mostly local: garlic dill pickles

Most everything seems to have come to a halt with the excessive heat that won't leave us be. We have a freezer full of chickens again, though, and Elise and I just finished cleaning and trimming our garlic for the next year - truly a rewarding crop to grow. Last fall we planted a softneck variety called Inchelium Red, which I ordered from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. I'll replant the largest head this fall, along with some elephant garlic.

I used some of this crop along with my cilantro-gone-to-seed (coriander!) to make "mostly local" garlic dill pickles that were a big hit. I used the recipe here. Enjoy!

fall is on the ground

We are busy these days...enjoying the cooler days, collecting chestnuts and picking pears. Cutting wood for winter, collecting an armful of eggs each day from the girls, and getting into the rhythm of a half day of school for Little One. And yet, life feels simple. I love it.
~A

mostly local: Berley's pink penne

We are back in the swing of things after a two week vacation of sorts, during a portion of which we visited Capriole Farmstead in Southern Indiana. The cheese was amazing, and I came home and made the following dish, adapted largely from Peter Berley's version in The Flexitarian Table. Here 'tis:

Penne with Beets, Beet Greens, Goat Cheese and Hickory Nuts

local ingredients:
~2# beets with their greens (greens in good shape)
4 garlic cloves, sliced
1 T chopped fresh tarragon
5 ounces crumbled fresh goat cheese
3/4 c hickory nuts (or sub walnuts if needed)

remaining ingredients:
sea salt and fresh pepper
2-3 T good quality extra-virgin olive oil
8 ounces whole wheat penne (I used brown rice)
large pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

Method:
Trim greens from beets, leaving about an inch attached and scrub well. Wrap in foil and roast in 400 degree oven about 45 minutes or until knife can pierce easily (this can be done in advance). Let cool a bit, run under cold water, and slip the skins from the beets. Slice into 1/2 inch sticks and set aside.

Wash and thinly slice greens. Add to beets.

Heat water for pasta - cook until al dente.

Heat oil in large skillet until it shimmers, then add sliced garlic, tarragon and pepper flakes and cook until garlic is lightly colored. Add beets and greens and cook while stirring until greens have wilted.

Add the cooked pasta and goat cheese, stirring until cheese is melted and incorporated (a splash of milk is sometimes helpful here). Season with salt and pepper, top with hickory nuts and serve.

Personally, I think the fresh tarragon and hickory nuts make this dish. Enjoy!

to market, to market...

Tomorrow marks the first Farmer's Market of the season for those of us here in Greencastle. I'm thrilled to be back in the saddle, as they say. We've expanded a bit this year and are planning to bring heirloom varieties of spinach, lettuce, radishes, pea shoots, cilantro and salad kale this first Saturday. Of course, the white-deathless cookies will make an appearance, as will baked goods from MamaLisa...warm cinnamon rolls...yum. I'm thinking I'll need to nab one of the those for myself.

mostly local: thai beef salad

Tonight's dinner was the first mostly local, "fresh" tasting meal we've had this year...hip, hip, hooray!
Thai Beef Salad
(adapted from a Cooking Light recipe)
local ingredients:
*grass-fed beef; sirloin steak, sliced across the grain into thin strips
*radishes; approx. 2 cups sliced
*cilantro; approx 1/4 c. chopped
*mint; approx 2 T chopped
*pea shoots; approx. 2 cups
*large spinach or lettuce leaves (our variety of spinach is pretty crunchy, so it works well; otherwise, use lettuce)
*honey; 2 teaspoons
*garlic; 1 clove, minced
additional ingredients:
1 T. chili garlic sauce
2 t. grated fresh ginger root
1.5 T fresh lime juice
1 T. soy sauce
Combine beef with chili garlic sauce, minced garlic clove and ginger. Marinate in fridge for 30 minutes.
Combine soy sauce, lime juice, and honey - set aside.
Saute beef in cast-iron skillet 2 minutes or so. Cut into 1-inch pieces. Combine in large bowl with radishes, cilantro, and mint. Pour soy sauce mix over and toss. Add pea shoots and toss to combine. Serve on large spinach or lettuce leaves.
Happy Spring!

a red plate affair

I felt I should write a quick post post-Thatcher regarding his...ahem, consumption. He was salted a day in advance, stuffed with an organic lemon, slow-roasted and served on our family's celebratory red plate. Quite chicken-y. Quite tasty. And despite his breast looking inexplicably small compared to what we're used to seeing on our occasional Trader Joe's bird, Thatcher provided enough white meat for our young family of four. He did dress out (is that the right way to say it??) at just over 4 pounds, afterall. But quite strange, in all honesty, being so close to your food. I had trouble not seeing the poor guy in my mind's eye while eating...his distinctive personality was a curse for me in that regard. For that reason, eating a freshly gathered egg isn't the same as that once breathing animal crowing about your yard. Future edibles may need to be the dolts of the flock until I can habituate...

On a related note, I've been thinking about an occasional post called "mostly local" where I'll write a quick note about our family's meals and give a recipe...maybe this would answer that question I've heard asked about us before: "What do they eat, anyway?" Well, a week ago, we ate Thatcher. Just like the kids told everyone we would.

Food in America

David Beckmann from Bread for the World was on PBS last night - being interviewed by Bill Moyers.  You can see the interview at the following link:

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04112008/watch3.html

Congress and the Bush Administration are currently working a new farm bill.  The old farm bill is set to expire on April 18, 2008.  Hopefully, the new farm bill will cut some of the farming subsidies that go towards large farmers and begin to help smaller, locally focused farmers.  

Watching the video will help you understand more of the current American food/farming realities.

Wes

Evansville's "Westside Nut Club Fall Festival"

Last year, I blogged about the "Westside Nut Club Fall Festival" - a week long festival of absurd amounts of food. This year, we went back ... and I headed straight to the Unitarian Universalist Church booth - not because of a spiritual crisis. No, the Unitarians are the only booth that had a decent selection of food, including an African peanut chicken to die for.

Anyhow, here are some other pictures from the trip:

A Cincinnati chili dog ... which while not Skyline quality was pretty good.

Just a random picture ... Nothing says fall festival than pigs in overalls eating corn on the cob. Obviously this pig is tremendously pleased to eat corn ... and you should be happy to eat pigs that eat corn ... and cows that eat corn and chickens that eat corn.

Gall, I wish this sign was a joke. You might think so. But, no, this was real. And so was this fact: the longest line at the fall festival was the line for brains.

Sorry folks, no cow brains this year. Not with the mad cow disease. Gonna have to eat pork brains instead. Which comes out looking like this ...

And, I'm pretty sure the brains came from these plastic tubs ... mmm. Need I even mention the amount of flies swarming around these "left over" grey ... er, make that "pink" matter?
You all should come next year. It's awesome.

Wes

The Great Sea Harvest

"In America, you have the steak. In Japan, you have tuna." - Robert Wiedmaier, chef

If you have ever eaten sushi or if you simply enjoy eating Chinese food in the middle of the United States, this is a worthwhile read about the pleasures and risks that come from global markets:

Rare Tuna.

Wes

To Live and Die in OB

I needed a snack a few nights ago, and decided that one of Wes’ oranges sounded good. Can I just tell you how NOT good that California orange was? I lamented to Wes about the horrible blandness of the road-weary fruit; I knew what an orange SHOULD taste like – but sadly, most people living here in the Midwest probably don’t. This small tirade brought me back to a daily dilemma I now face…how to eat in a way that’s healthy and yet socially responsible while living in the Midwest? Is it even possible? I don’t want to buy produce shipped half-way across the country, not only because of the lack of flavor after sitting on a truck for God knows how many days (weeks!), but also because of the energy required to get that one crappy orange onto my kitchen counter. However, I also know the importance of a healthy diet, rich in produce. I love making bread and all, but we can only eat so many muffins.

Perhaps I was spoiled living in Southern California-- Gran was right about that – I dream of the Pasadena farmer’s market nightly. But now that we live in the middle of NOWHERE, where NOTHING is in season for 5 months out of the year, I’m up a creek without a paddle. I try to buy frozen or dried fruit and veggies now, hoping they were at least picked in season, but even those have been shipped from - in all likelihood - California.

Now that we are settled in our house, I plan on spending much of next summer canning and freezing what I can get from the local farmer’s market or plant in our back yard. But these next few months will most definitely be dark ones for me. I’m open to suggestions.

~Anna