Tag Archives: 4th Annual Dark Days Challenge

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

challenge

Challenge Meal: Pancakes

It’s my custom to eat pancakes and bacon on Mardi Gras. I belong to a tradition that typically celebrates Shrove Tuesday (the night before Ash Wednesday) with a youth group fundraiser consisting of all-you-can-eat pancakes and sizzling pork products. So this is my Dark Days Challenge Meal #13.

Food sources:

And now, a slow fast.

challenge, locavore

Challenge Meal: Glazed Pork Chops

My Dark Days Challenge meal #12 was another simple meal that anyone could make: glazed pork chops and corn.

I pan-seared the pork chops, then baked them in the oven, smothered with strawberry peach jam.

HT to the can jam, open jars, and use it or lose it folks for the idea of using our preserved goodies on something other than toast.

Food sources:

Quick, easy, very good. Not all local meals from scratch need to take several hours!

Other challengers…

I’m excited to see that these folks are still keeping up with the Dark Days challenge—go check them out and cheer them on!

Very cool!

The Reluctant Blogger made pasta with tomato cream sauce.

challenge, locavore

Challenge Meal: Veal Chops

My Dark Days Challenge meal #11 was a very simple meal that anyone could make. All of the main ingredients came from one visit at the Fairfield market.

Food sources:

  • pan-seared veal chop from Sankow’s Beaver Brook
  • pan-fried potatoes, from Geremia Farms, Wallingford, CT
  • flash-wilted greens (Mizuna, Arugula, and others) from Daffodil Hill Growers. (Flash-wilting is for greens that are really meant to be served raw, like these. I did a quick turn in a preheated pan with a little water while it can also be accomplished by adding the greens to a soup or stew after it is taken off the heat, just prior to serving.)

One market, one day, one pan. Quick, easy, delicious.