Beatrix Farm

Last night gets marked down as one of the more memorable dinners I've ever had, and it's in thanks to Beatrix Farm in White Post, Virginia. When my friend told me he was going to a farm to freshly slaughter chickens, I asked him to bring me one. What a good choice that turned out to be! He arrived at the farm early on Saturday morning, only to be greeted by the owners ready to start the day. They proceeded to slaughter and clean a number of naturally raised, grass fed chickens. My friend selected which ones he wanted, eight in total, and spent the rest of the day cleaning and packaging them up. My chickens came into my possession less than 24 hours later, super fresh and ready to be cooked.

My boyfriend (who cooked dinner) is a chef at a high-end, local restaurant in DC. He spent some time breaking the chickens down, separating the thighs, breasts, and wings, all the while commenting how fresh and well raised the chickens were, which was apparent to him immediately. We pan roasted the chicken in a cast iron pan, with olive oil, salt and pepper - simple, right? That's all this meat needed. On the plate, the chicken breast was absolutely delicious. Crispy skinned, and underneath, the juiciest, most tender meat you could imagine. Between two of us, we ate almost an entire chicken - yes, it was that good. On the side, my boyfriend made pan roasted fingerling potatoes, sauteed rapini, and an arugula and fennel salad (paired with a full, buttery California chardonnay). While that was all good, nothing could really compare to the quality and flavor that came from the Beatrix Farm chicken. Our meal that evening was so memorable that my boyfriend immediately looked into regularly ordering poultry from Beatrix Farm for his restaurant. For anyone looking for natural, well-raised chickens that translate into tender, quality dinner meat, look no further - Beatrix Farm in White Post, VA is where you need to be.