Kimchi and Pork Belly Rice Bowls – twenty minutes and done. The weather has been wet in the Bay for the start of this year. As a result, some of us are busy trying to keep ourselves – and our homes – dry.  For those of us who enjoy cooking it means we have to find ways to keep good food around without wasting time. Kimchi is a great way to bring a lot of flavor and flair to a meal quickly.  The Woks of Life has a snappy recipe for Kimchi and Pork Belly Rice bowls that’s delicious and rests on the quality of its ingredients. It comes together in under half an hour – just as long as it ..read more

There is some seasonal variability in chicken egg production. In the fall and winter, adult hens molt —dropping their feathers and growing new ones — a process that can take several weeks. During that time, the hens’ energy and nutrients go into producing new feathers, rather than eggs. This natural slowdown in egg laying is followed by a bump in the spring, when the days get longer and there is more to forage. Egg collection can occur up to three times a day in the spring. The yolk color is related to what the chickens are eating, not the nutritional value of the egg. Yolks can be y ..read more

Carbonara is the Italian work for coal miner. This dish is called called carbonara because of the specks of black pepper are reminiscent of coal dust. Aaron Rocchino, co-founder and former co-owner of The Local Butcher Shop, shares his recipe for this very rich dish, featuring The Local Butcher Shop’s housemade guanciale. A note from Aaron: A server I used to worked with would get this every time we served it on the menu, and he would always ask for a poached egg on top too. He made sure to let us know that he will not be telling his wife or doctor about that meal. It’s a really rich dish ..read more

Classic preparations and recipe ideas for your Passover and Easter meals. Briskets: the Rocchinos Favorite Brisket Bon Appetit’s Guide to Brisket Brisket with Lemon-Oregano sauce Lamb: Boneless Leg of Lamb Lamb Shoulder and Lamb Neck Recipes Spring Shepherd’s Pie with Peas and Mint Hams and Pork: Guide to Reheating and Glazing our house-cured hams Fresh Ham with Cracklings and Pan Gravy Fresh Ham with Honey and Cloves Roasted Ham with Citrus & Rye Whiskey Poultry: Slow-Cooked Duck with Green Olives and Herbes de Provence Guinea Hen with Bacon, Cabbage and Apples Monica’s Favorite M ..read more

Case-ready Lamb tray. Clockwise from bottom left: Arm Chops, Shoulder Chops, Shank, Leg Roast, Loin chops, Leg steaks, Rib Chops The shoulder of most animals are typically best braised until the meat falls off the bone. Lamb shoulder is a bit more versatile and is just as suitable as a roast; You can tie it up bone in, or to make carving easier have the blade-bone removed. If the shank is attached to the shoulder, make a cut around the bone end to release the tendons, so that the meat shrinks back from the bone as it cooks. And of course we always recommend keeping any removed bones for stock ..read more

January 25th is the birthday of Scotland’s national poet, Robert Burns. Scots celebrate with a decadent meal that includes haggis. Haggis is essentially a sausage that is stuffed and cooked in a sheep stomach. Our haggis is made with lamb meat, heart, kidney, tongue, liver, stock, oats, barley, onions. It’s seasoned with cayenne, thyme, allspice, pepper, lemon, salt and Scotch Whisky. The words of Robert Burns You Powers who look after mankind, And dish out his bill of fare, Old Scotland wants no watery, wimpy stuff That splashes about in little wooden bowls But, if You wil ..read more

After a full week of closure due to COVID, we are thrilled to announce the shop will reopen with regular hours Friday, January 14th. To our relief, our staff who tested positive for COVID have recovered in isolation and have now tested negative. In addition, our staff who had close contact with these individuals have quarantined and have negative COVID tests as well. We are reopening with full confidence that we can serve you safely. All employees returning to the shop have negative COVID tests. We are following the City of Berkeley revised guidelines for isolation and quarantine. These guidel ..read more

Join us October 30th to celebrate ten years of good meat and custom-cut butchery! Aaron and I started this butcher shop ten years ago to bring locally-sourced, well-raised meat to home cooks of the East Bay. Another goal was to see more of each other since our prior jobs had us working opposite shifts. Well, we’ve achieved our goal of getting meat that is good for people and the planet into your kitchens. And, we definitely see more of each other! (And, believe it or not, we still really like each other!) These past ten years, we’ve learned so much about soil health, climate change, carbon seq ..read more

We get so many questions about how to prepare holiday meats. So, we’ve compiled our favorite tips, techniques and recipes in one place. Veal Our veal & how to cook specific cuts Beef How to prepare & cook a standing rib roast The Rocchino’s favorite brisket Hams & Pork How to glaze & reheat a holiday ham Clove-studded Glazed Ham Fennel Garlic Roast Pork from Food & Wine How to Prepare and Cook a Porchetta Goose & Duck Roast Goose (Brooklyn Supper) Roast Goose (Hank Shaw) Roast Duck with Orange & Ginger (New York Times) Slow Cooked Duck with Gree ..read more

If you ask our customers why they choose to eat organic, locally-raised meat, you’ll probably get a lot of different answers. Some people do it for environmental reasons, some people do it for health, and just about everyone will tell you that they do it because clean, fresh meat simply tastes amazing. At The Local Butcher Shop we talk a lot about keeping things small: small family ranches, minimal packaging, a short supply chain to ensure freshness. But despite everything we do, we’re also citizens of the larger world and right now the Covid-19 epidemic is reminding us how interconnected ever ..read more