and other refrigerated dairy products like buttermilk. You have to check the labels for live cultures. Not to mention, don’t get me started on sourdough. Just because it’s labelled sourdough does not make it true sourdough or even good for you. You should get to know your farmer AND your baker. And of course, we always try to use in-season, local, and all organic veg in our products making them all the more beneficial to your guts!  Tons of other options for a quick dinner or stocking up for cozy nights this winter, both fresh and frozen - check it out here!

Market Grabs: Never been to the market? Well, get on over here then! Not only do we offer freshly made soups, foods, spreads and baked goods, but we also stock our favorite products from other small businesses we believe in. We get that shopping is time consuming and we want this to be your one-stop-shop for everything you need! 

Going to a friendsgiving gathering?? You know you want to be the guest who brought the most fyr dish, and we’ve got you covered. In charge of the turkey? We’ve got pre-made brine kits. All you need to do is add water. Want level-up your bird?! Add Apple Cider, herbs, lemon, anything your heart desires (or your fridge has in it). Submerge your turkey, and wow. They will be talking about this meal for years to come! Another winner is definitely our sourdough stuffing cubes. Just add seasonings and  chicken stock and it will be a miracle if this dish even makes it to the table before it’s gone.  Actually, stuffing kits are a hard one to find in the grocery store with quality ingredients without preservatives, let alone made with sourdough from NYS organic flour.

Sourdough Stuffing Recipe

• 1 bag Fyr & Salt Sourdough Stuffing

• 1 stick unsalted butter

• 1 medium onion, diced

• 3 stalks celery, diced

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 Tbsp each, fresh sage, parsley, and thyme

• 2 ½ cups chicken stock or bone broth

• 2 eggs

• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Pour Sourdough stuffing cubes into a large bowl

3. Melt butter in a large pan and saute onions, celery, and garlic about 8-10 minutes, until soft

4. Stir in sage, thyme, salt, and pepper, stir about 1-2 minutes

5. Pour cooked veg over stuffing cubes and add broth, tossing evenly. The mixture should be wet, but not soggy.  

6. Gently stir in the eggs and parsley

7. Transfer mixture to a large baking dish, cover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes or until golden on top.

Veggie Lovers: Many options for our veggie lovers this week! In the cafe, try the ricotta toast with eggplant caponata or get our quesadilla, hold the sausage! In the market a grab-n-go option? Try the turmeric rice or orzo salad with feta and autumn squash. Running to work, but need a quick breakfast? How about some delicious sheep’s milk yogurt and our delicious granola! Not to mention a fresh loaf of sourdough with a little spread of goat cheese and pepper jam. We’ve got options for everyone. Bring the whole fam!

Kitchen Spark: We all find ourselves in food ruts, so here’s a little spark to light the fyr in your kitchen!  

Spiced Lamb Power Bowl (serves 4-8)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground lamb

• 1 lb ground 8 Hands ancestral blend

• ¼ cup pine nuts

• 1 large onion, diced or diced shallots

• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 cup cooked chickpeas (1 can or prepare dried)

• 1.5 cups white or brown basmati rice

• 1 quart Fyr & Salt Bone Broth

• Cherry tomatoes, chopped

• Cucumbers, diced

• Feta cheese (try the goat and sheep feta we offer at the market!)

• Pickled onions

• Plain Yogurt (can sub Cocojune yogurt for dairy-free)

• Dill & parsley, finely chopped (optional)

• 1 Tbsp paprika

• 2 tsp cumin

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• ½ tsp sumac (optional) * some store-bought sumac contains salt, so take note when adding

• 1 tsp coriander

• 1 Tbsp zaatar

• Salt & pepper

• EVOO

Instructions:

1. Rinse rise until liquid runs clear. Add to a saucepan with double the amount of bone broth. Sprinkle a little salt in.

2. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Drain, rinse, and dry chickpeas. Place them onto a baking sheet lined with parchment. Toss with EVOO, salt, pepper, garlic, and paprika. Place in the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from heat and let cool.

3. Meanwhile, in a large pan, saute onions and garlic with EVOO until they begin to caramelize. Add the pine nuts, salt & pepper, and saute until slightly browned. You can deglaze with a bit of the bone broth. Remove and put aside.

4. In the same pan, add both packages of beef to the pan and brown, stirring often. Drain any remaining fat from the pan, then add the onion and pine nut mixture back in. Toss with salt, pepper, garlic, paprika, coriander, cinnamon, cumin, zaatar and sumac. Toast spices with meat and onion mixture for another minute. Remove from heat. 

5. Time to arrange your bowls with whatever toppings you love! For simplicity, I just added a dollop of yogurt to the top of my bowl, but if you want to get fancy you could mix the chopped herbs, garlic, salt, pepper, drizzle of EVOO and squeeze of lemon with the yogurt.

Like the idea of that one-stop-shop? Here is your grocery list for the above recipe for products available at 8 Hands Farm!

• 1 lb ground lamb

• 1lb ground ancestral blend

• Rice 

• Chickpeas

• Feta

• Pickled onions

• Bone Broth

• Yogurt 

• Cinnamon

• Coriander

• Garlic (granulated and fresh)

• Za’zatar

• Salt & pepper

• Parsley

• Tomatoes

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

Love,

Jess and the rest of the Fyr & Salt fam