Tag: <span>onions</span>

One Local Summer 2013 – Week 15

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The husband took lead on this dinner and I’m glad to have him back again!  I don’t know why we never thought of it before, what with the Bison vendor and the pork vendor just a booth away from eachother, but we finally did it – Filet Mignon wrapped in bacon!  One of the most delicious combinations to ever grace the grill, and the husband managed to cook the filet exactly to my specifications (brown the whole way through, but still tender, yes, I know I’m a freak about how red meat is cooked).  The bacon kept the filet extra juicy and it really is a winning combination.  To finish off the plate, we had a grilled peach covered in Equinox cheese, and potatoes grilled with onions and garlic.  Good ole meat and potatoes, but a classy meat and potatoes, I think.  Such a shame there isn’t more!  And, before I forget to mention it, there really is nothing in the world better than nitrate free bacon from our favorite pork vendor at the market – this stuff is SO SO SO beyond anything I’ve ever gotten in the grocery store.

Bacon Wrapped Filet with Potatoes and a Grilled Peach:
Bacon – Countrytime Farm
Blue Potatoes – Jack’s Farm
Onion – Jack’s Farm
Garlic – North Star Orchard
Cheese – Birchrun Hills
Bison Filet Mignon – Backyard Bison
Non local – Olive oil, salt, pepper

One Local Summer 2013 – Week 12

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I’m sort of split on this one.  I had a great idea, it just ended up being poorly executed mostly due to a bad recipe.  Yep, that’s supposed to be a taco shell.  Unfortunately, I used this recipe, instead of the one I had used before, and got what’s basically a cornmeal crepe instead of a hard taco shell.  It leaks, doesn’t hold together, and it basically rubbish.  Everything else was great though – the ground pork came out great, the squash was wonderful, the fruit sweet, and the sheep’s milk feta cheese!  YUM!  Oh well, at least I know better for next time!  A quick note on the nectarine and plum – our local orchard was hit by a hail storm earlier this season and fruit has been pretty scarce in comparison with prior years.  They put up a sign on their fruit bins at the market that the fruit is, “Hail kissed but still delicious!”  It makes me laugh every time, and they’re right.  Visual imperfections don’t make the fruit taste any different.

Pork Tacos and Fruit:
Cantaloupe – Brogue Hydroponics
Nectarine – North Star Orchard
Plum – North Star Orchard
Egg – Deep Roots Valley Farm
Flour – Mill at Anselma
Cornmeal – Mill at Anselma
Squash – Maysie’s Farm
Ground Pork –  Bendy Brook Farm
Onion – Maysie’s Farm
Tomato – Maysie’s Farm
Sheep’s Milk Feta – King’s Creamery
Lettuce – Brogue Hydroponics
Non Local – olive oil, salt, pepper, taco seasoning

One Local Summer 2013 – Week 10

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TEN weeks already – time is flying by.  Husband cooked up this one as well, as you can tell from his summertime favorite there on the plate, a grilled peach with cheese.  We picked up a pork loin at the farmer’s market and he cooked that up on the rotisserie on the grill after having rubbed it down with his signature pork rub (the same one from the pork butt).  Add in some vegetables, and it makes a meal!  Short and sweet this week, but it was really delicious.

Pork Loin and Vegetables:
Pork Loin – Countrytime Farm
Zucchini –  North Star Orchard
Onion –  North Star Orchard
Tomatoes –  North Star Orchard
Peaches – North Star Orchard
Cheese – Birchrun Hills
Non local – spices, salt, pepper, olive oil

One Local Summer 2013 – Week 8

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I finally had a chance to incorporate pasta this week!  I had some peaches and golden beets from Saturday’s farmers market trip, so I incorporated those into the pasta and sauce, using a puree of the beets and peaches to be my liquid in the pasta dough (1/4 cup liquid to 1 cup flour).  What’s great about making your own pasta is that you can substitute any liquid or puree and make some really neat pasta.  The color doesn’t show up in this one, but the flavor did – the peaches added an interesting sweetness.  The sauce was made from a whole bunch of leftover vegetables in the fridge.  I had some tomatoes on hand, threw in onions, garlic scapes, and the leftover puree from the pasta.  It made the sauce a more orangey color, but was still delicious.  The chicken sausage was leftover in the freezer from the prior chicken vendor at the market who moved to Florida over the winter.  I miss her, but I did stock up well before she left!

Peachy Pasta with Potatoes and Chicken Sausage:
Chicken Florentine Sausage – Mountain View Organics
Potatoes – Jack’s Farm
Whole Wheat Pastry Flour – Mill at Anselma
Garlic Scapes – Jack’s Farm
Clipper Cheese – Birchrun Hills
Tomatoes – Jack’s Farm
Golden Beets – Charlestown Farm
Onion – Jack’s Farm
Non local – Olive oil, salt, pepper

One Local Summer 2013 – Week 7

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A sort of impromptu dinner with a friend made this week’s meal.  I happened to not have made my meal for the week when she arrived for a visit over the long holiday weekend, but I happened to have lettuce and a bunch of vegetables in the fridge, so we put together our own BIG salads.  The dressing was dill, goat’s millk yogurt, roasted garlic, and onions all blended together – it came out a little thin, but it tasted great.  The vegetables are more snap peas, zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers and a ton of lettuce.  Not bad for a last minute meal, and not a single non-local ingredient was used!  The dressing container, in case you’re wondering, is a mason jar with a ReCap lid on top – they’re a fantastic invention, built from a Kickstarter project that I helped fund.  They’re now selling the caps here!

Summer Salad:
Tomatoes – Jack’s Farm
Cucumber – Jack’s Farm
Zucchini – Jack’s Farm
Lettuce – Jack’s Farm
Garlic – North Star Orchards
Onions – Jack’s Farm
Dill – Jack’s Farm
Goat’s Milk Yogurt – Shellbark Hollow Farm

One Local Summer 2013 – Week 4

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And here we have week four – a Bison stir fry.  The farmer’s market had their first zucchini of the year and I was SO excited to see all the new vegetables at the market, so I grabbed a bunch of different ones, added some bison and sauce and VOILA!  The sauce was definitely not local, but necessary.  The bison vendor advised that the chuck steak would work best and to marinate it overnight in the sauce to make it nice and tender -worked like a charm.  I still have some leftovers from this meal, since it made such a huge pot, but they’re going fast.

Bison Stir Fry:
Zucchini – Jack’s Farm
Carrots – Charlestown Farm
Bison – Backyard Bison
Garlic Scapes – Jack’s Farm
Broccoli – Charlestown Farm
Shiitake Mushrooms – Oley Valley Mushrooms
Onions – North Star Orchards
Non Local – General Tso sauce, soy sauce

 

One Local Summer 2012 – Week 22

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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

One Local Summer 2012 – Week 20

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I decided to go for something well outside my comfort range this week.  I’m not the world’s most daring cook, and tend to stick with easy things that I know.  I saw that our local poultry farmer had cornish hens, so I figured hey, wee little chicken, if anything goes wrong, I’m not ruining a whole bird.  In fact, she gave me a few ideas and some tips, and it came out great.  The wee little bird is stuffed with apples from our local orchard and some onion.  The potatoes and acorn squash were cubed and put in tin foil on the grill, as was the hen.  Everything came out great and made for a very filling meal.  I just love being able to cook everything on the grill and not make a mess of the kitchen!

Cornish Game Hen, Potatoes, and Squash:
Hen – Mt View Organics
Potatoes – Jack’s Farm
Acorn Squash – Charlestown Farm
Apples – North Star Orchard
Onion – Jack’s Farm
Non local – spices, olive oil, pepper, salt