Blog Archives

One Local Summer 2012 – Week 22

Posted on 24 October 2012
by

DSC_0475

Another week down, this one cooked by the husband.  Husband had an outing with a friend to go ‘hunting’ for quail and pheasant.  They managed to get a few, and this is part of the result of that.  The hunt was local-ish so we’re calling it good for the Local Summer.  The dish is basically Waterzooi (a Belgian chicken stew) made local.  Waterzooi typically has cream added to it, but goat’s milk was easier to find, so we went with that.  The vegetables can be different depending on who you ask, so we’re pretty good there, using mushrooms, leeks, carrots, celeriac, onions, potatoes, and sage.  Everything was simmered together in a big pot with chicken stock we saved from the last time we did wings (using locally sourced chicken wings), so it’s very very local there.  The only thing that’s not are the spices.

Quail Waterzooi:
Quail – hunted and shot locally
Mushrooms – Oley Valley Mushrooms
Leeks – North Star Orchards
Carrots – North Star Orchards
Celeriac – Jack’s Farm
Onions – Jack’s Farm
Potatoes – Jack’s Farm
Goat’s Milk – Shellbark Hollow Farm
Sage – Back deck planters
Non Local – spices, salt, pepper

Leave a Reply ?

One Local Summer 2012 – Week 8

Posted on 29 June 2012
by

DSC_7022

Another meal by the husband, and the last one for a few weeks, unfortunately, as he’s back out to sea.  This one is pretty basic, but I just cannot get enough of those grilled vegetables.  We have a pork tenderloin and then carrots, potatoes, snap peas, and zucchini all tossed into the grill.  The vegetables were cooked toether in the grill wok with some salt, pepper, and olive oil, and the tenderloin was covered in a seasoning blend that isn’t local (Maple Jalapeno seasoning from Cabela’s), but is OH SO VERY GOOD.  Hopefully our little garden will be producing some vegetables soon.  The zucchini plants both have wee little baby zucchini on them, there’s a teeny watermelon, and loads of marble-sized tomatoes.

Pork and Vegetables:
Pork Tenderloin – Countrytime Farm
Zucchini – Jack’s Farm
Potatoes – Jack’s Farm
Snap Peas – Charlestown Farm
Carrots – Charlestown Farm
Mushrooms – Oley Valley Mushrooms
Non Local – Olive oil, Salt, Pepper, Maple Jalapeno Seasoning

Leave a Reply ?

One Local Summer 2012 – Week 5

Posted on 5 June 2012
by

DSC_5892

The husband is home again and took over full responsibility for this meal.  He went to the farmer’s market and picked everything out and even cooked it too!  The chicken is stuffed with spring onions, mushrooms, and blue cheese, served with grilled vegetables.  Again, all cooked out on the grill, and served with a local wine, Paradocx’s barn red.

Stuffed Chicken:
Chicken – Mt View Organics
Spring Onion – Jack’s Farm
Mushrooms – Oley Valey Mushrooms
Blue Cheese – Birchrun Hills Farm
Zucchini – Jack’s Farm
Carrots – Jack’s Farm
Wine – Paradocx, Barn Red
Non Local – Salt, pepper, olive oil

Leave a Reply ?

One Local Summer 2011 – Week 21

Posted on 1 November 2011
by

DSC_3817

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 

Leave a Reply ?

One Local Summer 2011 – Week 9

Posted on 9 July 2011
by

DSC_0355

The bison vendor at the Phoenixville Farmers Market caught my husband’s eye this past Saturday. We decided on brisket for this week’s meal, and brisket it was.  He decided to cook it in the smoker (the temperature is around 200-250 constantly) and lay on the smoke (applewood and hickory) pretty thick in the beginning.  It was also coated with a dry rub of a whole bunch of spices/seasonings (some non local, but I think that’s okay).  I think it worked out really well – the smoky flavor came out, but the meat was still tender and juicy.  The veggies were steamed quickly and tossed with some olive oil.

Bison Brisket:
Bison – Backyard Bison
Sugar Snap Peas – North Star Orchard
Carrots – Charlestown Farm
Cheese – Birchrun Hills (Fat Cat & Matilda’s Summer Tomme)
Sesame Semolina Bread – St. Peter’s Bakery
Maple Sugar – Miller’s Maple
Non Local – olive oil, paprika, pepper, garlic powder, salt

[ 2 Replies ]

One Local Summer – Week 25

Posted on 6 November 2010
by

DSC_5040

A friend pointed out, after the last post, that it’s definitely not summer anymore and perhaps I should change my title. I realized, at week 25, that we’re nearing a half year’s worth of local meals.  I’ve clearly somewhat lost my mind, but there are still new and incredible local vegetables out there and I’m determined to see if I can make it a whole year. The title is going to stand, because it started with a summer, and so long as there are vegetables growing, it’ll still be summer in my kitchen. I’m just going to not pay attention to those hard frosts we’ve already had. :)

This week! Dear friend Abbie was out for a visit and I subjected her again to a local meal. We made a chicken pot pie from scratch, and while the broth inside didn’t come out quite as thick as I would’ve wanted, the very vegetable-heavy chicken pot pie had us both coming back for seconds.

Chicken Pot Pie:
Daikon – Maysie’s Farm
Bread Flour – Mill at Anselma
Whole Wheat Flour – Mill at Anselma
Broccoli – Smith’s Produce
Onion – Maysie’s Farm. One red, one white.
Garlic – Maysie’s Farm
Carrots - Maysie’s Farm
Trumpet Mushrooms – Oley Valey Mushrooms
Chicken – Mountain View Organics
Non-local – Butter, salt, sugar

[ 1 Reply ]

One Local Summer – Week 23

Posted on 27 October 2010
by

DSC_4668

Here’s where I admit that we were a few days late getting this one done, but I’m catching up! This is a local version of Shepherd’s Pie using ground beef and local vegetables. It’s a really simple comfort food to make, easy to put together, bake, and voila! Local dinner. No real recipe on this one, just brown the beef, add vegetables, top with mashed potatoes and bake in the oven at 350 for about 30 minutes.

Shepherd’s Pie:
Ground Beef – Bethany Farm
Radish – Maysie’s Farm
Onion – Maysie’s Farm
Carrots – Maysie’s Farm
Potatoes – Smith’s Produce
Non-Local – Olive Oil, Spices.

Leave a Reply ?

One Local Summer – Week 22

Posted on 11 October 2010
by

DSC_4482

The husband decided that we ought to use up some ground bison and make his own special on-the-fly version of Italian Wedding Soup. This was a collaborative effort, and what we came up with is absolutely incredible. It’s far from traditional, but it was incredibly delicious and definitely something that will be made again. We had made chicken wings the night prior (boil wings, then throw on grill to crisp) so we had the chicken stock on hand already. Other than that, the recipe is below, feel free to print, use, and enjoy!

Italian Wedding Soup:
Bison – Backyard Bison
Red Onions – Maysie’s Farm
Garlic – Maysie’s Farm
Egg – Mt View Organics
Bread – LeBoon’s Homemade
Cilantro, Sage, Basil – My Garden
Carrots – Maysie’s Farm
Potatoes – Smith’s Produce
Chicken Broth – Boiled down from Mt View Organics wings (Tuesday Night’s dinner!)
Non-Local – Salt

Italian Wedding Soup Print Print
Ingredients – Meatballs Ingredients – Soup
1 lb ground bison 10 cups Chicken Broth (from 2lbs chicken, boiled)
2 cloves garlic, minced 2 Small Red Onions, Diced
1 egg 2 Carrots, sliced
1 slice Italian Bread, crumbled 8 Small Potatoes, cubed
Cilantro, Sage, Basil to taste 1 tsp Salt
12 large leaves of Spinach, chopped
Instructions:
  • Preheat oven to 350F.  Break egg into bowl, add bison, garlic, crumbled bread, and spices, mix together well with hands.
  • Roll into 1″ round meatballs, place on greased cookie tray and bake in oven for 20 minutes.
  • Heat broth on medium-high in large stock pot.
  • add onions, carrots, potatoes, and salt and simmer while meatballs are cooking.
  • Add meatballs to pot and simmer for 15 minutes.
  • Add spinach and simmer until wilted.
  • Top with your favorite grated cheese and enjoy!
  • Makes approximately 14 1-cup servings
    		•  DSC_4482
    Leave a Reply ?

    One Local Summer – Week 7

    Posted on 30 June 2010
    by

    DSC_2127

    Another week is on the books. Or Blog.  I’ve always been a big fan of Greek food and gyros in particular. So, this week, with dill running amok in the planter on the deck, I decided to prune it back a little, make some tzatziki and work up some chicken gyros.  This was also the first meal we had on our brand new patio, and what a way to start many summers of relaxing dinners!  MANY thanks to Ryan Steckel of Steckel Building for his amazing work on the patio.  We’re positively thrilled with the results.  Onto the ingredients!

    Chicken Gyro:
    Pretty basic, when you get down to it. Pitas were homemade using this recipe and really were more time consuming to make than difficult – I did substitute one cup of flour for whole wheat pastry flour and used plain old bread flour for the other two.  I decided to throw them on the super-hot pizza stone on the grill since it was just so incredibly hot this past week and I wasn’t going to heat up the house with any baking.  Turns out,  it worked out perfectly, once I got the hang of it.  The thinner the dough is and the hotter the stone is, the better the pitas puff up and shrink back down.  The chicken was marinated, skewered, and grilled while the pitas cooled a little, and the vegetables were in the grill wok on the next burner.
    Bread Flour – Anselma Mill
    Whole Wheat Pastry Flour – Anselma Mill
    Chicken – Mountain View Organics
    Oregano – Back deck planters (used in marinade for chicken with Olive Oil, Vinegar, and Lemon Juice)
    Tomatoes – Brogue Hydroponics
    Onions – Smith’s Produce
    Sharp II Chevre – Shellbark Hollow Farm
    Goat’s Milk Yogurt – Shellbark Hollow Farm.  Used this as the base for the Tzatziki
    Cucumbers – Smith’s Produce
    Dill – Back deck planters
    Non-Local: Salt, Sugar, Olive Oil, Yeast, Pepper, Lemon Juice

    Vegetables:
    These cooked up and were so tasty.  The first zucchini of the year are always my favorite.
    Zucchini – Smith’s Produce
    Yellow Squash – Smith’s Produce
    Carrots - Jack’s Farm
    Non-Local – Salad Dressing as a marinade

    Leave a Reply ?

    OLS: Week 6

    Posted on 10 July 2009
    by

    DSC_3383

    Week six of One Local Summer and it’s almost the mid-point of the thirteen week challenge. The husband decided to take the lead on this week’s meal with no objection from me.  In the back is a pile of mashed turnips and carrots with maple sugar added for flavor.  Clockwise, next is a Bison Meatloaf using ground bison, tomatoes, garlic scapes, swiss cheese, an egg, and last year’s frozen tomato sauce.  Finally, sugar snap peas finish the plate.  In the wine glass is a Strawberry wine.  It was a great meal, and even better, I didn’t have to cook it!

    Rundown of ingredients:
    Turnips: Willow Creek Orchards
    Carrots: Willow Creek Orchards
    Maple Sugar: Miller’s Maple
    Bison: Backyard Bison
    Garlic Scapes: Willow Creek Orchards
    Tomatoes: Lancaster County (via Willow Creek)
    Tomato Sauce: My garden, last year
    Egg: Pleasant View Farms (via Willow Creek)
    Swiss Cheese: Hendricks (via Willow Creek)
    Snap Peas: Willow Creek Orchards
    Wine: Mount Hope Vineyards

    [ 1 Reply ]