Grass-fed Dairy

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Although I was not local over the holiday, I did eat locally in the Twin Cities where I spent my Thanksgiving. One of the highlights was the butter and cream from the farm where these sweet creatures live in New Prague, Minnesota. The farm is organic, and the cows feed on grass only. Because of a summer drought, the farm has had to buy grass to feed the herd (there’s a big group of adult cows across the road from these young ones), and buying organic grass is some serious coin. 

My stepsister Meg is the Organic and Diversification Specialist for the Minnesota Dept. of Agriculture—a very nifty job. I’ll have a little interview with her soon about trends in the organic food industry.

LeRaysville Cheese Factory Portelet

LeRaysville Cheese Factory, a small Amish-run cheese factory in Lancaster County, makes serviceable cheese.  I would not call their cheese artisan cheese, but it’s a nice alternative to store bought cheese.  Their Sommelier is a lovely melting cheese, but the Portelet is…not great.  And really, it didn’t stand a chance.  Here’s the description:

“A low-salt, low-cholesterol cheese that is reduced in fat, but melts like butter - contains about half the fat of Cheddar.  Made in a similar process to Port Salut.  Ideal for sauces or snacks.”

Look, if you’re watching your cholesterol and need to purchase diet products, Portelet is probably a better choice than the commercially made reduced fat cheeses that taste of pencil eraser.  But the texture is a little on the rubbery side and it’s a little on the bland side.  I didn’t try to melt it, but it probably does melt nicely.

Local Vino Steps Up…

Saturday, November 24, 2007

...says this article in today’s Inquirer.  I’m still searching for some go-to wines from the region.  Any favorites that are must tries?

Savory Smashed Sweet Potatoes

Friday, November 23, 2007

Local vegan for Thanksgiving:  so good!  That’s because I’ve been hoarding sweet potatoes and shallots from my CSA share since September. 

I found that the most efficient way to deal with the abundance of produce each week was to preserve whatever preserved easiest, so more often than not, each week’s potatoes and onions were put in the dark.  My stockpile of sweet potatoes and shallots finally met the light of day on Thanksgiving morning as Jason and I created a smash for our vegan dinner with friends later that night.

While pulling the recipe together, my only objective was to stear clear of the traditional sugary and sticky sweet potato recipes.  One of the most valuable lessons eating locally has taught me, is that simply is the very best way to cook and enjoy vegetables.  Local food just tastes better; there’s little reason to doctor it up with loads of other ingredients.  Think I’m overstating?  Do a test of your own.  A bite of local sweet potato vs. a bite of store-bought sweet potato.  No contest.  Be sure to note the incredible color difference while you’re at it, too!

Additionally, always considering a local vegan diet when preparing meals, things like marshmallows and white sugar don’t please either side.  In avoiding a lot of ingredients, shallots and thyme seemed like a great way to impart a bit of simple savory loveliness into our dish.

Savory Smashed Sweet Potatoes
Serves 8

4 pounds of sweet potatoes, scrubbed, unpeeled and quartered (Blooming Glen Farm CSA crop share - 5 miles)
1/4 pound of shallots,  chopped (Blooming Glen)
1 tablespoon dried thyme, crushed (Blooming Glen)
1 tablespoon olive oil (not local)
1 tablespoon kosher salt (not local)
1/2 cup soy milk (from Westsoy - 91 miles)
1/4 cup vegan buttery spread (from Earth Balance - 117 miles)

Add sweet potatoes to boiling stockpot and cook for 15 minutes or until tender.  While the potatoes are cooking, heat oil in a pan over medium heat.  Add shallots and thyme to the oil and cook five minutes or until soft and fragrant.  Drain potatoes, score skins (so they don’t get caught in your masher) and smash.  Stir in two-thirds of the shallot mixture, soy milk and Earth Balance.  Serve with shallots and thyme mixture sprinkled on top.

On top of being delicious, the simple ingredients mean super quick preparation.  We had this in a serving dish and packed up in under 30 minutes.  Maybe I should have started this post with “Local vegan for Thanksgiving:  so good, so fast and so easy!” 

Thanksgiving Rundown

We had a lovely Thanksgiving with my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, niece and nephew.  (And it was fabulous not having to get my house ready for the meal!)  My sister-in-law and I split up the cooking, and our delicious dinner ended up having quite a few local components.  Here’s the rundown of the menu:

· local turkey with stuffing and gravy

· mashed white & sweet potatoes

·

honeyed lime-ginger cranberry sauce (wildflower honey and white & red cranberries were local)

· garden & local vegetable roast:  golden and chiogga beats from our garden, carrots from our garden plus a few red ones from the Fair Food Farmstand, turnips from Livengood’s organic farm, and red onions from the Fair Food Farmstand roasted with garden rosemary, thyme and marjoram, local butter, olive oil and salt & pepper

· salad with local hothouse lettuce, pomegranates, toasted pecans and a creamy dressing with Hendrick’s parmesan

· cabbage casserole – a creamy and rich family favorite

· pumpkin and butternut squash pie

· pecan diamonds

· 2005 Chamboursin from Blue Mountain Vineyards

It was a bountiful meal for just four adults (and four young kidders).  Now onto using the beet greens and leftover cranberries. Does the cooking never end?

Tryptophan nap

Another Thanksgiving is behind us, and we can all settle into turkey and stuffing leftovers for the next week.  I just finished picking the meat off my turkey carcass and the bones are now merrily boiling away in a soup pot for stock.

As usual, I participated in the 100 Mile Thanksgiving challenge.  Not every single ingredient was local, but a good portion of it was.  The big question: how did it go?

Well, I admit up front that I committed a cardinal Thanksgiving sin: my turkey was dry.  Not bone dry…but a little dry.  This is an unusual turn of events for me - I pride myself on being able to make a good turkey.  My turkey this year was an organic, free range turkey that I purchased from the Fair Food Farmstand.  It wasn’t the turkey.  Well…it was and it wasn’t.  There was a big tear in the breast skin of the turkey and I failed to compensate for it.  As I always do, I slip slices of (local) butter under the breast skin of the turkey and baste with (local and homemade) stock and white wine every 30 minutes.  I should have basted more often or covered the pan with tin foil, I think.

This was not a disaster and it didn’t ruin Thanksgiving, but I’m sort of anal compulsive…so it weighed on my mind during dinner.

Here’s the rest of the menu:

mixed mushroom stuffing (all local except salt and pepper) brussels sprouts in red wine reduction and browned butter (all local except salt and wine) creamed corn (all local) mashed potatoes and celery root (all local) cranberry-glazed sweet potatoes (bourbon, salt, pepper, brown sugar, and spices not local) honey and spice cranberry sauce (all local except cinnamon sticks and orange peel) apple cake (all local except baking powder and soda, salt, and cinnamon) pumpkin creme brulee (all local except sugar, vanilla, and spices)

Of the local ingredients, the furthest away anything came was about 80 miles.  The closest was 0 miles (my garden).

As much as I enjoy cooking Thanksgiving dinner, I’m always happy when the cooking is over and always grateful that it only happens once a year.

Happy happy!

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving! May your turkey be moist and your pants be uncomfortable!

Turkey Day Challenge: roasted veggies

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Unlike many of the rest of you, it seems, mashed potatoes have never been part of my Thanksgiving tradition.  Instead, we make a batch of some combination of roasted vegetables, usually including purple potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, and onions.  Last night, I used romanesco cauliflower (from Shenk’s Berry Farm) and a parsnip (from Margerum’s).  This recipe is quite simple: chop veggies, lightly coat them with olive oil, add salt, pepper, garlic, basil, parsley, and other seasonings to taste, and bake about 45 minutes at 350-375º, until fork-soft.  Last night’s batch includes thyme and cayenne in addition to the above-mentioned flavorings. 

Turkey Day Challenge: Pumpkin creme brulee

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

The other day at lunch with Lauren, I was lamenting over my inability to get the consistency of some pumpkin creme brulee just right.  It’s something I’ve been borderline obsessive-compulsive over ever since I roasted those pie pumpkins that came in my CSA share last month.  After another test run, I perfected it - the perfect creme brulee for my 100 Mile Thanksgiving.  The bulk of the ingredients are locally grown - eggs, cream, pumpkin, and maple sugar.

So what was the issue that stymied my efforts?  I’m pretty sure it was the fresh pumpkin puree.  If you’ve ever made a pumpkin pie, you’ve probably dealt with canned pumpkin puree.  It’s thick, like a paste.  Fresh puree is far different.  It’s a little watery.  Sure, I could have cooked it down to get a thicker paste, but what’s the point?  I’d rather do a little experimenting!

Here’s the recipe -

2 cups heavy cream
4 large egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch ginger
Pinch nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup fresh pumpkin puree
1/2 c. sugar
maple sugar for topping

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.  Heat the cream and spices in a saucepan over medium heat.  Whisk it every now and then until it boils.  Remove from heat and let sit for about 10 minutes.

Combine the yolks with 1/2 cup sugar. Stir with a fork until light in color and the sugar is mixed in.

Pour a little bit of the cream into the yolk/sugar mixture. Whisk well.  Pour a little more of the cream into the yolk/sugar mix.  Keep whisking.  Continue until all the cream has been incorporated. Whisk in the pumpkin and vanilla.

Place 4 6-ounce ovenproof ramekins in a large roasting pan. Fill the ramekins with the pumpkin mixture. Place the roasting pan on the center shelf of the oven. Carefully pour water into the roasting pan, being careful not to get any into the ramekins. Add enough water to come halfway up the ramekins. Bake for 45 minutes until the custard is set but still jiggles slightly. Remove from the oven and cool. Refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight.

Note: the original recipe calls for a baking time of 25 to 35 minutes.  I suspect this would work if you use canned puree or your oven runs much hotter than mine.

Sprinkle a thinnish layer of maple sugar over the tops of the brulees. Use a pastry torch to brown the sugar; or, place the ramekins on a baking sheet under a broiler about 4 inches from the heat until the tops brown and bubble, about 1 to 3 minutes. Let cool for 3 minutes and serve.

What an excellent dessert spread we’ll have at Thanksgiving this year - pumpkin creme brulee and apple cake!

Clark Park market report, 11/15 and 11/17

Monday, November 19, 2007

Last Thursday’s farmers’ market at Clark Park was clearly the end of the season—not only was it full dark by the time I arrived, a few of the stands had empty tables from having sold the last of their produce.  I made out pretty well, though, having pre-ordered twenty pounds of Gold Rush apples and a gallon of cider from North Star Orchard.  I was also quite pleased to see dried beans available from Quaff Valley Farm (those are the bag on the left).  On Saturday morning, I picked up a parsnip and another bag of mixed beans, this time from Margerum’s.  I’m so glad it’s soup weather now!

Otterbein Acres pecorino romano

Otterbein Acres makes a sheep milk pecorino romano.  Well, they call it romano, but it’s just not the right texture.  Romano is generally dry-ish, hard, and salty - it’s a good grating cheese.  The Otterbein Acres romano is softer, almost creamy.  Not that it doesn’t make good grating cheese - I used it the other day in my gnocchi and mixed mushrooms meal.  It was delicious!

Perhaps, like the Hendricks Farm parmesan, one could consider this a ‘snacking’ pecorino more than a ‘grating’ pecorino.

Otterbein Acres is near Shippensburg, a nearly 100 acre farm that focuses on sheep and cow that are grass-fed.  Interestingly, nearly all of their sheep milk gets turned into cheese in their small on-site cheese house.  It sounds really cool.  I’d like to go on a visit some day.

Weekend Bounty

Sunday, November 18, 2007

We made a Morgantown run yesterday and came back with this bounty of local produce.  Our first stop was Weaver’s Orchard.  I found this farm on localharvest.org and, since it is located close to Shady Maple Farm Market where we planned to stock up on some (alas, non-local) dried pasta and nuts, we were excited to check them out.  If you love apples, this place is worth the trip.  There’s a great selection of homegrown apples of all types, plus ciders, pears, jams, honey and a bunch of other produce (like the garlic, potatoes and brussel sprouts we got).  We also bought various types of apples, Seckel pears, Asian pears and some Harrow’s Delight pears on the recommendation of the farmer.  I grabbed a pick-your-own schedule because I’ll definitely be returning.

Then it was off to the zoo that is Shady Maple.  This is a really big conventional grocery store that also sells a lot of bulk foods, like the pasta and nuts we were after, and a pretty good selection of Lancaster-grown produce.  We bought a half-bushel of Jonamac apples for applesauce – lots and lots of applesauce to freeze.

We were almost ready to leave when I saw a bin advertising enormous, Lancaster-grown Fairytale pumpkins.  At $3.99 for any size pumpkin, I chose the biggest, heaviest pumpkin I could get my hands on!  Mind you, I’m not the one cooking the pumpkin pies this year for Thanksgiving so I have no immediate need for a pumpkin, let alone one that our cashier couldn’t lift.  But how could I pass them up?  I’ve heard that this variety is good for baking and so far it hasn’t disappointed.  I’ve been baking big pieces of it in batches all day and pureeing them for the freezer.  So far I have about 16 cups of puree and I’m just about halfway done with the job. I’m thinking pumpkin bread, maybe some soups and Jennie’s pumpkin roll. Any other ideas?

Fruit of the Gods

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Persimmons have long been known as the food of the gods.  The fact that the three that I purchased at the Fair Food Farmstand this week came from someone named Giovanni who grows these luscious fruits, along with figs, in his backyard in Philadelphia only makes them seem more magical.  I couldn’t resist the beautiful basket sitting on the counter.  And while I’ve tasted persimmons before, this was my first experience handling the soft fruits them and cooking with them.  Now I can add them to the amazing list of local foods that are in season in autumn.

For three days the persimmons sat lined up on my counter while I tried to decide how best to use them.  This morning I remembered a recipe I saw in the November/December issue of Hobby Farms for persimmon pudding, and I decided to give it a go (with the Bean’s help, of course).

First, you cut the fruits in half, remove the seeds and core and scoop the jelly-like pulp out.  Then you mash it up. This is where the Bean’s expert toddler mashing skills came in handy, all the while saying “P is for Persimmon!” over and over.  After that, it’s basic baking ingredients and an hour in the oven.

Persimmon Pudding/Cake
From Hobby Farms Magazine (Nov/Dec 2007)

1 c. persimmon pulp
1 egg
1/2 c. sweetened condensed milk
1 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar (the recipe called for 1 cup, but I think 1/2 cup was more than enough with the sweet fruit)
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 T. melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
salt to taste

Preheat oven to 325.  Stir together persimmon pulp, egg, milk, melted butter, vanilla and salt. Combine flour, sugar, baking soda and cinnamon; fold into the persimmon batter.  Pour into a buttered 1/2 quart casserole dish and bake for 50-60 minutes until set and lightly browned.

The result was actually more cake than pudding.  Name aside, it had the unmistakable yet subtle taste of persimmon and tasted terrific with a cup of coffee.

Three questions occurred to me while baking this:  what’s the best source for local butter that’s reasonably priced for baking?  How can I use the rest of the can of sweetened condensed milk? What else is Giovanni growing in his little garden of paradise?

Home Sweet Worm Bin, Day 11 or 12

Friday, November 16, 2007

A quick update on the tenants of my bin.

(Full disclosure: I don’t call them “tenants” any more. It wasn’t long before I began greeting them “hello worms, it’s your mother!” I knew it would happen, just not this quickly. I realize that interviewing as potential “father” to my worms could turn off potential partners for me. Love me, love my worm bin? Updates on this should the time come.)

There’s been a birth! I spied a very little worm among the adults today. Too small for my camera to get a good shot, but should I encounter a creche of them on my next occasion to burrow in the bedding, I’ll try to document it. In the interim, I do have a photo of worms at work on some bits of tomato, potato peelings, and I’m not sure what else.

The smell is fine—earthy, as one might expect. About a week ago I opened the bin and a couple of houseflies flew out, but that’s been it as far as other creatures. The lettuce-y items appear to be the most broken down; onion skins the least. So far, I’m quite pleased.

Turkey Day challenge: roasted potatoes with watercress yogurt sauce

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Every now and then I like to skip mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving dinner and serve potatoes in some other way.  I know it’s practically sacrilege to say that, but it’s true.  A favorite around here are roasted potatoes with yogurt watercress dressing.

If you’re into Green Goddess salad dressing (which I am), you’ll probably like the dressing - it’s very similar.

1.5 c. yogurt
1 c. watercress, stems removed
1/3 c. mayonnaise
6-7 scallions, roughly chopped
3 Tbsp fresh basil, roughly chopped
2 Tbsp fresh mint, roughly chopped
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

Whirl it all together in a blender until smooth and Bob’s yer uncle.  Er…it’s done, is what I mean.  Refrigerate the sauce for 30 minutes, or until your potatoes are roasted.  I like to use the goat yogurt from Shellbark Hollow Farm and the scallions and mint are local.  Alas, it’s a little late in the season to find fresh, local basil and watercress.

Lancaster Farm Fresh provided the small red potatoes I used for roasting.  Just coat them in good olive oil and a bit of salt and pepper, and roast at 450 degrees for 35 minutes.  Drizzle with the watercress sauce (or, if you’re my husband, drown the potatoes in sauce) and eat ‘em up!