Tag Archives: foodie

100% Amish

Posted on October 17, 2015 by AnnieRie

I just noticed this about tonight’s dinner.

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The food completely was sourced from the Amish farms in our Community Supported Agriculture. Including this absolutely lovely roast from Tussock Sedge Farm.

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I went to their web site (yes, the Amish have web sites, usually maintained by a sales manager) and read all about this grass fed beef. It tells you to slow cook this beef for best results. I did a 20 hour slow cook in my crockpot, overnight and all day. I can say this is some of the best beef I have ever had. Falling apart. Incredibly tender.

Served with another new item we received. Kennebec potatoes

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I think I have a new favorite when it comes to potatoes. These were very creamy and full of flavor. I just microwaved them for about three minutes. Perfect consistency. They would make awesome mashed potatoes.

The vegetables on the side were cauliflower and broccoli. Steamed for just about three minutes. A little Trickling Springs butter and salt and pepper. We got both of them last Tuesday in our delivery. Food just days out of the ground. Nothing like it.

And, enough leftovers for two more meals, plus a hearty broth that will make that last meal probably be a beef noodle soup.

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It doesn’t get much better than this, and it was very simple to make. Turn on that crockpot and go about your business.

Thanks to Lancaster Farm Fresh, I can make a great Saturday night meal without running all over town.

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Pumpkin Spice

Posted on October 9, 2015 by AnnieRie

Flavoring that seems to have taken over the stores, restaurants, drive throughs and other places all over the area. So, what is pumpkin spice?

You can buy it from McCormick.

According to most people, it includes cinnamon, cloves, mace, allspice, ginger, and nutmeg. Me, I get a little adventurous.

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This was in the pumpkin hummus I made a few years back. Post is here.

This hummus is one of my favorites, and a way to deal with large pumpkins, like the ones seen all over this county at our local farms and markets.

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We know there are cooking pumpkins and “jack-o-lantern” pumpkins. Some are stringy. Some have very little flesh. So, we tend to use butternut squash for our pumpkin recipes. Just like they do in the canned “pumpkin pie filling”. Read this blog entry to see what we mean.

I use what we have. If we get cooking pumpkins, OK. If we get heirloom squash, like our recent Sucrine du Berry, we use it.

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Today I decided to experiment with that squash. I roasted it yesterday. Scraped it out. Went looking for recipes. Found one for lasagna. On the Big Oven APP.

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Made my squash component. Made my spinach too, using tatsoi from the CSA. The three cheeses. Mozzarella, pecorino and ricotta. I didn’t go heavy enough on the “pumpkin spice” but I should have.

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Finished. It was good, but not great. I think I need to increase the pumpkin spice.

If you get a chance, pick some pumpkins. Try something new and different. Like hummus, or ravioli, or lasagna.

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The Antietam Highlands Wine Trail

Posted on October 5, 2015 by AnnieRie

Something to do on these lovely autumn days.

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Fall foliage season is fast approaching. I picked up this brochure at Big Cork a few weeks ago. The offerings interested me.

Like the Meadery and Ciderworks.

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Filed away to try out on a weekend soon. But today, the first sunny day in a long time, we ventured out to taste at Knob Hall.

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Just west of Hagerstown. They were harvesting red grapes and sorting, when we got there.

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And, you know what? They make some lovely wines. Not very expensive. But, really well done. The tasting room is in a 200+ year old bank barn. They make one awesome cheese and charcuterie plate. We enjoyed their Chambourcin Reserve for a late lunch.

For those who love good wine, this is a very nice place to check out.

We will be heading back out there to try out the other offerings just west of Frederick. Who can resist the pull of the Appalachian mountains in the fall?

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Addicted To Kiwiberries

Posted on September 20, 2015 by AnnieRie

Every fall when these little berries show up in our fruit share, I marvel at just how good they are.

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Kiwiberries from Kiwiberry Organics, in PA. What amazes me on their web site is the nutritional information for these berries.

Besides their high quantities of vitamins and minerals, they just taste great.

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I like just snacking on them or putting them in salads, but I have been tempted to make jam from them. Or to create a berry nectar to freeze and use all winter. The problem I have is keeping enough of them around to do those things.

According to the web site, you can find them at Wegmans, Trader Joes and Whole Foods, but I have never seen them.

We get them three or four times in our CSA fruit share. In fact, we are getting them again this Tuesday.

They supposedly like the weather around here and the farm in PA grows the largest amount in the world, according to their information. I do know we could buy plants and try to grow them ourselves. I may just do that next year. They would be a welcome addition to my garden.

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Opportunities and Adjustments

Posted on September 14, 2015 by AnnieRie

Fall is coming. I wore a jacket this morning when I headed up to the post office and to Jenny’s to get a few things. The tomato plants are dying off. The garden is pretty much over and done with, except for the garden salsa pepper plant that keeps on giving.

The farmer’s markets will wind down in the next 4-6 weeks. Most Community Supported Agriculture programs are coming to the end of the season.

It’s time for me to adjust what I get, in order to keep fresh fruit, vegetables, meat and cheese coming into the house.

For those looking to find a source once the markets close down, I have found my two choices work well for us. They appeal to me because I can tailor them. Adjust the sizes.

Friends and Farms is year round seasonal. They have a few promotions going right now. Like a sample “Quick and Easy” basket, as well as the choice to buy a sample of any of their other options.

We have been getting the protein and dairy option, since I love my CSA with its “off the beaten path” weird veggies. I don’t want the same eight items rotated through the house. I like the diversity. But, protein and dairy gives us the right portions and allows us to get our veggies elsewhere.

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Local meats. Made here in Maryland. If you notice the absence of dairy, it’s because I don’t drink milk, so I chose the option of a “surprise me” vegetable as a substitute. We do get cheese once a month on this plan.

As for Lancaster Farm Fresh, they continue to refine their product to make it as flexible as they can. For fall, two vegetable share sizes. Options for meat, cheese, eggs, bread, chicken and fruit.

I like getting fresh fruit and vegetables before the holidays. Like our Thanksgiving basket.

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Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, spinach, mushrooms, potatoes. This was a medium share. Perfect for a couple that likes vegetables, or a family with little ones. Now, that nine pound squash? If I had children or grandchildren, it would have made a huge amount of baby food. As it was, I used it in a number of ways.

This fall, I am returning to a large basket, and adding cheese, bread and fruit.

Now that I know I can get chicken and other meats from Carroll Farm to Table when I need something, I don’t need the meat share from the CSA. Right now, the CSA and Friends and Farms keep us in just about the correct amount of protein to make 5-6 meals a week.

We have adjusted here though. We were getting more ground beef than I am used to cooking. I’ve been creative. I’ve been traditional. I made meat loaf. I made lasagna. I use the crock pot at least once a week. But, we still aren’t huge ground beef eaters, so I will be eliminating one source of that.

The freezer is full. The CSA and Friends and Farms adjusted for fall. I am ready for the change in seasons.

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A Watched Fritter Never Browns

Posted on September 3, 2015 by AnnieRie

Eventually I do get around to making those recipes I intended. Like fritters with the tromboncini. Thankfully they keep well in the fridge for two days after grating them.

Life gets in the way of planning sometimes. Little things, like a root canal. Three days ago I was going to make fritters but an aging crown with a problem messed up my week.

As for the fritters, they all got done today.

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The best way to make these fritters is in cast iron. It retains the heat better and you can use less oil. This time I measured nothing. I did it all by sensing the consistency I wanted. The batter?

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Made with those two large troboncini, grated. That yielded a couple of pounds of shreds. I added flour until I liked the coverage. One heaping teaspoon of baking powder. Six small eggs. Four scallions. A sweet red pepper, diced. A shallot. Salt. Pepper. Thyme.

In other words, I used what I had and what I like. These fritters puff up nicely because of the baking powder. After browning, I put them on parchment paper in a 225 degree oven to finish their centers without burning them.

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I made different sizes. Some to use as appetizers and some to use as a side dish with dinner. Most of them went into a container in layered parchment, to be frozen. All winter long I can enjoy these just by pulling out a layer or two and reheating them.

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Now, it’s off to the garden tomorrow to see if there are a few more to harvest. All that is left in my garden are herbs, tromboncini, one pepper plant, and a half dozen struggling tomato plants. This summer here with the latest lack of rain had pretty much devastated the water loving plants.

This weekend I will do a tally of what succeeded and what failed in this very weird summer. At least those tromboncini did well.

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Fair Trade

Posted on August 2, 2015 by AnnieRie

Getting ready for the county fair. The next few posts will highlight things that we are interested in doing, and show some of the preparations that I make in order to enter items for ribbons.

This year, I am literally drowning in heirloom tomatoes, compared to previous years. Unfortunately many of them will be past their prime on submission days. Still, I found a solution to my problem.

Thanks to Bistro Blanc.

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What does ginger beer and peaches have to do with the fair? Not much, but we were drinking a peach ginger mule at the bar Friday night when Chef Janny came out to visit with a few regulars. It was past prime dining time, so he was done service.

I mentioned to him that I had an overabundance of herbs and veggies. In the past, I had given Chef Marc some of my rosemary and basil, when I was deluged with them.

We made a simple deal. I would bring him what I had available. We would work out a “trade”.

That’s how I became a local supplier to a local restaurant.

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Here’s some of the vegetables I put together. The hot peppers. I have a serious overabundance of them. I did keep back six that are almost all perfectly straight and uniform in size. Hopefully they will hang in there to be submitted as fair entries.

Shallots. Lots and lots of shallots. I have all sorts of shapes and sizes.

Heirlooms. In the above picture, there are Black Prince, Amana Orange, Abe Lincoln, German Johnson, Goliath and Box Car Willie. I am doing the taste testing to determine which ones would do best at the fair. I still can’t decide, and there are dozens of them on the vine up at the garden.

Not shown in my pictures are my lavender, chives and basil. Or a container full of teeny cherry tomatoes.

Next weekend after my submissions, I will probably deliver another batch. So, if you eat at Bistro Blanc, you may be getting “farm to table” from my little part of the world.

As for that lovely drink up there, it’s simple. Get a bottle of ginger beer. A lime. A peach. Some ice. Good vodka. I used Absolut. Muddle the peach, after removing the skin and pit. If it isn’t really sweet (ours was), add a pinch of sugar. Pour in 1/2 cup of vodka, crushed ice, juice of the lime. Divide between two glasses and pour the bottle of ginger beer into the glasses, evenly dividing it.

I found Crabbie’s up at Old Tyme Liquor. It can be used to make Dark and Stormies, if you have dark rum. What is it about summertime and cocktails?

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Energy Savings (Or Not)

Posted on July 31, 2015 by AnnieRie

We have these periods of time here where we live. Called “Energy Savings Days” by our local gas and electric provider. They happen to fall during my food processing times, at least twice this summer they have.

I then have a dilemma. Don’t use the stove, oven, crock pot or dishwasher to process these mountains.

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Yes, both those pictures were taken the same day. Yes, I have to draw down some of these tomatoes. I just change the A/C setting in the house, and then do what I need to do to process foods. I can’t give up six hours of productive time when I get anywhere from 10-20 pounds of tomatoes a week.

I am crossing my fingers and hoping I get good tomatoes next week, as the Howard County Fair opens on August 8th. On the night of the 7th I will be delivering herbs, onions, tomatoes, peppers, an ornamental basket, and this year, some of my canned foods.

Like my pickles.

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And some fruit preserves. And, hopefully a pepper jelly if I get it done this week.

If we get another energy savings day, I probably will be working through it. As the harvest doesn’t stop just because it’s hot out there.

Oh well, at least we aren’t using our cars much when I’m processing foods. Heck, I even improvised on this tabouleh.

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I used Israeli couscous instead of bulgur because I ran out of it. This was a quick simple lunch dish. A cup of couscous simmered in chicken stock. Parsley. Mint. Tomatoes from the garden. Lemon juice. Olive oil. Salt and pepper.

Gotta use those tomatoes everywhere I can.

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The Best Of

Posted on July 28, 2015 by AnnieRie

Those lists. The best this. The best that. I take them all with a grain of salt. So when I saw a Facebook feed from Black Ankle about the “101 Best Wineries in the USA” I thought, OK, another popularity contest.

Seems this list is a bit more than that. They use chefs, wine writers, sommeliers, wine experts and more to pick wineries of good value, consistency and great taste.

We have enjoyed wines from at least half the wineries on this list. They really did a good job of picking places that make wines of distinction, and their write ups are spot on. Yes, Black Ankle makes one awesome Syrah.

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It made us open one for our final night of the Buy Local Challenge. Served with a lamb loaf and local veggies.

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Sunday night dinner.

The wine is simply elegant. If you haven’t had the chance to head out to Mt. Airy and visit Black Ankle, you should. Besides the syrah, they make some interesting whites, like Albarino and Gruner Veltliner.

A perfect place for a Friday night picnic while listening to the music. Take a basket with you, or buy from the winery. Buy a bottle to compliment your meal. Enjoy!

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Portalli’s in Old Ellicott City

Posted on July 24, 2015 by AnnieRie

The scene of a farewell party for a fellow local blogger.

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My first visit to their upstairs outdoor dining area. Real Al Fresco dining without looking at a parking lot or storm water management pond.

Overall, impressive. And the food is good. I judge a restaurant sometimes by how well they execute calamari. Theirs was lovely. Lightly battered. Not greasy. Good marinara. Enjoyed with some blogging friends, and a very nice glass of pinot grigio with it.

We were sending off Claire, our UK Desperate Housewife, who is headed back across the pond after three years here in Howard County.

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She probably has seen more in Howard County than many permanent residents, as she definitely gets involved and has loved the experience.

This was a hocoblogs party. Our local blogging “newspaper”. I love going to the parties to meet fellow writers, and to catch up on what is happening around the county.

I was impressed with Portalli’s. It, along with Pure Wine, are now two more destinations on my somewhat small list of restaurants I like. Just don’t make me go to a chain restaurant. I love these individually owned places.

Thanks again to Portalli’s for hosting a party for the community. Ellicott City is one of our treasures. The feel of small town Main Street. Nice place with a view.

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