Spring Dinner

Here are my sources:

• ribeye steak from Greyledge Farm
• butternut squash from Riverbank Farm
• spinach from Fort Hill Farm via New Morning Natural Foods
• red leaf lettuce from Holbrook Farm
• egg from Greyledge Farm
• bacon from Eagle Wood Farms
• oil and vinegar from the big bad world
• dried basil and thyme from my garden

What a gorgeous several days in a row! It’s been 70+ degrees and sunny. I love firing up the grill—I’ve only been grilling a short time, so I still get excited when the meals work out. I love the smell of sizzling steak in the air. It smells like summer. (I do have one neighbor that continues to light fires in her fireplace well into the 90s!).

It was so nice, I wanted to start planting, but I’m afraid the year might have at least one more freezing night in her.

And then the weather remembered what it usually is this time of year and promptly made tracks back. Today was in the 50s and raining and we’ll be back into the 40s before the week is out. Ahh, but it was nice while it lasted.

Ravioli and Creme Fraiche

The ravioli were homemade by Wild Hive using:

• their own spelt flour
• eggs from their own chickens
• cheese from Ronny Brook
• apple from Fishkill Farms
• parsnips from Four Winds Farm
• salt and pepper from away

I tossed the cooked ravioli in some melted Ronny Brook Creme Fraiche and sprinkled on some dried parsley (from Newtown Cedar Hill Farm, dried).

This was the easiest challenge meal ever! I like slow food and I don’t mind if someone else does the slow part.

By the way, the challenge is still going strong until the end of March, with the last recap being posted in early April.

The months following the DDELC are interesting up here in the northeast. Ramps, fiddleheads, and asparagus will soon be coming up and then finally, the bounty of summer! If anyone’s interested in doing a few months of a clear-out-the-freezer-and-pantry-to-make-room-for the-new-stuff challenge, let me know.

This week’s Dark Days Eat Local Challenge meal was Peregion beans over wheat berries with spinach on the side.

I picked up these beans at the Coventry Farmers Market. I probably created a scene in my excitement over finding local (really local) dried beans.

Peregion beans are new to me, so I didn’t bury them inside a  recipe this time. I wanted to see what they tasted like on their own. I simmered them in lightly salted water with a bay leaf and some bacon grease. I’m thinking that perhaps even the bacon was too much extra flavor, but it was local and bottled oils are not.

The wheat berries are pretending to be rice.  I actually like wheat berries a lot—it’s like having bread or macaroni without having to go through the trouble of milling, mixing, relaxing or rising, and so on. Just add water (okay, and simmer for an hour.)

Sources:

• Peregion beans from Purity Farm in Moosup, CT
• bacon grease from Greyledge Farm bacon (I sure am getting a lot of mileage out of this!)
• bay leaf from NYS
• sea salt from Maine
• soft spring wheat berries from Wild Hive Farm
• spinach from Newgate Farms
• garlic from Holbrook

I liked the Peregion beans and would use them in recipes calling for Pintos or black beans, maybe even black-eyed peas recipes.

The dish went pretty well with Couer De Lion, a red wine from Cascade Mountain Winery & Restaurant, in Amenia, NY. (It was open, not specifically chosen for this dish.)

• Alicia, the Natural Princess and Renato
• Maureen of Your Simple Feast
• Kaela of Local Kitchen and Tai
• Zoe of Nutmeg Kitchen
• And me, Sophie from Late Bloomers Farm and Cecelia

What a delightful group of people—I think it took us all of 10 seconds to bond! Perhaps our affinity is due to our sharing the same foodshed, eating food that grew in the same soil, and discovering that my farmers are really our farmers. There’s nothing quite like conversation among people who experience similar challenges and celebrate similar victories. Whatever our reason(s) for eating locally: taste, nutrition, food miles, food safety, food security, local pride, or some combination thereof, we found kindred food spirits.

We talked food—recipes, ingredients, vendors, and techniques. We ate. We shared stories of our adventures in finding and obtaining food ingredients. We ate. We discussed the disparities in food laws and lore between NY and CT.  Did I mention we ate?

Lisa Agee of Goatboy Soap found the idea so exciting, she donated party favors: cute little goat-faced soaps.

Our Fabulous Northeast Feast Local Menu

As you’ll see, the dishes ran the gamut. My ingredient sources are listed below. Visit the other sites to see their sources and take on the day.

Appetizers

• Baked potato chips and onion dip
  
• Whole Grain Scottish rolls
  
• Savory Quinoa Cakes
  
• Pickled icebox carrots
• Sankow’s Beaver Brook Pleasant Cow cheese
• Two butters: salted from Wildowsky Dairy (Thank you Kim of Ladies of Levita Road for hooking me up!) and unsalted made from Stone Wall Dairy raw milk

Soup and Salad

• Mixed green salad with squash and apples and an exceptional dressing
  
• Potato leek soup

Main Course

• Roasted root vegetables
  
• Thai winter squash curry
  
• Ricotta gnocchi with pesto
  
• Chicken Scarpariello
  
• Kugel Gratin of greens and potatoes
  

Dessert

• Glazed Berry Tart with sweet ricotta
  
• Chocolate Espresso ice cream from Ferris Acres Creamery

Beverages

• Local beers: Arch Amber from the Hartford Beer Company and Sea Hag IPA from the New England Brewing Company
• Local wines: Cabernet Franc and St. Croix from Sharpe Hill Vineyard, Vista Riposa from McLaughlin Vineyards, and Rochambeau from Heritage Trail Winery
• Yaucono coffee (from Puerto Rico—local when I got it!)

Foodie Bloggers taking pictures of food:

Sophie’s Ingredient Sources:

Chicken Scarpariella

• chicken from Stuarts Family Farm
• chicken stock made with Kandew chicken carcasses
• Seyval Blanc white wine from Miranda Vineyard
• garlic from Holbrook Farm
• hot cherry peppers from Maple Bank Farm
• whole wheat flour from Lightning Tree/Wild Hive Farm
• canola oil from away

Potato Leek Soup

• Cranberry potatoes from Riverbank Farm
• leeks from Newgate Farm
• butter made from Stone Wall Dairy raw milk

I used the cranberry potatoes, thinking the soup would have a sort of Valentine’s look to it. Well, it didn’t. It came out to be an olive drab kind of color. Still tasty, but not pretty.

Well, that was fun. Plans are in the making for a summer feast!

I was faithful to the recipe, substituting ingredients only to favor local, seasonal fare.

• beef short ribs from Laurel Ridge Farm
• bacon fat (instead of oil) from Greyledge Farm bacon
• carrots from Riverbank Farm
• celeriac (instead of celery) from Riverbank Farm
• onions from Wayne’s Organic Garden
• garlic from [Mayer's] Cherry Grove, Newtown, CT
• red wine: Vista Reposa from McLaughlin Vineyards
• chicken stock (instead of beef broth), my own stock made from Andy’s chickens, acquired at Holbrook Farm)
• bay leaf from a NY farm
• salt and black pepper from away

I served it with mashed potatoes:

• potatoes from Maple Bank Farm
• yogurt from Deerfield Farm. The yogurt gives a snappy, tart flavor.

This dish is simple to make. It has a fabulous flavor and the beef seems to melt in your mouth. It’s a comforting winter meal with a special occasion taste.

Comparing recipes from Mario Batali, Giada De Laurentiis, and Emeril Lagasse, I decided to go with a combination of Mario and Giada’s versions. Emeril’s recipe was the Romagna version, made with red wine and pancetta. Sounds delicious, but not the one I wanted this time. Giada and Mario both had the Milanese version. In blending Mario with Giada, I basically went for easy! I didn’t make Mario’s tomato sauce or Gremalato and I didn’t make Giada’s bouquet garni. I used Mario’s 1:1 wine to stock ratio instead of Giada’s 1:3.

The verdict: OMG!!! Absolutely delicious.

Here’s my ingredient list:

• veal shanks from Sankow’s Beaver Brook, dredged in flour from Wild Hive Farm and Micro Mill
  
• olive oil from Italy (sadly not in my foodshed)
• carrot and celeriac from Riverbank Farm
• onion from Cedar Hill, Newtown, CT
• thyme from Holbrook Farm, dried 2009
• tomatoes from Vaszauskas Farm, Middlebury, CT, canned here in October 2008. I used 1-1/2 cups (not Mario’s tomato sauce and not Giada’s paste)
• chicken stock from my freezer, mostly from Andy’s chickens, acquired at Holbrook Farm.
• Anastasia Blush from DiGrazia Vineyards for the wine. This is not a dry white as specified; it’s a semi-sweet Rose but it was the least sweet local white wine I had on hand. It actually tastes lovely and adds an nice flavor to the dish.

I generally prefer Osso Buco over risotto, but to keep it local, I went with polenta. Good call. I spread the polenta on a sheet, let it cool, cut it into blocks, and pan-fried the blocks. I added butter to the polenta recipe which brings out the flavor of the corn. I believe I could have made a meal of just the polenta smothered with the Osso Buco gravy! The corn meal I used for the polenta was from Wild Hive Farm and Micro Mill. The butter was from away: Vermont Butter and Cheese.

One of the big thrills of Osso Buco is the bone marrow. Spread this on some bread (Wave Hill, preferably) and it’s better’n buttah!

I was wondering I was going to be able to find local food on this vacation. Google wasn’t much help in locating a farmers market within walking distance of my hotel. But there I was at this buffet, when Eniu (the Buffet Host, pictured below) shared some great news.

He let me know that the roasted pig was local.

And so was the pumpkin, onion, and other squash in this dish:

And of course, a Mojito, because Bacardi is local here and so is the mint!

Look closely and you can tell that the Mojito happened before the picture!

Buen Apetito!

I fell in love with the picture of Local Kitchen’s pizza crust. I’ve been looking for a good pizza dough recipe, the kind that has so much flavor people say, “the crust is the best part!” So, there I was, wishing I could taste that picture when I realized I had the time to make it. So spur of the moment, I decided to go for it.

It was so good, I ate a whole pie by myself (the recipe makes two pies). It was so good, I made it again as an appetizer for my New Year’s Day dinner. My guests raved and raved about it. Thank you Local Kitchen!

For the main course, I made Zoe’s husband’s chili again, determined to finish refining the recipe to my tastes and ingredient preferences. I think I’ve got it now and believe I have made enough of a mark on it to call it my own and add the chocolate chili recipe to my collection.

So, my New Year’s Day meal is my DDELC local meal of the week.

LocalKitchen’s Pizza (using this dough recipe)

This recipe is called Quick(er) Whole Wheat Pizza dough and takes about two hours to make. (Three for me, but I tend to go slow on the first time trying anything).

This was the first pizza I made for myself, not the DDELC pizza I made for guests. I took a picture of mine and forgot to get the camera out when I served theirs. So pretend the Kalamata olives aren’t there. Otherwise, the remaining ingredients are identical.

• whole wheat bread flour and white all-purpose flour from Wild Hive
• water from my well
• tomato puree from Don Taylor Farms, Danbury, CT (from the Late Bloomers 2009 freezer collection)
• Pleasant Valley (sheep) Cheese from Sankow’s Beaver Brook
• dried oregano from my 2009 garden
• salt, yeast, shredded mozzarella, and olive oil from away. (This is actually funny—since this was a spur of the moment thing, I didn’t have a good local melting cheese available but had this package of pre-shredded cheese in my freezer from “before,” which is a bit over two years. It wasn’t bad at all—sort of makes the case for those unpronounceable preservatives. /snark)

Chocolate Chili (using this recipe)

If you’ve never had chocolate chili before, it’s definitely worth a try. (No, you cannot taste the chocolate as a distinct flavor. It just adds a depth that chili appreciates.)

• bacon from Greyledge Farm
• ground beef from Stuarts Family Farm
• onions from Shenandoah, Easton, CT
• garlic from Holbrook Farm
• red wine: Private Reserve Red from Cascade Mountain Winery & Restaurant
• dried cayenne pepper flakes (and seeds) from Holbrook Farm (dried by me)
• diced stewed tomatoes from Vaszauskas Farm, Middlebury, CT (from the Late Bloomers 2008 canning collection)
• tomato puree from Don Taylor Farms, Danbury, CT (from the Late Bloomers 2008 canning collection)
• pure maple syrup from the Sisters at Bluestone Farm
• black beans from Cayuga Pure Organics
• chili powder, cumin, raw cacao powder, salt, and pepper from away

Corn Muffins (using this recipe)

• corn meal and all-purpose flour from Wild Hive
• raw milk from Stone Wall Dairy, Kent, CT
• honey from Hannon (via Maple Bank Farm)
• egg from J&L Eggery, Southbury, CT (via New Morning Natural Foods)
• bacon fat from the Greyledge Farm bacon used in the chili recipe.
• salt and baking powder from away

Dessert

• ice cream, brought in from away
• floats with Foxon Park cream soda or root beer
• popcorn from Maple Bank Farm

The wine was Hopkins Vineyard’s Cabernet Franc and the beer was Berkshire Brewing Company’s Cabin Fever.

I really enjoyed bringing in the New Year like this.

The scallops are from Seatuck Fish, in Lon-GUY-land (Long Island, in case you’ve never been there). I pan-seared the scallops using Iron Chef Cat Cora’s amazingly simple recipe and didn’t change a thing. The thyme was mine and the garlic was from Cherry Grove in Newtown, CT. The olive oil was from Italia.

The sautéed mushrooms were prepared with:

• Shiitake mushrooms from Madura Farms, Goshen, NY
• Cippolini onions from Madura Farms, Goshen, N. (They’re small and sweet.)
  
• Butter from Trinity (Smyth) Dairy, Enfield, CT
• Seyval Blanc white wine from Miranda Vineyards. The Seyval Blanc grape does well in cold climates like CT, so it’s generally available at most CT vineyards.
  (Cecelia, I know what you’re thinking about me cooking with a Miranda wine, but there are no cheap local cooking wines. And besides, the mushrooms and cippolini are from Goshen, NY and the wine is from Goshen, CT; Coincidence? I think not.)
• Chicken broth, my own, from the soup I made for Thanksgiving.

Served atop a bed of slightly wilted mizuna greens, from Holbrook Farm.

I loved how the mustard flavor of the greens blended with the white wine, giving a Dijon-like accent to the scallops. The shiitakes did not disappoint. As you might imagine, the meal paired nicely with the Seyval Blanc from Miranda Vineyards.

In a hurry, want a tad of elegance, and don’t want to work for it? This is the meal.

I love this holiday—the connection and celebration between the farmers, eaters, and Providence.

Doing a local Thanksgiving in New England should be like fishing in a barrel since Thanksgiving was invented in New England as a way of celebrating the bounty. This year, I was only slightly tempted to send the men-folk out with their muskets for wild fowl and game.

This year’s menu was incredibly similar to last year’s menu because it’s a tradition!

Appetizers

• refrigerator pickled hot carrots and peppers. I made these several weeks ago with ingredients predominantly from Maple Bank Farm,  Riverbank Farm, and Cherry Grove Farm.
  
• sliced roasted beets and fennel bulb slices from the Yale Sustainable Food Project
  
• roasted red peppers, roasted on the grill at the end of the summer from sweet red peppers from Maple Bank Farm.
  
• assorted cheeses from Beaver Brook Farm: Pleasant Cow, Pleasant Son (sheep) and Fresh (soft) cheese and Tumbleweed from 5 Spoke Creamery.
  
• bread (Wave Hill Breads) and hot dipping oil, cayenne pepper from Cherry Grove Farm, dried here.
  

Soup

Chicken soup with bow-tie pasta and/or brown rice

• chicken carcasses and necks, from the freezer, saved over the year, all from Kandew Acres chickens and a capon.
• carrots from George Hall Farm
• celery from Barberry Hill Farm
• garlic from Holbrook Farm
• onions from Shenandoah Farms, Easton, CT
• parsnips from Waldingfield Farm
• parsley from Northfordy Farm

Main Course

• Roasted Turkey from Kandew Acres via Holbrook Farm
  
• Pan gravy: drippings from the turkey, flour from Wild Hive Farm,
• Cornbread stuffing:
  Using this cornbread recipe with corn meal and flour from Wild Hive Farm, eggs from Cherry Grove Farm, Newtown, CT, maple syrup from Bluestone Farm, milk from Foxfire, Mansfield Center, CT. (Oil and baking powder from the world.)
  Using this cornbread stuffing recipe, with butter and heavy cream from Trinity Dairy, onions from Shenandoah Farms, Easton, CT, sage from the Yale Sustainable Food Project, more eggs from Cherry Grove Farm, and my own chicken stock.
  
• Fresh whole berry cranberry sauce with Ocean Spray cranberries, apple cider from Blue Jay Orchards and maple syrup from Bluestone Farm.
• Macoun applesauce: apples from Blue Jay Orchards, sauced and frozen by me.
• Smashed red potatoes. Potatoes from Maple Bank Farm, heavy cream from Trinity Dairy , Enfield, CT, butter from Ronnybrook Farm via Halas Market.
• Baked sweet potatoes (both orange and white) from George Hall Farm
  
• Roasted medley based on this roasted squash recipe: butternut and Delicata from Maple Bank Farm, and turnips from Shenandoah Farms, Easton, CT
• broccoli from Waldingfield Farm, garlic from Cherry Grove, oil from somewhere else.
  

Dessert

• Apple Crumb Pie: Northern Spy apples from Shenandoah Farms, Easton, CT, flour from Wild Hive Farm, butter from Ronybrook Farm. Brown sugar, cinnamon, sugar, salt, nutmeg from away.
  
• Pumpkin Pie: pumpkins and eggs from Cherry Grove Farm, maple syrup from Bluestone Farm, heavy cream from Trinity Dairy, Ensfield, CT, butter from Ronnybrook Farm, and flour from Wild Hive Farm. Salt and pumpkin pie spice from out there.
  
• Fresh whipped cream: heavy cream from Trinity Dairy, Ensfield, CT. Vanilla extract and confectioner’s sugar from the world.
• Ice cream: Vanilla and Black Raspberry from Rich Farm.
  
• Caramel from the Groovy Baker (no HFCS!!)
• Fresh fruit: Macoun and Cortland apples from Shenandoah Farms, Easton, CT, and Bosc pears from Rose’s Berry Farm and figs, likely from CA.
• dried pears, from Rose’s Berry Farm dried by me.
  
  
• chestnuts, from a resident of Woodbury, via New Morning Natural Foods
  
• roasted pumpkin seeds, from the pumpkin pie pumpkin, from Cherry Grove Farm
  
• mixed nuts, from I-don’t-know-where

Beverages

• Foxon Park soda selection
  
  
• apple cider from Silverman’s Farm
• egg nog from Trinity Dairy, Ensfield, CT
• Wine: Walker Road Vineyards and McLaughlin Vineyards
  
• Beer: Cabin Fever from Birkshire Brewing Company

Whew! Took almost as long to make this post as it took to prepare the meal!

P.S. At the end of the day, when all the guests had left, I did not finish cleaning my dishes and kitchen. Instead, I watched Food, Inc. I highly recommend this film though it can be particularly upsetting for those who get their food from the corporate industrial complex.