Category Archives: Locavore

Turkey All Ways

Posted on November 27, 2017 by AnnieRie

Thanksgiving is over. That 14 pound turkey is history. Or, is it? Quite a bit of it is in the freezer in some form or another. Stock. Soup base.

This year my local Maple Lawn Farm turkey was the subject of an experiment. How best to cook the big bird.

I did three different preparations. Using The Food Lab as inspiration. I cut the turkey in half. Cut half of it in half. That gave me three blank canvases to use. Half of it I dry brined. Mixture of salt and Provencal herbs. Massaged under the skin.

It went into the oven on 300 degrees for the first 45 minutes and was finished at 400 degrees to crisp it up.

The verdict? This was by far the best turkey I have made for the holidays. Dry brining is the way to go. It took 24 hours in the refrigerator to brine this turkey. We ate the wings, thighs and drumstick for dinner, and broke down the breast meat to make a simple turkey Bolognese for two nights of dinner this weekend.

Take your favorite Bolognese recipe and substitute turkey for beef.

The other breast was dry rubbed. Just a variation by using spices instead of herbs.

The dry rub included cumin, coriander, paprika, oregano, cinnamon, cayenne and salt.

This part of the bird became salad. So tender and juicy. We mixed it with cherries, celery, pistachios, mayo and pickle juice. It has been lunch for most of the past week. Never getting tired of this mix.

As for the other quarter, I followed my old wet brine recipe. Cider, oranges, and brown sugar, boiled with a healthy dose of salt. I do agree with the Food Lab assessment. It made the meat mushy instead of sharp and flavorful. Most of this meat went into my soup base.

We ended up with two containers of soup base in the freezer. When I bring them out, they will get heated with egg noodles and a bit of stock to thin them down.

Also done this weekend, a large pot of stock. Two quarts in the freezer.

That one 14 pound bird will be yielding 16 meals for the two of us. Not a bad return on investment. Besides, who gets tired of turkey? Not us.

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Gobble Gobble

Posted on November 12, 2017 by AnnieRie

Yes, it’s that time of year again. Here in the #hocomd world, Maple Lawn farm’s turkeys are nearing the end of their solar panel shielded sun bathing.

We are so lucky to be able to get fresh turkeys, for a fraction of the cost of some of the options out there. Many places have heritage birds for 5-9 dollars a pound. Here, we can get fresh turkey for $2.29 a pound, $2.30 to pick it up right at the farm. With its own reusable bag.

You have many options around here to get their turkeys. Boarmans. Roots. David’s. MOM’s. Whole Foods. And, I hear, maybe at Harris Teeter, but that isn’t confirmed. For the full experience, at least once, you should pick up at the farm. For the craziest experience, do it on Tuesday or Wednesday. Lines out the door, but it does move fast. I go on Monday, so I can let the turkey stay in the fridge one day, then brine it for 24 hours. This year, I may try something different for cooking it. There will be a follow up if this method works.

This weekend I also picked up my favorite other seasonal items, like the pumpkin ice cream from Baugher’s.

I can’t emphasize how amazing this farm is. They have a bakery, if you want pies for the holidays. They make their own ice cream. They make apple butter, peach butter, all sort of jellies and jams. You can pick your own fruit in summer and fall, and their fruit market is open year round. Worth the trip to Westminster. I go every month after picking up my meat CSA at Evermore Farm. Yesterday I got pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin cookies and a peck of gala apples. On Small Business Saturday, you could knock off quite a bit of your Christmas shopping there, and have lunch at the restaurant. Order the tuna melt, and the CMP sundae. And, a side of apple fritters. Heaven.

So, now you have the turkey. You can get the pie and the ice cream, and maybe some cider, at Baugher’s. Next post, in a few days, the wines and the special items.

Those pumpkin cookies are calling my name. They won’t last until Thanksgiving.

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Falling Back

Posted on November 3, 2017 by AnnieRie

 

My favorite weekend of the year is coming up. Back to normal time. That extra hour to sleep, so to speak. Getting the clock back to matching the rhythm of my system.

I am not a morning person so Daylight Saving Time in the spring drives me nuts.

Other than that, what has been/will be happening around here? Much cooking and reading, through this massive book. Thanks to Howard County Library for long renewals I might make it through the entire 1000 or so pages and learn more about the science of cooking.

 

My blog turned six yesterday. Still going, but not as often. I did start it to record local eating and to promote Howard County Conservancy events.

To honor those goals, today’s posts focuses on both those topics.

First, the conservancy events.

Wanna play in the meadows? Drink cider and run around playing a fun game? Sunday, there are games in the meadow. SCAG, to be exact. What is that? Here is the description for this event at Mt. Pleasant. November 5, 10-noon.

Then, on Thursday the 9th, a rare opportunity to see a first rate performance transporting you through history.

Forging Frontiers: Rachel Carson, Sacagawea and Louise A. Boyd – Women Who Made a Difference

Appropriate for families with children age 8 and up, here is a chance to see a riveting musical performance that teaches while you enjoy the show.

As for the other main reason I started writing, the local food scene, I am pledging to continue to reduce my carbon footprint by eating more meals primarily using locally sourced foods.

From my CSA, I am back to buying a flour and grain share.

csa and cooking 011

Every other week I get a bag of flour and some type of grain. This past week it was grits. Now that I have perfected that shrimp and grits recipe from Deep Run Roots, Vivian Howard’s homage to east Carolina cooking, I have used grits frequently for variations.

shrimp and grits

Simple to make. Three cups milk. One cup grits. Double boiler, or a pan above a pot of water. It takes time, but is forgiving when it comes to stirring. The gentle heat means no burnt places. Heck, you can even just buy the shrimp from Boarman’s and make the grits. Add some hot sauce.

I have been busy cooking these days but forgetting to write about it. Right now, I am cooking my way through The Food Lab. For the cookbook club. New techniques. Old favorites updated. Using the bounty from my fall CSA.

csa and cooking 016

Now you can see why I am focusing on soups, stocks and stews. Many, many ingredients here. Those are white carrots. There is celery. There is a large leek. Escarole, chard. Soup in the fall. My go-to meal.

Here’s to a few more blog posts in my future. I haven’t given up writing yet. Just slowing down.

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CSA Tidbits

Posted on October 19, 2017 by AnnieRie

It’s been a while since I talked about my farm share from Lancaster Farm Fresh. Our spring/summer 26 week season is about to end next Tuesday, and then fall shares begin. We have already transitioned to fall vegetables, which I love, but the official “seasons” are off by a few weeks.

Some of the favorite things we get these days.

Radishes.

Exotic ones, like the watermelon radishes. I swapped this week to snare some of these. The medium shares got them, and we didn’t. Radishes come in spring and fall, and some of the hardiest ones, the daikon for example, come in the winter. These more delicate radishes can be enjoyed raw, with a sprinkling of salt. Those daikons, and the really heavy black radishes of winter, they have to be roasted to bring out their flavor.

Turnips.

Hakurei are my favorites. They can be eaten raw, and unpeeled, but I like to roast them or cook them with their greens, like Vivian Howard, of the Chef’s Life fame, has in her cookbook, Deep Run Roots. The “pot likker” alone is worth it. Yesterday I cooked up a mess of greens and added these roots to the pot. Nothing like intensely flavored greens, and buttered turnips. No pictures of those. They weren’t that photo worthy.

What is photo worthy? This.

Restaurant quality, if I say so myself. Greens from the CSA. A Cherry Glen Monocacy Ash cheese, picked up at Evermore Farm when I got my meat share. The blackberries? From Baugher’s in Westminster, right down the road from Evermore Farm. I love to stop there after getting my monthly allocation of meat and eggs. The blackberries were end of season, and a bit mushy, but still bursting with flavor. I ended up mixing some plain yogurt with lime juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and mint, for the dressing.

There are a few slivered almonds there, too.

Finally, the first soup of the season.

Lentil soup. Made using some fresh stuff, some frozen stuff and a bag of French lentils. Started with celery, a leek, carrots and onions, all from the CSA. Added a quart of turkey stock made in the spring and frozen, using Maple Lawn farm turkey drumsticks. The bag of lentils. A bay leaf from my plant. French thyme from Penzeys. Salt. Pepper. After it cooked about an hour, I blended part of it to make it creamy. Added a cup of milk at the end of cooking.

Enough for at least three dinners. One Tuesday night. One this weekend. One will be frozen for later this winter. It was the first time I made lentil soup and it won’t be the last time.

Before I sign off on this CSA update, I have to include the picture from Tuesday.

$33 a week. All organic. If I priced this out at Roots, I know it would be much higher, even if I could find all these items there. Watermelon radishes are hard to find. So are Hakurei turnips. French breakfast radishes.

I love getting the tops of the radishes and the turnips, too. They made that dinner last night. Rainbow chard, radish greens, turnip greens, all cooked down for a long time. The lettuces will be gone by the weekend. Salads at lunch and dinner. I will be roasting cauliflower this weekend. Tuscan kale. Destined for a salad on Sunday. The sweet peppers? Stuffed with goat cheese and Canadian bacon. Served with short ribs this Sunday night. With a little planning, a CSA share can give us a week of healthy eating.

 

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Designer Kale

Posted on September 16, 2017 by AnnieRie

Kalettes. Ever heard of them. Neither did I until they showed up in my Community Supported Agriculture share last Tuesday.

They even have their own website.

They remind me of red Russian kale. They are a cross between Brussels sprouts and kale. Easier to digest. Nutty in flavor.

After seven years in our CSA, Lancaster Farm Fresh, I thought they couldn’t come up with much I hadn’t seen before. And, yep, they did.

I finally got around to using them yesterday. Some of them in soup. The rest. Today will become sautéed side dish for my shrimp and grits.

As for the soup, I am currently cooking from Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. For the cookbook club. Refining my techniques. I made a variation of the Tuscan bean and kale soup for dinner.

Definitely a variation. What did I use for this soup? A quart of my homemade chicken stock. Scallions. Purple carrots. A small, cubed Beuregard sweet potato. A can of low sodium cannellini beans. A smoked ham hock. Some of my cherry tomatoes from the garden.

The only seasoning added was a bay leaf, pepper, and oregano. I like the kalettes. They are milder and easily wilt into the soup.

Now, to find them locally. That should be interesting. I wonder if Whole Foods has them?

 

 

 

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Watermelon Gazpacho

Posted on July 27, 2017 by AnnieRie

Really. Excellent. Gazpacho.

All because we had it at The Turn House last week, so I had to try my own.

My first visit there, and review.

It’s a locally owned, farm to table menu. They graciously told us what was in the gazpacho, so I came home and tried my version of it.

Recipe: 4 cups watermelon, two large tomatoes, peeled and seeded. Equal amounts of red wine vinegar and olive oil. I used a couple of ounces of them. Half a cucumber, peeled and seeded. Your choice of how much hot pepper and sweet pepper. Two garlic cloves, minced. Salt. Pepper.

Make it to your taste. Your liking. I just throw things in a blender, and adjust.

Perfect for Buy Local Week. What’s not to love around here? It’s watermelon, cantaloupe, tomato and corn season in Maryland. They star in most of our meals. After all, the tomatoes are winning.

Five pounds today. They are making me work hard to preserve them.

Like these. Tomatoes, onion, garlic, pepper, olive oil, salt, pepper, a splash of sugar. Roasted. To put in the freezer to make winter that much more tolerable.

Dinner tonight.

The gazpacho. Cornish hens with local basil and butter. A potato from my CSA. A very good Virginia Viognier.

Buy Local Challenge nailed.

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The Buy Local Challenge

Posted on July 22, 2017 by AnnieRie

Today is the kickoff day of the annual Maryland Buy Local Challenge. Simple. Pledge to eat at least one local item every day for nine days. It’s just 1/40th of the year. It should be so much more.

How about taking it up a notch. Pick nine items to buy locally for the entire year. At least buy most of those items, even if you don’t do 100%, a significant commitment to supporting local businesses is well worth it.

Things like these. Wine, beer, jams, ice cream, bread, meat, cheese, distilled spirits. Maybe fruit for as long as it’s available. Eggs. A Community Supported Agriculture share. Locally roasted coffee, or chocolate.

In other words, help the local small businesses who could use the support year round, and not just for nine days in July. If you eat out, make the small restaurants your favorites, and stop going to TGIF or Applebees.

Do you go to the farmer’s markets? Buy more from them. Go to the Breadery. Or Atwaters.

Head over to the Breezy Willow Country Store in Ellicott City, and see what they are selling. Go to The Rooster and Hen in Catonsville.

What other ideas do you have to put more money in our local economy?

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It’s Tomato Time!

Posted on July 16, 2017 by AnnieRie

Yes, it is.

The floodgates have opened. They are coming in by the dozen now. Including a new one in my medley.

Purple Bumble Bee. A hybrid. A large cherry tomato. The first ones were ripe this afternoon. They are incredibly sweet. Larger than others.

I have only gotten a couple large tomatoes so far. Many, many green ones on the vines. Waiting for that tsunami to begin.

In other items out there, the okra are ripening.

Purple okra. Should do well when paired with purple tomatoes, shouldn’t it?

Zucchini still producing strong.

There were two today. I came home and put it all together. Zucchini. Okra. Tomatoes. The lonely two asparagus spears I found. An onion.

Sautéed to serve with heritage pork chops, from Evermore Farm. You don’t get much fresher than two hours out of the garden.

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Short and Sweet Saturdays

Posted on July 8, 2017 by AnnieRie

A new addition to my writings. To entice me to sit down more often and write. When we get too busy to take the time to pursue our hobbies that bring us pleasure, we sometimes need to stop and smell the flowers again.

I will try and post at least twice a week. Those Tidbit Tuesdays, and these. Discipline. It’s what I need to come down to the computer and write.

I have a long in process post about the trivia behind amateur radio Field Day. I will get it done and posted soon, I hope.

In the meantime, some tidbits from the past few days.

WELCOME BACK HOWCHOW!!!!

Not excited, am I? For 18 months, we mourned the absence of our favorite food writer, who helped me grow this site by linking to it and letting me guest post on the most comprehensive local food scene blog in Central Maryland (and beyond). His toddler had him way too busy to write (and curtailed his frequent visits to the local restaurant scene). It’s good to see him back and writing about what is new and exciting in Howard County.

In other news, I have just finished my first four month subscription to a meat share CSA, with Evermore Farms, and loved it so much I am renewing for the next four months. I like getting this monthly surprise bundle. Keeps me creative in the kitchen. Like today.

My small share. 7-9 pounds of meat a month. I also get a chicken share. Today’s bird was 5.25 pounds. I also chose to get two dozen eggs a month. The right size for the two of us. I supplement the share with a few items from the freezers at the farm. I do have the option of getting a “delivered” share, to be picked up at the Columbia Wegmans every month, or to have home delivery, which requires leaving a cooler outside. I like going to the farm, picking out a couple of extra items (including Rheb’s truffles and Salazon chocolate). Today I did get two skirt steaks to grill.

This month was heavy on the grilling stuff. Beef patties. Sirloin steak. Lamb sausage. It’s a good mix of beef, pork and lamb.

There are some ham “chips” which are just screaming for me to use in a traditional Maryland style crab soup. When I make it, there will be pictures.

And, the last tidbit today. What is it with the wind out there. It knocked over my potted bay leaf plant twice so I had to rescue it in order to keep it safe from breaking.

I had to wedge it in between the patio and deck.

It has all kinds of new growth on it, and it is getting unwieldy. I need to transplant it again to a bigger heavier pot. That does make it difficult to bring inside for the winter but it’s worth it to have fresh bay leaves for soups and stews.

Time to stop writing here and get back to answering emails on the community gardens page. Now that’s a whole other topic I could write volumes about.

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Summer Sizzle

Posted on June 14, 2017 by AnnieRie

Yes, baby, it’s warm outside. Time to fire up the grill. Buy locally at the farmer’s markets. Look for refreshing light beverages to serve for dinner. Like craft beers.

Do you have a local liquor store that sells growlers full of light, interesting craft beers? The Wine Bin in nearby Ellicott City fills our growlers with locally produced beers, just right for dinner on the patio.

Maybe a step above. Like a daiquiri or a Dark and Stormy. Made with locally produced rums. From places similar to Lost Ark. Who, by the way is helping us at the Howard County Conservancy with a summer program “cocktail party” with famed Bug Man Dr. Mike Raupp. Stay tuned to see about that August program. In the meantime, check out their rums.

Yep, rum drinks with little umbrellas are awesome, but for us, the best summer drink is either a homemade Sangria, or a locally produced  rosé.

I stumbled upon a great blog post, listing a very large amount of Maryland dry rosé wines, which will help you find a perfect match for your summer sizzle meal. Here is the link.

Tame that summer heat. Don’t heat up the kitchen. Grill and chill.

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