Category Archives: Food

Cooking Up a Storm, Again

Posted on September 9, 2013 by AnnieRie

Today, with the cooler weather, I had crock pot, oven, stove top and food processor going, in order to keep up with the last of the garden harvests. And with some of the CSA veggies.

What did I get done?

Another batch of tomato sauce using all of my paste tomatoes, and the CSA roma tomatoes.

A foil package of about 30 cloves of garlic, put in the oven after taking out the chicken that I slow cooked for most of the day, which I had finished in the oven, to get it brown. I used the last of my previous batch of garlic to make dinner Sunday night. I always keep a container of roasted garlic in the refrigerator. Beats buying it from the olive bar at the grocery store.

Two quarts of chicken stock tonight, using the carcass and all the drippings from the all day crock pot chicken cooking.

Pesto, using the CSA basil from a week ago, and some of mine. I still have enough to do another large batch.

Add that to last night’s work. I made ajvar and roasted red pepper hummus while I had last night’s lamb on the grill.

Finally, I have to decide if I want to keep that rendered chicken fat skimmed off the top of the stock, and download Michael Ruhlman’s iPad cookbook dedicate to schmaltz. Now that’s a new adventure that I might just have to try.

Tell me. If I saute kale in chicken fat, do they cancel each other out? Healthy food. Serious fat. Could be interesting.

The freezer is filling up again.

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Posted in cookbooks, CSA, Food, Gardening, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food and tagged cooking, crock pot cooking, crockpot soups, CSA, Food, foodie, gardening, local businesses, Locavore, real food, tomatoes. Bookmark the permalink.

Mostly Local

Posted on September 8, 2013 by AnnieRie

Back when I first started writing this blog, I used participation in food challenges as a way to increase my awareness of local foods. I did the Dark Days Challenge, the Southern SOLE Food Challenge, another winter challenge, the Buy Local Challenges and found out how easy it is to cook with local ingredients here. I need to update my local challenge page to reflect the current status, but it is a great link to some sources of local foods, as is my local resource page.

My first dark days luncheon in 2011. Locally sourced items for a salad.

Somewhere along the way, I stopped doing weekly challenges, as my refrigerator, freezer and pantry had quite a bit of local ingredients stashed in them. Almost every meal had something local in it.

Meat and dairy is simple here. So are vegetables from all the CSAs in the county.

Yesterday I didn’t even think about it. I took two dishes to the reunion. Both had local ingredients. I also took a few bottles of Big Cork wine. A winery just outside of Frederick. A Traminette. Perfect for those who loved the shrimp and the crabs, and the pulled pork. A spicy wine, similar to Gewurztraminer.

My contributions were tomatoes, goat cheese, basil over a bed of arugula. To be accompanied by McCutcheon’s dressing. Tomatoes. Mine. Basil. Mine. All the plants from Sharp’s Farm. Goat cheese. Cherry Glen. Just west of us in Montgomery County. Arugula. Love Dove Farm. Howard County.

My other dish. A four bean salad. Using wax beans from TLV, and green beans from my CSA. Yeah, the cannellini and garbanzo beans were canned, bought at Roots the other day.

Breakfast today. Love Dove eggs. Lunch today. Leftover salads from yesterday.

Dinner tonight. One incredibly awesome sirloin lamb roast from England Acres, one of the packages from the half of lamb we bought in April. Potatoes, from the CSA. Peaches from Lewis Orchards. Love Dove arugula. Catoctin Mountain Orchards Peach Vinaigrette over the salad.

My latest batch of ajvar on the side with some pita. Using CSA eggplant. My garlic, roasted. Yeah, I bought the red peppers at Harris Teeter, as we haven’t seen many nice red peppers. Hasn’t been hot enough this summer.

I really am thankful that we have our markets. We have many local farms open year round. We have year round CSAs. Making our meals that much fresher, that much better.

Thanks to our local farmers. They make it easy to eat locally and seasonally.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Dark Days, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Wine and tagged cooking, CSA, Dark Days, Dark Days Challenge, farmer's markets, farms, Food, foodie, local businesses, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Picking Fruits and Veggies

Posted on September 6, 2013 by AnnieRie

The end of the peach season is upon us. Soon, the rest of the 15 varieties of apples will be ripening at Larriland. We need to get back out there and pick some white peaches for the freezer. You can’t beat a day with this view.

I have also never picked grapes out there. Or, quite a few other veggies. This lovely weather makes me want to hit the farm and get a few more good items to put away.

The web site also tells us that the tomatoes will be good through October. I may go there and get a large quantity of romas, just to finish the sauce processing.

This year, my romas and paste were way down from previous years. Even with more plants. I know it is time to move the garden out to the field even if it means twice the length of hose to irrigate it. We are now down to seven hours of sun a day, maximum, on the current garden site.

I do have quite a harvest of heirlooms still ripening. Most get picked before I get stink bug or something chewing on them. I think it’s the squirrels. I need to get a dog. Seriously.

Not only are the squirrels getting into my plants, they are chewing on the cedar siding around our doors.

All in all, though, I did get, and I am still getting quite a haul of heirlooms. Finally, pineapple tomatoes, hillbilly tomatoes, and Amana orange, all producing fruit almost every day. Another full windowsill.

I do love this mild, low humidity weather that we are experiencing. I could get used to working outside without that heat and humidity.

hocofood@@@

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A Baker’s Dozen in the CSA Box

Posted on September 5, 2013 by AnnieRie

Again, on week 16 we get 13 items in the box from the Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative truck.

The List:
1 bag Red Flesh/Red Skin Potatoes – Crystal Springs Organics
1 Sucrine du Berry Squash – Liberty Branch
1 bag Red Beets – Sunny Slope Organics
2 Green Zucchini – chemical free- Kings Produce
1 Raven Zucchini – Autumn Blend Organics
1 bag Onions – White Swan Organics
1 bag Orange Carrots – Sunny Slope Organics
1 bag Japanese Eggplant – Maple Lawn Organics
1 head Radicchio – Bellview Organics
1 bunch Dinosaur Kale – Peaceful Valley Organics
1 bag Green Beans – Healthy Harvest Organics
1 bunch Cilantro – Noble Herbs (I swapped for fennel)
1 bag Roma Tomatoes – Elm Tree Organics

New to me this week, the Sucrine du Berry and the raven zucchini. Must be an omen to get a raven zucchini on football opening day.

The Sucrine du Berry squash, similar to, but supposedly sweeter than a butternut is reviewed as good for making risotto or soup or even roasted in huge chunks with Asian spice to tame the heat. We shall see what I decide to do with it.

As for the reason I swapped the cilantro, I had just bought two pots of it at Harris Teeter, to keep on the windowsill. They are from Shenandoah Farms in VA and are meant to keep supplying you with herbs for as long as you remember to water them. I needed it for that bitter melon soup.

As for the eggplant and the two types of zucchini, I am sort of ratatouille’d out, so there may be chocolate zucchini bread, or zucchini fries. The eggplant will probably end up in a new batch of ajvar if I pick up a few red peppers.

I also really love those red flesh and red skin potatoes for salad. With the white, the purple viking and the red flesh potatoes, you can make one amazing potato salad.

hocofood@@@

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Fall Sneaking Up on Us

Posted on September 3, 2013 by AnnieRie

Signs that we are heading towards that change of season.

My first Thelma Sanders squash, hidden under the leaves in a corner of the garden.

Berries on the crab apples. A bumper crop of berries. Here’s hoping we get the cedar waxwings who love to feast on the berries.

Rhododendron buds are really plentiful this year as well. Last year there was lots of growth but not that many blooms. This year, all the rain was good to them and they put out huge amounts of buds, which means lots of flowers next May.

Morning glories completely out of control. I didn’t prune them back this year. A friend who grows grapes told us in rainy seasons to let the flowers and weeds get close to your garden. In the case of a very wet summer, their competition for the moisture will be beneficial to keeping your veggies and fruit from diseases caused by too much water.

A basil plant that decided to rise from the ruins of the bunny devastation of last spring. I have no idea how it came back from its puny little nub left after the rabbits got to it.

Newly mowed meadow. Ready to be baled. Driving my sinuses nuts, but it really looks forlorn, where once there was all this tall lovely grass.

Lots of green tomatoes still out there, hiding and in plain sight. I figure we have about four or five more weeks before the weather changes for good, and I have to bring them in if they don’t ripen. Right now I am still getting lots of slicing tomatoes, but all the paste tomatoes are about finished for the year.

Weather is lovely, isn’t it? Temps in the low eighties and high seventies. Cool nights.

The blue basil is going to seed. Time to do the last big harvest and make another boatload of pesto.

Enjoy this weather while we can!

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Food, Gardening, Hobbies, Howard County, Nature, Weather, West HoCo and tagged Food, gardening, heirloom tomatoes, hobbies, Howard County, tomatoes, weather, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

Bitter Melon Soup?

Posted on September 2, 2013 by AnnieRie

OK, we tried it. It was edible. It is supposedly good for us. Cross that off my Sixty@Sixty list and let’s move on.

We got bitter melon in the CSA last Thursday. According to most web sites, blanching it will remove most of the bitterness.

Umm, they lied. Have you had hot and sour soup? It kind of reminds me of that. Thankfully, I made basmati rice and garlic naan, to tone it down a bit.

I was surprised at how easy it was to make. But now, I do have fish sauce, bean thread noodles and some leftover mushrooms to use up. Along with a large amount of basmati rice.

It looked interesting when cooking it.

And, the seeds and white pith inside had to be scraped out, but the seeds were bright red.

I was glad that the pork mixture stayed inside so well. I was afraid it would fall out. I did have extra pork so I dropped “meatballs” in the broth along with the stuffed bitter melon. Oh well, bitter melon is supposed to lower your blood sugar and lots of other healthy things.

Found the recipe here.

hocofood@@@

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Childhood Memories

Posted on September 1, 2013 by AnnieRie

Including one grown up version. The rest of today’s dinner, a trip back to PA for my husband.

Watermelon margaritas. Made with leftover watermelon, lime juice and a few other things. I remember having watermelon lemonade as a child. The bottom part of the watermelon scraped out, with all the juice. Lemonade mixed with it.

This version is the adult version. I used about 12 ounces of watermelon with the leftover juice. The dregs of the two week old melon. Added the four ounce container of peach puree that didn’t fit in the peach pop molds. Added two shots of tequila. One shot of Cointreau. Squeezed the juice of two limes into it. Added about eight cubes of ice. All blended together.

Happiness on the patio, before dinner.

Dinner. Kielbasa grillers. Baked, since storm predictions made me hesitant to fire up the grill and have to deal with possible lightning.

These are kielbasa from my husband’s home town. Not the big ring he had, all the time. This version is the hot dog bun version, but the taste is the same.

He requested that I make steamed cabbage like his mom did. Kielbo and steamed cabbage. Dinner many nights in the small town where he grew up.

Simple steamed cabbage. Two wedges of CSA cabbage. In the steaming basket for about 15 minutes. Served with fresh butter, celery salt and caraway seeds, mixed together and poured over the cabbage.

No, there aren’t any pictures from dinner. I was too lazy to go grab the camera after putting the plates together and heading outside. It hasn’t rained, like it was predicted. I could have grilled those kielbo.

hocofood@@@

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Holiday Weekends

Posted on August 31, 2013 by AnnieRie

Sometimes I forget how hectic they can be. As an old retired person, I don’t always think about when the holidays occur. I am still on August time. Forgetting Monday is Labor Day.

We hit the highs and lows of holiday traffic today. Lows at Harris Teeter. Not much happening there. I do hope they get more traffic once the restaurants open and more housing comes in. We had most of the store to ourselves this morning. I was getting the Asian elements to make my bitter melon soup. Bean thread noodles. Mushrooms. Fish sauce.

We then headed out to Mt. Airy for three stops. The Tractor Supply Store. England Acres. Wagner’s Meats. Let’s just say the farm and the butcher were both out of control with people. We have never encountered lines at either location.

I got the 1/2 pound of fresh pork I needed for the soup from Wagner’s. While there, was tempted and bought some really nice looking boneless spare ribs.

I got some red peppers to make a new batch of ajvar with the CSA eggplant. Got milk, eggs and my husband’s favorite snacks, “WAY BETTER” tortilla chips made from sweet potatoes, or black beans, or blue corn, all at England Acres. There was no room to park and a back up in the driveway.

Came home to the usual. The sound of mowers and tractors. It may be a holiday but the people around here still keep working on the land. My neighbor was out whacking down his meadow with a serious piece of equipment. He wants to replant it with grasses suitable for mowing into bales of horse feed, aka hay.

He asked if we wanted our far out there untouched area cut down a bit. And made short work of it.

I made some old favorites tonight. Kofta. Watermelon, feta and mint salad. Cole slaw.

Yep, it’s a holiday. We just have to pay attention to the calendar.

hocofood@@@

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Garden Update

Posted on August 30, 2013 by AnnieRie

The garden is hanging in there but the stink bugs are out in force, so I have resorted to picking the tomatoes just before they get ripe and sweet. Cuts down on the damage.

The one on the top left is an Amana orange heirloom. It will turn orange on the windowsill. The other larger heirloom is a mortgage lifter. This year they are not getting huge. The weather hasn’t been hot enough. A couple of orange romas, one Polish linguisa, a handful of cherry tomatoes, and one lonely sun sugar.

The supersweet 100s are done. I have yet to get a ripe pineapple tomato, even though right now there are dozens of green ones on the vines. Got what looks to be the last Paul Robeson yesterday. The hillbillies and the boxcar willie plants also have dozens of green tomatoes on them. Hope we continue to have nice days, in order to ripen them.

I am glad I put in 48 plants, as many of them are underachieving this year.

I have gotten my share of weird plants too. Like this one.

I could have put it in the fair for strange looking plants.

The CSA has also given us some winners. Like this eggplant with a “nose”.

Garden and CSA veggies played well tonight for dinner, where I made my ratatouille pie. Using Breezy Willow bacon and feta, England Acres eggs, Trickling Springs milk, and a combination of CSA squash, eggplant and onion, and my tomatoes for the ratatouille base. I really love this pie. Like a quiche.

I used store bought pie crust this time. Being lazy. Bake the pie crust until almost done. I used two crusts for this. One on the base, and one hand torn and placed around the top of the deep dish.

Mix two cups of ratatouille with 1/4 cup grated cheese and about 6 strips of crisp bacon, torn into pieces. Dump on top the crust. Mix together four large eggs with 2 tablespoons of milk and 2 tablespoons of flour. Dump on top the ratatouille. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes.

Great with a Cabernet. Enough left for lunch this weekend.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Food, Gardening, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Weather and tagged CSA, Food, foodie, gardening, heirloom tomatoes, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, real food, tomatoes, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

Bitter Melon?

Posted on August 29, 2013 by AnnieRie

OK, this is a new one to me.

Asian or African in nature, there are numerous varieties of this prickly looking bitter vegetable that is supposed to be a super fruit, when it comes to reducing blood sugar levels and some other things.

The full share CSA members found one of these in our boxes today. I hung around for a while to see how many would swap it. The answer, after watching about a dozen full share members pick up their boxes. ONE!

Interesting CSA members with us. Willing to try something we had never seen before.

So, I did the research. Expect a blog post about making bitter melon soup with pork. I need to get the rest of the ingredients, but I am going to try it.

What else did we get?

1 Gold acorn Squash- Windy Hollow Organics
1 Yellow Watermelon – White Swan Acres
1 bag Red Potatoes – Green Valley Organics
2 8-Ball Zucchini – Red Fox Organics
2 Italian Eggplants – Windy Hollow Organics
1 Yellow Bell Pepper – Organic Willow Acres
1 Bitter Melon – De Glae Organics
1 bunch Thai Basil – Kirkwood Herbs
1 bunch Dinosaur Kale – Peaceful Valley Organics
1 bunch Lettuce – Landisdale Organics
1 pint Cherry Tomatoes- Taste of Nature

Never had gold acorn squash before. And, the eight ball zucchini are new to me. And that Thai basil. Wow! It overpowered you with the fragrance. There will be pesto made tomorrow.

What did I do with all this goodness? Came home and put it all away and made pizza.

I used up the last of the chicken I roasted, with halloumi, scallions, marinara and garlic, oregano and olive oil.

I’ll get into the CSA stuff this weekend. I need to hit the hospital market for cilantro and shallots, and Harris Teeter for fish sauce, mushrooms and bean thread noodles to make this recipe for the soup.

Also loving getting lettuce again. Seasons are changing. The veggies reflect it.

hocofood@@@

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