Surveying my stores, I clearly overdid dairy. I also still have a respectable squash collection. And I had some mushrooms about to enter the use-it-or-lose-it zone. So, there you have it, my first meal for the 2011-2012 Dark Days Eat Local Challenge is Spaghetti Squash Alfredo with cultivated wild mushrooms.

I decided to go with the microwave method of cooking the squash instead of the longer methods of baking or boiling. I cut the squash in half lengthwise, placed it in a baking dish with about a half of an inch of water, and covered it with plastic wrap. I microwaved it for about 10 minutes in total. I used a fork to liberate the squash strands that resemble spaghetti, hence the name.

I made the sauce using this Alfredo sauce recipe. I used Pleasant Valley cheese from Sankow’s Beaver Brook, an aged sheep’s milk cheese, which has a flavor similar to Pecorino Romano. It’s not exactly Parmigiano-Reggiano, but it’s a relatively minor taste adjustment to keep the meal local.

I pan sautéed the mushrooms following Julia Child’s Champignons sautés au beurre recipe. This is my first time using mushrooms in this dish. Initially, I was thinking they’d make a great side dish. At the last moment,  I threw caution to the wind, and added them on top.

Spaghetti squash doesn’t have much flavor of it’s own, so the richness of the Alfredo sauce really brought it to life. It did have a nice mild crunch which is something you don’t usually get with fettuccine. The mushrooms made the flavors interesting, in a good way.

Sources:

• spaghetti squash: Sport Hill Farm
• butter and heavy cream: Smyth’s Trinity Farm
• egg: Greyledge Farm
• Pleasant Valley cheese: Sankow’s Beaver Brook
• macrolepiota rachodes mushrooms (shaggy parasol): Holbrook Farm, where John is growing these wild mushrooms in a hoop house.

For dessert, black raspberry ice cream with whipped cream because I still had a lot of heavy cream (and ice cream) and I wanted to play with my new toy gadget.

What a cool thing! Easy to use and fast too. I was really impressed with this gadget. (No, I’m not affiliated with them!)

Sources

• ice cream: Ferris Acres Creamery
• heavy cream: Smyth’s Trinity Farm
• confectioner’s sugar and vanilla: not local

These challenge posts will be recapped with the other Mid-Atlantic region participants every two weeks, beginning December 11, over at Not Dabbling In Normal by Emily of Tanglewood Farm.

Appetizers:

• Chilled Roasted Golden Beets from Fort Hill Farm
• Spicy Icebox Pickled Carrots from my 2010 canning adventure
• Roasted Red Peppers Maple Bank Farm
• Assorted Cheeses: Pleasant Cow, Pleasant Valley, & Fresh Cheese from Sankow’s Beaver Brook, Goat’s milk Ricotta Salade from Beltane Farm, Provolone from Italy
• Crudites: Carrots from Holbrook Farm, fennel from Migliorelli Farm, broccoli from Stone Gardens Farm
• Vegetable Dip. Yogurt from Arethusa Farm Dairy seasoned with Zukay cucumber mint salad dressing
• Three Sisters Salad/Dip. Cranberry beans from Don Taylor Farms, Danbury, CT, corn niblets and butternut squash from Sport Hill Farm
• Table Crackers and Cornmeal Crackers from Wild Hive Farm and Micro Mill
• Other Crackers & Bread. Not local

Soup

Chicken soup with bowtie pasta or brown rice. Broth made from chickens from Stone Gardens Farm, Stuarts Family Farm, and Laurel Ridge Farm. Onions and carrots from Holbrook Farm, celeriac from Yale Farm, parsnips from Don Taylor Farm, Danbury, CT and Migliorelli Farm, and my own garlic. Pasta and rice: not local.

Main Course

• Roasted Turkey from Quattro Game Farm
• Pan Gravy from the natural juices of the bird, flour from Wild Hive
• Cornbread Stuffing.  Butter and heavy cream from Smyth’s Trinity Farm, onions from Holbrook Farm, and my own sage and chicken stock. Cornbread made from Wheat flour and corn meal from Wild Hive, maple syrup from Bluestone Farm (the last of the 2010 vintage), eggs from Greyledge Farm, milk from Stone Wall Dairy, Cornwall Bridge, CT. Baking powder, salt, safflower oil: not local
• Whole-Berry Cranberry Sauce. Cranberries brought by a friend from a farm stand in Cape Cod, MA, maple syrup from McLaughlin Vineyards, apple cider from Lyman Orchards. Cinnamon stick: not local
• Applesauce made from assorted apples from Maple Bank Farm, Waldingfield Farm, and Rogers Orchards.
• Mashed Potatoes made from potatoes from Riverbank Farm, butter from Smith’s Trinity Farm, sour cream from Hudson Valley Fresh, Poughkeepsie, NY
• Baked Sweet Potatoes from Sport Hill Farm
• Roasted Butternut Squash. Squash from Sport Hill Farm. Olive oil and cinnamon: not local
• Roasted Brussels Sprouts from Stone Gardens Farm
• Sautéed Swiss Chard from Waldingfield Farm

Dessert

• Apple Pie: Northern Spy apples from Maple Bank Farm, pastry flour from Wild Hive, butter from Smyth’s Trinity Farm. Sugar and other spices: not local
• Pumpkin Pie: Kuri Squash from Maple Bank Farm, eggs from Greyledge Farm, pastry flour from Wild Hive, butter and heavy cream from Smyth’s Trinity Farm, maple syrup from McLaughlin Vineyards
  spices: not local.
• Fresh Whipped Cream: Heavy cream from Smyth’s Trinity Farm Vanilla and sugar: not local
• Campfire, Black Raspberry, and Vanilla Ice Cream Ferris Acres Creamery
• Lemon Sorbet: Homemade from non-local ingredients
• Fresh Fruit Basket: Not local
• Mixed Nuts: Not local
• Figs: Not local
• Roasted Chestnuts: Woodbury, CT via New Morning
• Coffee, Tea: Not local

Beverages

• Apple Cider: Lyman Orchards
• Egg Nog: Smith’s Trinity Farm
• Soda: Assorted flavors from Foxon Park. Pellegrino: not local
• Red Wine: Cabernet Franc from Hopkins Vineyard
• Beer: XLimited from Cavalry Brewing Company and Vixen from Sam Adams

Thank you to my family for their help in making this a fabulous day!

Hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving.

It seems that the Sicilian version of Caponata introduces something in a brine, like olives or capers. Some are arguing that if it isn’t Sicilian, it isn’t Caponata. I’m reserving judgment until I get to try it Sicilian style.

For a version without the brined punch, I found this recipe for Greek Caponata from Giada De Laurentis (go figure) which is a baked version of the Giambotta I made (and similar to the Ratatouille from the movie (sans the decorative arrangement of the ingredients).

I served it over polenta, using Anne Burrell’s recipe, where you let it set, then pan-sear it. I didn’t use any of the herbs that Anne did because hers was meant to accompany braised lamb shanks. I added butter to the polenta mixture instead of mascarpone (about 2 T) and seared them in butter too. Mmmm.

Food sources:

• garlic, summer squash, zucchini, tomatoes, and eggplant from Sport Hill Farm
• red onion from Newtown Cedar Hill Farm
• tomato puree from Don Taylor Farms, Danbury, CT (from the freezer)
• oregano, dried, from my garden
• extra-virgin olive oil  from Italy
• corn meal from Wild Hive Farm and Micro Mill
• milk from Stone Wall Dairy, Cornwall Bridge, CT
• butter from Ronnybrook Farm Dairy

Despite baking for about an hour, the individual flavors of the eggplant, zucchini, and summer squash came through. While this dish goes perfectly with some crusty Italian bread, the polenta was a pleasant accompaniment, moving the whole meal into the comfort food category.

Since I was serving this over polenta, I left out the potatoes. I don’t think that took much away from the overall flavor profile. Next time, I’ll use thyme instead of oregano. Will it still be Greek?

Update: Almost forgot the beverage! Here’s my CukeTini:

• 1/2 cup  of cucumber juice (about 1/2 cucumber) either through the juicer, or use the food processor and pass through a strainer
• 1 T lime juice
• 1/2 tsp dried mint leaves (or 1 T if using fresh)
• 1 jigger of gin

Very refreshing. I’m thinking about adding garlic and dill and calling it the TzatzikiTini. H/T to Two Farm Shares for this fabulous idea.

Then there’s giambotta, an Italian vegetable stew, and first cousin to ratatouille. I don’t know which came first and which is the spin-off. Both dishes were born in regions of countries where they tend to use fresh, local ingredients and let the inherent flavors do the talking.

Both dishes have nearly identical ingredients: zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, onions, garlic, potatoes, and tomatoes. (Note: these are all in season right now here in CT!) With giambotta, you cook the ingredients together (for the most part) and allow the flavors to meld. Generally, with ratatouille, you cook the ingredients separately and then bring them together so as to retain the the distinct flavor of each item.  Generally.

There are several variations on this dish, some approaching giambotta. Julia layers the cooked ingredients  into a casserole. Remy’s ratatouille (from the movie) arranges the raw ingredients into a casserole. At Cooking For Engineers, the ingredients are cooked together, but in a very deliberate, methodical order (like a precision giambotta).

I don’t have a family recipe for giambotta, so I borrowed Rachel Ray’s. I figured that since her meals are under 30 minutes, the flavors would meld modestly but still retain some individuality. And in fact, that’s how it happened. I was faithful to the recipe except fpr leaving out the bay leaf. It probably didn’t need the chicken broth either. (For a slight variation, see Sara Moulton’s recipe.)

Food sources:

• garlic, onions, zucchini, Bianca bell pepper  from Sport Hill Farm
• potatoes (pink inside) from Maple Bank Farm
• eggplant from Daffodil Hill Growers
• tomato puree from Don Taylor Farms, Danbury, CT (from the freezer)
• basil from my garden
• chicken bone broth made from chickens from Stone Gardens Farm and Center Brook Farm, New Milford, CT (from the freezer)
• extra-virgin olive oil  from Italy
• bread: local loaf from Bantam Bread
• cheese: Womanchego from Cato Corner Farm

You can serve giambotta as a side dish. You can serve it over pasta. You can make a meal of it by starting with sauteed meat (like Italian sausage). don’t care for meat? Try adding cooked beans instead. You can also drain off the liquid and use it as the filling in a vegetable lasagne or even in a fritatta. You can freeze it and do any of those things to bring summer sunshine to the dead of winter. As they say, the possibilities are endless.

Now is the time to ferret out the zucchini recipes since it’s just the beginning of what’s looking like a long and prosperous zucchini season. Here’s a recipe for zucchini fritters to the collection.

This recipe is based liberally on another one from a kindred spirit.

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 tsp salt
• pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup chopped scallions
• 1 cup corn meal
• 8 basil leaves, cut into chiffonade
• 2 cups shredded zucchini

Beat the eggs, then mix all of the remaining ingredients together with the eggs. Drop in quarter-cupfuls onto a medium hot greased griddle or skillet and cook until browned.

Top with sour cream or a yogurt dip. I “Greeked” some yogurt and dolloped it as-is. Nice. Different.

Sources:

• eggs from the Organic Diva in Bethlehem, CT
• zucchini and scallions from Sport Hill Farm
• corn meal from Wild Hive Farm and Micro Mill
• basil from Riverbank Farm
• lard (for frying) from Butcher’s Best in Newtown, CT using Rowland Farm pork
• yogurt from Arethusa Farm Dairy

I’m also sharing this for the Weekend Blog Carnival at Hartke Is Online.

I first started hearing about bone broth this past winter and went for it with a passion.  As soon as my bone collection (in the freezer) reaches critical mass, I’m making bone broth.

To raise awareness and encourage people to consume this helthful yet forgotten food, CheeseSlave is hosting a Bone Broth Challenge for the month of July. Earn points, get healthy, win prizes! (How lucky am I that I just made a big pot of it this week!)

So, I hereby kick off Bone Broth Month with this dish: Stracciatella, an Italian egg drop soup.

There are a number of recipes out there; I used Giada‘s, mostly (without the basil).

Sources:

• chicken bone broth, made from chicken bones from Stone Gardens Farm and Center Brook Farm, in New Milford, CT chickens and onions from Stone Gardens Farm
• spinach from Maple Bank Farm
• egg from Sport Hill Farm, likely from one of these ladies:

Great idea, CheeseSlave!

Broccoli lettuce soup!

The pie crust had a great flavor—my new flour mix is a winning combo. The soup was interesting and tasted mostly like coconut.

Sources

pie shell

• Red Fife flour from Curtis Eck (HT Lisa) and Soft White Winter Wheat flour from Wild Hive
• butter from Ronnybrook
  

quiche

• 1-1/2 Tbsp butter from Ronnybrook
• 2 small chopped spring onions from Stone Gardens Farm
• 1-1/2 chopped garlic scapes from Sport Hill Farm
• 2 cups chopped broccoli from Sport Hill Farm
• 1-1/2 cups Pleasant Son cheese from Sankow’s Beaver Brook
• 5 eggs from the Organic Diva in Bethlehem, CT
• 1-1/ cups (raw) milk from Stone Wall Dairy, Cornwall Bridge, CT

soup

• coconut oil from far, far away
• spring onion from Stone Gardens Farm
• broccoli and Red Butterhead lettuce from Sport Hill Farm
• dollop of yogurt from Arethusa Farm Dairy
• croutons made from Bantam Bread Local Loaf

CSA Week 3 Wrap Up

Or, where did all of that food go?

The broccoli rabe (or rapini, if you prefer) was the first to go! Here it is, going down for the wilt with the garlic scapes, sauteed in olive oil.

Patti gave me a great idea for lettuce: chicken salad wraps. Here’s my chicken salad (chicken from Stone Gardens Farm) wrapped in Patti’s Red Butterhead lettuce.

And of course, there was the escarole and bean soup (along with the soup on a crostini).

Fantastic! I love escarole. Thanks for growing it, Patti.  (Escarole and Bean soup recipe here.)

If the first day of summer means means no more soup for a season, you can make these little appetizers.

Cook the beans and the escarole as usual and purée each separately. Spread in layers on toasted baguette slices. Tastes like the soup, with the crusty bread included!

I soaked some cannellini beans last night to make something like escarole and bean soup with the Red Romaine. Their nutritional profiles are remarkably similar. Funnily enough, today Patti announced that escarole is coming up this week in the CSA! So, consider this the practice run for the real deal.

Red Romaine and Bean Soup--it certainly looks like the real deal.

Tuscan Greens and Beans Soup

1. Soak 1 cup of cannellini  beans overnight in 3 times as much water. With escarole and bean soup, the beans really do have to be cannellini; navy and other white beans just don’t have the right flavor.
2. Rinse the beans until the water is clear.
3. Cover in 2 times as much water and bring to a boil for at least 10 minutes. Skim off the foam while it’s boiling.
4. Simmer for about 1-1/4 hours, until the beans are tender. Add salt at the one hour mark.
5. Clean and chop 1 head of escarole. I used Red Romaine lettuce from Sport Hill Farm.
6. In a soup pot, sauté 3 chopped  garlic cloves in 3 Tbsp olive oil until carmelized. I used the better part of a stalk of spring garlic from Holbrook Farm.
7. Add the escarole (or lettuce) to the pot with 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes and a pinch of salt and some freshly ground black pepper. (Cayenne pepper courtesy of Cherry Grove Farm in Newtown, dried here last year, crushed today.)
8. Toss until the greens are wilting.
9. Drain the cannellini, reserving the liquid.
10. Add the cannellini beans, 1 cup of the bean water, and 1/2 cup of plain water to the pot and stir.
11. Allow to simmer for about 10 minutes.
12. Spoon into bowls.
13. Top with shaved cheese, like Parmigiano-Reggiano. I used Beaver Brook‘s Pleasant Son.
14. Serve with a crusty bread, like Wave Hill.

I have to say, that really worked out better than I expected. The lettuce was a reasonable stand-in for the escarole. No complaints here.

Well, one complaint (more of a request): could some CT farmer(s) please grow cannellini beans?

I happened upon a recipe for crock-pot rotisserie chicken at one of Kimberly Hartke’s blog carnivals. Obviously I spend too much time with Engineers because I thought there was a new kind of crock-pot on the market, like with an actual rotating rod. It turned out to be a recipe for cooking chicken in an ordinary crock-pot that tastes just like rotisserie chicken. Still, I like rotisserie chicken, I have a crock-pot, and I had a chicken.

It turns out that there are a quarter of a million (literally) other crock-pot rotisserie chicken recipes. (Google it.) Most of the recipes are quite similar, with variations on the spice mix (or shall we say flavor profile of the dry rub).

A popular technique is to raise the chicken off of the bottom of the pot. Most recommend making several balls out of aluminum foil on which to rest the chicken, but a few suggested using potatoes. I went with the potato idea since you can eat them. I mostly followed the recipe from Real Food, Allergy Free, but borrowed here and there from some of the others.

I made a rub of

• 3 tsp salt
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp Cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp pepper (multicolored)
• 4 minced scallions
• 1 Tbsp minced spring garlic

I rubbed some olive oil all over the chicken, then worked the “dry” rub into the skin.

I used some leeks cut lengthwise along with the potatoes for the elevation medium.

The chicken went breast down onto the potatoes and I put on the lid. (No water or other fluids—everyone was fairly adamant about that.) I let it go for 4 hours on high and another 2 on low.

It was excellent! I mean really good! The meat was literally falling off the bone (like nearly everyone said it would). Even the breast meat (not my favorite part) was moist and tender. Seriously. I could see making this every week.

Told you the meat was falling off the bone! I didn't think of that as I was removing it from the crock-pot.

Sources:

• chicken: Center Brook Farm, (Jesse Miller) New Milford, CT (New Milford farmers market)
• leeks: Mountain View Farm (New Milford farmers market)
• spring garlic and green onions: Holbrook Farm
• Cayenne pepper: Cherry Grove, Newtown, CT, dried here
• thyme: mine
• potatoes, salt, pepper, paprika, and olive oil from away (although the olive oil is from my own grove, but more about that in another post!)

With a refrigerator full of heirloom lettuce, you almost have to have a salad too.

I tried to do a local Thousand Island dressing. (Operative word is tried.) I substituted yogurt for the mayo and strained it to make it almost Greek style. While there’s ketchup in the fridge, it’s there for other people. Instead, I used some of the roasted plum tomatoes from the freezer. I put the defrosted tomatoes through the food mill, then strained the liquid. I mixed it into the yogurt and added two chopped hard-cooked eggs and two chopped dill pickle spears and some of the pickle juice. I added some red wine vinegar, honey, salt, and pepper. It needs something more, but I don’t know what. I suspect that the problem is simply that yogurt is not mayo. Still, it wasn’t horrible—just missing something.

Really thick dressing...perhaps I drained off too much liquid...

Sources:

• Red Romaine and Grand Rapids heirloom lettuce: Sport Hill Farm
• yogurt: Arethusa Farm Dairy
• tomatoes: Holbrook Farm
• eggs: Woodbury Laid Eggs
• dill pickles: Riverbank Farm, canned by them too
• honey: Steve Prutnik, Bridgewater, CT
• salt, pepper, red vinegar from away

I love local food challenges that happen during the growing season!