Category: <span>One Local Summer</span>

Category: One Local Summer

One Local Summer

One Local Summer 2011 – Week 23

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We had to quick throw together a meal before another trip (short one to Fort Lauderdale, FL for husband’s work), so I found all the vegetables in the fridge, and threw in a whole bunch of stuff.  Beets, goat cheese, onions, bison bacon, and fennel all went inside the easy crust (2 cup flour, 2/3 cup yogurt) and VOILA!  Dinner.  There are still leftovers in the fridge, and I love how the beets turned everything insdie a pretty shade of red.

Bacon and Beet Galette:
Whole Wheat Pastry Flour – Mill at Anselma
Goat’s Milk Yogurt – Shellbark Hollow Farm
Chevre – Shellbark Hollow Farm
Beets – Jack’s Farm
Onion – Hoagland Farm
Fennel – Charlestown Cooperative Farm  
Bison Bacon – Backyard Bison
Non Local – Olive Oil, salt

One Local Summer

One Local Summer 2011 – Week 22

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This is one of my favorite meals that the husband makes. We weren’t sure if it could be done locally, but once we sat down and figured it out, it was SUPER easy to find (almost) all the ingredients. This is a Steak and Ale pie, a traditional British meal that’s a great way to warm up on a chilly day. It’s basically a chicken pot pie, but with beef and beer and mushrooms instead of the chicken and vegetables. The beer we used was a homebrew made with a pound of Pennsylvania Maple Syrup from Miller’s maple, so even though the grain used in the beer is not local, it’s at least more local than other beers we could’ve used. The only other exception is the pepper and a little bit of oil. The leftovers are already gone, that’s just how good it is.  We’re not sure at this point where the original recipe came from since ours has been heavily modified (bison instead of beef, etc), but this recipe is pretty close.  We made the ‘beef’ broth this time using a stew bone from the bison vendor with a few vegetables thrown in the pot for flavor – worked out PERFECTLY and was super delicious, not to mention very low in sodium.

Steak and Ale Pie
Bison Sirloin – Backyard Bison
Crimini Mushrooms – Oley Valley Mushrooms
Eggs – Mountain View Organics
Flour – Mill at Anselma
Onion – Hoagland Farms
Garlic – Jack’s Farm
Sage – Jack’s Farm
Milk – Camphill Village – Kimberton Hills Dairy
Smoked Sea Salt – Pureblend Teas
Non Local – Pepper, Olive Oil, Maple Porter Beer

One Local Summer

One Local Summer 2011 – Week 21

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This week, the husband is back home and cooking!  He made chicken wings (from our favorite local chicken vendor) the night prior which involves boiling the wings and then finishing them to crispy perfection on the grill.  But that’s not what this post is about.  The broth left behind from boiling the wings is perfect for soup!  Add in some carrots, celery, onions, sage, garlic, cilantro, sausage, and turnips, let simmer for a while, and VOILA!  SOUP!  It’s gotten colder, and I just love soup season, mostly because the husband is such a fantastic soup chef.

Sausage and Vegetable Soup:
Italian Turkey Sausage – Mountain View Organics
Smoked Pork Sausage – Countrytime Farm
Carrots – North Star Orchards
Garlic – Jack’s Farm
Celery – North Star Orchards
Sage – Jack’s Farm
Cilantro – Jack’s Farm
Turnips – Jack’s Farm
Potatoes – Jack’s Farm
Onions – Hoagland Farm
Smoked Sea Salt – Pureblend Tea
Chicken Broth – Mountain View Organics (from chicken wings)
Bread – St. Peter’s Bakery
Wine – Sand Castle Winery  

One Local Summer

One Local Summer 2011 – Week 20

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This one I REALLY knocked out of the park. I mean, REALLY REALLY. Fennel isn’t a popular vegetable in our home mostly due to the husband’s hatred of all things anise/licorice. Since he was away, I figured I had a chance to give it a try.  I stumbled across a recipe for roasted fennel and potatoes, but I only had sweet potatoes from the farmer’s market, so I figured hey, starch is starch, right?  Well it was amazing.  The sweet potatoes roasted with the fennel covered for 30 minutes at 400F in the oven, covered in some olive oil, salt, garlic, and pepper.  Then the browned sausage was laid on top and left uncovered for another 30 minutes.  The amazing way these flavors worked together has made it a staple, and what really surprised me was that the anisey flavor of the fennel really disappeared in the baking process.  Needless to say, the leftovers didn’t last for very long, and I’m making this combination a staple for future recipes!

Sweet Potato, Fennel, and Sausage Bake:
Sweet Potatoes – Jack’s Farm
Fennel – Jack’s Farm
Garlic Turkey Sausage – Mountain View Organics
Garlic – Jack’s Farm
Non Local – Salt, pepper, Olive Oil

One Local Summer

One Local Summer 2011 – Week 19

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Here’s where I admit that we were away for two weeks and I’m not going to catch up and make up those two lost weeks.  I love doing this project, but it was starting to feel like a bit of a chore, and that’s the last thing I want to happen.  So, since we weren’t even in the country, I’m going to call those two weeks lost, and just go from there!  It’s finally getting to be fall and all of my favorite vegetables are out – all the squash and pumpkin I could possibly ever have!  This meal was a crock pot meal and consisted of a pork shoulder purchased at the Anselma Farmer’s market from a vendor whose name escapes me now, Onions, homebrew beer for the liquid in the crock pot, and pumpkin layered on top.  It came out LOVELY and was just the perfect meal for a rainy day.

Pork and Pumpkin:
Pork  – Anselma farmer’s market
Onion – Smith’s Produce
Pumpkin – Smith’s Produce
Non local – Beer, salt, pepper

One Local Summer

One Local Summer 2011 – Week 18

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This one was pretty simple. We were getting ready for vacation and I had little time to get something together, so I went with what I’d already stashed in the freezer. The pasta was made a while back and frozen, the sausage was frozen as well, and the peppers and tomatoes came from the garden. Pretty simple, but it counts as local, and even super local considering the maybe 100ft walk from the house to the garden.

Pasta with Peppers and Tomatoes:
Whole Wheat Pastry Flour – Mill at Anselma
Peppers – My Garden
Tomatoes – My Garden
Chicken Sausage – Mountain View Poultry
Non Local – Olive Oil

One Local Summer

One Local Summer 2011 – Week 17

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Gnocchi!  This was my first time ever making gnocchi, and I think we did alright!  It was pretty simple – boil about 1lb potatoes for an hour, or until tender, then rice or mash or make them smooshy and non-lumpy as best as possible, add about a cup of flour, shape, dust with flour, and then boil until they float.  Husband worked up the sauce from our own tomatoes canned this year, a load of peppers from the garden (SO MANY PEPPERS THIS YEAR), an onion, and some Ground Bison.  This is really my idea of comfort food, and it fit the bill.  Most of the ingredients came from a farm stand we passed on the way home from a trip to Lancaster, and I neglected to get the name of the farm.  Suffice to say, they weren’t shipped in from California, but from just a county away.

Gnocchi with Bison Sauce:
Whole Wheat Pastry Flour – Mill at Anselma
Potatoes – Lancaster Farm Stand
Bison – Backyard Bison
Tomato sauce – My Garden
Onion – Lancaster Farm Stand
Non Local – Spices, Salt, Pepper

One Local Summer

One Local Summer 2011 – Week 16

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Okay, there’s always a bit of summer where I fall apart and neglect posting these to the blog. They’re all cooked and whatnot, but between guests and vacations, things fall by the wayside. Anyway, I’m finally catching up, and need to do a little bit of get-ahead in preparation for the upcoming vacation to Scotland (WOOOHOO!). So, I’ll still be covering all the weeks, just not cooking while we’re not in the country, but still cooking for one meal a week. Not sure that made sense! This one was a lazy breakfast but was still super delicious. Pancakes from an old favorite recipe, and bison bacon that turned up to be WOW DELICIOUS. Pretty simple, but really satisfying.

Pancakes and Bacon:
Yogurt – Shellbark Hollow Farm
Egg – Mountain View Organics
Whole Wheat Pastry Flour – Mill at Anselma
Bison Bacon – Backyard Bison
Maple Syrup – Miller’s Maple
Non Local – Baking Soda, Baking Powder, Salt, Sugar