One Local Summer-week 7: Western Region

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Colorado, Oregon and Washington:

Hi everyone! This is Donna filling in on the recap for Laura this week. I hope I didn’t miss anybody, but if I did, please leave a link to your post in the comments. Here in Oregon we went cherry picking and I would have been happy to just eat a big bowl of cherries for dinner, but for the sake of my family I supplemented the cherries with fresh corn-on-the-cob and grass-fed beef. Let’s see what you did!

Ellen’s CSA is keeping her family well fed with wonderful sounding vegetables this week! She prepared a local meal of kale & garlic, marinated and baked local tofu (how did you find that, Ellen?!!) and rice. Her plans for next week sound even better!

Vacationing in B.C., Joan managed to find a local meal that sounds just scrumptious: Cowichan Bay Farm duck with sour cherry and ginger sauce and a potato strudel! Then back home again she whipped up some marinated local chicken, gratin and chard. It looked so good that even her dog was drooling!

Melinda created a truly wonderful local meal consisting of local yoghurt, local strawberries (and there’s nothing quite like Pacific Northwest strawberries) and locally roasted coffee. Then she wrote a beautiful post defending simple tasty meals. I’d trade gourmet for a meal like this any day. Can I eat at your house, Melinda?

Laura at Urban Hennery is surrounded by so much local food that it’s become her normal fare and she bemoans that it’s not gourmet enough to write about. Check out Melinda’s post, Laura! Inspired by the other challenge participants, she made her first homemade pasta and served it with broccoli and cream sauce. Way to go!

The Shibaguyz rant on the lack of anything edible in the grocery store and wax poetic on the virtues of real food. It’s so entertaining, you’ve just got to read it for yourself! In other news, they went on a treasure hunt in their garden and came back with more produce than my garden will probably produce all summer. Happy hunting, guys!

On the Hendrick Homestead Holly and Denise went shopping at the farmers’ market and came home with quite a haul. They feasted on roasted chicken with garlic and fresh herbs, baby root vegetables roasted under the chicken, fresh peas, green salad with homemade vinaigrette and cherry clafoutis. Thanks for the recipe – now I know what to do with the rest of my cherries.

Kimberly made a find worthy of squealing and jumping up and down when she discovered local organically grown grains at a farmers’ market. I’d squeal too, Kimberly! She put her local flour to good use baking bread and making a sourdough starter. They ate locally all week, but it all paled in comparison to the new find!

*****

California:

Hi- Lauren from Shooting Stars of Thought here. Laura over at Urban Hennery asked me to step in and do the OLS West roundup this week, and despite the fact that this week was quite possibly my own busiest of the summer, I agreed to take it on. What is it about the middle of summer and crazy schedules? Anyway, it doesn’t look like being busy kept many of the OLS West away from the kitchen.

Anita at Married with Dinner was inspired by a restaurant pork chop, and set about creating her own version at home. Looks like she did her Marin Sun Farms pork chops justice too, with her own technique for quick-brining incorporating hard cider, brown sugar, rosemary, thyme, and Dijon. Accompanying the chop on the grill were delicious looking fingerling potatoes from Mr. Little, tossed with Spring Hill butter, Sciabica olive oil, and home grown herbs and Rocambole garlic. A side of pan-seared haricot verts completed the delicious looking meal.

Dolores over at Culinary Curiosity was also inspired by a fellow food blogger, and put together “one local salad” of peaches, arugula, and goat cheese after seeing a similar recipe. Her version comprised stovetop “grilled” peaches, CSA arugula, and delicious looking Cypress Grove “Truffle Tremor” cheese. It looks simple, easy, and delicious.

Michelle at Green Bean Dreams went on a blackberry frenzy after a U-pick berry trip. She managed a blackberry crisp with locally milled flour and homemade butter, blackberry scones with locally milled flower, local butter, and homemade buttermilk, and with the last of the berries, a triple berry crisp. As if baking wasn’t enough, she accompanied each of her sweet treats with a local meal: local pizza with the blackberry crisp, local corn, peas, and a tomato and mozzarella plate with the scones, and roasted homegrown potatoes and salad with the triple berry crisp.

It was zucchini time for Sarah over at Ward Road Garden, when she spotted the first zucchini of the season in her garden. She seemed to waste no time grilling it over the BBQ, and is already planning a Zucchini Ginger Jam for next weekend.

Momaste over at Locavore On Core posted about both week 7 and 8 this week, and it looks like she not only enjoyed several meals, but managed to prepare extras for the freezer as well. First was grilled eggplant sliced topped with Spring Hill Cheese goat’s milk brie, fresh tomato slices, and basil, topped with blackberry fig balsamic vinegar, from Hare Hollow. She followed that up with a local breakfast of pepper and cheese omlette, bacon, and watermelon. And finally it was Mousakka, a potato, eggplant, and ground beef casserole, with everything but the cheese and spices coming from local ingredients.

As for myself, I managed to fall behind in a post again—I got too distracted reading about all the delicious meals everyone else is whipping up (I was also distracted by several out of town guests and an annual 80-person potluck). But I did manage to sneak in several meals and dishes that were at least 90% local: beef chili; “breakfast for dinner” omlettes; my backyard bbq staple—tri tip, potatoes, and corn on the cob; and a local broccoli casserole for the potluck. I’ll try to post about it all by next week’s roundup!

It’s really exciting to see what everyone else is doing out there with what foodstuffs they are growing and finding around them. I’m more inspired than ever after doing the roundup this week and look forward to trying out some of the meals and recipes posted—everything looks so delicious!