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One Local Summer 2011 – Week 8

Posted on 8 July 2011
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I’m late getting this one posted, but it was cooked during week 8, honest! We had an abundance of dill growing in the planter on our deck, so I decided to make some tzatziki, one of my summer favorites. It’s just cucumbers in yogurt with dill, but I LOVE dill like nobody’s business.  Husband grilled up the chicken to perfection, and our guest, Abbie, slid all the vegetables (squash, onions, and bok choy) onto a skewer that also went onto the grill.  Pretty basic, but it was DELICIOUS and we were able to put it together last-minute before dinner.

Chicken with tzatziki and vegetables:
Chicken – Mt. View Organics
Cucumbers – North Star Orchard
Dill – My Garden
Squash – North Star Orchard
Candy Onion – Smith’s Produce (Anselma Market)
Bok Choy – North Star Orchard
Smoked Sea Salt – Pureblend Teas
Non local – olive oil, pepper, red wine vinegar

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One Local Summer 2011 – Week 4

Posted on 1 June 2011
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Some of my favorite spring vegetables are finally ready to harvest and I’m just thrilled!  This meal features items from vendors at both the Phoenixville Farmer’s Market and the Mill at Anselma Market.  This one was all me this week and I found a bunch of fresh vegetables to toss in a creamy, white wine sauce along with a crust of Focaccia and some chicken.  The pasta is the same old recipe I use every time I make pasta (1 cup whole wheat pastry flour, one tbsp olive oil, and 4 tbsp water [or one egg if you want egg pasta], add extra water to acheive the right consistency).  With the power of our Kitchen Aid Mixer and the pasta roller/cutter attachment, this is really an easy process, and nothing beats making your own pasta.  Sometime this summer, I have to figure out how to make flavored pastas by using vegetable puree in place of water.  For the wine, I uncorked a bottle of Riesling we brewed up at home.  It’s not entirely local, but it was made in our own kitchen, so that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.  The sauce didn’t quite thicken and become creamy like I had hoped, but it’s still delicious, and infused itself into the vegetables.  YUM.  The chicken was marinated in wine and oil and cooked on the grill to perfection.  All in all, the meal was REALLY delicious and I’m happy there are leftovers.

Spring Vegetable Pasta
Whole Wheat Pastry Flour – Mill at Anselma
Chicken – Mt. View Organics
Focaccia – St. Peter’s Bakery
Sun Dried Tomato Cheese Spread – Birchrun Hills
Spinach – Maysie’s Farm
Crimini Mushrooms – Oley Valley Mushrooms
Asparagus – Hoagland Farm
Broccoli – Smith’s Produce
Spring Garlic – Brogue Hydroponics
Non Local – Olive Oil, Riesling (homebrewed!), pepper

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One Local Summer – Week 25

Posted on 6 November 2010
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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

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One Local Summer – Week 11

Posted on 31 July 2010
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I’m a little behind on blog posts, but better late than never! This week I fired up the grill and stuffed some chicken breasts. Lettuce, in July, you say? YES! Brogue Hydroponics grows it all year round, and by now, I think the One Local Summer readers know that I love my greens.  So, clockwise, starting on the left, we have grilled squash, in the back is a salad with lettuce, mushrooms, and my first cucumbers from the garden, and in the front chicken stuffed with chevre, mushrooms, and peppers and grilled with a peach slice on top.  Detail of the ingredients follows and this was certainly a delicious and filling meal!

Squash:
Zucchini – Smith’s Produce
Yellow Squash – Smith’s Produce

Salad:
Lettuce – Brogue Hydroponics
Mushrooms – Oley Valley Mushrooms, Crimini variety
Cucumbers – My garden! White Ghost variety
Non-Local – Salad dressing

Chicken:
Chicken breast – Mountain View Organics
Mushrooms – Oley Valley Mushrooms, Crimini variety
Peppers – That same producer at Anselma Mill that I can’t remember the name (still!)
Chevre – Shellbark Hollow Farm. This is their Sharp II Chevre.
Peach – Northstar Orchard

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One Local Summer – Week 9

Posted on 13 July 2010
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Rotisserie chicken and grilled vegetables was on the menu for this week. I picked up a whole chicken and a bunch of different vegetables for the grill wok. The chicken was basted with some non-local jelly and olive oil, but otherwise, everything else is local!

Chicken:
Whole Chicken – Why Not Farm

Vegetables:
Onion – Smith’s Produce
Tomatoes – Brogue Hydroponics
Flying Saucer Squash – I can’t remember which stand this one came from, but it was delicious!
Portabella Mushrooms – Marsh Creek Farm

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One Local Summer – Week 7

Posted on 30 June 2010
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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

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One Local Summer – Week 3

Posted on 30 May 2010
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Week three brings us Shiitake Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo with a salad covered in Portabella mushrooms.  I really cannot get enough of those crispy spring greens and they’ve been making an appearance at every meal.  The ‘alfredo’ sauce was home made, and while it didn’t come out just like the store-bought stuff, it was pretty good for using only local ingredients.  I probably could’ve added a hunk of cheese to make it more flavorful, but didn’t happen to have any on hand.  I’m a little late getting this one posted (week 4 is cooked and consumed already!), but, better late than never, right?  Here’s the run-down.

Fettuccine:
My basic recipe consists of one cup whole wheat pastry flour, one egg, a teaspoon of olive oil and water to make proper consistency.  Then the good ole KitchenAid Mixer with pasta roller/cutter attachment does the rest!
Flour - Mill at Anselma
Egg – Mountain View Organics
Non-Local – Olive Oil

Chicken:
Chicken was marinated in olive oil, pepper and italian seasoning, then tossed on the grill.
Chicken – Mountain View Organics
Non-Local – Pepper, salt, olive oil

Sauce:
I’m not going to provide the recipe because it didn’t come out right, but I’ll give you a basic idea. Mushrooms and spring garlic were sauteed in some olive oil. Melted butter and added flour to thicken to a roux. Then added milk and goat’s milk yogurt to make consistency.
Raw Milk – Kimberton Hills Dairy
Goat’s Milk Yogurt – Shellbark Hollow Farm
Flour - Mill at Anselma
Spring Garlic – Jack’s Farm
Mushrooms – Oley Valley Mushrooms
Non-Local – Butter, Olive Oil

Salad:
Spring Mix Greens – Jack’s Farm
Portabella Mushrooms – Oley Valley Mushrooms
Non-Local – Salad Dressing

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One Local Summer – Week 1

Posted on 10 May 2010
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I don’t think farmtophilly.com is doing the One Local Summer challenge again, so I figured I’d just do it on my own for the duration of the summer Phoenixville Farmer’s Market.  This past weekend was the first market for the regular season and wow was it incredible.  There were so many great vendors, and the market was PACKED!  So nice to see.  So, the meal!

Clockwise, starting with the pile of mushrooms..

Salad:
Portabella mushrooms – Oley Valley Mushrooms.  Always delicious.
Mixed Greens – Jack’s Farm.  Crisp and clean.  Perfect.
Blue Cheese – Birchrun Hills.   This blue cheese is incredible and a household favorite.

Bread:
Bread – Sweetwater Bakery.   The ingredients may not be entirely local, but the baking sure is.  This is the first time we’ve tried their bread and we were definitely not disappointed.

Chicken Roulade:
Chicken – Mountain View Organics.  Pounded out thin
Bacon – Countrytime Farm.  Nitrate free, and if you’ve never had nitrate free bacon?  This stuff is amazing.
Mushrooms –  Oley Valley Mushrooms.  Same Portabella’s as the salad, and they cooked up perfectly.
Blue Cheese – Birchrun Hills.  Same as in the Salad.

Non-Local:
We marinated the chicken in  homebrewed beer, garlic, and spices, then added some BBQ sauce (mixed with Tangerine juice, maple syrup, and Good Ole Jack) and some other spices on the outside (paprika, Montreal Chicken Seasoning) while it was cooking up in the smoker.

This was a pretty easy one.  The bacon stayed soft inside the roulade and the fat also kept the chicken moist, not to mention the slow-cooking in the smoker aided as well.  The Husband decided to not use mushrooms in his (blasphemy, I know), but did come up with an excellent BBQ sauce and spiced the outside just right.

I’m so excited for another Local Summer to get started, I’m already planning a whole bunch of meals in my head for the next few weeks until my backyard vegetable garden gets growing!

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OLS: Week 13

Posted on 30 August 2009
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One Local Summer’s last meal is on the table and consumed already.  I can’t believe we made it to the end of the challenge and participated in every single week!  This week, we threw a whole chicken in the smoker with some barbeque sauce leftover from the pulled pork sandwiches and let her cook up while some zucchini, garlic, basil, onions, and peppers were simmered together with last year’s tomato sauce from the garden.  I decided to pop open a jar of the zucchini pickles, and WOW are they delicious.  Definitely worth doing again next year.  Non-Local ingredients include some vinegar, mustard seed, turmeric (pickles), olive oil, and McCormick’s Chicken Rub.  Here’s the rundown of local ingredients.

Zucchini: My Garden
Basil: Back Deck Garden
Peppers: My Garden
Garlic: Willow Creek
Onions: North Star Orchard
Chicken: Mt. View Organics
Barbeque sauce: Leftover from Week 11
Wine: New Hope Winery’s Raspberry Wine

Final thoughts – I’m SO glad I participated in this year’s challenge and I can’t wait to do it again.  This challenge has gotten me into local foods and has actually gotten me cooking (something that shocked and amazed my family and friends).  I hope to continue doing one local meal a week since our Phoenixville Farmer’s Market is open year-round and I can get most items (except for seasonal vegetables) regularly.  Thanks to the folks at FarmToPhilly.com for hosting the challenge!

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Zucchini Week: Day 7

Posted on 9 August 2009
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Day 7, a week late. Oops. I’m a bad, bad blogger. Well, the meal was made on day seven, however the picture didn’t make it off the camera until today. Yeah. Anyway, in all of its glory, I present to you my own creation, a zucchini pasta salad. The idea took form after I realized I could make pasta noodles from zucchini using my mandoline. Since I heavily modify recipes anyway, I’m just going to give you the basics of what I did. Onions were browned in some olive oil, then the tomatoes were added along with the zucchini and a bit of homebrewed beer. While that was simmering, I grilled the chicken and portobello mushrooms. The mix on the stove went into the fridge after the liquid was drained and so did the finished chicken and mushrooms. After everything was well chilled, I brought it out, sliced the chicken and mushrooms, added some local blue cheese on top and finished it off with a blackberry vinegarette (Olive oil, crushed blackberries, red wine vinegar, fresh basil). All the flavors worked well together and it made for a light afternoon lunch. Zucchini Pasta Salad – My Own Recipe
Ingredients Used:
*Zucchini – my garden
*Tomatoes – Charlestown Farm
*Mushrooms – Oley Valley Mushrooms
*Cheese – Birchrun Hills Farm
*Chicken – Eberly Poultry
*Onion – North Star Orchard
*Blackberries – Willow Creek
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