Tag Archives: cooking

Holding It Close

Posted on February 15, 2014 by AnnieRie

As in closely sourced items for a stellar Valentine’s Day dinner.

When you look at this dinner plate, you can’t tell initially that it reflects a commitment to local, seasonal and small business sourced items for a meal.

Filet Mignon. Green bean casserole. Baked potato.

What is local about all this?

The Filets. England Acres.

Pan seared and coated with a mushroom gravy.

Potatoes. From our Friends and Farms basket. Baked. Then sprinkled with truffle salt, and doused in white balsamic. A couple of specialty items from Secolari.

A simple green bean casserole.

Mixed together and baked.

Really. Why go to restaurants when at a fraction of the cost you can make a simple meal with better items.

hocofood@@@

Really Great Customer Service …

Posted on February 12, 2014 by AnnieRie

… begins and ends with communication. And, accommodation. And, great products.

With crazy weather approaching, we wondered “How will Friends and Farms get our weekly items to us?”

We shouldn’t have worried. We got emails this morning, linking us to the updated page about inclement weather. Followed a few hours later with more information.

Do you want to come in tonight to pick up? Extended warehouse hours. Facebook pictures of staff filling extra baskets for those of us who pick up tomorrow.

We got there at 4:15. Lots of people there. Efficient drop off of bags and name taking. Extra staff shuttling baskets out from the warehouse.

Communication that bread wasn’t available as The Breadery delivers the morning of pick up. Do you would to come in over the weekend, or get two loaves next week?

I got home and noticed, in the insulated bag, my quick frozen green beans were missing. Popped off an email.

Got a response back in ten minutes from Tim, one of the founders. Apologies and choices. Did I want to pick up this weekend with the bread, or have it held until next week?

Since I want the bread for Sunday breakfast and for the egg salad I want to make for the weekend, I am popping over to pick up.

What did we get though? A winter “CSA style” basket is definitely regional, and definitely seasonal.

Hydroponic Bibb lettuce. Grown in high tunnels in the winter. Hamlin oranges from Florida. These juicy oranges are perfect for making salads. Like my fennel and orange salad. One humongous cabbage. There will be “blind pigeons” next week. My MIL’s recipe, using some sausage and ground beef mixed, with rice and some of that really flavorful tomato puree we got.

We also got two large red onions. Again, my go-to onion for salads. These are firm and fresh. So much nicer than what I find in the grocery stores.

Grape tomatoes to make a Bibb and tomato salad. Eggs (which I now get weekly instead of milk). My favorite Amish yogurt, which I now get biweekly (substituted this instead of the biweekly eggs others get).

I love the customization flexibility. I really enjoy the variety of the meats.

This week there was a “breakfast” meat. Fresh turkey sausage. The main source for beef, pork, and lamb we have been getting is Wayne Nell and Sons near York PA. We also got two rib eye steaks, perfect for a Valentine Dinner. And, chicken.

This week, boneless/skinless chicken thighs. I am thinking of all sorts of things to make with this chicken. Freebird is just awesome. You can enter your package code and “meat” the farmer who raised this chicken.

Really happy with Friends and Farms, enough to write about them often. We just renewed our subscription for 13 weeks.

hocofood@@@

2 Comments

Posted in Community, Farms, Food, Friends and Farms, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food and tagged community, cooking, CSA, farms, Food, local businesses, Locavore. Bookmark the permalink.

The Peanut-iest

Posted on February 8, 2014 by AnnieRie

Sometimes it’s those little local items that bring fun into cooking. Like those Virginia raw peanuts we got in this week’s basket from Friends and Farms.

Raw peanuts. This isn’t the first time I have used raw peanuts in cooking. A few years ago I got peanuts out at the Common Market in Frederick and made peanut brittle.

This time, I decided to use the peanuts to make spiced nuts. I roasted them. Spread them out on a pan and added molasses, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and Old Bay.

I didn’t take pictures this time. But, they taste great, even if they are a little messy looking.

Great snack while watching the Olympics.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Food, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food and tagged cooking, Food, foodie, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Just A Small Basket

Posted on February 6, 2014 by AnnieRie

That’s all it is supposed to be. But, it is filled with large flavor. And some really fun surprises.

There are the usual winter veggies and fruit. Like potatoes, apples, Swiss chard. There is an interesting cheese, a Weissa Kase, from an Amish farm.

Breadery Bread. This week we chose Montana white.

This wasn’t an egg week, but I just modified my basket to make eggs an item instead of milk. The biweekly eggs will become that luscious rich yogurt. I love the flexibility to customize what we get.

Protein this week. A sirloin steak and a couple of beautiful tuna filets.

I already made them for dinner tonight, along with some of the green beans from a few weeks back.

It was pretty simple. Pan fry the steaks with some sesame seeds and salt and pepper, in olive oil. Steam the green beans. Add a few sauces.

My favorites this week, though, are the edamame. And, the peanuts.

The Virginia raw peanuts. Ready to be roasted. I am torn between making peanut butter, saving them for making granola, and being really bad and making “Peanut-tella” aka a Smitten Kitchen recipe. Using cocoa and powdered sugar. The only other thing I need to make this is peanut oil, which I can easily find.

Who knows what I will do with the peanuts?

We also got egg noodles, and some frozen corn. Not a bad haul for the middle of winter.

Meal planning is dynamic and fun, thanks to Friends and Farms.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Farms, Food, Friends and Farms, Winter Eat Local and tagged cooking, CSA, farms, Food, local businesses, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Posted on February 4, 2014 by AnnieRie

Ordinarily I am not a big fan of chicken breast. Usually too dry and without the taste that legs, thighs and wings have (at least to my taste preferences).

I tried a new technique for me, and made a very satisfying dinner tonight. Half the chicken in dinner, and the rest will become a chicken corn chowder base in a day or two.

Made in a stir fry pan. Here is what I did.

I had a pound of boneless chicken breast from our first Friends and Farms basket. I wanted chicken pieces that were moist. So, I started out with the chicken fat that had been skimmed off the stock I made with a whole chicken last week. I heated it up in the pan and added the chicken in strips and cubes. Let it cook slowly in the “schmaltz”. Pulled out the chicken and removed all the fat from the pan.

Put in my base.

Remember that jam jar dressing recipe from last week? Made with maple yogurt and Dijon mustard. Well, over the weekend I made another batch right in the mustard container, using equal amounts of mustard and yogurt and adding the cider vinegar and oil in the appropriate ratio. I put some coconut milk in the pan, about six ounces, added two teaspoons of flour, salt, pepper, and a healthy squirt of the mustard dressing. Made a white sauce. Added about four ounces of my oven roasted cherry tomatoes, taken from my freezer. Put the chicken back after adding another couple of ounces of milk to get the consistency I wanted.

A little sprinkle of tarragon, and of paprika. Kept on a low simmer while I made some of the Pappardelle’s pasta from Secolari.

I used about four ounces of the pasta that made two servings of pasta. Added about half the chicken mixture. That leaves me with half a pound of chicken to make the soup later this week.

The finished dish. I was considering adding cheese, but it was fine all by itself.

Served with a Maryland Chardonnay from Big Cork. The 2012 vintage. Perfect match to the creaminess of the sauce, this big chardonnay balanced the meal. The salad. Made with the Bibb lettuce from last week’s basket.

I have to admit. It is easy around here to eat locally, even in the dead of winter. The chicken. The tomatoes from the freezer. The schmaltz from a local roasting chicken bought last fall. The yogurt in the dressing. The lettuce. The wine.

I am glad we signed up with Friends and Farms for the winter. Gets me into making new dishes, and expanding my recipe collection.

Now I need to pull the frozen corn from the freezer and make that soup soon.

hocofood@@@

1 Comment

Posted in Farms, Food, Friends and Farms, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Wine, Winter Eat Local and tagged cooking, CSA, farms, Food, foodie, heirloom tomatoes, local businesses, Locavore, MD Wine, value of CSA, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Decisions. Decisions.

Posted on February 3, 2014 by AnnieRie

CSA decisions, that is. Community Supported Agriculture. Something I believe in and preach to all who will listen.

There are so many excellent choices for fresh produce here in Howard County. Finding the best fit, and using it wisely, is the challenge.

We first joined a CSA, with Sandy Spring, when they offered pick up where we volunteered. They used an Amish cooperative. We loved them. Organic. Veggies mostly. Reasonably priced. Convenient.

They didn’t get enough people to continue beyond the first year. We switched to a Columbia pickup.

I have tried and liked two other CSAs in the area. But, I love Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative, because I love the challenge. The really exotic veggies. Veggies outside that narrow box we used to work in.

When life gives you bitter melon, you learn. Celeriac. Chayote. Salsify. Jerusalem artichokes. Kohlrabi.

I stay with them because I like that challenge.

This spring and summer I will be doing a bit different mix. A half share from Lancaster Farm Fresh.

Plus, an individual basket from Friends and Farms. Because I like their meat, eggs, dairy, bread and staple items mixed in the basket. A rotation of items that works for a couple.

Who needs grocery stores if you can get fresh seasonal items from regional farmers, fishermen, butchers, and entrepreneurs.

How things have changed for us. Buying from local farms and using these locally based suppliers for the freshest, natural, seasonal foods.

hocofood@@@

2 Comments

Posted in CSA, Farms, Food, Friends and Farms and tagged cooking, CSA, farms, Food. Bookmark the permalink.

Easy Pea-sy

Posted on January 31, 2014 by AnnieRie

Pea Shoot Pesto.

I wanted something interesting to do with the pea shoots we received from our weekly pickup at Friends and Farms.

After a bit of searching around the internet, and knowing that I am a sucker for pestos, I found numerous recipes for a pesto made using pea shoots.

I messed around with them, as usual. And, reverted to my standard formula for pesto. I harvested almost all of the pea shoots. Got around three cups of them.

Toasted a mix of almonds, pecans and walnuts.

About three ounces of them.

Set up the food processor with about three ounces of Parmesan, two cloves of garlic, salt and pepper.

After I blended the Parmesan, I added the nuts and the pea shoots.

As this was blending, I poured in the olive oil. Getting it to the consistency I wanted and tasting while adding a little additional salt and pepper.

The final product. About a cup and a half of pesto. A few dollops of it tonight on the last of the cod we received last week.

The rest of it will get mixed with some pastas. Like those I bought at Secolari this week.

It really tastes like peas. You can make all sorts of pestos. Just be creative and experiment.

hocofood@@@

Jam Jar Dressings

Posted on January 28, 2014 by AnnieRie

I have posted before about making my own salad dressings, using a small jam jar to mix them up.

This time I am experimenting with the Pequea Valley yogurts we get in our Friends and Farms basket. Last week I chose maple (partially to use with the granola I have been making). Maple yogurt makes a very flavorful dressing with mustard.

These are the primary ingredients. Equal parts yogurt and mustard. I used 1/4 cup each. You can double or triple this recipe depending on the number of people you are serving. I got about five ounces of dressing using this recipe. Enough for at least four salads.

The original recipes I found in numerous places on the internet. They used plain yogurt with maple syrup added. I used this delicately flavored maple yogurt, with one tablespoon of pure maple syrup added.

Two tablespoons of olive oil. One Tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. Salt and pepper to taste.

Tonight I served it over romaine, with chopped carrots, celery, scallions, radishes and shaved Parmesan.

The other half will be served with some garlic sausage tomorrow night for dinner. My husband liked the thick rich taste of it, and said it would make a great dipping sauce for sausage.

Making homemade dressing is simple. Plop it all in the jar, cover it, and shake. No preservatives. No extra sugar. You can adjust the amount of maple syrup, and use plain Greek yogurt for a thick dressing.

PS, it is also way less expensive than buying those jars of dressing in the stores.

hocofood@@@

3 Comments

Posted in Food, Friends and Farms, Local Businesses, Real Food and tagged cooking, Food, foodie, local businesses, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Monday at the Mall

Posted on January 27, 2014 by AnnieRie

I am not usually a Mall person. I think the last time I visited Columbia Mall was when we bought our new ovens from Sears. A very long time ago.

My husband, has his hair cut at Cavallero. Right across the way from the scene of the shootings last weekend. For 35 years, he has been going to “Rex’s Place” which became Cavallero. He was just there earlier this month.

For me, the locavore and small business advocate, my only recent dealings with the Mall have been specialty stores, like Secolari.

A family owned business that opened before Christmas.

To show support for the stores, we were there around 2 PM today, right after the Mall reopened. I went in and tasted olive oils and vinegars. Bought a few things. Met Casey from cookieride. And a few Chamber of Commerce members.

My husband popped over to Starbucks to get a small coffee. Ran into the governor’s entourage. That was interesting.

The Howard County community wants to show that we support the people who work at the Mall. That we know they need to get back to work, and they need our business to continue to succeed.

It was a bittersweet afternoon. The tribute to the victims at the entrance. The fire and police presence. The reporters and cameras. Not the normal Monday afternoon scene.

If you get the chance, and love good pasta, olive oil, honey, sea salts, and vinegars, stop by Secolari and welcome them to Columbia. Try the white balsamic vinegar with the black truffle sea salt.

I will be making some interesting dishes using their ingredients to compliment my next basket from Friends and Farms.

And, caring about the health of the businesses in my county. My home for almost four decades. Which is still an amazing place to live.

hocoblogs@@@

#hocounited

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Posted in Commentary, Community, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore and tagged commentary, community, cooking, foodie, hoco loco, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore. Bookmark the permalink.

Loving the Basket

Posted on January 23, 2014 by AnnieRie

Of Friends and Farms goodies. Here, in the dead of winter, it is nice to pick up some fresh veggies, like kale and onions.

Besides these fresh veggies, we had apples and carrots in the bags at the pick up point.

The carrots and those onions will be great in a slow cooker pot roast. We had a chuck roast this week, and some “processed” items.

The tomato puree, with the chuck roast, carrots and onions will form the basis for a pot roast.

We got a piece of sharp cheddar cheese today. Matched with apples, a good snack or dessert.

I chose Maple yogurt this week. We also had cod in the bag, which became part of dinner tonight.

What am I missing? Oh yes, Breadery bread.

This week I chose Montana white bread. To use for toast, and for a couple of recipes that need bread.

While I was there, I picked up a dozen eggs, and a half gallon of apple cider. It is nice to have extra items available to augment your basket.

Can’t complain at all. This is a great deal for getting fresh and flash frozen items to make it through the winter.

hocofood@@@

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Tag Archives: cooking

Holding It Close

Really Great Customer Service …

The Peanut-iest

Just A Small Basket

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Decisions. Decisions.

Easy Pea-sy

Jam Jar Dressings

Monday at the Mall

Loving the Basket

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