One Local Summer- Week 7: Mid-Atlantic

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Maryland

It was rotisserie chicken this week for Danielle and family, fresh from their farm. The farm also contributed mixed beans, new potatoes, salad with onion, cucumbers, grated Italian zucchini, and chevre cheese to the meal. Farm-fresh garlic seasoned their sour cream (for the potatoes) and the bread (from a bakery local to their in-laws).

Cream of purslane soup was enjoyed chez Purloined Letter. For those yet to experience purslane, this versatile little staple is technically a weed. Check out the cracks in your sidewalk and you very well may find some growing wild. It’s also found in many gardens, and it’s no wonder– it’s quite tasty. I do have to try this soup– PL steamed the purslane, pureed it with some local cream, then thinned it out with some stock made from the week’s vegetable peelings. Salt, pepper and a garnish of basil and voila! Sautéed tomatoes and zucchini served as a side. While just-picked blackberries made for a delicious dessert.

New York

Hats off to Meghan who, despite hotter than hot weather, decided to take on chicken soup this week. Hers featured leeks and roasted garlic– yum. Along with the soup she made a roasted scape and beet salad. And to finish it off peach-pie-and-balsamic-flavored frozen yogurt. You have to check out the recipe for yourself– most interesting. Meghan’s farmer’s market supplied most of the meal.

Mia was off to Oregon so she missed last week’s round up. While vacationing and attending a wedding she made a point to indulge in local specialties such as hazelnuts (who knew) and all sorts of berries. Upon returning this week she found herself playing catch up at work, and despite being super busy she still found time to toss up a local salad of CSA goodies: bibb and romaine lettuces, sorrel, mizuna, sugar snap peas and a mix of herbs. She topped it with some cheddar cheese and an apple cider vinaigrette.

Pennsylvania

Robin once again scored big at the farmer’s market: corn, peppers (green and purple), yellow squash, a cucumber, a tomato, an onion, baskets of red potatoes, pie cherries, plums and two kinds of colby cheese- jalapeno and Italian. Plus a dozen eggs. The heat kept the family out of the kitchen, so instead they enjoyed most of their bounty raw: cut up peppers and tomatoes, chilled plums, hunks of cheese on slices of cucumber “crackers.” What a great idea!

New Jersey

It was pesto this week at our house. I couldn’t resist after receiving a bunch of basil, garlic and tomatoes from our CSA. I served the pesto over angel hair from our favorite Brooklyn pasta-maker. So simple and delicious.

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

As a ‘welcome home’ and ‘thank you’ to a friend, Kristen served up a Tortilla Español using local eggs, cheese, onion, and potatoes.  And the baby continues to get in on the act: he ate local sweet potatoes last week.

Beany made some great-looking fava bean dip, as well as a quiche.  Her quiche used local eggs, butter, mushrooms, onions, and basil. Yum!

Because of the heat wave we’ve been suffering here in Philly over the last week, Naomi mostly stuck to salads.  She only had to cook the corn for her salad of corn, pepper, tofu, zucchini, cucumber, yellow bean.  Smart move!

Pat had what she considers an uninspired week.  Huh.  Well, she still managed two meals out of it!  She made turkey cutlets with cool pepper sauce, as well as a mess of spaghetti with meat sauce.

I, too, had an uninspiring week - really, I think it’s the heat wave.  I was snacking all week collard green pesto and garlic scape pesto, as well as the pig liver pate I picked up in Ithaca, NY recently, all with local bread.  On Sunday I was slaving over my hot stove all day for a co-worker’s birthday celebration on Monday.  I served her favorite chips with six dips, all of which contained almost all locally sourced ingredients - carrot ginger dip, beet and goat cheese dip, guacamole, cucumber-feta salsa, onion dip, and roasted garlic.

New York

Julia was on vacation in Maine, so she got to eat locally somewhere else!  And let me just tell you: I’m jealous.  Maine lobster and sweet corn for dinner, preceded and followed by bar-hopping where local microbreweries are everywhere.  She even ate local while camping, having brought some things from New York with her and supplemented with locally grown items from Maine.  Clams and haddock?  Yeah, next time Julia goes camping, I’m stowing away in her trunk.

Zucchini are taking over at Peg’s house - she’s harvesting it faster than she can eat it!  To try to use it up, Peg cooked up a meal of grilled zucchini and cheese panini-style sandwiches, cucumber and onion salad, and corn on the cob.  It sounds amazing!

Linda visited the Green Market at Lincoln Center, and bought the fixings for a fantastic big, big salad. She used spinach, cucumber, red onions, tomatoes, and cheddar cheese aged 32 months in a cave!  She then plundered a friend’s garden for a whole bunch of fresh herbs for the salad.  Delicious!

-this section of Mid-Atlantic updated posted by Nicole.