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OLS: Week 4

Posted on 28 June 2009
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Week four!  This week was a full dinner for two and I may have cheated a little more than I usually do with the locality of all of the ingredients, but to do a meal like this, well, sometimes you have to do what works.  This week features most items coming from a trip to the Anselma Farmer’s Market.

The wine is the May Wine from the Mount Hope winery.  Not sure if the grapes in the wine are local or not though, but it was a great bottle of white wine.  In the back is a salad using red lettuce (still) from Week 3 and cucumbers from the Anselma Market.  There’s also a piece of Dillicious cheese from Week 3.  The blueberries for dessert are also from the Anselma Market and were perfectly ripe and delicious.  The main plate was the bulk of the cooking, but 100% worth the time involved.  The pork chops come from Wright’s Meats at the Anselma Market.  They were brined in a salt/water/maple syrup for about 5 hours.  The Maple Syrup we have is from Miller’s Maple in PA, so even though it’s not from around the corner, it’s closer than Vermont and still counts as local for me.  The chops were then browned quickly on the stove and put in a baking dish in the oven with a vinegar and maple syrup glaze that was basted over the chops every 15 minutes or so.  The idea isn’t mine, so I’m giving credit to Elise of Elise.com for the recipe which I modified a little, omitting the onions.  The potatoes are again from the Anselma Market and were tossed with olive oil and roasted in the oven.  There’s a dressing that goes on top of the potatoes, another recipe from Elise.com, which again I modified a bit to fit my local theme.  I used basil and oregano from the back deck, omitting the mustard and vermouth but adding vinegar.  Overall, pound for pound, the non-local ingredients I used when put in contrast with the local ingredients still keep the mileage total down.  So, even though it’s not 100% local, the spirit of local ingredients is there for sure, and the husband didn’t seem to mind if it was local or not, because he ate everything on the plate.  It was fun to make a nice dinner for two this week for something different and I’m glad I challenged myself to do so, especially when I’m the first to admit that I’m not a great cook and don’t necessarily enjoy the kitchen.  These past four weeks have taught me a lot already about my culinary skills (which I previously thought were non-existent) and that sometimes, cooking isn’t so bad, especially when the results taste SO good.

Not Local: Salad Dressing; sugar, vinegar, olive oil, pepper, salt (pork chops); olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, pepper (potato dressing).

I really need to start bringing around a notebook to the markets with me so that I can keep track of what comes from where.  These incredible vendors deserve credit and I never seem to be able to remember what comes from which stand, especially after the dinner is done and the packaging is in the garbage.

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OLS: Week 3

Posted on 22 June 2009
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I’m a little late on this one, but we spent all of week 3 in Scotland.  So, I think that’s okay, right?

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For the record, this was a lunch meal and I tend to go heavier on the green things and lighter on the meat for lunches, hence the big blob of green on the plate and little bitty blob of chicken.  In the back is red lettuce from Kimberton Whole Foods, marked as grown locally, unknown farm.  On top of the salad are little turnip chips – dehydrated turnip slices from turnips found at the Phoenixville Farmer’s Market during Week 1.  In the very front is that delicious back-porch dill and goat’s milk yogurt from Week 2 (frozen while we were away, and then thawed to enjoy again).  The chicken roulade is made with chicken again from Eberly Poultry – pounded out thin.  Inside the chicken is dill and basil from the deck, bacon from Country Time Farm, sundried tomatoes from last year’s garden, and ‘Dillicious’ cheese from Clover Creek Cheese Cellar.

Not Local: Olive oil for cooking the roulade and the salad dressing.

This meal gave me a whole lot of leftovers since I used the whole pound of chicken for the roulade and will likely keep me well fed for the week.  I still have the leftovers from last week’s meal in the freezer too!  I think I’ll make a trip to the Anselma Market on Wednesday to find ingredients for Week four.  If anyone knows of a source of local flour, I’d love to hear about it!  I might be up to try my hand at home made pasta for something different.

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OLS: Week 2

Posted on 11 June 2009
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Week 2 of One Local Summer is cooked and consumed already.

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I did say dill last week right? I should’ve said yogurt would be the theme of this week’s meal.  Let’s go over what’s on that plate.  In the front, Sugar Snap Peas picked up at Kimberton Whole Foods (KWF) in Kimberton, PA.  They were labelled as being grown locally, but didn’t mention which farm.  The skewered chicken, also found at KWF is from Eberly Poultry and was marinated in olive oil and lemon juice before being tossed on the grill.  The sauce over the chicken is a sort of cucumberless tzatziki sauce using goat’s milk yogurt from Shellbark Hollow Farm and dill from the deck planter.  In the back is wilted turnip greens from the Phoenixville Farmer’s Market with a few sun-dried tomatoes from last year’s garden (roasted and then frozen, thawed, dehydrated).  Dessert is the same goat’s milk yogurt with some fresh Lancaster County farm-stand strawberries blended in.

Non-local ingredients: Olive Oil, lemon juice, spices (marinade for the chicken)

Now let’s go over why I LOVE LOVE LOVE this meal.  First, my obsession with dill – it’s limitless.  I pretty much believe that dill belongs in everything and I love the Oregon Herb bread that the Great Harvest Bread Company makes because the herb pretty much means dill.  Sadly, I don’t think cucumbers are in season around here yet, but even without the cucumber, that tzatziki sauce was delicious.  MMMmm dill.  And the chicken with the marinade worked out perfectly – so soft and juicy and DELICIOUS.  But, my new find of the week and a new favorite is that goat’s milk yogurt from Shellbark Hollow Farm.  There’s something about the goat’s milk that gives the yogurt a little extra zip or zing or pizzazz.  You should go and check out the website for Shellbark Hollow and watching the “awwwww” inspiring videos on the goat of the month page.  I have a feeling that the goat’s milk products will be making a regular appearance in my diet now that I’ve found out how incredible they taste.  And now, as I sit here and digest that wonderful meal, I’m already making plans for the leftovers.. Frozen Goat’s Milk Strawberry Yogurt anyone?

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OLS: Week 1

Posted on 6 June 2009
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This is my first week doing the One Local Summer challenge.  Here’s my entry!

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In the front are some DELICIOUS oyster mushrooms from Oley Valley Mushrooms. In the back is a turkey breast from Mountain View Poultry, cooked up using the rotisserie in our mega toaster oven.  That toaster oven sees way more action than our big oven since it makes more sense for the two of us (and usually the one of me), using less energy and not heating up the whole house like the big oven does.  A 9×9 pan fits comfortably in the toaster oven which is generally more than enough for me.  The pesto sauce was made from the container full of basil on the back deck and was brushed on while the turkey was cooking as well as on the finished product.  Salad greens are from, well I can’t remember which farm was selling them at the Phoenixville Farmer’s Market, but they were the highlight of the whole plate, honest.  Crisp and fresh and very tasty.

Non-local items used: Olive oil (on the mushrooms, salad, and in the pesto sauce), Salt, Pepper, Pine nuts (Pesto sauce), and vinegar (salad).

Not bad for a first try, huh?  I found it really challenging to come up with something not using olive oil – I use it all the time and it’s difficult to think up a meal that doesn’t need some king of oil when cooking.  For next week, I think the dill plant will be up for a serious pruning.    :)

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One Local Summer

Posted on 30 May 2009
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I remember seeing the One Local Summer blog posts when we were getting settled into our new home that is conveniently located within walking distance of our local farmer’s market.  We have some really fantastic vendors and it’s a thing I’ve grown to love in the two years that we’ve lived here.  SUCH a wide variety of goods from bison to chicken and pork to all sorts of vegetables and some of the best bread I’ve ever had.  Having never participated, I figured this would be the year!  Admittedly, I’m not much of a cook, but I can do the basics when I have to and this gives me a fun summer goal and a way to eat better and eat locally grown goods.  So, here’s to the start of one local summer!

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