Category Archives: challenge

challenge, farms, locavore

Challenge Meal: Yankee Pot Roast

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My Dark Days Challenge meal #17 was Yankee Pot Roast a New England favorite. (Notice it’s not called Red Sox pot roast, neighbors!)

I use a few extra ingredients, not ordinarily part of this dish including garlic, wine, and tomatoes. I like to think of it as my own Bronx Italian Yankee pot roast.

Food sources:

I usually like to use celeriac as well, but there was none to be had.

Buon appetito!!

challenge, farms, locavore

Challenge Meal: Overwinter Soup and Frittata

Dark Days Challenge meal #16.

As I mentioned, a funny thing happened at Sport Hill Farm: last year’s crops were still growing! (Okay, maybe not growing, but definitely not dead. Certainly viable and edible. Very tasty even!) Patti let me forage these gifts from the Earth. I scored spinach, carrots, and leeks.

So I made something like potato leek soup, without the potatoes. I used the carrots with a carnival squash (from the remnants of my Fall collection).

I mostly followed Julia‘s recipe for potato leek soup and sliced a pound of leeks and a large bunch of carrots and cubed a pound of squash into the Dutch oven. I added two quarts of water and two teaspoons of salt and simmered for about 40 minutes.

Soups on!

Now for the frittata. I sautéed the spinach in some bacon fat:

I changed my frittata method a bit. I used to just pour the beaten eggs over the sauteed veggies. Now I remove the sauteed veggies off to the side, pour in the eggs, and add the veggies back in after the eggs have had a chance to set a bit. After a brief wait, I add some cheese. The whole operation goes into the oven for about 10 minutes. I let it rest for a few minutes after I take it out.

I’ve been on a frittata kick lately. They’re quick, easy, healthy, and tasty. Eggs around here are great and I have a few fabulous sources. Almost anything can go in a frittata. (Note: not everything can go together in a frittata—just saying.)

Food sources:

challenge

Challenge Snack: Popcorn

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My Dark Days Challenge Meal #15 is a snack: microwave popcorn!

I usually like to make my popcorn in a pot on the stove. I have one of those popcorn-making pots, with a crank handle that turns the paddles inside, so the kernels keep moving. I have to admit, sometimes I’m impatient and lazy, so t appeal of microwave popcorn is that it’s fast and clean-up is easy.

If you’ve given up microwave popcorn because of the diacetyl from the “butter powder,” the Teflon from the bag coating, or you just don’t want to give ConAgra any business, here’s a method that might make you reconsider.

Start with pop corn on the cob. You need a specific kind of corn seed and  after harvest, has to cure in a dry, well-ventilated space. The popped corn is denser than the store-bought variety, and likely would make an excellent caramel corn.

Use this cool gizmo to remove the kernels from the cob.

Mix 1/4 cup of the kernels with one teaspoon of oil. Some use olive, others like peanut. I like coconut oil because it imparts an interesting flavor (and because I was into saturated fats before they were cool—ever since Julia Child was on the Rosie O’Donnell show and told her fats were good for you.)

Back to the snack…

Put the oiled kernels into a brown paper bag; a lunch bag is perfect. Fold the top of the bag twice to make a seal. Tape the folded end. Put the bag in the microwave (on a paper towel if you want to keep the carousel from getting oily).

Microwave for one and a half  minutes on high. Even though the pops are still coming at less than five seconds apart, stop the microwave. I’m a firm believer that it’s is better to have a few (even several) unpopped kernels than to have any burnt kernels.

Note: Be careful of the steam when opening the bag. Steam burns really hurt.

Pour the popcorn into a bowl.

Pour on one to two tablespoons of melted butter. Sprinkle on some salt. Toss. Eat.

Food sources:

There are numerous flavoring variations. You can  add maple syrup, Cajun seasonings, or Parmesan cheese (but probably not all at the same time). How do you like your popcorn?

challenge, Connecticut, locavore, recipes

Challenge Meal: Chocolate Chili

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My Dark Days Challenge Meal #14 is chocolate chili with cornbread.

I really am liking this chili recipe. I adapted it from another recipe and like how it has evolved. Of course, it’s not as adventurous as this chili, but it has its own merits.

Food sources for the chili:

While digging in my freezer, I found some treasures from the past, still in good shape, and so here they are. (Next freezer’s going to be an upright freezer…)

  • Bacon and bacon grease from Grayledge Farm
  • Ground beef—one pound from Grayledge Farm and another from Eaglewood Farms
  • Onions from Daffodil Hill Growers
  • Carrots from Riverbank Farm
  • Green peppers from Waldingfield Farm (vintage 2008 from the freezer, frozen in a raw, sliced state)
  • Whole-peeled and pureed tomatoes from Don Taylor Farms, Danbury, CT (vintage 2009)
  • Cayenne peppers from Cherry Grove, Newtown, CT (frozen whole in the summer of 2010). I used two fairly long ones.
  • Garlic from Late Bloomers Farm (yup, mine)
  • A dry (but not too dry) red wine from Taylor Brooke Winery (Woodstock Valley Red)
  • Maple syrup from Bluestone Farm
  • Hot chocolate powder from Coffee-Tea-Etc. (not a local ingredient, but from a local business with a mind for ethics and sustainability)
  • Chili powder and ground cumin from a faraway land.

I don’t usually use carrots, but I left out the beans and wanted some contrasting color, flavor, and texture. The maple syrup adds only about 10 calories per serving and I like the hint of sweetness with the heat plus real maple syrup has nutritional value.

I made some cornbread as well but used a different pan in a different oven and had it on broil by accident. It wasn’t photogenic—let’s just leave it at that. Here are the food sources anyway:

I really am liking this recipe. I adapted it from another recipe and like how it has evolved. Of course, it’s not as adventurous as this chili [http://cannonfire.blogspot.com/2011/03/normal-brains-cant-process-my-chili.html], but it has its own merits.

While digging in my freezer, I found some treasures from the past, still in good shape, and so here they are. (There’s a lot to be said for an upright freezer vs. a chest freezer.)

Food sources for the chili

Bacon grease and bacon from Greyledge (both from Mardi Gras)

Ground beef—one pound grom Grayledge and another from Eaglewood Farms

Onions from Daffodil

Carrots from Riverbank

Green peppers from Waldingfield (vintage 2008 from the freezer, frozen in a raw, sliced state)

Whole-peeled and pureed tomatoes from Don Taylor (vintage 2009)

Cayenne peppers from Cherry grove (frozen whole in the summer of 2010). I used two faily long ones.

Garlic from Late Bloomers Farm (yup, mine)

A dry (but not too dry) red wine from Taylor Brooke (Woodstock Valley Red)

Maple syrup from Bluestone

Hot chocolate powder from coffee tea etc (not a local ingredient, but from a local business with a mind for ethics and sustainability)

Chili powder and ground cumin from a faraway land.

I don’t usually use carrots, but I left out the beans and wanted some contrasting color, flavor, and texture. The calorie conscious can probably leave out the maple syrup. (It comes to about 10 calories per serving.) I like the hint of sweetness with the heat plus real maple syrup has nutritional value. [http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=115]

I made some cornbread as well but used a different pan in a different oven and had it on broil by accident. I’m being kind when I say it wasn’t photogenic. It was barely edible, except for one small area. Here are the food sources anyway:

Cornmeal and flour from wild hive

Eggs from Daffodil

Butter from ronnybrook

Syrup from bluestone

Milk from Stone Wall Dairy Farm