Tag Archives: Food

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.

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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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@@@

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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.

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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.

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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@@@

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A Super Weekend

Posted on February 2, 2014 by AnnieRie

And it had nothing to do with a very boring football game.

I did make spicy wings to eat during the game. We actually ate in the dining room since only one team seemed to have shown up to play today.

The rest of the weekend, though, was really quite nice. Good to see warmer weather before our next round of snow and ice and whatever.

We got to England Acres to pick up filets for Valentine’s Day, and some goodies for dessert (plus one to take to an upcoming Conservancy planning meeting).

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Today we had our library wine tasting down at Linden. Postponed from that icy Sunday in early December, we got to savor some really lovely old wines as a treat for hanging in there with a two month delay.

Who would have thought that a 1993 Virginia Chardonnay could still be good? Not just good, but having “fruit” left and structure. We tasted four Chardonnays, and four Hardscrabble Reds.

The Chardonnays show us that you can make wines that age well here on the East Coast of the US. We tasted the 1993, 2002, 2009 and 2012. All from the Hardscrabble vineyard. We them moved to the reds. The 1992, 1998, 2006 and 2010 Hardscrabbles. Last, a comparison of the 1997 and 2004 Late Harvest Vidal Blancs.

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Ninety minutes, where we conversed, tasted, asked questions and learned quite a few new things from Jim Law, the owner/winemaker at Linden.

My favorite. The 2009 Hardscrabble Chardonnay. One immensely intense yet elegant example of poetry in a bottle.

My other favorite today. The 2004 Hardscrabble being poured in the winery by the glass. Paired with some surryanna ham, and black and blue goat cheese.

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Jim tells us he will be having more of these small events. No release party this year. The 2011 vintage, damaged by the late weather events (who can forget Irene and Lee?), meant no single vineyard reds that year.

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We also found out about the building of the new “man cave”. A joking reference to the structure being erected just behind the winery. A heated space to work on equipment, from the winery and for vineyard maintenance.

We picked up a few bottles of the last of the Seyval. It was ripped out this year, to make space for more cabernet planting. The terroir there is better suited for Cabernet. Interesting to hear the changes coming in the future.

On our way home, we stopped in at Delaplane Cellars, near Sky Meadows State Park. Let’s just say, I want to live with this view.

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Oh, and the wines are very nice, too. Impressed with their “cinq trois”.

Now, time to get ready for the snow.

hocofood@@@

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Easy Pea-sy

Posted on January 31, 2014 by AnnieRie

Pea Shoot Pesto.

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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.

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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.

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About three ounces of them.

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

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

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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.

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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.

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A Super(bowl) Basket

Posted on January 30, 2014 by AnnieRie

This week’s Friends and Farms small basket.

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A nicely sized assortment of protein, dairy, produce and fruit. But, my favorite part of it was the inclusion of “big game day” items.

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Like the chicken wings, and the ground beef (to make sliders perhaps?).

This week, besides those, we had a pound of Salvadoran style chorizo and eggs, as our breakfast items. I already made the chorizo in tonight’s dinner.

I choose yogurt instead of milk. This week we got peach flavored. And, frozen strawberries. I am thinking about making strawberry peach pops to have for dessert while watching the game Sunday.

We were supposed to get romaine this week, but had a substitution. A large head of Bibb lettuce.

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It is happily resting in water in the fridge. Some of it, along with a few of the pea shoots, and the grape tomatoes became tonight’s salad.

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The dressing on that salad was made with some maple yogurt dressing using that yogurt from last week’s delivery.

My super bowl menu. Buffalo style wings. Sweet potato fries. Sourdough crostini with various toppings. Strawberry peach pops.

Dinner tonight. Besides that salad above.

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Chorizo. Baked on top of kale, apple, and crouton “stuffing”. Served with a sweet potato. Most of which came in this week’s and last week’s baskets.

Who needs grocery stores?

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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.

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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.

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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@@@

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Lunch or Dinner for Charity

Posted on January 25, 2014 by AnnieRie

Before all the chaos that hit Howard County today, with the Mall shootings, we got information about six very special meals at a new lakefront restaurant.

Those of us who volunteer, and care about the nonprofits in our area were extremely pleased to hear that Cindy Wolf and Tony Foreman were opening Petit Louis Bistro in the space across from Tomato Palace and Clyde’s. On Lake Kittamaqundi.

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This coming week, two lunches and four dinners (soft opening) will be offered with all proceeds going to four local nonprofits. The Howard County Conservancy, where I volunteer, is one of the four. Lunch for $30. Dinner for $50. Includes three courses and a glass of wine. ALL money donated to the nonprofit you choose.

If you are like us, and care about the county where we live, and want to take a little treat and give back, consider signing up for one of the six offered times.

Those of us who love it here, even in the midst of the chaos, will be thankful for your support.

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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.

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Eating Seasonally

Posted on January 22, 2014 by AnnieRie

As much as possible, we try to eat items that are fresh. Things that work best in whatever season it is.

That doesn’t mean, though, that we eat only local items. Face it. Citrus isn’t in season here ever, except for small specialty fruit. So, bananas, oranges, grapefruit, pomegranates, lemons, limes, all grace our table year round, but mostly in the winter. When I can’t get peaches, strawberries, blueberries, cherries, rhubarb and all those other local fruits that we love when they are at their peak.

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Pomegranates are one of those special fruits. I love putting them in yogurt as part of our lunch plate. We got black cherry yogurt in our Friends and Farms basket last week, and I have been putting a couple of ounces of this rich yogurt on our plates, with either fruit or granola.

Tomorrow I pick up our second basket over at Friends and Farms. I look forward to making many more “seasonal” items, using regionally sourced foods. I know a few of them will be Individual Quick Frozen, but face it.

Not much is growing around here in single digit temperatures.

I have enjoyed dishes using last week’s items, including these.

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I made a grapefruit and fennel salad, using the grapefruit. I also used the beans in two dishes. One, my venison chili. The second. A black bean and rice dish, that included four of those very tasty beef sausages that Friends and Farms procures from Wayne Nell and Sons meats, in East Berlin PA.

Some of that venison chili ended up on top of a baked potato yesterday.

If you have a hankering for local meats, available year round, check out my list on my Farm page. I see England Acres has fresh beef. Copper Penny has beef too. As does Clarks. Or call Maple Lawn and get turkey legs to make soup. TLV and Breezy Willow have fresh meat at their Saturday farm stands all winter.

Markets? Check out Olney on Sunday at the Sandy Spring Museum. Or Silver Spring on Saturday morning.

You can eat seasonally, or use some of those “put up” fruits and vegetables, if you remembered to go picking them at Larriland last year.

hocofood@@@

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Meal Planning

Posted on January 20, 2014 by AnnieRie

Something I vow to do. But, it doesn’t always get done.

This week, though, we have quite a full calendar. Lots of people coming, for work estimates, including those to clean up from the burst pipe.

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My better half has two amateur radio dinners, so I need food for my dinners at home.

A fellow blogger, part of my group that did an Eat Local challenge, had a post today that reminded me about the importance of planning ahead and using items in their prime.

Slow cooker recipes are always my favorite. Like my venison chili.

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Using my freezer items. The last of the ground venison. My roasted peppers aka the chili starter. Larriland tomatoes, that were blanched and frozen whole.

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Half the turtle beans from the Friends and Farms basket. They were soaked overnight. Drained, rinsed and cooked until almost done (making sure to boil them for ten minutes before simmering for two hours). Also adding that tablespoon of baking soda, recommended for those of us with hard water.

The other half of the beans were simmered on the stove, with half the basmati rice I made the other day in my Christmas present. My rice cooker. The half of the beef sausage not used in the frittata.

I now have three more meals from the chili I made. A meal from the black beans and rice with sausage. And, leftover lasagna. Most of those leftovers were flash frozen in order to keep them fresh. I bring them out early in the morning into the fridge. Put them in the oven on the slow cook setting, while we handle all our daily things.

Dinner is ready and waiting without time spent on our busy weekdays.

I have to say, my favorite items around here are: the crock pot, the rice cooker, and the chest freezer. It makes it easier to cook in advance, when I have spare time. During those hectic days, I have the equivalent of “TV dinners” in the freezer, that are simple to pop in the oven.

The other thing I did Saturday was cook all the potatoes, and half the eggs, for salads.

I wasn’t always this organized when I first joined a CSA in 2010. We gave away quite a few items, and some rotted before use. It has taken three years to get to this state. Where I can efficiently use CSA items and make use of those frozen goodies.

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This week, though, I need to find something more interesting to do with those lovely portobellos still in the fridge. They are really nice looking, and I am thinking about stuffing them. Or maybe a mushroom lasagna. I still have some Secolari noodles in the pantry.

Even when I plan, I get that urge to be creative. Great ingredients from our local sources make that easy, too.

hocofood@@@

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