A Pestivus for the Rest of Us

Saturday, September 06, 2008

Occasionally, the bounty of late summer can be overwhelming, and you can find yourself compelled to invention to use up large quantities of something without getting tired of it.  (Nicole has written two excellent posts about what to do with a surfeit of squash or peaches.) My own recent invention-by-necessity involved basil: as part of my Red Earth Farm CSA, I receive and herb and flower share.  My last delivery was, in fact, an overload of basil - not just italian basil, but cinnamon, holy and thai as well.  So, what do I decide to do with it?  Pesto, of course. 

The idea was to create four distinct pestos using the underlying structure I’ve written about here.  The first pesto was, obviously, classic pesto genovese, adhering to the recipe I detailed here.  The second was thai basil, olive oil, toasted almonds, chives, mint, and farmer’s cheese.  The third was holy basil, olive oil, almonds, farmers cheese, parmesan, and onions (both raw and carmelized).  The fourth was cinnamon basil, olive oil, parsley, walnuts and goat cheese. 

The results?  The classic pesto was consistent with past efforts, so no surprises there.  The thai basil lost much of its flavor beyond a sense of something generically “basil.” Ultimately, I think thai basil is unsuited for this type of recipe; the flavors being too delicate.  (I’ve enjoyed it much as something I throw in a dish, leaves whole, almost as I might use parsley.) The cinnamon basil was good - if not quite something I’d occasionally opt for over italian pesto, which was the goal here.  The only recipe that actually met expectations was the holy basil pesto.  If you are unfamiliar with holy basil (and I was prior to this delivery), it has an extraordinary aroma (the Red Earth Farm newsletter credited an intern with qualifying it as something like “bubble gum") and sweetness.  Here, the sweetness combined well with the toasted almonds and onion.  The mild farmer’s cheese added a nice texture without overwhelming the basil. 

It’s one thing to improvise a variation on a theme, as I’ve done in the past.  It’s quite another, I’ve learned, to re-imagine a recipe to an extent that I might consciously choose holy basil or cinnamon over italian.  It may not have been the success I was hoping for (Where’s the Festivus Pole?), but it was an enjoyable challenge - not to mention the leftover basil I now have frozen and waiting for winter. 

The butter that isn’t butter

Friday, September 05, 2008

I’ve never really understood why fruit butters are called that.  I mean, it bears no resemblance whatsoever to actual butter.  But really, who cares? It’s good and it’s surprisingly easy to make.  I had some peaches that were in deep need of being used up, so I made peach butter on Labor Day.

What I particularly like about making fruit butters is that you don’t need a gazillion pounds of fruit.  I had seven peaches, which ended up becoming five half pints of peach butter.  And yes, it took all damn day to cook...but it was in a crock pot and I only set foot in my kitchen a few times.  And the result is better than I could have hoped for.  The peach butter is heavenly.  Spectacular.  Amazing.  Very, very good.  I’m not even exaggerating.

All right, so, getting started is easy enough.  If you have peaches, a crock pot, and some spices, you’re pretty much all set.

1. First step: prepare the peaches.  The easiest way to peel peaches is boil up some water and drop each peach in for about 60 seconds and then plunge into ice water.  The skin will loosen, making peeling a lot easier.  Remove the peach pit.  Roughly chop the peaches.  Or, you’re like me, tear the peaches in pieces with your bare hands.  Throw peaches directly into your crock pot.  Note: if you have ALOT of peaches, you can fill the crock pot to within an inch of the top.
2. Season the peaches.  Add a couple Tablespoons of cinnamon, a teaspoon of ground cloves, half a teaspoon of allspice, and four cups of sugar (yes, that’s a lot of sugar - but you can substitute fake sweetener for some of it if you really want to.  I’m not sure how honey would be as a replacement); mix well.  Turn on your crockpot to low and cook uncovered.  You may want to throw a splatter screen over top, just in case.
3. Ignore your peaches for about six hours.  Stir if you feel like it.


4. Give the peaches a stir, turn the crock pot up to high, and go away again.  Come back every now and then to give the peaches a stir.
5. After another few hours, use a stick blender to puree the peaches if you want a smooth consistency to your butter.  At this point, your peach butter should be brown and sort of mushy looking.  You are looking for a reduction by volume of about half.  If you like a looser consistency, your peach butter will probably be done in about 12 hours.  I cooked mine for about 20 hours because I like mine a little thicker.

And then can your peach butter the same as you would can preserves.

Super simple, and a great way to use up fruit that’s not getting eaten quickly enough!

One Local Summer-week Finale: Western Region

Thursday, September 04, 2008

Here we are at the end of the One Local Summer challenge - where did the summer go? Sorry this is a bit late, it’s been a busy weekend and start of the week around here.

While she’s in San Francisco, Anita opted to skip the Slow Food Nation party in favor of continuing her normal slow food life and celebrate in her own way. They’ll keep up their shopping at the local markets and farms, putting up the harvest, supporting restaurants that support local farms, exploring the food traditions of their neighbors and celebrating the bounty of the region. They might not have joined the party, but the sure had their own celebration.

Already looking for another challenge, Green Bean celebrated the end of the challenge by sharing a local pot luck with friends. While they all had their pick of recipes, they all gravitated to Outstanding in the Field and enjoyed a variety of delicious, simple treats. Way to close it out!

Joan took a trip to the coast where they enjoyed a bounty of local foods. With three families pulling from their gardens, CSAs and farmer’s markets there was no shortage of things to eat. Meals included red new potatoes with wilted chard, a saute of zucchini, onion and corn, green salads, chicken, frittata with peppers, cherry tomatoes, cilantro, cheddar and jalapenos and challah french toast. Not only all of that, but also an earlier meal of curly kale and potato soup. Wow.

While local meals have been a bit thin around her house lately, Donna did manage one nameless meal of a fabulous sounding hash / scramble. A combination of potatoes, onion, bell pepper, mushrooms, bacon and eggs. Hmmmm. And Donna - I’ve been wondering the same thing about my squash…

Kimberly and Paul finished out the challenge with brunch at the Raincity Grill. I’m hungry just looking at the photos below… Brunch was Dungeness crab eggs benedict, fresh berries with yogurt and meusli and croissants and apricot scones with mixed berry preserves. What a way to finish the summer!

For various reasons, dinner at our house last week was mostly a simple affair. There weren’t really any complete meals or photos, so suffice it to say that we were busy eating homegrown produce snatched in between rain showers and preserving.

One Local Summer - Week 13 - South

This last week of One Local Summer, we had a few hardy souls reporting in. 

Over at Foodie Tots, they had an amazing sounding locally sourced family bbq bash.

At Walnut Spinney, the garden keeps giving.

A lovely accident led to a savory gelatto at Bridgman Pottery.

And lastly, Heather at Simple - Frugal - Green tried making polenta for the first time.

CSA Report:  Blooming Glen Farm

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

(Click photo to read notes at flick’r regarding names/quantities of share.)

Sweet peppers are strutting their stuff over at Blooming Glen; they’re gorgeous and fun and they know it!  We still (thankfully) have lots of cherry tomatoes, with two pick-your-own quarts this week.  Sadly, the sunflowers are just about done, but some striking zinnias made a fine replacement in my bouquet.

One Local Summer, The End: New England

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Just like the great irony of a New England summer, OLS is coming to an end just as everything seems to be in season and abundant at once: tomatoes and corn are sharing market space with melons and stone fruits, beans, zucchini and even the beginning of winter squashes.  And just as it all comes in, bang...summer’s over.  Just like this year’s OLS challenge.  But here in New England, I know we’ll continue to eat like royalty and keep squirreling away the some of the bounty for winter’s long stay.

A big thank you to all the New England participants, as well as our regulars.  Cheers!

Erica continues her Recipe project, and this week’s meal was Braised Lamb Shanks with Sun-dried Tomatoes, Orange, and Rosemary. Except with fresh tomatoes and not sun-dried. And turnips instead of carrots. And dried herbs instead of fresh...well, how bad could braised lamb be, anyway?  Don’t worry Erica, just like white shoes after Labor day, braising lamb before Labor Day has now become socially acceptable!  Just look at what Leslie had…

For this week’s finale, Leslie feasted on braised lamb, too!  She marinated it in olive oil and rosemary, and accompanied the meal with a fantastic sounding sage potato dish.  Hop on over to her blog to see the recipe for the potatoes.

Sarah gave us a great summary of some of what she’s been eating this summer.  Glad to see she hasn’t missed out on things like fresh corn on the cob, roasted veggies and lots of squash!  Sounds like she’s been able to put up lots of supplies for good winter eating, too!

Shiitake mushrooms on pasta with cream sauce and salad made up Laurie’s meal.  I want local shiitakes, I want local shiitakes!  Not to mention a shop in town that makes pasta… Delicious looking meal, Laurie!

We also feasted with friends this week, on a roasted local chicken, fresh corn on the cob and a big tossed salad.  But lunch the next day of a tossed salad with roasted chicken was my favorite local meal of the week. 

Happy fall, everyone!  I hope to see many of you again in October when the Eat Local Challenge rolls around.  Thanks for letting me into your blogs every week, and I’ve enjoyed getting to see what people are eating around New England. 

One Local Summer, week 13: Mid-Atlantic Region

Thanks to the Mid-Atlantic participants for a truly inspiring season of cooking (and eating) local. I enjoyed getting to know you and your fabulous blogs.

Maryland

The lunchbox the Purloined Letter packed up for her partner looks almost too pretty to eat. It’s chock full of all sorts of garden goodness: a chopped salad of swiss chard, green beans, yellow zucchini, and chioggia beet with red pepper dressing, lima beans “kissed” by red pepper lips (too cute), sautéed beet greens topped with twice-cooked grits rectangles (the cornmeal was grown and milled at their son’s camp) and cherry tomatoes, plus scuppernongs (a type of grape) and blackberries. And if that isn’t enough, to drink, some home-grown lemon verbena tea sweetened with home-grown stevia.

Plus it’s harvest time chez Purloined Letter, be sure to check out the gorgeous corn. This is just one stop on the road to home grown, ground and baked cornbread.

New York

Happy Birthday to Meghan who has been celebrating all week long. She did manage to squeeze in some local goodness: roast chicken and a huge salad. All ingredients local, and all came from the co-op she just joined.

“Cheers” to Mia who has become a master of local mixology. Among her specialties: a cucumber gimlet (with home-grown cukes), a strawberry jive featuring home-grown basil and mint, a lavender honey martini (both the honey and lavender were local) and a blueberry thyme concoction. Alongside these fancy libations, she whipped up some summer soups thanks to her CSA and garden plot: gazpacho, squash soup and cucumber dill soup garnished with smoked trout. There was also a potato and green bean salad. Plus farmer’s market bread and local cheese.

New Jersey

We celebrated the close of the OLS Challenge with some local crab cakes topped with CSA swiss chard. Our CSA also supplied the squash and potatoes which we grilled. Our own garden provided the tomatoes which were tossed with local mozzarella and CSA basil.

-this section of Mid-Atlantic updated posted by Elizabeth of Seedling.
______________________________________________________________________________

I can’t believe this is the last OLS update!!  This Summer passed by really quickly!  For the last update, we’ve got only three updates in this section - two from Pennsylvania and one from New York.  Thanks to everyone who participated, from those who only submitted once to those who stuck it out for the entire Summer!

Pennsylvania

Buzz and Pat ate bison and pepper rice, which Pat says was the best tasting meal they had all Summer.  Considering some of the photos I’ve seen of their meals, that’s shocking to me!

My final meal of the OLS challenge was soft shell crabs served with cabbage and carrot gratin.  I also went on a minor canning spree, which I haven’t posted about yet.  The canning mania included plum barbecue sauce, watermelon barbecue sauce, watermelon rind relish, and peach butter.

New York
Julia threw a barbecue with local foods.  She served grass fed burgers with sage and Worcestershire sauce - her first time grilling!  Also included were homemade flatbread, baba ganoush, and hummus.  Good luck in your new apartment, Julia!!

This section of the update by Nicole.  Thanks again to all participants in the 2008 One Local Summer challenge!  I’ll do a challenge wrap up in the next few days.

One Local Summer, week 13:  Midwest

We’re a little short-handed this week as challengers attentions are being pulled in ever more directions.  It’s been a great summer and we’ve all learned a lot.

Anne of Green Leanings made a great vegan dish this week:  “It was a simple dish, served warm, and was somewhere between a stew and a salad. Local black beans teamed up with onions, bi-color corn, and grape and pear tomatoes from the garden.”

Sirena of Swimming in this Sea of Life did a roundup of some local foods she had while she was travelng on vacation.  They had “eggs, tators, biscuits and gravy, and country ham” and “fried green tomatoes from the Chef’s garden, we also tasted their freshly brewed IPA and wheat beers” and wine and ice cream and ... (not all at the same meal, though).

Karen of toteleeding had a fantastic brunch:  “The meal included arugula frittata, roasted potatoes and a mixture of blackberries and blueberries. All local, all fantastic. We even washed it all down with local milk.”

Joy of The Spiral of Seasons gives a thoughtful summary of some of the things she learned over the course of the summer, including new ways of cooking, trying new foods, and a new way of thinking about what foods to eat:  “instead of asking ‘What’s for dinner?’ we’ve learned to ask ‘What needs to be eaten?’”

Jenny of The Nourished Kitchen wrote:  “This week we enjoyed a classic American meal.  The main course was a rich meatloaf of grass-fed beefalo, beef and meadow-raised pork covered with a nice rich gravy.  Aside from that, we also enjoyed salt-roasted fingerling potatoes, raw carrots, steamed baby squash and a salad of our very own lettuce in addition to home-made sauerkraut with all its beneficial bacteria.  Top that with sweet peaches and we were all set.”

Anna of twelve22.org wrote “I made eggy-hashbrowns (chopped potatoes with eggs scrambled in—a Torborg family classic) with red bell pepper and onion, served on top of wilted chard and topped with two tiny tomatoes. Everything came from my garden, apart from the eggs.”

Destabee of kaleidoscope Living used some fresh local beef and fresh veggies for a an experimental crockpot meal. 

Debbie of Rites of Passage, in response to the cooler weather we had been having, made roasted corn and pepper soup.  And she took a picture this week, but, while it tasted great, but it looked awful.  Ah well.

Clark park market report, 30 August

Saturday, August 30, 2008

The corn is from Shenk’s Berry Farm, the broccoli is from Keystone Farm, the apples were marked local at Mariposa (I wanted Ginger Golds, and the farmers at the market today just had Galas), and everything else is from Urban Girls. 

I’m really excited about the pint of hot peppers…

CSA report: Landisdale Farm, week 12

I was overwhelmed with joy when the share this week did not contain any lettuce.  None.  Not a head to be found!  I would have done a little jig right there are the farm stand, but I maintained what little dignity I possess.  This is what’s in the share this week:

• Two bunches of lacinato kale
• Two heads of Napa cabbage
• Six heirloom tomatoes
• Six peaches (sadly, one is already moldy)
• Two sugar baby watermelons
• Six bell peppers
• Four white onions

The kale will be blanched and frozen, and the peaches will be sliced and canned.  I’ll roast and freeze the peppers.  I’ll probably carmelize and can most of the onions.  The Napa cabbage and tomatoes, well, I’m not 100% sure yet.

The watermelons present a challenge.  I generally don’t eat a lot of watermelon.  It’s not that I don’t like it, I’m just never really in the mood for it.  Wanting to have options, I did a little research into how I could use up the watermelons.  I’ll start with the booze.  There are watermelon margaritas and watermelon mojitos.  Watermelon coolers and watermelon daquiris.  The watermelon fizz.  Even watermelon martini and watermelon wine.

But I’m really not much of a drinker (save the occasional glass of wine or Guinness).  Watermelon is typically thought of a dessert sort of thing on a picnic, but I am really not the biggest fan of fruit desserts.  Watermelon pudding sounds vaguely intriguing.  Or I could just go the simple route and go crazy with a melon baller, and just freeze the lot.

I did find a few main dish recipes that sound sort of interesting:

grilled shrimp, orange, and watermelon salad
grilled watermelon and prawns
watermelon beet soup
watermelon pancakes
watermelon curry
Spicy Sweet & Sour Watermelon and Cucumber Salad
watermelon barbecue sauce
Thai spiced watermelon soup with crabmeat

And then there are recipes involving the rind: pickles, chutney, and relish.

Roxborough Farmer’s Market Report

Friday, August 29, 2008

Last summer Red Earth Farm’s CSA offered locally grown fruits through their buying club each week. In addition to my fruit share I was able to order extra delivered with my share every other week. This summer I am not so lucky. I did not buy a fruit share and so far, not a single fruit has been offered through the buying club. That means that every Friday I’ve had to arrange my schedule to make it to the Roxborough Farmer’s Market to pick up fruit for the week. The Roxborough Farmer’s Market, though small, offers a great deal of variety. The big problem is that the market is so popular that most of the fruit sells out within an hour or two.

The past several weeks I’ve done my best to get there at 2.00 when the market opens. The line starts even earlier. I was 15 minutes early last week and the line was already ten people deep. I waited in the hot sun for about 20 minutes before I made it to the front of the line. I needed my husband who was towing the toddler in the bike trailer to help me home with the goods.

In addition to seasonal fruits and vegetables the market also offers baked goods, jams and jellies, eggs, quilts and fresh cut flowers.

Gone crabbing

A few days ago I stopped by the little shack that sells seafood at the top of Calcon Hook Road in Sharon Hill.  “What do you have that’s caught in Jersey?” I asked optimistically.  The guy behind the counter asked me what I was in the mood for, and then led me to some shrimp.  “Where is it from?” I asked.  “Florida” he replied.

Oh boy.

After much negotiating, I think we finally came to an understanding and assured me the soft shell crabs were either from Jersey, Delaware, or Maryland.  It’s not exact, but I’ll take it.  Granted, I can’t help wondering if the guy was just trying to make a sale.  That’s the problem with purchasing food from people who don’t quite get why anyone would care where their food is coming from: you just never know if the information you’re getting is accurate.

I pan-fried the soft shell crabs after soaking them in milk and dipping in flour.  Having never cooked soft shell crabs before, I was slightly nervous but this tutorial helped me through.  And they were delicious!

As a side dish, I served a gratin of cabbage, leeks, and carrot.

Where it all came from:
crabs, Jersey shore - 70 miles
flour, Daisy Flour - 60 miles
cabbage, Landisdale Farm - 100 miles
carrot, Urban Girls - 29 miles
leeks, Lancaster Farm Fresh - 90 miles
milk, Kingfisher Dairy - 99 miles
egg, Natural Acres - 100 miles
raw milk cheddar, Green Meadow Farm - 44 miles

Ground cherry mania

Thursday, August 28, 2008

The other day I was at the Fair Food Farmstand at Reading Terminal Market when an unexpected thing happened: there were ground cherries for sale.  Trying to find ground cherries around here is pretty difficult.  These little fruits aren’t hard to grow at all (they’ll grow just about anywhere), and even though they’re native to Central and South America they grow here as an annual just fine.

Since ground cherries generally aren’t sold in grocery stores, most of us have never tasted them.  They’re pretty yummy - sort of a combination of tomato and pineapple.

I have a whole bag of them in the kitchen right now, and I haven’t yet decided what to do with them.  Upon first glance, it seems like I’m limited to mostly pie and jam.  I did find some more interesting ideas, though:

• ground cherry ketchup
• ground cherry and vanilla compote
• ground cherry salsa
• ground cherry and goat cheese salad
• ground cherry and yogurt tart
• ground cherry and raspberry clafouti

I can barely wait to get to the kitchen!

CSA Report:  Blooming Glen Farm

(Click photo to read notes at flick’r regarding names/quantities of share.)

It’s recently been determined that I will never tire of fresh cherry tomatoes.  EVER.

One Local Summer-week 12: Western Region

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

While she’s up for making sausage now and again, Anita believes in leaving meat curing to the experts. And what experts they are. Dinner last week at Piccino was a foodie extravaganza featuring local, in season ingredients and good company. After 5 hours of eating, laughing and enjoying the evening they will go back again, without a doubt.

Finding that produce is bigger in Fort Collins, Lauren made a local meal in a strange city to celebrate her sister’s new home. Combining her market veggie haul with some almost local orzo, she made a meal for 50! While the brat she ate with it might not have been local, the beer was and that counts in my book.

With ripe tomatoes (finally) and basil from the garden, Joan made a dish for sharing with guests and party goers. She combined pasta with pesto, Italian chicken sausage and cherry tomatoes and served a green salad on the side. Not to mention her amazing espaliered pear tree!

JM had a busy week welcoming new students and preparing for classes. Even so, she found time to make a Frittata with corn, scallion and potato. It looks and sounds divine - it’s definitely going on my list of winter meals.

Finding herself with an unexpected excess of squash, Kimberly channeled her childhood and made cheesy squash casserole. Served with cauliflower roasted with mustard, lemon and butter and sauteed sweet corn it sounds delicious. There was even enough for leftovers.

Catching up with us, Monica found time in a busy couple of weeks to make several things. First there was a blueberry crisp, then carrot bread that disappeared fast and finally a spinach quiche. Yum.

Mamaste missed us this week as she was a bit busy delivering Lucy! Congrats!

Over at our house, we shared a mostly local dinner of burgers, steamed veggies, green salad (with tomatoes and peppers!) and fresh picked blackberries. We shared it with family and enjoyed every single bite.