Farmers Market Roundup!: Good Meats at Green City (Part 2)

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Jun 20, 2008 3:30PM

Stopping by the Heartland Meats booth was a given while at Green City Market last weekend. The surprise came at another meat purveyor. Based in downstate Fairbury (just south of Kankakee), Tom and Amy Ifft of Twin Oaks Meats raise hormone-free pork. Additionally, the feed used to fatten their pigs contains no animal by-products or antibiotics.

The result is pork of excellent quality. It's succulent with just enough fat marbling the cuts to give it flavor. The petite pork shoulder pictured is currently being marinaded in a homemade honey bourbon glaze. This weekend, it'll be smoked and slow-cooked over a combination of applewood and white oak, to bring out the spice of the bourbon. Twin Oaks Meats also carries breakfast sausages, ham and bacon, bratwurst and Italian sausage, loin cuts, even bones and pig ears for your dog. Very little of the pig goes wasted here.