You're welcome to visit the animals any time. They do love visitors, and I like showing them off. Getting the opportunity to milk my cow is a whole 'nother kettle of fish.

Melissa allows me to milk her because she knows and trusts me. We've developed a routine, and she knows that I'm going to look out for her well being, and am going to be kind and gentle with her. If a strange person attempts to handle her udder, she's probably going to be upset. She's going to walk away, and might even kick. It's likely that she won't "let down her milk" as well, and will be disturbed for the rest of the morning. Let me put it this way: how comfortable would you be allowing a stranger to put his hands on your body? Jersey cows have personalities and feelings. They really are unique creatures. They aren't milk machines that plod through life (although the food industry typically assumes such a thing).

On the other hand, Melissa is an amazing cow. While most cows would not allow themselves to be milked by anyone if a stranger walked into the barn, Melissa tolerates visits from the oil truck, the propane guy, and various and sundry visitors. She will tolerate noises, distractions and changes to the routine better than most. She just might get fussy about touches from strangers.

If you'd like to visit, and watch, you're more than welcome. You might get lucky, and she'll allow you to milk her. Just don't set your heart on it.

This recipe is adapted from Bo Friberg, my pastry instructor in culinary school.  

Labels: cookies, locavore, milk

• Local food is fresher and tastes better than food shipped long distances. Local farmers can offer varieties bred for flavor rather than for long shelf life.
• With each local food purchase, you ensure that more of your money spent on food goes to the farmer. Buying local food keeps your dollars circulating in your own community. In Massachusetts, if every household purchased just $12 worth of farm products for eight weeks (basically the summer season), over $200 million would be put back into the pockets of our farmers.
• Locally grown food retains more nutrients and is less likely to cause foodborne illnesses than food that is shipped from far away. Buying local enables you to choose farmers who may avoid or reduce their use of chemicals, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics or genetically modified seed.
• Buying from a local farm cuts down on the distance food travels, reducing the consumption of oil and carbon emissions nationwide.

Labels: locavore

Arugula....

Portobello and Mesclun Salad

3 portobellos
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 shallot, diced
2 sprigs of thyme
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 pound mesclun
2 tablespoons truffle oil or extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
freshly grated Parmesan
salt and pepper to taste

1. Put portobellos on a baking sheet, fins up. Sprinkle garlic, shallots and thyme on top. Drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinergar on them and season with salt and pepper. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes or until they are tender. Remove from oven and let cool.

2. When mushrooms are cooled, slice them. Toss lettuce first with truffle oil. Then season with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Top with mushrooms and parmesan cheese.

Labels: garden, locavore, recipes

• If making soup, thin with 1 quart chicken stock
• If making a filling, thicken with ¼ cup parmesan cheese and ¼ cup bread crumbs
• Either way, garnish with Fried Sage

Labels: fish, locavore, recipes, squash

Chart comes from http://fivepercent.us

Labels: locavore, soapbox

Labels: locavore

The main meal, which coincidentally was gluten-free, manifested itself into:

Arugula, Tomatoes and Cucumber, Simply Dressed with Basil, Lemon and Olive Oil

Creamed Corn – the surprise hit of the night

Tortilla Española with Homemade Smoked Tomato Ketchup

Ginger Marinated Salmon with a Vietnamese Coconut Crepe and Radish Salad

And to top it off, Mint Chocolate Chip and Chocolate Ice Creams from Christina’s.

Vietnamese Crepes
(Makes 16 8” crepes)

1/2 Pound Rice Flour
2 Ounces Corn Starch
2 Eggs
1 ½ Cups Coconut Milk
1 Cup Water
2 Teaspoons Salt
2 Teaspoons Turmeric
4 Tablespoons Canola Oil

1 Pound Carrots, Peel, Julienned Or Shredded
6 Red Radishes, Julienned Or Shredded
½ Cup Mint Leaves, Julienned
2 Teaspoons Salt
1 Cup Vinegar
1 Cup Sugar
Pinch Chili Flakes
1 Garlic Clove, Minced
1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce

Method

1. Combine corn starch, rice flour, salt and turmeric in a bowl. Stir in eggs, coconut milk and water. Add more water if the batter is too thick, more rice flour if too thin.

2. Heat a large, non-stick skillet over medium-high flame. Add 1 tbs. of oil, or enough to coat the bottom of the pan. Add 1/3 cup batter to pan, swirl around to create a thin layer.

3. Cook crepe until crepe is crispy and brown on the bottom. Fold crepe in half. Repeat process with remaining batter.

1. Mix carrots and radish with salt and let rest for ½ hour, or until carrots are soft. Add mint.

2. Combine remaining ingredients for sauce in a stainless steel sauce pot. Cook over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat

3. Combine carrots/radish with sauce.

4. Serve crepes with salad.

Labels: celiac, CSA, farmers market, gluten-free, locavore, recipes

Labels: locavore, okra, recipes, tales from the farm, tomatoes

CSA, (or Community Supported Agriculture) is a way for community-at-large to create a relationship with a farm. By buying a subscription, people make a financial commitment to a farm, and become "members" (or "shareholders," or "subscribers") of the CSA. In return the farm gives the shareholders a weekly box of the freshest produce available. The farmer receives payment for the season up-front, which gives him/her financially stability before the crops come in, allowing the farmer to focus on the land.

Part of the fun of a CSA is experimenting with new vegetables. Unlike shopping at a farmers’ market or supermarket, the CSA subscriber has little say in what will be delivered each week, being beholden to the weather and the whim of what the farmer planted. Though to be fair, if the farmer wants to maintain a solid relationship with the subscribers, he will incorporate mostly familiar and desirable items.

Dina and Rena embrace the mystery. Each week they send out an invitation:

Any chance you can come for farm share dinner on Tuesday? We can't tell you what you'll be eating, but you know that it'll be fresh....(this past week we got a free slug with our bok choy!). Usually we tell people to come around 7pmish, although we can't guarantee that we won't put you to work just a bit.

This week’s bounty was unusually diverse and included lots of tomatoes, zucchini, carrots, sweet onions, lettuces and cucumbers. And it manifested itself into:

Grilled Flank Steak with Chimichurri, Slow Roasted Tomatoes and Grilled Onions

Grilled Zucchini wrapped around Fresh Ricotta, and topped with sweet tomatoes and basil

Slow Roasted Beets with Sherry Vinegar
Green Salad with Sliced Almonds, Olive Oil and Sherry Vinegar

French Lentils with Carrots and Onions

Labels: CSA, locavore

In the farmers’ market this week, all the summer time favorites are finally available: fresh, local sweet corn, heirloom field tomatoes, cucumbers, blueberries, and peaches. In additional, the farmers graciously grow lots of staples and fillers so that we can prepare a full meal (though some would argue that corn and tomatoes is a complete meal) with just locally grown foods.

When I worked under Lydia Shire, at the now defunct Biba, she taught me how to appreciate color on the palate. She would garnish a fish or meat dish with something white (potatoes), green (watercress) and red (beets). Each garnish was bright and vivid, and with a back-drop of rosy lamb or florescent wild salmon, the colors on the plate just popped.

I think of her every summer as I compose one of my favorite dishes: Roast Salmon with Creamed Corn (yellow), Roasted Tomatoes (red) and Basil Coulis (green).

Creamed Corn utilizes just the kernels; the cobs can be saved for a stock or other recipe. . I’ve seen many neat tricks for removing the kernels, including this one on Simply Recipes. I usually just lay the cob on its side and use the full blade of the knife to slice down and back. Wasn’t it Newton’s law of physics: for every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction…. If the cob is on its side, then the kernels, don’t fall as far, and therefore don’t bounce as far away on the counter. Once I have the corn prepped, I can proceed with the recipe.

Given my inclination for a completely locavore meal, I think a steak from Austin Brothers Valley Farm would be better than farm raised salmon. Local striped bass would be lovely too, but no one at the market is selling fish.

To complete the meal, I would prepare a blueberry bread pudding: bread from hi-rise (sold at the farmers market and eggs also from Austin Farm. Though no one is selling milk, I know I can get fresh local dairy at the Harvest Co-op – avoiding the mega chain of Whole Foods and supporting the local supermarket.

Beef Tenderloin with Summer’s Trilogy
1 whole filet, weighing about 5#, trussed
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon plain oil
3 ears of corn, kernels cut off
1 tbs. butter
1 large fresh red onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, diced
1/2 cup cream
1/2 tsp. curry powder
4 roma tomatoes, cut in half
1 tbs. olive oil
1 slice smoked bacon
1 tsp. fresh thyme
1 bunch basil
2 lemons, juiced
plain oil
salt and pepper to taste.

Season filet with salt and pepper.

Heat a large sauté pan, or grill over high heat. Add oil to pan. Sear filet on one side, sear until golden brown on the other. Finish roasting in 350 oven for about 10-20 minutes, or until desired doneness.

Meanwhile….

Toss tomatoes with olive oil, thyme, 2 tbs. diced onion and 1 tbs. garlic. Roast in 500F oven, until tomatoes begin to brown and blister. Meanwhile, render bacon in a skillet. When crispy, coarsely chop and mix with tomatoes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Melt butter in a skillet. Add corn, 1 tbs. chopped shallots and 1 tsp. garlic. Cook until garlic and corn begin to brown. Add curry powder and cook for 1 minute more. Add cream, and cook for 5 minutes, or until cream is reduced by 1/2. Season to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice.

In a blender, puree basil with 2 tbs. chopped onion, lemon juice and 1/4 cup of olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

After tenderloin is finished raosting, let rest for 10 mintues. Slice. Garnish with corn, tomatoes, basil coulis (and fresh summer zucchini too!)

Labels: farmers market, locavore, recipes

What I cherish most about the farmers markets is that often I find vegetables simply not available at regular supermarkets. Farmers continually experiment with what grows best in their soil and microclimate. They balance this with growing the more marketable greens, tomatoes and berries. All this experimentation challenges the locavore to try new vegetables and experiment with new recipes.

At Hutchinson Farm green garlic and garlic scapes, both derivates of young garlic, spring from the table. Green Garlic is round like a scallion, but long and fibrous like leeks. The young bulb has not yet developed the papery skin that would divide it into cloves (and add a protective layer for long storage). The scape is a long, squiggly shoot from the garlic bulb with a tip that looks like it’s ready to flower. Both have mild flavors and can be eaten raw or sautéed like regular garlic.

I was especially excited to see Kohlrabi. I have seen this brassica – a member of the cabbage family – at Whole Foods before, but had never tried it until I visited Costa Rica this past winter. At a yoga retreat in the mountains outside of San Jose, they simply roasted it with olive oil and garlic. I loved the simultaneously soft and firm texture, the mild sweetness that’s refreshingly moist. The flavor is subtle which makes its appeal perhaps limited, but the texture adds a nice balance to a (raw) coleslaw or (cooked) roasted root medley. The kohlrabi in my garden looks healthy but still has at least 4 weeks before harvest.

By coincidence, at Oleana Restaurant that night, they had a special of fried oysters on a bed of cucumber-kohlrabi salad. If I had to guess the recipe, it would go something like this.

24 Wellfleet Oysters from Pat Woodbury, shucked

Deep Fry Dredge:
½ cup fine corn meal
½ cup flour
½ tsp. zaatar (or mix of dried thyme, sesame and sumac)
2 tsp. salt
½ tsp. fresh black pepper

Oil for Deep-Frying

Kohlrabi-Cucumber Salad
1 kohlrabi, peeled and julienned
1 english cucumber, peeled, seeded and julienned
1 tbs. freshly grated horseradish
1 cup plain Greek Yogurt
1 tbs. fresh mint
1 tbs. fresh parsley
Salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste

1. Prepare salad by combining all ingredients together. Season to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice.
   
2. Pour plain oil in a deep cast iron skillet until it reaches 2 inches deep. Heat over medium high heat.
   
3. Meanwhile, combine dry ingredients for the dredge.
   
4. When oil is hot, toss oysters in the dredge. Shake off excess and gently drop into oil. Cook for about 3 minutes, turn over, and continue cooking until crispy all over.
   
5. Drain oysters on a paper towel and serve immediately with Kohlrabi salad.

Labels: farmers market, locavore, recipes

The farmers that were there primarily offered seedlings and lettuces. Seedlings are perfect for those who have not yet had a chance to plant vegetables in their own gardens. The tomato plants are vibrant and full, the herbs billowy and aromatic, and lettuces sprouting a few leaves. Wait… lettuces??? After all this heat, I was surprised to see farms even suggesting that we should start growing the cool weather plant. I questioned this… the gal from Kimball farm says they plant new lettuce seeds every 5 – 10 days. This makes sense: The standard method of harvesting lettuces, “cut-and-come-again,” does not work in this heat, necessitates successive planting if you want a steady supply throughout the summer.

One farm was selling hot-house tomatoes, but I’m still not buying. Though this betters the California hothouse because they could ripen on the vine longer, I’ll hold out for the drippingly juicy field tomatoes.

The Herb Lyceum at Gilson Farms specializes in herbs. Herbs grow easily in pots as well as in beds, and have a great cost/benefit ratio. Garden fresh herbs are better than store bought because the aromas are more pungent. Better still, you can harvest just what you need for a single meal – unlike the predetermined pack sizes at the supermarket. Better flavor, less waste - another point in the no-waste column.

Gilson Farms also owns two restaurants, including the local Cambridge favorite: Garden at the Cellar. This gastro-pub features locally inspired, European-styled cuisine. The perennial favorite is the creamy tomato soup with grilled cheese. The three-course tasting menu highlights local farmers.

Labels: farmers market, locavore, restaurants

Right now, strawberries, asparagus and salad greens are at their peak.

For a recent dinner party, I wanted to serve roasted asparagus (requiring a 450F oven), but was also baking the strawberry rhubarb pie (at 375F). I opted to put the asparagus on the floor of the oven for a searing heat that caramelized the spears without overcooking them. This impromptu method worked so well, it is now my standard method for roasting asparagus.

Strawberry shortcake showcases the sweet berry. This variation puts an Italian spin on the American classic.

Labels: locavore, recipes, soapbox