AgLocal’s Moroccan lamb sausages get roasted in the oven for an easy weeknight meal.

As much as we’d like to eat local, sustainably-raised meat regularly, it often takes going the extra effort to do so.

Usually, it requires driving out of the way to a specialty store.

Now, San Francisco’s AgLocal makes it much easier to enjoy farm-fresh meat and to support local family farms by delivering a box right to your door.

All the meat comes from pasture-raised animals. The meat offerings, shipped frozen most of the time, are available in four different boxes, each of which includes a different selection: “Family Style”  (favorite cuts to appeal to all members of the family); “Grill Master” (ribs, chops and steaks); “Fit and Lean” (brisket, flank steak and the like); and “Farmer’s Pick” (more esoteric cuts such as lamb breast and smoked shanks). Each box comes in two sizes, either 7 pounds ($85) or 14 pounds ($150).

A look inside my “Fit and Lean” box.

AgLocal currently delivers to California, Arizona, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

Recently, I had a chance to try a sample of the 7-pound “Fit and Lean.” My box arrived with ice packs, and included a Big Bluff Ranch whole chicken, an Open Space Meats sirloin tip steak, a pound of Richards Grassfed ground beef, and a package of Anderson Ranches Moroccan sausages.

I roasted the four Moroccan sausages with red grapes and onions in the oven. Coarsely ground, the lamb sausages were flavored with pomegranate and pineapple juice, garlic, cinnamon and currants to lend a fruity, exotic flavor. They were absolutely delicious.

The sirloin steak was pan-fried in a cast-iron pan with nothing but salt and pepper on it. It was extremely flavorful, with a slight chew and plenty of minerality and beefiness. The ground beef was made into two burgers that were seasoned only with salt and pepper, and cooked in a cast-iron pan again. Although grass-fed beef is leaner than corn-fed, these burgers cooked up plenty juicy with a clean, robust flavor.

The chicken was cooked vertically in our Big Green Egg. Even with only salt and pepper on it, the chicken had a lot more flavor than  your standard supermarket one. Even the white meat cooked up succulent.

The Big Bluff Ranch chicken cooked vertically.

The prices may not be dirt cheap. But then, it takes more labor and care to raise these animals. And the quality shows in the taste.

If you’re looking to add more premium meat to your diet, AgLocal makes it a cinch to do so.

AN AGLOCAL DEAL FOR FOOD GAL READERS: From now through Dec. 9, AgLocal is offering $40 off per box. Just use coupon code: foodgal40. Best yet, all orders placed by Dec. 9 will be delivered in time for Christmas. How’s that for a holiday gift?

Winner of Last Week’s Food Gal Contest

In last week’s Food Gal contest, I asked you to tell me a favorite memory about pork. The winner will receive a free Snake River Farms Kurobuta Crown Roast of Pork for the holidays ($139 value).

Snake River Farms crown roast of pork makes a holiday even more festive.

Congrats to:

Caroline Kim, who wrote, “My favorite memory about pork is related to bossam, a Korean pork belly dish that is boiled, sliced and served with garlic, ssamjang, sliced radish kimchi and fermented shrimp. I was always told I had my dad’s taste buds and pretty much confirmed it as an 8 year old who loved to eat this bossam dish, ESPECIALLY the fermented shrimp. My parents typically only had this when they were throwing a party and it was really the main event for the dads who would be drinking soju for many hours. I wasn’t even able to eat my beloved bossam on the nights of the parties. However, the next day, when I would wake up, I would open the fridge to find all the bossam components in this compartmentalized tupperware. Just seeing the container made me so giddy. I would stand in front of the fridge and assemble the first one right there with my fingers and delight in a mouthful of bossam!! My husband does not like bossam so when I fly home to my dad’s house, he now prepares it for me and pours me a shot of soju to wash it down. Forever a daddy’s girl!”