The Eat Local Challenge

Monday, August 20, 2007

Eating local in Philadelphia is not hard, but could you commit to doing it for every meal for thirty days?  The Locavores and Eat Local Challenge folks are sponsoring an international, month-long eat local challenge for the month of December that will specifically focus on preserving, canning, and putting food up for the Winter.  Some of us have a good start on that already!

Perhaps we should have our own little challenge within a challenge at Farm to Philly!  I do believe I’ll commit for the September Eat Local challenge - who’s with me?  I can barely wait to get started on my extra canning!

As details come in about the rules of the challenge, I’ll post them here.  If you’re interested in taking the September challenge, leave a comment for the post.  I’ll do a weekly report on everyone’s progress.

Farmer’s Market

This week’s Red Earth Farm CSA share contained

1 quart of red slicing tomatoes
1 head of escarole
4 Walla Walla onions
1 pint of tomatillos
1 bunch of perpetual spinach
peaches and nectarines

Feeling like the share just wasn’t enough, I headed to my local neighborhood Farmer’s Market on Friday and picked up

1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 zucchini
1 cantaloupe
6 ears of corn

For dinner last night I made Grilled Vegetable Tostadas with Two Salsas. All of the vegetables for the tostada and the sauces were local, including hot peppers and eggplant from my garden, and I topped the tostadas with local Amish Cheese.

I love that Farm to City facilitates my CSA and ensures that every Friday from June through October a nice Amish family will sell fresh fruits and vegetables (as well as canned goods, baked goods, and crafts) just a few blocks from my house.  For a full list of farmer’s markets check out the Farm to City website. There’s a farmer’s market in different areas of the city and suburbs Monday through Saturday.

 

 

Drizzly Sunday at Headhouse Square

The Headhouse Square Market was absolutely packed when I got over there yesterday around noon.  I had wondered if the unseasonably cool and drizzly weather would prevent people from heading out, but it seems that the farmers market crowd is a little more hard core than that.  The main aisle was packed with folks who were tasting and wandering before they bought as well as the more focused shoppers who knew exactly what the wanted and where to go to get it. 

In the last month I’ve managed to stop by Headhouse Square every Sunday, and in that time I’ve developed sort of a routine.  I know who sells the peppers, corn and melons I want, and where to stop to get purple basil and tomatoes.  I know these patterns will continue to shift as the seasons change, but I’m enjoying them while I can.  Also, and I know that everyone says this when they are asked why they shop at farmers markets, I’ve really loving getting to know the people who are selling me my food.  The guy at Beechwood Orchards recognizes me as the girl who is crazy for his white nectarines.  Yesterday, when he saw me coming, he waved me over and said, “I’ve only got two quarts of white nectarines left, I was afraid you were going to miss them!”  I bought one, as well as a quart of honeycrisp apples, which were really juicy but still the tiniest bit green tasting. 

I spent $29.10 yesterday, which is my highest to date since the market at Headhouse opened.  I bought more fruit yesterday than I have in past weeks, which is what knocked my total up.  I also got a nice bargain, buying a conjoined zucchini (two for the price of one) for $.50.  I love days when two quarters are actually enough currency to complete a purchase.  The entire list of what I bought is after the jump. 

1 quart honeycrisp apples (the quart was $4 and I didn’t realize until I got it home that there were only four apples in it.  Not the best bargain)
1 quart white nectarines ($4.50 a quart for nine nectarines, totally worth the price as they are delicious)
1.5 pounds of assorted plums
1 conjoined zucchini (two fused together while growing)
1 bag of purple basil
1 cantaloupe
2 green peppers
1 red pepper
5 assorted tomatoes
6 ears of corn
1 bag of delicious, spicy baby arugula (I had some last week as well)
1 cucumber

Two for the dough

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Unlike most vegetables, potatoes are made for long-term storage…if you have the perfect place to store them.  You know, some place dark, humid, and about 40 degrees.  Unless you have a root cellar, most of us do not have these ideal conditions.  My basement is cool, but not that cool!  As a rule, I maybe get about two months out of potatoes if they’re stored in my kitchen.  So what do you do if you find yourself with an overabundance of potatoes?

There are lots of things you can do - make mashed potatoes or cook up a mess of fries or hash browns, and then freeze it all up for a rainy day.  I decided to use up my massive store of potatoes from the CSA (about 13 pounds, by my last count) to make potato gnocchi.  It’s really easy, although slightly time consuming.  And in the end, you get a good supply of fabulous gnocchi!

Start with potatoes.  You need good, starchy potatoes, rather than waxy potatoes.  In other words, you want to avoid new potatoes, fingerling potatoes, round white potatoes, and round red potatoes.  Use Yukon Golds or Russets or something like that.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, cut the potatoes almost in half, arrange on a baking sheet, and bake for an hour.

As soon as you can handle the potatoes without burning the crap out of your hands, peel the potatoes.  The skin should just come right off.  Work fast - you need to get those babies through a potato ricer before they cool down!  Why a potato ricer?  You want nice, fluffy potatoes and no other way gives you just the right consistency.  After the potatoes are riced, you can let them cool down to room temp…just don’t throw them in the fridge.

Next is the question of eggs - to use eggs or not to use eggs.  I’ve made them both ways, and it’s fine either way as long as you don’t use too much egg.  You absolutely don’t need egg, and your gnocchi will turn out a little lighter without the egg.  The batch I made here has eggs.  Let’s say about one beaten egg per five pounds of potatoes. 

The real trick to making good gnocchi is getting the dough right, which means adding just enough flour but not too much.  Most recipes call for about a cup and a half of flour per two pounds of riced potatoes.  I just keep adding flour, a bit at a time, until the dough feels right to me.  Specifically, it should be pretty smooth and slightly sticky.  The longer you work the dough, the more flour you’ll need…and then your gnocchi will be like bricks.  But when you feel like the dough is good, put it aside in a bowl draped with a clean towel and let it rest for 20 minutes.

The next part goes pretty quickly - grab a hunk of dough, roll it out into a half-inch rope, and cut into inch long nuggets.  There are several opinions about finishing the gnocchi, but all agree on one thing: there needs to be some nooks or crannies to grab the sauce.  Some people score the gnocchi with fork tines.  Some do so while bending it over their thumb to form a little inner pocket.  I go the easy route and just make a little depression in the the middle of each dumpling with the end of a fork.

And then you can either cook ‘em or freeze ‘em.  If you opt to freeze, be sure to spread the gnocchi out in a single sheet on a baking tray and freeze them this way.  You can pack them into a freezer Ziploc or whatever when they’re frozen.  You just don’t want them sticking together, you know?  For cooking, just put on a pot of water to boil, toss in the gnocchi, and scoop them out as they float to the surface.

Best of all, you can make gnocchi entirely out of local ingredients - potatoes and eggs are easy to come by, and you can purchase Daisy pastry flour (made in Lancaster, PA) at the Fair Food Farmstand at Reading Terminal Market.  Hooray!

canning catastrophe

Friday, August 17, 2007

Well, not exactly a catastrophe. Mostly making lemonade when life hands you lemons.

I bought from my CSA 12 lbs of tomatoes this week in the hopes of canning pizza sauce. I looked in my recipe books about canning sauce and came up with what I figured was the most common method for canning. It boiled down to this (no pun intended): Chop, cook, puree and strain, cook down by half, can. I used 6 lbs of my tomatoes and got: soup. A wonderful, very yummy, entirely local (onions, garlic, basil and tomatoes) tomato soup. Which is a disaster if you can’t stand tomato soup. (I can’t, but I have someone in the house who adores it.. so mischief managed.)

So I tried again last nite. My theory..  I was blitzing the good stuff and straining it out. So last nite I rearranged my method and came up with this: chop, cook, strain out juice and reserve, cook down, can. I saved the juice for 2 reasons. It would make a good base for my next veggie soup stock (I make ALOT of vegetable soups) and I had it on hand to top off the jars. Jars need to be filled to 1/2 an inch from the top. I used about 1/2 a cup of the reserved juice to top off the 2nd qt of sauce. And I am much happier with the thickness and consistancy of the sauce.

Pizza Sauce for Canning
6 lbs of tomatoes (about 20 tomatoes)
1 cup of onions
8 garlic cloves
1 tbl olive oil
basil to taste

Chop the onions and garlic, set aside. Chop and seed tomatoes. (I left the skins on, they don’t bother me in sauce.)  Put the olive oil in a pan and add the garlic and onion. Cook until soft. Add tomatoes. Cook until they release their juice (about 25-35 minutes.) Strain. Reserve juice and return pulp to pan. Cook down until thick (about an hr). Place in clean qt jars (top off with liquid as needed to reach 1/2 inch from top) and seal. Process in a water bath for 35 minutes.

CSA Weekly Report: Lancaster Farm Fresh

Thursday, August 16, 2007

I’m told Lancaster Farm Fresh recently changed to a new packing system.  Unfortunately, things don’t seem to be going well - this is the third week in a row I’ve gotten shorted on something.  Last week it was a tomato and a pepper, this week it’s a tomato and a watermelon.  Well…at least most of the produce received looks really good! 

Here’s what was in today’s share (well, supposed to be in today’s share):

3 green bell peppers grown by Meadow Valley Organics
1 bunch basil grown by Scarecrow Hill Farm
3 lbs. potatoes grown by Busy Bee Acres or Hillside Organics
1 watermelon grown by Green Acres and Misty Meadow Organics
4 slicing tomatoes grown by Countryside Organics and Green Valley Organics
3 heirloom tomatoes grown by Riverview Organics and Green Valley Organics
1 pint grape tomatoes grown by Farmdale Organics and Laughing Creek
1 dozen sweet corn grown by Countryside, Green Acres and Elm Tree Organics

I now have about 15 pounds of potatoes lurking in my kitchen from various CSA shares, and I’m wondering what I can do with them.  I’m thinking about using some of them to make a gigantic vat of potato gnocchi.  I also have about three pints of cherry tomatoes from the last few week’s shares and have been contemplating making them into tomato sauce.

Home Sweet Homebrew

The other day I ran across a notice that Seven Bridges Cooperative (an organic homebrew company out of California) is sponsoring the 2007 National Organic Homebrew Challenge!  All entries must be brewed using malt, hops, and adjuncts that are verified organically grown and non-GMO.  Yeast must be non-GMO.  It made me wonder what kind of effort it would take to brew beer from locally grown ingredients. 

Certainly, if you’re going to make a fruity beer, you could use locally grown fruit in the production.  But what about the barley and hops?  Or even other beer additives, like wheat or oats?  Beer making used to involve only locally grown ingredients, so surely there must be a way for local homebrewers to get their hands on local grains, no?

The nice folks at Wine, Barley & Hops Homebrew Supply in Feasterville do say that making beer from locally grown ingredients can be tricky, but it’s possible.  In some cases, you would really need to grow your own.  They do sell hop plant root cuttings in the Spring, so it’s possible to grow your own hops.  There are plenty of places to buy various types of hop plants on the internet and some great growing tutorials. 

There may or may not be a source for locally grown malting barley, but it seems easy just to grow your own.  Not any old barley will do, you understand.  I’ve found some good sources for seed: Chin Ridge Seeds and Amazon. Malting your own barley doesn’t seem too difficult.

There are a million different things you could probably grow to facilitate making beer from locally-grown ingredients.  I even found a great article about planting a beer lover’s garden.  I may just need to incorporate a few things into next year’s garden.

Pick your own

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

We took a field trip to Linvilla Orchards this morning. This was my first trip to Linvilla in a couple of years. The last time we went was on a weekend in the height of fall apple season and there must have been 10,000 people there. Today was lovely. Just an hour after opening in the middle of the week, it’s not crowded at all. Blackberry picking was excellent. Blueberries were pretty picked over so we moved on. Peaches weren’t quite ripe so we didn’t spend too much time there. The tomatoes were fantastic. We ended up picking a pound and a half of blackberries, enough blueberries for a small snack, about 10 pounds of tomatoes and two pounds of peaches. My son ran out of steam so we held off on the apples and grapes. Corn is cheaper by 25 cents an ear at my local farmer’s market on Fridays so I’ll continue buying my corn from the nice Amish family who treks out here once a week. I’m currently debating whether to freeze or can the tomatoes, which coincides quite nicely with Nicole’s post. I don’t have canning equipment, but it seems like it would be a worthwhile purchase, especially since my chest freezer is permanently out of commission. I’ll probably end up freezing most of the eggplants and green beans in my garden so it would be nice to can the Roma tomatoes to make room. I have a confession to make. I don’t particularly care for raw tomatoes. I love them roasted, grilled, and in sauces and salsas, but a slice of tomato, on its own or in a sandwich doesn’t appeal to me at all. I almost always pick the raw tomatoes out of everything I eat. I guess I’m just not a tomato person. But these Sungold Cherry tomatoes?

They’re the sweetest tomatoes I’ve ever eaten and it seems like it would be a waste to eat them any other way. With tomatoes like these I might become a tomato person after all.

Can it, Janet

The reaction to finding out that I can food is always the same: a funny look and incredulous, “You do what?”  Maybe we’ve all just become too attached to our freezers, or maybe canning food seems like an old-fashioned thing to do.  But canning food is not the sole province of little old ladies with too much time on their hands - those of us who care about the preserved quality and safety of our locally grown food are also well-served by knowing how to can.

So why would anyone can their food instead of, say, freezing it?  In many cases, I do prefer produce frozen instead of canned.  Take, for instance, green beans.  Beans that are blanched and frozen keep their color and texture so nicely it seems silly to preserve them any other way.  And lots of vegetables have that advantage.  So why would anyone can food?  Shelf life is a big factor.

Canned green beans - if they are canned and stored correctly - can be kept for up to five years.  Blanched and frozen green beans can be kept in the freezer for about 9-18 months, depending on how cold your freezer is and how the beans are packed.  And consider what happened to me this past January: my chest freezer went on the fritz and I lost every single bit of food I had preserved from the Summer prior. I definitely wish I would have canned a bit more food last year when that happened!

You could also look at the total amount of energy used in canning food versus the cost of running a chest freezer.  Or the convenience of not having to defrost food.  You might even consider the safety of food processed under high heat.

Obviously, I don’t can every bit of food I preserve.  I happen to prefer green beans that are blanched and frozen over those that have been canned - they keep their color better and I like the texture better.  Both freezing and canning have their advantages and disadvantages, but canning is my preferred method for preserving sauce, soup, salsa, and some fruit.  I will refer you here to learn all about home canning.  It’s a great way to preserve all that gorgeous locally grown food you seek out or grow yourself!

CSA Weekly Report: Red Earth Farm

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

This week’s share:
zucchini (for salad, or maybe muffins)
eggplant (to make with a sweet miso sauce)
onions (just to have)
Yukon Gold potatoes (I have potatoes of every color now)
swiss chard (need some greens)
frying peppers (stir-fry is in their future)

The proof is in the pudding

Monday, August 13, 2007

There’s something very soothing and comforting about bread pudding for me.  It makes me think of Autumn when the temperatures are starting to cool down.  It’s probably not the first thing that comes to mind for good Summer food, but on days like last Saturday when we got a break from the heat and humidity it was just lovely - especially with the addition of fantastic, perfectly ripe local corn!

But best yet, nearly every ingredient in bread pudding can be found locally.  And if you don’t like corn, you could substitute just about any other vegetable.

1 Tbsp butter
1/2 medium onion, chopped
4 c. corn kernels
1/2 tsp paprika
salt and pepper
1/3 c. chopped basil
1 Tbsp dill
4 eggs
2 c. milk
5 c. cubed bread
3/4 c. grated sharp Cheddar
1/2 c. milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Heat butter in a skillet over med-high heat and saute onions, corn, and paprika for about four minutes.  Season with salt, pepper, basil, and dill.

Whisk eggs and milk and 1/2 tsp salt together.  Pour over bread.  Add in the corn mixture and cheese, stir to mix and then transfer to a buttered 3-qt casserole. Pour 1/2 c. milk over the bread pudding.

Bake for 45 minutes - the pudding will puff and get slightly browned.

Linvilla Orchards - pick Summer apples now!

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Linvilla Orchards is one of the areas best known ‘pick your own’ farms, not far from Center City and only about 15-20 minutes from my house in Delaware County.  The 300 acre farm grows an impressive array of fruit - six varieties of strawberries, six varieties of raspberries, seven varieties of blueberries, blackberries, 34 varieties of peaches, 30 varieties of apples, five varieties of grapes, four varieties of pears, plus apricots, nectarines, and plums.  Oh, and vegetables - tomatoes, eggplant, corn, and peppers.  Oh, and you can pick your own pumpkins and holiday trees.  Let’s not forget the lake stocked with trout for fishing!  Truly, the place has everything…even hayrides to deliver you to the appropriate field!

Right now, apples and peaches are in excellent picking, as are the grapes and all the vegetables.  The Mister and I ran over there today to sample the Summer apples - Paula Red and Ginger Gold.

The Paula Red is the lovely little apple on the right in the photo.  It’s known as an excellent apple for making applesauce - it needs no sugar at all.  The apple is crisp with a slightly tart flavor - it’s just delicious!  Now is the perfect time to pick up some Paula Red.  These Macintosh-type apples seem to be at their peak right now.  I could not resist chowing down on one right there in the orchard!  A word of warning - don’t use this for pies.  When cooked, this apple gets extremely mushy…which is why it’s so excellent for applesauce! 

The Ginger Gold is a new-ish apple variety discovered in Virginia in 1969.  It is my absolute favorite Summer apple - it has the taste of a Fall apple.  It’s juicy and mildly tart, with the added benefit that it resists browning when cut.  You can do anything with it - pies, applesauce, salads, although it’s classified as a dessert apple.  I love to eat them plain and fresh, or sliced with blue cheese.

After apple picking, we meandered over to the peach grove.  The peaches are fantastic right now, although we found many more yellow peaches than white.  The blueberries were very picked out - we only managed to pick a handful of blueberries. 

The grapes were amazing and no one was picking them!  Early Concords are in season right now.  Concords are a slip-skin variety.  I’m still deciding what to do with these - I have about four cups of grapes or so, so if you have suggestions, please pass them on.  I’m thinking some sort of dessert.

The next event coming up at Linvilla is August 25 - the tomato festival! 

Linvilla Orchards
137 W. Knowlton Road
Media, PA 19063

Capogiro - Blackberry Gelato and Rosemary Gelato

Cheesesteaks are not the only food for which Philly is famous.  Thanks to Capogiro, Philly is also known for artisanal gelato and sorbetto.  Capogiro has received national press for its diverse and daring selections, including such offerings as Cucumber and Pinoli.  In terms of taste and quality, Capogiro’s gelati rival those found in Italy.

Capogiro sources a lot of their ingredients from local farms.  Today, the two locally sourced gelati that caught my eye were the Mora Gelato and the Rosemary, Goat’s Milk and Honey Gelato. 

The Mora Gelato is made from blackberries sourced from Green Meadow Farm in Lancaster County.  The blackberry flavor in this gelato is intense and concentrated, yet it is still bright with an almost citric freshness. 

The Rosemary, Goat’s Milk and Honey Gelato, however, is not to be missed.  The rosemary is sourced from Overbrook Herb Farm in Landsdale, PA, the goat’s milk comes from Pequea Valley Farm in Lancaster County and the buckwheat honey comes from New Jersey.  On paper, rosemary may seem to be out of its element here.  But one bite will change your mind.  The fragrant, fresh-from-the-sprig herb blends well with the rich goat’s milk and sweet honey.  Despite its creaminess, this gelato is surprisingly refreshing, especially on a hot Philly afternoon.

Capogiro
119 S. 13th Street
(215) 351-0900

and

117 South 20th Street
(215) 636-9250

 

Posted by David on 08/12 at 03:42 PM

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Clark Park Market report: 9 August

Friday, August 10, 2007

 

Fahnestock Fruit Farm: the larger (ginger gold) apples
North Star Orchard: the smaller (summer blaze) apples, the pears, the carrots, and the red peppers
Quaff Meadows: eggs and hot peppers

I am thrilled that it’s apple season.  Last week’s apples, my first of the season, barely lasted through Wednesday, so I got a few more this week.

CSA Weekly Report: Red Earth Farm

Thursday, August 09, 2007

This week’s share included

1 quart of slicing tomatoes
1 quart of Yukon Gold potatoes
1 quart of green snap beans
2 large zucchini
4 Walla Walla onions

I asked for blue potatoes, but they substituted the Yukon Golds. Not pictured is the jar of honey I picked up from the buying club and the half of the share that went to my friend. 

When I first signed up for the CSA I wasn’t sure just how much produce I’d get each week. I was afraid that if I got a full share I wouldn’t use it all. Unfortunately, almost immediately after receiving our first box back in June I realized that splitting a full share with another person just wasn’t enough for my family. Now I know for next year that a full share is a necessity. I think that this week since I’m going to have to go to the farmer’s market to get more produce anyway, I’m going to roast and freeze the tomatoes for sauce and grate and freeze the zucchini for latkes and bread in the winter.