What pasture raised means to us - or in our case, raised on open wood lands. There is a lot of different messaging and terms thrown about when discussing chicken farming, and we find that it can be confusing for the consumer to work out what actually sits well with...

A splash of Calvados and some Granny Smith apples provide a wonderful balance to this baked pheasant dish. (serves 4) Ingredients 2 oven-ready pheasants A little lard (or bacon fat, if you have some) For the sauce 750ml good cider (not too dry) 1 onion, sliced 1 carrot, sliced 3...

Blackberries have a natural affinity with apple and all game birds, particularly partridge. This recipe will give you a delightful way to serve your partridges in a very impressive dinner party kind of way.  Ingredients 4 shallots, halved 4 Hand Sourced Heritage Hill partridge A splash of olive oil and...

Crispy skinned lemon sesame Heritage chicken. 1 tbsp sesame oil 2 cloves garlic crushed 1 1/2 tbsp grated fresh ginger 1 tbsp soy sauce, or substitute coconut aminos 1/2 cup Sommerlad chicken stock from your feet, frames or necks 1/4 cup lemon juice 2 tbsp honey 6 skin on chicken...

Slow cooked lamb shanks in yoghurt Ingredients 2 tsp coriander seeds 2 tsp cumin seeds 2 tsp fennel seeds 2 tsp ground hot paprika 3 ½ cups plain Greek-style yoghurt 2 garlic cloves, minced ½ lemon, juiced ⅓ cupextra virgin olive oil 4 Kinmana organic lamb shanks (from your lamb side) 1 lemon, cut in...

    “This is a phenomenally delicious way to roast venison, and the method is foolproof, too. Protected by the fatty, crispy prosciutto as it cooks, then served blushing with this outrageously good, silky sauce, it’s hard to beat.” -  Jamie Oliver   This recipe serves 10, cooks in under...

Until November 2017 the Sommerlad family personally managed, bred, and developed their exclusive heritage table poultry for the Australian market. Diverse pedigree strains, specifically bred to thrive in free-range pasture rearing environments, mean they are well suited to Australian climatic conditions. Sommerlad chickens are, by nature, active foragers. They boast...

Demystifying some of the language around buying true, free range pork that's of sound quality, ethics, and breeding.  The brochure looks good. There's a few iconic farm instalments like a barn, a windmill, a group of happy pink pigs in a paddock. On the label, an up-close, seems-to-be-smiling, snout. Or...

This recipe was first posted by my good friend, Kathryn Sommerlad, and appeared on her Sommerlad Poultry Farm Blog which ran from early 2015 to late 2017. This is replicated with her permission. I do hope you'll try it - the robust flavours of a Sommerlad marry so well with...

We've all heard the expression “mutton dressed as lamb” – and probably can apply it to people! But in the true sense of mutton, hogget, and lamb - do you know the difference? The strict definitions for lamb, hogget and mutton vary considerably between countries. Generally speaking: Lamb - a young...

Venison, the culinary name for deer meat, is commercially available both wild and farmed. Not native to Australia, as is often thought, deer were introduced by settlers in the 19th century. Venison is extremely lean and naturally tender. It is one of the most nutritious of all red meats, with...

Heritage breeds are specially raised and heralded for their intensely flavourful meat and fat. In the realm of haute Japanese proteins (all apologies to tofu)- wagyu beef, jidori chicken and kurobuta pork reign supreme. But you don’t have to travel to the Far East to experience some of the best pork on...

The Sommerlad family hand-reared their slow growing heritage bred chickens on their 1,300 acre property ‘Kildare,’ just out of Tenterfield from 2014-2017. Six generations of traditional poultry practices has culminated in the development of a chook that boasts superior, high welfare characteristics. Active in foraging, balanced body conformation, strong legs,...

Muscovy ducks are more similar to red meat (think juicy sirloin steak) than they are a pond bird. Muscovy ducks are the only domesticated duck which is not descended from the mallard. The scientific name, Cairina moschata, means the “musky one from Cairo”. Muscovies are also known as an Indian...

When I was a kid, we would go rabbit hunting every few weeks or so. Dad'd bundle us in the back of the Holden ute (safety belt? What safety belt?) and, since it was inevitably freezing at night in the South Western Australian countryside, our mittened hands would hang on...

Our Embden Cross Geese are grown by Herb and Lucy McKenzie, near Gippsland, in a smaller community region in Victoria. Herb and Lucy, each 5th generation farmers,  work from their home property. They are the only goose producers in the country to breed, incubate, hatch, brood, grow, finish and process...

Early 2016 I swore I'd never eat another conventionally farmed chicken again. Up until that date, I'd been lenient.  Sure, I knew that genuine, slow grown chicken tasted better. I was also aware that conventional chicken breeds were as close to natural as my plastic spatula; grew faster than my hair and...

Drive just 12k north of Tenterfield NSW,  and you'll find Sunnyside Cutting. Cutting and station were once an important part of rural life, running from 1888 to 1973.  Sadly, all that remains of Sunnyside Cutting are picturesque glimpses of tracks, platforms, and a rather stunning century old ironbark hardwood bridge. You'll need...

This recipe is one of those failsafe, timeless, chuck it together jobs that leaves people thinking you spent hours in the kitchen. But without the hours in the kitchen. It’s from Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi's 'Jerusalem', and I have used our own Kinmana lamb - a shoulder will do the...

Not as tricky as it sounds, to butterfly a whole chicken is simply to remove the backbone. It's very, very easy to do and the benefits are several: the chicken will cook more quickly, it's easier to carve, and more of that wonderful Sommerlad skin gets crispy. Mmmm - crisp,...

“Cooked slowly to give you thin, crispy skin and beautiful, melt-in-your-mouth meat” - Jamie Oliver   This adaptation of Jamie's original, which touted the use of just the legs, comes with the stamp of approval from hand Sourced's customer Peter Best. As Peter pointed out - why use just the legs when...

What is Hainanese Chicken Rice?   Glad you asked. Put simply, a dish adapted from early Chinese immigrants from Hainan Island, off the southern coast of China, known indigenously as Wenchang chicken. The Hainanese use a particular fowl that is bony and fibrous, and serve the chicken with oily rice.  The...

Pop the kettle on before you start this one. No, it's not for a cup of tea (wine would be far more appropriate, anyway).   Our pasture raised, stall free pigs are only ever grown in small numbers, are fully free ranging animals, and breed, farrow and grow in a natural...

Congratulations on your purchase of a Sommerlad Heritage bird - the only birds in Australia to be bred with a fully traceable heritage that spans generations, with the added goodness of being fully raised on pasture.  Your bird's parents were raised on pasture. So were their parents' parents, and their...

Pork belly is the one cut that we're always asked about. It has to be one of the popular cuts of pork to cook and serve. There's a process involved with getting the belly cooked tender with a crispy skin.  Here's how to nail it. Every time. Pigs are born...

Buying direct from any our farmers is a fabulous way of knowing your produces provenance. It's ethical, sustainable, and of course, natural. And, you save money, reduce packaging and minimise waste. We'll always offer you a bag or two of bones, too. Some will be meaty - great for stock...

With the unique combination of sweet and sour from quality meat and dried fruit, this take on an Ottolenghi dish (originally published using quail) is typical of the Sephardi tradition of cooking. It is pretty special and can be placed in the middle of a festive table with great pride....

When I buy meat in bulk or have an animal slaughtered... How Much Eating Meat Will I Get? There's no exact answer to this question! See, each animal is built differently.  Animals, like people, come in varying shapes and sizes, even when from the same gene pool.  They differ in...

The tenderness of  your meat can be attributed to the way the meat is hung rather than than the cut you choose. Natural factors, like age and breed, play a small part, the butcher does the rest. Let me tell you why. Just Hanging Out The process of meat stretching...

Got Milk? Actually, yes - or go buttermilk and get a tartness to this that zings. An unusual sounding recipe for outstanding results. Jamie Oliver, King of cheffing naked, is well known for his stand on ethical produce and loyalty to farmers.  So it is one of his recipes, albeit...