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One Local Summer 2011 – Week 4

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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

One Local Summer 2011 – Week 3

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Husband was in charge yet again of this one.  We’d had a fancy blue cheese wedge salad at a restaurant and thought, hey, we could do this locally.  So, a big chunk of lettuce covered in blue cheese, blue cheese dressing, and most importantly bacon, add a slice of bread, and we have a meal.  The dressing came out REALLY well even though we didn’t have buttermilk and sour cream, but the yogurt is pretty tangy to begin with, so it worked out.

Wedge Salad
Lettuce – Jack’s Farm
Spring Garlic – Jack’s Farm
Bacon – Countrytime Farm
Blue Cheese – Birchrun Hills Farm
Goat’s Milk Yogurt – Shellbark Hollow
Smoked Sea Salt – Pureblend Tea
Sesame French Bread – Sweetwater Baking
Riesling – Mount Hope Winery
Non Local –  pepper, worchestershire sauce

One Local Summer 2011 – Week 2

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We had picked up chip steak from Backyard Bison last week, knowing full well that we were going to do Philly Cheesesteaks, Local Summer style this week.  So, all we needed were mushrooms, something resembling an onion, cheese, and some bread to finish the meal.  Husband took the reins on this one and had everything ready to go for lunch when I got home.  Perfect!  The bread was supposed to be St. Peter’s Bakery’s rustic white, but somehow we ended up with an olive loaf instead (honest mistake) which worked out alright anyway!

Philly Cheesesteak
Bison Chip Steak – Backyard Bison
Crimini Mushrooms – Oley Valley Mushrooms
Experimental Cheese – Birchrun Hills Farm
Spring Garlic – Jack’s Farm
Bread – St. Peter’s Bakery
Smoked Sea Salt – Pureblend Teas
Non Local – olive oil, pepper

One Local Summer – Week 3

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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