OLS Week 4: Local Hors d'Oeuvres

This week was another hectic week that culminated in a lovely evening with girlfriends in front of the television. I was too crazed to cook, but came up with a spread of hors d'oeuvres that served us well and were about 98% local.

In order to stock up on snacks at the last minute, I explored a new farmers market - the Fulton Stall Market (that will probably be a post on its own coming shortly). I picked up an organic multigrain baguette from Bread Alone, a rainbow of carrots and the first cucumbers of the season (for me), and a locally-produced hummus (as you might expect, the chickpeas were not so local).

I pulled this together with a cheese plate of the local pecorino-style cheese that I tried last week, Yancey's aged cheddar, and a blue cheese spread which family brought down from VT on a visit the previous week. It was local to them, so it counts as local to me!

The piece de resistance (although now getting to be a regular treat on my weekly menus) was a set of crostini featuring the Valley Shepherd fresh ricotta and garlic scapes from the farmers' market sauteed in a bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

The wine we drank was from Portugal, and so I didn't go the full nine yards on this one, but I enjoyed the wine quite a bit and will be looking further into one of the wines in particular (I didn't drink them with reporting back in mind, but the Portuguese red table wine was probably review-worthy and certainly budget-friendly. I will make a point to get it again and see what I can do).

FreshDirect Local: Yancey's Fancy Cheddar
Brooklyn Farmers' Market: garlic scapes, radishes, pecorino cheese
Fulton Stall Farmers' Market: baguette, carrots, cucumbers, hummus
Local gift from out of town: blue cheese spread
Pantry staples: olive oil, black pepper, balsamic

OLS Week 3: More Photos

One Local Summer Week 2: Chorizo Bread Pudding

This week, I was hardly able to stop and think, let alone plan and prepare a complex meal for the challenge. So, it became a test of a well-stocked pantry. I made a Chorizo, Onion & Chevre Bread Pudding with some ingredients that have been stored well since my last trip to the farmers market. To complement it and give us some color, I marinated carrots and radishes for a crunchy side salad.

For the bread pudding, I picked up some natural dried chorizo from a local natural grocery. The chorizo was made in Pascoag, RI which is a bit farther than I usually source, but I could get there and back in a day if I needed to, and frankly, that night, I was desperate! The onions and bread were from the farmers market. The bread was organic multi-grain harvest bread from Bread Alone Bakery, a regular at the market. I ended up using about 2/3 of a loaf and probably could have used more.

Once the sausage and onions were sauteed and bread was cubed, I combined 4 local organic free-roaming Nature's Yolk eggs with 2 cups of milk (from Trader Joe's - a big fail, but fortunately I used it up, so I have to work harder next time), sea salt, cumin and paprika. I also crumbled in 6 ounces of Coach Farm Black Pepper Goat Cheese. The best part, in my opinion, was the addition of a medley of chopped rosemary, greek basil, sage and parsley all from my budding herb garden.

I combined the bread mixture and the egg mixture in a casserole and baked it for about 60 minutes at 350F until set and golden brown. The herbs grew nice and fragrant and the chorizo really permeated the custard. I debated doubling the chorizo because it's so good, but these proportions really worked to maximize flavors without anything stealing the show (1 cup chorizo, 1 1/2 cup chopped caramelized onion and about 3/4 cup chopped herbs).

To complete the experience, I opened a bottle of Benmarl Winery Zinfandel. Benmarl is a Hudson Valley winery that I discovered at the Hyde Park farmers market last weekend. They typically grow their own grapes, but since Zin isn't really native to the Hudson Valley, they do source these grapes from California. It's not 100% local, and I do have their Slate Hill White which is a blend of grapes that are sourced locally. The chorizo really called for a big fruit-forward wine, however, and the Zin was ready to play. This Zin has tons of purple fruit on the nose and in the mouth, with a jammy smooth mouth feel. There is a good amount of heat which could be off-putting, but it really complemented the creamy, spicy textures and flavors in the bread pudding.

Farmers Market: onions, bread, carrots, radishes
Homegrown: greek basil, rosemary, parsley, sage
Provisions: Daniele natural chorizo
FreshDirect: Coach Farm Black Pepper Chevre
Pantry Items: olive oil, sea salt
Fail: milk (organic, not local)

One Local Summer Week 1: Chard and Chevre Frittata

So, One Local Summer 2009 is finally here! Just to recap, the goal is to make at least one meal from all local ingredients (exceptions: oil, salt, pepper, spices) and write about it to share with the world over at Farmtophilly.com (collective posts go live tomorrow!) I am traveling and don't have access to my pictures, but I'll post them in the next day or two.

My menu consisted of:

• Farmers' market greenhouse tomatoes with caramelized-onion-infused oil and homegrown basil
  
• Chard and chevre frittata with caramelized onions
  
• Homegrown green salad with farmers market carrots, radishes, scallions and homegrown basil and mint
• Chateau Lafayette Reneau Seyval-Chardonnay NV from the Finger Lakes
  

For my meal, I utilized a couple of local options - mostly the farmers' market and winter CSA leftovers, but also FreshDirect which has a nice selection from a handful of local purveyors including a selection of NY state wines.

I sauteed one large bunch of green swiss chard with caramelized onions that I had made earlier in the week. When I caramelize onions, I cook them up with olive oil, salt, pepper and a good shake of ground cayenne pepper. I then put the onions, oil and all, in a jar in the fridge. I kept aside some of the oil to use as dressing for my tomatoes (which really didn't need dressing at all!) I put these aside while I beat 8 local organic free-roaming eggs and got them started in the same pan where I'd tossed the greens. Once the eggs started to set, I added the chard mixture and dotted the whole pan with about 2 ounces of chevre (I could have easily used all 4 ounces though...next time!) and finished the frittata in the oven.

The sweet caramelized onions with the tangy chevre and the earthy greens made for a wonderful combination of flavors. The tomato salad served as a bridge into summer which was an interesting contrast to the green salad which held the last bastions of our spring haul. I think the lettuces are just about to be done for the season which is sad because we got them in late and they are already on the tough side.

The one aspect that I didn't love was the wine. I selected it chiefly because it was very inexpensive and fit the bill for local. For the price, it was fine, but I thought it was rather thin with a lot of crisp apple flavors and oak competing with each other at first taste and then just disappearing rather abruptly. I will definitely explore the local vino options more as this challenge goes on.

Farmers' market: greenhouse tomatoes, carrots, radishes, scallions
CSA: yellow onions (which I had caramelized earlier in the week)
Homegrown: red and green leaf lettuces, basil, mint
FreshDirect: Nature's Yolk eggs, Coach Farm chevre, Chateau Lafayette Reneau Seyval-Chardonnay NV
Pantry Exceptions: Olive oil from Provisions, sea salt, black pepper, ground cayenne
Non-local: balsamic vinegar