Tag Archives: real food

Perfectly Roasted Garlic

Posted on August 12, 2013 by AnnieRie

It’s all Rebecca’s fault. She taught me this trick in her ajvar post last year.

For perfectly roasted garlic, turn off the oven. Put garlic cloves, salt, pepper, olive oil in a foil pouch. After cooking whatever it may be that you are cooking in a hot oven, turn off the oven and put the foil packet in it.

You will get lovely soft roasted garlic, you know, the kind that sells at that $7.99 a pound Mediterranean bar at Wegmans.

These are so good on garlic bread, in pasta sauces, on pizzas, in pesto, on lamb.

They are so easy to make, and a jar of them in the refrigerator will get used quite quickly. I did this batch with CSA garlic. For the rest of this fall, my garlic from my garden will be used this way.

So, turn off that oven and roast garlic. And thank Rebecca for the recipe. By the way, I use her preserving pages religiously when I am putting up foods. Thanks, Rebecca!

hocofood@@@

8 Comments

Posted in CSA, Food, Gardening and tagged cooking, CSA, Food, foodie, gardening, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Food Processing Friday

Posted on August 9, 2013 by AnnieRie

Well, we didn’t make it to the auction tonight. I just finished processing food for the freezer, and it has been a crazy day weather wise. I still need to handle the beets for the fridge, and the eggplant for the ajvar.

Almost another half inch of rain, and we had some outdoor work that needed to be done this morning.

Add to that a power glitch right in the middle of roasting veggies.

The eggplant is destined for a small container of ajvar, that I thought didn’t have the smoky charred eggplant flavor I wanted. After roasting, I am letting them cool and will mix them in the spread. The two red peppers I used for them were a bit more than I should have used. Live and learn.

As for tomatoes, there were three batches done today. Two blanched to be frozen, and one batch for sauce.

After blanching, I peel them. Squeeze out the seeds, and pack them tightly in freezer bags. I do not use the food saver on tomatoes. Too much liquid in them. I do make sure to remove those damaged areas, the ones where you see the stink bug holes.

As for the romas from the CSA, they became a tomato sauce. A chunky tomato sauce with sausage bits (just enough for flavor).

Sweating the veggies first.

Peppers, onions, garlic, carrots in olive oil.

Then, add the peeled squeezed tomatoes. I don’t worry if there are still some seeds in it. I just try to get out the big stuff. Let it simmer on low for at least an hour, until you can completely smash the tomatoes into pulp. I add just salt, pepper, oregano and fresh basil to this sauce.

I got two one quart plastic freezer containers full of sauce out of this batch.

Now, if my paste tomatoes will just get on the ball and start turning red, I should be able to put up at least another six or eight quarts of this type of sauce.

hocofood@@@

3 Comments

Posted in CSA, Food, Gardening, Real Food and tagged cooking, CSA, Food, gardening, heirloom tomatoes, Locavore, real food, tomatoes. Bookmark the permalink.

Before and After

Posted on August 5, 2013 by AnnieRie

For my red pepper eggplant spread. Ajvar. Serbian, Hungarian, Balkan, whatever. All over Eastern Europe, this spread (with all its various versions) celebrates the pepper harvest.

This is the “Before” picture. Before blending, that is. Two eggplants and two large red peppers. Sweat the eggplant first to pull out moisture. I slice it and drizzle it with salt. Then roast, in a very hot oven or in a gas grill. I used the grill today.

The peppers went into a paper bag to steam after roasting, and then were easily peeled.

All into the food processor with five or six cloves of roasted garlic, half a cup of olive oil, smoked paprika, salt and pepper to taste.

The “After” picture. Garlicky, rich, yet smoky and sweet, all at the same time. A celebration of summer harvest.

Try it sometime. It is addictive.

hocofood@@@

1 Comment

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

Doing My Happy Dance

Posted on August 1, 2013 by AnnieRie

For the CSA bounty. This week we got a baker’s dozen. Thirteen items. Some of my absolute favorites.

The list:
10 ears sweet corn – Farmdale Organics
1 quart garden peach heirloom tomatoes – Riverview Organics
1 bag green bell peppers – Twin Pines Organics
3 (monster) green zucchini – Spring Valley Organics
1 bag red slicing tomatoes – White Swan Acres
1 bag mixed garlic – Eagle View Organics
1 bunch Italian parsley – Noble Herbs
1 bag orange carrots – Pine Hill Organics
1 bag white garlic – Friends Road Organics
1 bag yellow roma tomatoes – Millwood Springs Organics
1 bag red beets – Farmdale Organics
1 lil sweetie cantaloupe – The Back 40 Ranch
1 pint blackberries – Freedom Acres

Yes, for $31 (the weekly charge), we got close to 35 pounds of organic produce.

We are heading into that part of the summer when we almost drown in veggies. Today we also got some great fruit. This week I will be giving away a few veggies. My neighbor loves zucchini. We will probably trade concord grapes from their arbor for a couple of zucchini.

I just wish my tomatoes would kick into gear. Lots of green ones out there. Not a whole lot that are ripe.

The parsley was inspiring. I decided to make tabbouleh.

I chopped up all the parsley and ran with it. Yep, we have tomatoes. Nope, no green onions so I used a sweet onion. Nope, no bulgur so I used couscous. This tabbouleh came from parsley, mint from my garden, onions, cucumbers, couscous, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic and allspice. Please don’t ask me for a recipe, because I just added stuff in amounts that looked good.

Sometimes you just have to wing it.

hocofood@@@

3 Comments

Posted in CSA, Food, Gardening, Howard County, Locavore and tagged cooking, CSA, Food, foodie, heirloom tomatoes, Howard County, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Don’t Buy Food From Strangers

Posted on July 29, 2013 by AnnieRie

The Lancaster Farm Fresh logo on their web site and produce bags.

After finishing the Buy Local Challenge, and attending events where we could talk to the farmers, this logo is even more meaningful to us.

This morning at 9AM, the cell phone rang. It was the Amish farmer (yes, some of them use phones and computers in their business, they just don’t allow them in their homes) who gave us the fava beans. One of the farms that supplies our CSA, Sandy Spring, through the cooperative non profit venture now totalling close to 80 small farms.

He wanted to know if it worked out OK. We again thanked him for his gift, and told him we got almost eight pounds of beans. Some were frozen. Some were used.

To us, this connection with those who grow our food is something special that we have realized after a few years of buying locally.

With the latest food problem, that of cyclospora infecting people all across the USA, we feel that minimizing our risk of infection, by using locally produced organic fruit and veggies whenever possible, is one of our smartest decisions.

Buying local produce, meat, dairy, fruit and eggs, and belonging to an organic CSA all help us stay healthier and, definitely, eat fresher, better food.

So, here’s to the Howard County Farmers Markets, full of great local farms. Here’s to the local farmstands with fresh produce and fruit. Here’s to CSAs that connect us with the producers and make us part of their “family”.

Here’s to dinner tonight.

A frittata. Made with Love Dove eggs, Misty Meadows milk, TLV’s fingerlings, Bowling Green Farms feta, Trickling Springs butter, Sandy Spring CSA chard, onion and green pepper, Breezy Willow ham, and served with Stone House bakery’s focaccia.

I know the people who feed me. Do you?

hocofood@@@

3 Comments

Posted in Commentary, Community, CSA, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, People, Real Food and tagged commentary, community, cooking, CSA, farmer's markets, farms, Food, foodie, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

The Tomato Tsunami

Posted on July 25, 2013 by AnnieRie

Week Ten. And so it begins. The onslaught of tomatoes. Thankfully, one of my favorite things.

Tomatoes comprised four different items this week. Here is the list:

1 bag red tomatoes – chemical free – Breezy Morning Farm
1 heirloom tomato – chemical free – Breezy Morning Farm
1 quart garden peach heirloom tomatoes – Riverview Organics
1 bag specialty squash – Liberty Acres
1 bag green beans – Liberty Acres
1 bag red beets – Farmdale Organics
1 bag orange carrots – Red Fox Organics
1 bag red garlic – Liberty Branch Organics
1 bag sweet onions – Liberty Branch Organics
1 pack portabello caps – Mother Earth
1 pint mixed cherry tomatoes – Farmdale Organics

Farmdale is the farm we visited for the picnic last Saturday. Picked some of those cherry tomatoes while we were there. Here is the entire haul.

I already roasted the beets. Some for salads. Some to pickle.

I dry roast my beets in a bed of kosher salt. They shrivel up and concentrate the flavor.

As for that large heirloom tomato, it is destined to be sliced thickly. Covered in basil. Dropping a piece of fresh mozzarella on it and putting it directly on the grill. With dinner tomorrow or Saturday. Pics later.

Here’s to buying locally and supporting our farmers. How much of your food comes from a 100 mile radius of your home? The more, the better. For freshness, health and the environment you can’t beat eating locally grown fruit and veggies, meat, cheese, eggs.

hocofood@@@

3 Comments

Posted in CSA, Farms, Food, Locavore, Real Food and tagged cooking, CSA, farms, Food, foodie, heirloom tomatoes, Locavore, real food, tomatoes, value of CSA. Bookmark the permalink.

Hump Day

Posted on July 24, 2013 by AnnieRie

In the Buy Local Challenge.

Four days done. Four days left. Today is Hump Day. Have you eaten a farmer produced local item these first four or five days? We have, but then as a CSA member, it is really simple to use locally sourced items every day. They come in that weekly box of goodies.

Don’t know what we are getting tomorrow, so I will wait and hit the farmer’s market on Friday to round out my menu.

I didn’t report on yesterday’s meal. A crock pot stew, made with CSA kale, fava beans, carrots, and onions, started with frozen chicken stock and finished with a TLV Tree Farm smoked ham steak, cubed. For the last hour, I added some riso.

Enough left to stuff peppers Friday for dinner.

As for today, the better half went off to Annapolis for a radio club dinner meeting. I decided, what the heck, and had one of those awesome tomato sandwiches for dinner.

Along with some greens that I bought last week from Love Dove Farms. Plus, at lunch today we had some of those juicy fresh plums from our visit to Catoctin Mountain Orchards last week.

CSA members have it easy in the Buy Local Challenge. With boxes or baskets full of vegetables and fruit, and maybe some eggs or cheese, you can eat well every single day without hitting a grocery store. Take our box from last week.

Carrots were peeled and showed up at many lunches, plus in yesterday’s dinner. Corn is gone. Two dinners. One pepper eaten. Two for our dinner this Friday. Pattypan half gone, for dinners. Green beans and chard still there. Tomatoes gone, for salads and those sandwiches.

For the next four days, there are local markets every day. Check them out. Support a farmer and buy something to take for lunches. Or, fruit for a snack.

How about dinner at Black Ankle Friday night? A unique opportunity to support a local farm (one that grows grapes), and while there, buy some local cheese for dinner.

All sorts of possibilities. Don’t give up on this challenge. And, think of ways to make it part of your entire summer.

hocofood@@@

5 Comments

Posted in CSA, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Wine and tagged cooking, crock pot cooking, CSA, farmer's markets, farms, Food, foodie, local businesses, Locavore, real food, tomatoes, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

The First Tomatoes

Posted on July 23, 2013 by AnnieRie

Real tomatoes. Not the little cherry ones. The ones we wait for months to grow, blossom, set and ripen.

The ones on the left are some type of yellow roma. Umm, I didn’t plant yellow roma. Seems my yellow plum seedlings weren’t. No matter. These will get used for some interesting tomato sauces. I have four of these plants growing.

As for the one on the right, another mystery. Out of my ten Amish paste plants, this one came up right in the middle of the row. I don’t know what it is. Still researching. I took it off yesterday before the storm hit as it was starting to split. There is a variety out there called Large Yellow Amish that looks similar to this. I need to get a few more of them ripe to see if this is what came up.

The mortgage lifter and box car willie are about two or three days away from my first harvest. Then, taste testing to decide which variety works best for the county fair.

As for those hillbillies, they really are slow. And the pineapples haven’t given me anything but blossoms. I might have two or three Paul Robesons by the fair, but I am not holding my breath on those. Bad year, with all this rain.

As for the cherry tomatoes, they are coming in strong now.

There are large red cherry tomatoes. Sun sugar and supersweet 100s coming in. Interestingly enough, the supersweet 100s are the ones that have really been low producing. Hoping they get back on track and put out many tomatoes.

There is one lone Amish paste tomato on the tray. A small one. The rest of the Amish paste and Polish Linguisa tomato plants are full of green tomatoes. Nothing else ripening, but they are getting close. Hopefully, I will get enough to do sauces. I did see that the CSA will be offering 25 pound boxes of heirloom paste tomatoes again this year. I will be buying some if my plants continue to droop and turn yellow from all this rain.

Hoping to have lots of tomatoes for the Buy Local Challenge picnic Sunday at the Conservancy. Got a lovely ball of mozzarella at Breezy Willow last week, and my basil plants recovered from the bunny mauling. Sounds like a Caprese to me.

My favorite fresh mozzarella, nest to the feta I used in that watermelon salad.

African blue basil.

Last summer’s caprese. Can’t wait for this year’s, coming soon.

hocofood@@@

Taking It Outdoors

Posted on July 22, 2013 by AnnieRie

The Buy Local Challenge. I keep trying and it keeps storming. The contest this year is “Take It Outdoors”. The facebook page is where the photos will be uploaded.

We are hosting a picnic at the Howard County Conservancy this Sunday. With our own contest. Best picnic spread. And, best baked goods. Using local ingredients. Not everything has to be local but the pledge to use at least one local ingredient a day applies.

Here is one of my “outdoor” dishes. I had to bring it in and broil it but you get the idea.

Those fava beans we shelled. In a classic dish with grilled (broiled) Halloumi. Beans, peas, mint, olive oil, salt, pepper and grilled Halloumi. You can find Halloumi at Roots.

For dinner tonight we also had corn and tomatoes, both from the CSA. Corn on the cob, grilled. Tomatoes in any salad. Easy dishes to eat outdoors.

Besides the picnic prize, the Conservancy is giving a baking prize. Here is your chance to rock that zucchini bread recipe.

This is “my” zucchini cornbread, using this recipe.

Lots of possibilities to eat locally. And, to meet a few new friends at the picnic.

hocofood@@@

A Trip Down Memory Lane … On White Bread

Posted on July 21, 2013 by AnnieRie

Combining two goals. The Buy Local Challenge and my Sixty@Sixty goal.

Yes, I know white bread is highly processed. Tell that to my mom who fed us Hauswald’s bread every day. Toast. PB&Js and those lovely tomato sandwiches aka “mater sammiches” (when you were four years old).

When in Royal Farms the other day to get ice for the trip to the Amish farm and money from the ATM, I saw that loaf of Hauswald’s and also thought of a blog post somewhere about simple tomato sandwiches, like we ate as children.

Hauswald’s was a staple in our house growing up. 75% of my heritage is German. We lived in a mostly German American community in west Baltimore. And, tomatoes? We loved tomatoes all summer. In everything we could make.

Heck, yesterday for breakfast I made toast and spread this on it.

Another local company, based in Frederick, with all sorts of old recipes recreated. Do you like pickled beets? Apple butter? All memories of my growing up.

As for the Buy Local Challenge, today, like most days included large amounts of locally sourced items. Like the milk for my husband’s cereal.

Bought at the Hospital Farmer’s Market Friday.

And, the wine at dinner tonight.

The new winery outside of Frederick. They only sell whites at the moment. Reds will be coming soon, and the winery will open next year. We bought this bottle in Frederick last week. Grape growers are farmers, too!

We had local foods at breakfast, lunch and dinner today. I didn’t cook much either. Simple local foods, as I said, it isn’t hard to support local farms.

Today we ate:
Milk, at breakfast.
Tomatoes, yogurt, beets, cucumbers and greens at lunch. The cucumber became that dill pickle in my crock.

Sheep’s milk cheese on the flatbread at dinner. The sheep’s milk cheese was from Breezy Willow. Pesto from CSA veggies (carrot tops, radish greens, arugula and scallion tops). The last container from the freezer from last year.

The rest of dinner was chicken/feta/spinach sausage bought at The Common Market in Frederick, which was baked on top of CSA onions, peppers and pattypan squash. They were drizzled with olive oil, and had nothing but salt and pepper on them.

Simple. Delicious.

Eating locally is easy around here.

hocofood@@@

AnnieRie Unplugged

Tag Archives: real food

Perfectly Roasted Garlic

Food Processing Friday

Before and After

Doing My Happy Dance

Don’t Buy Food From Strangers

The Tomato Tsunami

Hump Day

The First Tomatoes

Taking It Outdoors

A Trip Down Memory Lane … On White Bread

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