snap peas – Sheetar.com

One Local Summer 2016 – Week 4

By Sheetar 2 June 2016 31 May 2016

Week four, cooked and consumed already during our One Local Summer. Husband was home again this weekend, so I was happy to step aside and let him take charge of the kitchen! The vegetable supply is really starting to diversify since so many farmers start seeds early, so we already have zucchini and snap peas available. The meal is a veal chop marinated in vinegar, salt and pepper, cider, and cilantro then grilled with some cheese on top. On the side are grilled carrots, snap peas, and zucchini and some more cheese (because there can always be more cheese), paired with a nice leafy green salad tossed with some olive oil and vinegar, and a glass of homebrewed cider. The cider we had here actually finished off a 5 gallon keg we’ve been nursing for over a year now, but fortunately we have the next batch ready to go, made from apples picked at my grandparents’ home some four hours west of where we live. Since the apples followed us on a trip we would’ve made anyway, I include them into local summer since their “food miles” didn’t count as just transporting food. We crushed and pressed the apples into cider ourselves, gave the juice some yeast, and let it do its thing. The resulting cider came out tart and dry, just how I like it, so while I’m a little sad to see this keg go, I’m also eager to see how the second batch tastes! Anyway, enough about the cider, the meal was a nice way to cap off the long holiday weekend since this was Monday’s dinner before husband left again for the week. Hopefully he’ll get in one last OLS meal before heading out on a long stretch for work, and then it’s all on me! I may have to entice some guest chefs to visit and contribute (read: beg friends to cook for me) during the summer.

Ingredients:

Veal Chop – Birchrun Hills
Cheese spread – Birchrun Hills, Herb Cheese
Cheese – Birchrun Hills, Equinox
Zucchini – Jack’s Farm
Snap Peas – Jack’s Farm
Carrots – Charlestown Farm
Lettuce – Charlestown Farm
Cilantro – Our Garden
Cider – “Pine Haven” homebrew cider
Non Local – Olive oil, balsamic vinegar, homemade vinegar, salt, pepper

One Local Summer

One Local Summer 2015 – Week 5

By Sheetar 5 June 2015 4 June 2015

Husband took the cooking reins again and grilled up a delicious dinner. The veal tenderloin was marinaded in red wine, salt, vinegar, and freshly ground pepper and then cooked on the grill. The spinach was steamed and seasoned with salt and a touch of vinegar. The last thing on the main plate is a chunk of blue cheese that rounded out the palate of flavors on the plate. In the salad bowl are mushrooms and snap peas over a bed of mixed greens, dressed with a mix of red wine, vinegar, and olive oil. The wine is from Seven Mountains Winery and isn’t exactly local since it’s about 2.5 hours away, but it’s on the way out to my grandma’s house, so we consider it local since it’s a trip we would’ve made anyway, not a special trip just to pick up the wine. It’s absolutely delicious with hints of honey and a nice, crisp dry finish.

Ingredients:
Cheese – Birchrun Hills, Blue
Veal Tenderloin – Birchrun Hills
Spinach – Jack’s Farm
Mushrooms – Oley Valley Mushrooms
Snap Peas – Jack’s Farm
Mixed Greens – Jack’s Farm
Wine Marinade – Paradocx, Barn Red
Wine – Seven Mountains, Dry Riesling
Non Local – Salt, Pepper, Homemade Vinegar, Olive Oil,

One Local Summer

One Local Summer 2015 – Week 4

By Sheetar 27 May 2015 27 May 2015

Another wonderful week of local food! We’re getting some awesome vegetables ripening, and strawberries are ready for picking. We’re probably a week ahead, even after the very long, late winter, mostly thanks to a TON of rain in April and then three weeks of full sun. We could use the rain now though, but it isn’t stopping our local providers from having some great food for us to enjoy. Husband and I worked together on this one – he did the main plate and I worked up the salad. We have a pork butt steak cooked on the grill, rubbed with maple sugar, salt, and pepper and marinated in malt vinegar. Then there are carrots with a touch of maple syrup, another chunk of homemade gouda with milk from a local farm, and cucumbers in vinegar with salt and pepper. In the salad, we have DELICIOUS strawberries over a bowl of mixed greens and snap peas, dressed with an olive oil, wine, and homemade vinegar dressing. To finish things off, there’s a glass of homebrewed peach ice wine.

Ingredients:
Port Butt Steak – Countrytime Farm
Cucumbers – Jack’s Farm
Carrots – Jack’s Farm
Cheese – Milk from Birchrun Hills
Strawberries – Charlestown Farm
Mixed Greens – Jack’s Farm and Charlestown Farm
Snap Peas – Jack’s Farm
Maple Syrup – Miller’s Maple
Maple Sugar – Miller’s Maple
Wine – Paradocx Barn Red
Non Local – Salt, Pepper, Homemade vinegar, Homebrewed peach ice wine, olive oil

One Local Summer

One Local Summer 2015 – Week 1

By Sheetar 10 May 2015 9 May 2015

This is our SEVENTH year of One Local Summer and it’s hard to believe it’s been that long already. If you’re not familiar with the One Local Summer thing, it was a challenge started locally by Farm to Philly. The basic rules were make one meal a week using only local ingredients allowing for exceptions like salt, pepper, and oil. The challenge encouraged participants to visit farmer’s markets, farm stands, and get to know your local producers. It reduces “food miles” (the amount of resources from gas to man hours spent on getting a product to you) which means less of a tax on the environment to make a meal, thereby reducing your carbon footprint. I know that sounds a little hippie crunchy granola, but it makes sense. If you can get amazing locally grown asparagus, why eat asparagus that was trucked in from California? Plus, it supports your local economy and helps local, hard-working farmers who take pride in what they do and care about the crops/animals they raise. Over the years we’ve found everything from butter to flour, beef and bison, eggs and an amazing array of vegetables, but there’s always something new to make! It encourages us to eat healthy (free-range eggs, beef, bison, etc all are far healtheir for you than their commercially-raised quivalents) and be creative in the kitchen. In fact, during the summer months, it’s fairly likely that all of our meals are 90% or more local at this point! It’s become more of a way of living for us than just an annual challenge, but it’s still fun to concentrate on that one special meal a week that’s all local.

Explanation out of the way, our local farmer’s market, the Phoenixville Farmers Market, had their opening weekened on May 2nd. It was SO nice to see our favorite vendors back for the regular season – you really get to know these folks, seeing them every weekend for so many years, and it brightens my week to see familiar smiling faces and have a quick chat with my favorite vendors. Words can’t really accurately describe the wonderful little community we have in this market and I am truly grateful that it exists and has grown SO much. I’m rambling on again, aren’t I? That plate! Okay, back on track. Lots of greens! Earlier on in the season, there are SO many delightful greens available (mustard greens, pea shoots, lettuce, bok choi) and I HAPPILY scoop them up to include in our meals. Asparagus is another early season favorite, the mushroom guy grows year round in a climate-controlled mushroom house, plus the chicken (grilled with home-grown saffron on top!) which all made for a really full plate for dinner. It’s paired with a cool glass of homebrewed mead made with honey from local bees. The whole thing was enjoyed on a warm evening on the patio, and it was just the perfect end to the day.

Ingredients:
Chicken – Deep Roots Valley Farm
White Trumpet Mushrooms – Oley Valley Mushrooms
Snap Peas – Jack’s Farm
Pea Shoots – Jack’s Farm
Mixed Greens – Charlestown Farm
Asparagus –Hill Creek Farm
Non Local – Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper, Balsamic Vinegar