Winter Eat Local | AnnieRie Unplugged

Guilt Free Corn Chowder

Posted on December 12, 2012 by AnnieRie

Compliments of learning new techniques from other CSA bloggers. When you get a huge amount of root veggies, you have the option of making soups and stocks out of them. Roasting them first gives them even more flavor.

Roasting the veggies is fairly simple. Rutabaga, turnips, onions, leeks. I cut them large if I am going to make a soup base. Sprinkle them with whatever looks good in the spice rack. Today I used Emeril’s Essence, thyme, parsley, paprika, garlic powder and sage. I also found that with the mild weather, my herbs are still hanging in there. I brought in some oregano, rosemary and thyme to add to the pan. They will be discarded at the end.

The herbs add that extra level of taste to the veggies and they smell so good while roasting. I roasted the veggies at 350 degrees, after drizzling with a neutral oil. I used grapeseed. I added the secret ingredient too. Almond milk. I put a splash in the pan. The rest of the quart will be added to the soup while it is cooking on the stove top. This is how I get a creamy soup base with no cream. One hour in the oven.

Dump everything into the pot. Add the rest of the almond milk. Let it simmer for at least an hour, and blend in a blender to the consistency you want. I added garam masala to the pot too. This is what it looks like when you are finished.

I then added the last of the England Acres chicken, and corn from the freezer. The last of the TLV corn that I blanched and froze in October.

chicken corn chowder, no cream

I put it all in the pot and just turned it on as low as it will go. The flavors should blend nicely and in a few hours we will have corn chowder for dinner. Served with some bread from a local bakery, bread I found at England Acres Saturday, it will be a satisfying locally sourced dinner. Except for the almond milk and the spices.

The bread:

Spring Mill Bread

Dense, chewy, really good. Now I have a new source for breads. Easy to pick up, they even sell frozen loaves at England Acres on weekends when the farm store is open. Fresh or frozen. Another good locally baked bread to add to my list.

Besides dinner tonight, I got a pint and a quart of the soup base. Already in the freezer, to be used when my CSA runs out in two weeks. I still need to use up these carrots and the rest of the root veggies in the crisper.

overflowing with purple carrots, leeks and turnips

I know that having a full share in a CSA gives much more than two people can eat in a week, but using this freezer has made it work, and for the ten weeks we don’t get veggies, I won’t be using the grocery stores much as a source. I will be using what came all summer and fall.

hocofood@@@

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My First Week in our Winter Challenge

Posted on December 9, 2012 by AnnieRie

I will be finishing this first week in our Winter Challenge, by making venison chili dogs tonight. I did the venison chili earlier this week.

leftover chili

While out yesterday, I picked up some hot dogs and a couple of fresh chickens at England Acres. I am glad I decided to go get the chickens as fifteen minutes after I got there, a couple came in and bought the last eight in the cooler. No more fresh chickens until next spring. The hot dogs will get the chili coating tonight.

These hot dogs are not precooked, so Judy at the farm recommended I put the chili with the hot dogs in the oven on a low setting and let the dogs cook in the chili. Then, pull them out and serve them in rolls or on bread. Besides the chili dogs, we will have the last of the spinach in a salad, and nibble on some fresh veggies with Bowling Greens jalapeno cheese spread. Great football food. Open a local beer and we have a simple dinner. Mostly local.

Dinner last night, which was supposed to be leftovers turned into a local feast. I couldn’t resist roasting one of my two chickens.

free range chicken ready for the oven

The bed is leeks, onions, carrots, and celery, all from the CSA. The chicken has my pesto and some butter, rubbed under the skin. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil. Put about four cups of water in the pan, because there will be chicken stock coming from it as well. I added the innards of the chicken to that pan, so it all cooked down into amazingly rich stock.

The finished product. After carving an serving, I did put all the rest of the carcass back in the pan, and returned it to the oven to make enough stock for four pints.

This chicken was so moist and tender. You can not beat fresh chicken like this. Just as you can’t beat those fresh turkeys we get from Maple Lawn. I served it with brussels sprouts from TLV, picked up while we got our roping to decorate the front door. My kind of brussels sprouts.

TLV brussels sprouts

The steamed sprouts joined some fingerlings from the CSA on the plate. They were parboiled. Butter from Trickling Springs, and a Linden Seyval Blanc. A local meal. Not what I originally planned for dinner, but sometimes you find things at the market which just scream to be made that day.

The salad was only partially local, but the baby spinach was organic, and the feta was from Bowling Green Farm. The orange was bought at England Acres. She sells fresh citrus from small farms in Florida. After all, we don’t seem to have that many citrus farms in Maryland. The dressing, a honey mustard I made. Not my best effort. I need to work on this dressing.

The wine, from the hybrid grape, seyval blanc, was perfect with chicken.

You can’t go wrong with this wine. Lemony, crisp, light and refreshing. It is so nice to see wine that hasn’t been drowning in oak barrels. It is a wine, though, that needs to be drunk when it is young. Also perfect with the spinach salad.

All in all, a good first week in our Eat Local Challenge. I am so glad to have the local farms keep their farm stands open all winter. I hit Breezy Willow for cheeses and meat. England Acres for the chicken and hot dogs, and a few veggies and bread. And, at TLV picked up those lovely brussels sprouts.

hocofood@@@