Pasta Piñon Verde
By Leslie Kedash
El Farol sits at the end of Canyon Road in Santa Fe, New Mexico and is that town’s oldest restaurant/bar. A small, funky but endearing combination of western and adobe, white walls, vigas and creaky wooden floors.
When out there we often make this our last stop on a night out. Local “color” is there in abundance and there are fine area musicians who play there each weekend. More than once a local has mentioned that in the late 1800s, hangings used to take place across the road where there tree still stands. Seems that folks used to gather at El Farol to drink coffee and such on those occasions.
It’s a bit more civilized today and the restaurant serves Tapas (a collection of small dishes brought out on a platter and eaten as a main course) in the evening before the entertainment begins. The menu is varied and well rendered. This recipe is from El Farol’s Cookbook: El Farol Tapas and Spanish Cuisine. Enjoy, we surely did.
Pasta Piñon Verde
Bow tie pasta with Pine Nuts, Cream, and Poblano Chiles
Makes 8 small plates of pasta as a Tapa
2 quarts of water
Pinch of salt
1 pound farfalle (bow tie) pasta
1/2 yellow onion diced
1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
1/8 cup butter
3 tablespoons white wine
1 pint heavy cream
2 poblano chiles, roasted, peeled, and chopped
1 handful of shelled piñons or pine nuts
1/2 cup grated manchego or Parmesan cheese
salt and cracked black pepper to taste
2 tomatoes, diced
Boil 2 quarts of water with a pinch of salt. Cook pasta for about 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente. While pasta is coking, sauté onion and garlic in butter until soft, and then deglaze the pan with the white wine. Add cream, poblano chiles, and piñons to the sauté pan and bring to a boil. Cook on high heat for about 2 minutes. turn off the heat and stir in the cheese. Drain the pasta and, while it is still hot, toss with the cream sauce. Add salt and pepper and serve topped with diced fresh tomatoes.
Honeybee: Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper
By Cate Hennessey
Honeybee: Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper, by C. Marina Marchese. Black Dog and Leventhal: 2009. 256 pages.
My first memory of honey comes from my father. Saturday mornings, he liked to spoon the golden sweet onto buttered toast and then fold the toast in half. Before bringing it to his mouth, he murmured, “The food of the gods!”
I agreed with him and ate my toast exactly the same way. I still do.
The other constant about honey in my life has been that it comes from the grocery store in a squeezable plastic container – sometimes bear-shaped, sometimes vase-shaped. It’s found in the aisle with the peanut butter and jelly, and then, once purchased, sits in the pantry with baking supplies.
C. Marina Marchese’s Honeybee: Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper has made me whisk that honey from the pantry and examine it – as well as the honeybees that produced it — in a whole new light.
At first blush, the book may seem like it belongs on the city-person-turned-agricultural-pioneer bookshelf. Certainly, Marchese chronicles the first year of her journey from bee neophyte to beekeeper extraordinaire. (She eventually leaves her “real world” job as a designer to begin her own bee business, Red Bee.)
But the book’s center is not Marchese at all. Rather, it focuses on the creatures that provide her livelihood. As a result, the pages delve into the intricacies of the honeybee — its anatomy, sociology, lifecycle, and vital role in agriculture. In short, the honeybees make fruit and vegetable production possible; without the honeybee, our food supply would collapse.
If the importance of the honeybee to agriculture isn’t impressive enough, Marchese details the role of honey, beeswax, and the honeybee in history, covering countries as (more…)
Bring in the New Year with Fish House Punch
By Leslie Kedash
As a child, it seemed like my parents had a lot of books. We moved more often than I would have liked, but in each new home, a special place was found to house that ever growing collection. I remember being fascinated by the leather binding, gilt titles and eventually, the type design on each cover.
Today’s recipe comes from that collection via a book called Here’s How, a cookbook of mixed drinks published in 1941. The book always intrigued me, more for its wood cover, metal hinges and leather binding than the illicit concoctions listed inside.
While the book has recipes for hundreds of cocktails, many long since faded away, one that caught my eye is Fish House Punch. With a name like that, some digging was in order. The date of origin of this potent brew is debated but here are two versions extracted from Wikipedia:
This most venerable of American flowing bowls is held to have been first concocted in 1732 at Philadelphia’s fishing club, the Schuylkill Fishing Company also known as the ‘Fish House.’ The Fish House was an august gentleman’s society devoted to escaping domestic tribulation, but also to cigars, whiskey and the occasional fishing foray upon the Chesapeake or the Restigouche River in Nova Scotia.
Another version states that it was created in 1848 by Shippen Willing of Philadelphia, to celebrate the momentous occasion of women being allowed into the premises of the ‘Fish House” for the first time in order to enliven the annual Christmas Party. It was supposed to be just something to please the ladies’ palate but get them livelier than is their usual wont.
The drink even has its own poem:
Fish House Punch
There’s a little place just out of town,
Where, if you go to lunch,
They’ll make you forget your mother-in-law
With a drink called Fish-House Punch.
The Cook (1885)
submitted by a descendant of Shipping Willing
A decent batch consists of:
30 limes, cut in half and squeezed, such pulp as gets through is fine
15 lemons, treat as above
This constitutes a “part” for measuring the rest of the ingredients:
1 part dark rum
2 parts light rum… Use a reasonable quality, these are friends you will be poisoning so treat them well
1 part brandy
1 part brown sugar
1 part water, in the form of a block of ice
Put sugar into a suitable container that has a tight lid. Gently work the citrus into the sugar until wetted out and then add the rest of the ingredients.
Ease the ice into the container gently as we do not want to waste any of this precious stuff! Gently “bail” the mix over the ice, cap it and repeat this every couple of hours until time to serve it.
This is the most important part: do the preparation and mixing early in the morning the day of the party and mix the ingredients every few hours to “mellow” them together into what will be a most refreshing punch. It is most proper to sample the batch each time it is mixed, to monitor the manner in which the materials are melding together.
Wishing you all a Happy New Year.
Winter Harvest Still Available
By Margaret Gilmour
I’m not crazy about the super-cold weather.
Fireplaces, mittens and warm boots help me get through the colder months (along with hot cider).
And there’s another guaranteed pick-me-up: A visit to one of the winter markets, where you can bundle up and fill your sack with local goods all season long.
Last year I bought a plentiful supply of carrots and potatoes from the Phoenixville Winter Market, along with Birchrun Blue Cheese (absolutely one of my favorites). The root vegetables remained fresh up until the last frost (the blue cheese, though—lasted about a week. Too good to save).
This year we have more options to buy fresh, local food and artisan goods. Especially in December, when it feels good to spread Holiday cheer as you shop, and by chance, bump into a neighbor or two.
Here’s where to go:
Lancaster Farm Fresh’s 4 Season Harvest Program:
Inverbrook Farm is now a drop-off site for Lancaster Farm Fresh’s, 4- Season Harvest Program.
Lancaster farm Fresh is a local farmer-run, organic growers cooperative serving all of Eastern Pennsylvania, New York City, and most of the tri-state area to connect the farmer and the customer.
The drop-off begins Tuesday, November 17th and continues each Tuesday at least through Christmas. After that, it all depends on the weather: snow problems or very, very cold temperatures can mess up the delivery.
There’s no limit to how many 4-Season Harvest members can join.
Sign up through Lancaster Farm Fresh. Preorder online before pick up. Also, at Inverbrook are fresh eggs, frozen chickens and, as long as they continue to grow—delicious greens.
Pick up: Tuesdays, from 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. from the farm.
(Food and Artists)
Next Market dates: December, 12 & 19, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Check out their calendar for a list of vendors: Click here
Phoenixville Winter Markets
2nd & 4th Saturdays, January through April:
10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Bridge St. & Taylor Alley
Behind Family Dollar, Phoenixville, PA
Plenty of goods available:
3rd Saturday of every month from December through April.
Next Market date: December 19, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Corner of Church and Chestnut Streets
Coconut Chocolate Pudding
By Leslie Kedash
I’ve been meaning to make this recipe for some time now. The start of “comfort food” season has pushed me into action.
It’s not complicated and once the ingredients are gathered and measured out, it’s a piece of cake to make.
It looks to be a recipe that would respond well to a little experimentation, like substituting milk and peppermint extract for the coconut milk or adding some Coco Lopez to highlight the coconut flavor.
As Cole Porter said, “Experiment.”
Recipe from 101 Cookbooks
1 14-ounce can of coconut milk, divided
3 tablespoons sugar
scant 1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/4 cup arrowroot powder, sifted
1 teaspoon raz el hanout spice blend or curry powder
3 tablespoons alkalized dutch-cocoa powder, sifted
1 3.5-ounce semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut flakes, toasted in a dry skillet
Shake the can of coconut milk vigorously for a few seconds. In a heavy saucepan bring 1 1/4 cups of coconut milk, sugar, and the salt to a simmer over low heat.
While that is heating, in a seperate bowl whisk together the remaining coconut milk, arrowroot powder, spice blend (or curry powder), and cocoa powder. It should look like a chocolate frosting.
When the coconut milk and sugar mixture has started simmering take about 1/4 cup of it and whisk it little by little into the arrowroot mixture, creating a slurry. Turn down the heat to the very lowest setting. Now drizzle the arrowroot slurry mixture into the simmering pan of coconut milk whisking vigorously all the while. Keep whisking until the pudding comes back up barely to a simmer and thickens up a bit, about a minute.
Remove the saucepan from the heat, continue whisking while it is cooling for about a minute. Now whisk in the chocolate and vanilla. keep stirring until the pudding is smooth. Place in the refrigerator to chill thoroughly. To prevent a skin from forming press plastic wrap up against the surface of the pudding. Serve dusted with the coconut flakes and a tiny pinch of spices (or curry powder).
Apple Cider Sauce
By Leslie Kedash
When I get a new cookbook, it’s hard for me to shelve it before trying a few recipes.
Usually I thumb through all the pages several times, admire the photographs and read a few of the ingredients before choosing a recipe. But since I had seen Roger Morris’ new book The Brandywine Book of Food, before it was published, and worked on the design, by the time I finally got my own copy, I knew exactly what I’d cook first.
This Apple Cider Sauce is by Chef Bryan Sikora at Talula’s Table. I chose it because it fit the season and I am always on the look out for ways to add flavor to Sunday night supper. It was delicious, and I will definitely make it again.
Apple Cider Sauce
Talula’s Table, Chef Bryan Sikora
1 tablespoon butter
1 small diced apple
1 small diced onion
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 cups fresh apple cider
2 cups rich chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup Calvados apple brandy
1. In the bottom of a two-quart saucepan heat a little butter and sauté the apple and onion until soft. Season with salt and pepper, and add the remaining ingredients.
2. Over medium-high heat allow the liquid to simmer and reduce by a third. Let the liquid cool, and then blend in a blender or with a hand blender.
3. Strain through a fine sieve and season.
To Serve: Drizzle over roasted pork or chicken.
The Brandywine Book of Food is available at Talulah’s Table.
Vegetable Soup’s On
By Leslie Kedash
I think soup weather is defined by rainy days and chilly evenings, and we’ve recently had our fair share of that. A good soup is one you can make on a moment’s notice, (or a few moments, anyway)…and this one is quick and tasty.
I tried this recipe this week and liked it enough to share. It contains plenty of good winter vegetables.
Two steps (two recipes combined, actually) and it’s on the table, served with salad and bread.
The recipes come from The Barefoot Contessa Family Style.
Roasted Winter Vegetables
The high temperature carmelizes the outside and leaves the inside tender and moist. This is a very flexible recipe; you can add any root vegetable you have in the house to this mélange.
1 pound carrots, peeled
1 pound parsnips, peeled
1 large sweet potato, peeled
1 small butternut squash (about 2 pounds), peeled and seeded
3 tablespoons good olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees
Cut the carrots, parsnips, sweet potato, and butternut squash in 1 to 1 and a quarter inch cubes. They’ll shrink while baking, so don’t cut them too small.
Place all the cut vegetables in a single layer on two sheet pans. Drizzle them with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss well. Bake for 25 to 25 minutes, until all the vegetables are tender, turning once with a metal spatula.
Sprinkle with parsley, season to taste, and serve hot. (or in this case, use them in the following recipe)
Roasted Vegetable Soup
This is very versatile—you can also throw in last night’s mashed potatoes and even the tossed green salad from lunch. It adds wonderful flavor and goodness. A great way to get vegetables into your kids without their knowing it.
6 to 8 cups chicken stock
1 recipe Roasted Winter Vegetables
Kosher salt and pepper
For Serving: Croutons and quality olive oil
In a large saucepan, heat 6 cups of the chicken stock. In two batches, coarsely puree the roasted vegetables and the chicken stock in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pour the soup back into the pot and season to taste. Thin with more chicken stock and reheat. The soup should be thick but not like a vegetable puree, so add more chicken stock and/or water until it is the consistencey you like.
Serve with the croutons and a drizzle of olive oil.
Time to Harvest Your Basil
By Margaret Gilmour
I still want to make more pesto this season, and I never tire of tomato, basil and cheese sandwiches (tossing in avocado, sprouts or cucumber when within reach).
Yet, according to my well-read, slightly tattered book, Tips for the Lazy Gardener, by Linda Tilgner, we need to harvest our sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum) before evening temperatures get much below 50 degrees because the flavor of its leaves taste better if they are dried or frozen before the cool weather hits.
So this week I’ll head out just after the morning dew, the best time to harvest basil—when the essential oils are said to be at their peak. Then I’ll pluck my three healthy plants from by herb garden and give the other herbs some room to grow.
In Tilgner’s book she suggests using any basil blossoms that escaped cutting for vinegar. She writes: “In fact, herb vinegars are a convenient way to use herbs you’re too lazy to dry or freeze, and make wonderful gifts.”
Tilgner dries her basil by spreading out washed and pat-dry leaves on a screen or paper and placing in a cool, dark, room.
Then there’s Paul Feenan, a farmer from out West who shared his method on a food blog: (I like this idea because it seems quick and easy and won’t take up counter space.)
“At Barnyard Gardens we have had good luck drying our extra basil by simply putting it in a large paper shopping bag in a dry but not too hot of a spot (not too much in a bag at once). We fold the top of the bag shut, and once a day (or so) we open it up and give the bag a shake and rustle the basil about. The dried basil has an intense fresh flavor for our pasta dishes in the winter.”
Whether or not you freeze or dry basil, there’s still debate over which method retains the herb’s flavor best. I may try both.
To freeze, wash the leaves, blot them dry and set them into a freezer bag or small plastic container before committing the basil to the freezer.
Then there’s the ice-cube tray method, where the other half of my harvest will end up: In a food processor blend basil leaves with just enough olive oil so that it covers the leaves (adding more oil for thinner consistency), and place the mixture in an ice cube tray and freeze. This is a great way to prepare pesto or other pastes during the winter months.
Or, (I may even try this) apparently you can freeze a whole basil leaf in water in an ice-cube tray, then pop it out when you’re ready to use it–the water will melt and leave you with an aromatic, bright green leaf ideal for sauces (and reminiscent of summertime).
Nice. (more…)
Essential Eating Sprouted Baking
By Margaret Gilmour
Unlike Leslie, I am not much of a baker.
And, honestly, in my house I prep, clean up and take over only when the menu is comprised of all things green.
So when a friend of mine, knowing I require cookbooks with inviting photographs to trigger any desire for meal preparation, left Janie Quinn’s Essential Eating, Sprouted Baking at my house, I opened the pages just to admire its pictures.
But I ended up reading the entire introduction.
The author, Janie Quinn, explains how she discovered the health benefits of eating sprouted wheat years ago. Interested in creating high-quality sprouted flours with only the finest grains, she teamed up with a manufacturer and a milling engineer, to produce Essential Eating Spouted Whole Grain Flours.
This endeavor spiraled into a successful family of green companies, including Essential Eating Lifestyle and Cooking School, Essential Eating Sprouted Foods and Essential Environments. (more…)
OLS | From The Garden
By Leslie Kedash
This past weekend was unusually busy for our family and, late Sunday afternoon, I checked the vegetable garden to see what dinner options were available.
I picked a few zucchini, pinched off some basil leaves and gathered a few eggs from the hens, all just enough to make this simple pasta dish.
Perfect for a stormy summer night, this stove-top recipe is convenient to have when the power goes out…. which it did this past Sunday evening. Photo by candlelight.
What’s in Season (Veggies)
By Margaret Gilmour
So what’s a cool and damp, cloud-covered start to summer mean for Chester County’s crops?
For status on the fields, I called H.G. Haskell, owner of SIW Vegetables (a.k.a. Stepped in What) on Rt. 100 in Chadds Ford.
It has been over 24 years that Haskell has been tending his crops and selling produce at his farm stand, where his harvest is spread out over wagons sheltered by shade trees.
“Boo-hoo, Boo-hoo,” is Haskell’s official report, adding “everything has been delayed by two weeks.”
Usually by this time of year SIW is producing a wide selection of farm-fresh vegetables, their specialty being heirloom tomatoes. In fact, last year they grew over 100 varieties of heirloom tomatoes, and 20 different types of cherry tomatoes.
With little sun, anyone ready to gather ripening tomatoes, or corn, for that matter, will need to remain patient. I know, I’ve been looming over my own tomatoes, and wondering when the little green sprouts will fatten up and get juicy. (more…)
OLS | Lemon Cucumbers
By Leslie Kedash
I’m just slightly addicted to cookbooks and cooking blogs. I recently came across a recipe that called for lemon cucumbers and the quest was on.
I must say that the lemon cucumber has quite a bit going for it: a pretty yellow color, shape (round, the size of a baseball) and taste (sweet and mild). It lacks much of the chemical that makes other cucumbers bitter and hard to digest.
I found them this past Friday at the Kennett Farmers’ Market. I came, I saw, I cooked.
Food Festivities Celebrating Buy Fresh Buy Local
By Margaret Gilmour
Along with the new Chester County Buy Fresh Buy Local “food-ability” guide, comes a string of events that’ll help you carry on an endless summer while celebrating our local food system.
July’s happenings include a feast of live music, cooking demos and recipes, and tips for preserving and freezing the season’s bounty. There are also discussions on the new movie, Food, Inc., and games for kids of all sizes, including a community game of chess.
See you there.
OLS | Ice Cream
By Leslie Kedash
Summer and ice cream go together like a wink and a smile. My daughter and I picked raspberries last week at Highland Farms and as we walked by the refrigerated cases, I spotted real, whole milk from Natural By Nature in a glass bottle, heavy cream on the top, just like when I was a kid. I could just taste homemade vanilla ice cream.
In the past few years I have made everything from cheesecake ice cream (a frequent request at our house) to black pepper ice cream (not so well received). Good vanilla ice cream is always a welcome, and short lived addition to our freezer. Ice cream and raspberries…life is sweet.
Thomas Keller has a wonderful recipe for vanilla ice cream in his cookbook Bouchon.
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups milk
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 vanilla bean, split
10 large egg yolks
Combine the cream, milk, and 7 tablespoons of sugar in a larger nonreactive saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add them to the pan, along with the pod. Bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove the pan from the heat, cover, and let the flavors infuse for 30 minutes.
Place a metal bowl that will hold the finished mixture over an ice bath. Reheat the cream mixture until warm.
Meanwhile, whisk the yolks with the remaining 7 tablespoons sugar in a medium bowl until the mixture thickens and lightens in color. Whisking constantly, gradually pour about one-third of the hot cream mixture into the yolks to temper them. return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for about 10 minutes, or until the custard has thickened and coats the back of the spoon. (Run your finger through the custard on the spoon: The line you make should remain.)
Pour the custard into the metal bowl and stir occasionally until it has cooled.
Strain the cooled custard into a bowl or other container and refrigerate, covered, for at least a few hours, preferably overnight. Overnight chilling results in the best flavor and creamiest texture.
Transfer the custard to an ice cream machine and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Remove the ice cream while its texture is “soft serve”; transfer to a chilled container and place in the freezer to harden.
Just Out: Chester County Buy Fresh, Buy Local Food Guide
By Margaret Gilmour
FACT (Taken from the guide)
Did You Know?
If You Spend $10 a Week on Local Foods You Can Build Your Local Economy
If each household in Chester County spent $10 per week on local food and farm-based Chester County products, it would mean over $91 million dollars a year would be generated and available for local reinvestment in businesses and communities.
Ironically, just as I was searching for local farm stands near my home, I came across the new Buy Fresh, Buy Local Chester County food guide, just published and ready to help all of us find local food close by.
There, on page five, over 28 farm stands are listed, along with six farm stores, which are shops (usually in barns, or barn-like structures) where the goods are usually produced on the farm where they’re sold.
Of course Chester County farmers’ markets are listed too, along with area CSAs.
There is even a list of retail outlets that sell locally made items, and a few spotlights on regional farmers, growers and farm-to-table restaurants.
The local food guide points to many reasons we should buy local, seasonal fare that is not only healthier for us, but is also environmentally responsible, reducing the energy required for transporting food from its origin to where it is consumed. And, as we know, buying from Chester County businesses, or those nearby, strengthens our local economy.
Replacing an older 2002 version, the “feed-ability” guide is a collaboration of partnerships with FoodRoutes Network, which is the national, nonprofit organization that launched Buy Fresh Buy Local (BFBL), and other BFBL chapters including Chester County BFBL. Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) coordinates the ten Pennsylvania chapters.
I picked my copy up at the BVA, and there are plenty more available at libraries, county parks and the Government Services Center in West Goshen. Or, download this printable PDF:
OLS | On The Grill
By Leslie Kedash
This week at the Kennett Farmers Market, I was in search of lamb chops from Country Meadows which had been consumed with great alacrity a few weeks ago. Alas, they were not available, but I did find some nice looking pork sausage, which would make for a great al fresco holiday breakfast. While living in New England, my family had often gathered with friends for an “Ethan Allen” breakfast, cooked entirely on the outdoor grill.
After our move to Chester County, the meal was renamed a “Valley Forge” breakfast (whatever works). The kids would play out back while our parents cooked and consumed Bloody Marys which, on reflection, were most likely an attempt to counter the effects of their antics the night before.
With that package of sausage bringing back so many childhood memories, I decided to revive the tradition (sans hangover) and a sumptuous Sunday breakfast was conjured up on the grill with sausage from Country Meadows, scrambled eggs from the hens, toasted french bread from Big Sky, roasted new potatoes from the garden and strawberries from Highland Orchards.
On a whim, I had picked up a bag of fava beans (Vicia fava) from Inverbrook Farm and while rather tedious to shell (twice…), I thought they were great, although the family was more circumspect. Inverbrook has instructions for preparation on their blog. Also steamed these beautiful variegated beans, look pretty, taste great.
Local food, childhood memories- a perfect meal to close a holiday weekend.
OLS | Rhubarb
By Leslie Kedash
For this weekend’s OLS, we visited Highland Orchards in West Chester. In observance of our goal of food shopping without an agenda, we arrived to find it was the final weekend of “pick your own” rhubarb (Rheum rhabarbarum).
I first encountered rhubarb in a pie (as you might expect) on a visit to New England as a child. Since then, I had essentially ignored the crimson stalks in the supermarket. But now, here it was, the whole plant–with giant, mildly poisonous leaves and tart, tender, screaming red stalks. (more…)
Buckley’s Has a Green Roof (Your Pergola Could Too)
By Margaret Gilmour
When you head upstairs to Buckley’s rooftop deck, you’ll want to stop a moment to look around the now-flourishing space before taking a seat.
At least that’s what everyone was doing last weekend when the tavern unveiled its new rooftop garden.
Gone is the 25 (or more) year-old countertop hooded with a striped awning.
In its place is a custom-made wood bar shaded by a cypress pergola, an architectural showpiece topped with a green roof sprouting a variety of fleshy-leaved sedum. (more…)
12 of Our Favorite Eat In-Season Cookbooks
We love the just-opened farmers’ markets that give us local food in abundance.
So we’re celebrating the bounty with our favorite eat-local cookbooks.
Some of these books are filled with gorgeous images that’ll trigger your senses with spreads of seasonal fare you just can’t resist.
Then there are the cookbooks stuffed with great recipes and thoughts on cooking simply, but without the photoplay.
Take the One Local Summer Challenge
The One Local Summer Challenge started with the intent to encourage buying fresh, local ingredients, and it turned into a healthy, fun experiment for hundreds of participants across the nation.
According to Nicole Wolverton, Farm to Philly founder and this year’s Challenge coordinator, there are currently about 75 people signed on for 2009, with one person joining in from the U.K.
“Last year there were about half a dozen people from outside the U.S.,” Wolverton says. “That included entries from Canada, England, France and Scotland.”
The event (June 1 through August 30, 2009) is open to anyone willing to take on eating local. (more…)
Chester County Farmers’ Markets: When & Where
By Margaret Gilmour
By the end of this week, almost all of Pennsylvania farmers’ markets are officially open.
Now we can finally celebrate the arrival of local, farm-fresh produce, eggs and meat, along with artisanal goods (Chocolate! Cheese! Honey!), and hand-made or just-picked luxuries (Soap! Flowers! Herbs!).
There is even an ample selection of thirst-quenchers available at the markets too (Wine! Coffee! Juice!), and baked goods that you can nibble on as you browse or carry home for later.
I love shopping outdoors, bumping into a neighbor or two, and meeting the farmers, growers and craftspeople to learn about the food or product I am about to enjoy.
In fact, there’s nothing better than fresh fare sold by the hands that made it.
With that in mind, here are the farmers’ markets we’re lucky to have close-by, open to us on varied days and times. (more…)
A Taste of Summer Vinaigrette
By Margaret Gilmour
With warm days ahead, simple salads that include crisp, local greens in all varieties can become a healthy, one-dish meal.
We believe that you should select your lettuce as you would design your garden bed: use interesting textures, play with combinations, but nothing you place should overwhelm the others.
Then, after focusing on the leaves, the other main ingredient becomes the dressing.
Leslie has tried many combinations, ultimately creating a dressing she loves and uses almost nightly in the summertime.
So, I thought I’d give her thoughtfully seasoned vinaigrette a try, reviewing it for you to let you know what I think. After all, my main staple is salad, so I can be, at times, a merciless critic.
Leslie presented me with a large, wide bowl tossed with Belgian endive, Bibb lettuce, arugula, and watercress, all just-kissed with her vinaigrette.
I chose a small plate for my tasting, and sat alongside a round cutting board imparting a few black olives, some crusty bread, a wedge of aged parmesan and one or two halved cherry tomatoes. A perfect complement to my salad.
My first, small morsel of greens was delicious. The splash of vinegar did not overpower any of the other ingredients, and the hint of garlic added just enough zip to the creamy combination of mustard and mayonnaise that had the leaves clinging to the mixture.
I was in heaven. I finished every bite before dragging a slice of bread across my plate.
If she ever bottles it, I’ll let you know. For now, here’s the recipe, which gets five stars and tastes like summertime.
Leslie’s Simple Summer Vinaigrette
Adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Family Style: Easy Ideas and Recipes That Make Everyone Feel Like Family
Ina suggests putting the dressing in the bottom of the bowl before adding leaves, then toss when ready. Serve in a wide bowl rather than in a deep one.
Get Your CSA Share Here
By Margaret Gilmour
Imagine eating just-picked strawberries so succulent they melt in your mouth, lettuce so crisp it crackles, and sweet clusters of vine-ripened tomatoes seasoned with nothing but sunshine.
Nowadays all the fresh produce we want is available close by through Farmer’s Markets, and from more farms selling CSA (Community Support Agriculture) shares throughout the growing season.
While many farms have sold all their CSA shares for the upcoming season, PASA (Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture) tells us that those listed below have a few left.
But be quick in contacting the farmers, some stop taking CSA orders by mid-April. You don’t want to miss out on eating fresh, healthy food with flavors lasting as long at the summer.
NOTE: Most farm descriptions are taken directly from the Web site. Click on the farm’s name to go to the site for more information.
In My Backyard at Misty Hollow, Westtown
Jim and Sally Hammerman grow, gather and explore nature’s bounty for food, flavor and health. They also run a camp for children ages 3 to 7 that gives the camper’s opportunities to discover the wonders of nature and its relationship to all growing things.
Farmer Claire Murray’s goal is to produce delicious, healthy food in a manner that is harmonious and beneficial to her surrounding environment. She sells vegetables as well as pastured poultry and eggs supplied by Hugh Lofting. Inverbrook Farms also distributes delicious ground beef (Angus burger) from Buck Run Farm.
Kimberton CSA is a community of people that was formed to create and support a Biodynamic garden. Some are farmers, some are consumers, and some are a little of each. The garden was started in 1987 by interested members along with Barbara and Kerry Sullivan looking for ways of doing business that would best provide for the needs of everyone involved, including those of their environment.
The land and the pastures that surround the CSA were farmed for many years as part of the dairy farm previously known as Kimberton Farms. Today 10 acres are leased to Kimberton CSA, while the remaining land is leased to Seven Stars Farm, which produces the popular Seven Stars Biodynamic/Organic Yogurt.
Maysie’s Farm and Conservation Center, Glenmoore
Maysie’s Farm Conservation Center is a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to increasing public understanding of the importance of conservation and ecological thinking.
At Maysie’s Farm, they work with individuals, families, communities and educational institutions to encourage ecological living by demonstrating and advocating organic agriculture, farmland preservation and Community Supported Agriculture and by offering unique educational programs. Maysie’s Farm is developing a community within Chester County that is based on a local, sustainable produced food supply and a commitment to ecological living.
Greener Partners/Hillside Farm at Elwyn Institute
Greener Partners is contributing to the resurgence of farming activity within the Greater Philadelphia region by transforming public spaces and underutilized land into community teaching gardens and forward-thinking farms.
By reestablishing sustainable, organic farming operations, Greener Partners is impacting the way people think about their food and the environment. Greener Partners is engaging local schools, camps, and communities to bring children and their families outside to develop a better understanding of how the natural world is our future.
Lancaster Farm Fresh cooperative (LFF)
Lancaster Farm Fresh cooperative (LFF) serves the Lancaster and Philadelphia metropolitan regions through wholesale food service and community supported agriculture. Restaurant owners and/or natural food store managers are encouraged to buy fresh, wholesale ingredients from participating farmers.
Farm to City is a Philadelphia
This Philadelphia-based program’s goal is to unite communities, families, and farmers year-round through good locally grown food.
Farm to City envisions a city connected to its region through its farmers and their crops, a city rich with healthful and flavorful food choices – at outdoor markets, grocery stores, restaurants and schools.
Farm to City sees a region where the sustainable family farm is economically successful and a force to preserve our vanishing countryside.
Root Cellars: Naturally Cool
By Margaret Gilmour
Ever since ancient times, root cellars have provided cultures with the means to store food throughout the seasons.
Nowadays they’re back in style, so to speak, their popularity due partly to our own desires to hold onto summer’s harvest as long as possible.
You can still locate root cellars in Chester County, many ranging in size from three to four feet square, to large domed spaces suitable for hoarding enough winter provisions for several families.
The revival of this old custom makes for healthier, more sustainable eating since the in-ground cellars make it possible to stockpile fresh foods purchased at local farms or farmers’ markets (if you aren’t growing your own).
They are also an energy-saving convenience providing easy access to our harvested ingredients–-there’s’ no need to jump in our cars and run to the food mart before preparing a meal.
In Chester County, root cellars have been around since the first settlers made this fertile region their home—that’s before William Penn established the area in 1682.
Since practical refrigerators weren’t introduced until 1915, and still not widely used for at least 15 years later in the ‘30s, root cellars were necessary household accessories until they were replace by the refrigerator. They provided natural, cold storage to successfully keep perishables intact.
The first root cellars weren’t made in basements. In fact, the earliest farmhouses had only dirt floors and no “foundation-room,” or basement, with the entire house resting directly on the ground.
But the root cellars were underground rooms, and placement varied; most were built within arm’s reach, or at least within close proximity to the house. The cellar had its own chimney that helped keep dampness out and the scent of fragrant, smoked meats and just-harvested foods in.
Cool, dry temperatures and lots of ventilation is needed to keep produce, canned food and cured meets fresh in the cellar. Some humidity, too, halts produce from drying up, and darkness keeping produce from sprouting.
There are three basic types of outdoor root cellars: Hillside, which were dug into a hillside to encourage natural drainage from the spring thaw or heavy rains, and lined with rocks and wood beams for support. Regular, well-insulated doors made for easy, walk-in access.
A hatch cellar is dug into the earth too. Most have dirt floors, a hatch door for entry, and a ladder or stairs leading the way down to the storage area.
The third type, an above ground cellar, can still be seen locally along the countryside. They look similar to spring houses, or a Hobbit house built with a frame of wood or stone, and topped with sod concealing it from above.
You can see how these underground rooms made for good hiding spaces for slaves, especially those eventually built in the basement of a home. Actually, many basement root cellars had escape routes leading through a shallow well built for this reason, and were commonly used a safe haven/stop over for slaves in Chester County’s Underground Railroad.
To build your own root cellar, this book is devoted entirely to the matter, and goes into great depth detailing the storage process, along with the best staples suited for in-ground storage.
Buy it here:
Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits & Vegetables
