South Bronx-Schoharie County Linked Up

An article in the New York Times was recently brought to my attention.  Seventy year-old professor Dennis Derryck has taken the popular CSA model and modified it to give the members more say in the food being grown.  More importantly, he has managed to incorporate a flexible pay-scale dependent on income.  I could go on, but you might as well read the article for yourself - it's short and has a video as well, don't be apathetic. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/23/dining/23bronx.html?th&emc=th

A Week of Meals

I think I can finally say it - I have come as close as I ever will to perfecting the texture of my breads.  This past week I put to rest some angst ridden emotions associated with my failure to achieve an airy, soft and light bread, with a crispy crust to match.  In the time since I have tried again and succeeded much to my delight - the bread was no aberration.

Yet, with all the hustle and bustle of summer - work on the farm, at the market, and at the coffee shop, occasional leisure activity, etc. - I failed to photo-document my accomplishment.  So, I decided this would be a good opportunity to simply upload some pictures of recent meals we have enjoyed, talk only briefly about them, and get back to the kitchen.

Tamara made Rosemary-Rhubarb Jam with some of the pounds upon pounds of Rhubarb filling up our valuable freezer space.  The flavor is strong, but delicious and suits pork really well.  I used it as a glaze on some pork chops (freeing up even more freezer space). 

To go with the rosemary-rhubarb glazed pork chops I sauteed a bunch of beet greens along with their attached baby beets and some garlic scapes.  I also made a little salad with goat cheese from Sweet Spring Farm, baby cucumbers (some of the first of the season), strawberries (some of the last of the season), and garnished it with a pair of cherries.  

Later in the week I got my hands on some of the Kilpatrick's squash blossoms.  Squash blossoms, like fiddleheads and garlic scapes, are one of those 'get them while you can' types of market fare.  I usually make a batter, stuff the delicate little flowers and pan fry them, however I was feeling slightly lazy on this particular night, so I just stuffed them and roasted them in the oven until they looked crispy and oozed a bit of the sausage, apple, and apple smoked cheddar I filled them with - words cannot justify how delicious squash blossoms are when stuffed with good cheese - add some tart apple and some fennel-seeded sausage [exasperated sounds of dumbfounded wordlessness] ..there is literally nothing I can say.

At some point in the not so distant past I made this loaf of bread with olives in the top.  I saw something similar in My Bread: The Revolutionary No-Work, No-Knead Method, by bread mastermind Jim Lahey.  It turned out pretty well, but this was all before I unlocked the secrets of the often sought after airy bread texture.  I will try it again soon.  Mali, to the left eyeing the bread, is clearly not as picky as I am about bread texture.  She has a special way of begging that has a fantastic success rate, although I think some guests may find it annoying. 

Last, but certainly not least, I made a breakfast pizza with eggs, roasted fingerling potatoes (the last of the storage potatoes, so we'll be waiting patiently for the new harvest), Mesclun from New Minglewood, and homemade ricotta that I made using Willow Marsh Farm's raw milk.

Quick Breakfast

Feeling obligated to prove my continued existence to anyone following this blog, I decided to document a pretty basic, quick breakfast I made this morning. It has the charm of being almost exclusively local - the exceptions being salt, pepper, olive oil, my coffee, and whatever ingredients go into the free two day old bagels at Uncommon Grounds.

First thing, I grabbed a hand full of the Kilpatrick's fingerling potatoes out of the fridge poked a few fork holes in them and tossed them in the microwave for 3 minutes - I know, the microwave, how lame, but I'm trying to be quick.

In the meantime I got the skillet going with some olive oil. I took an everything bagel and put it in the toaster oven for a few minutes. An english muffin or any other type of bread would be equally lovely.

When the potatoes were finished I threw them in the skillet to crisp up. When the bagel was partially toasted I took it out and spread some Sweet Spring goat cheese on one side and some of Anna Mae's tomato jam on the other, and returned it to the toaster oven.

The potatoes were looking nice and crispy so, I cracked a couple of Elihu Farm's eggs into the skillet right along side them - saving on dishes and time. I went with over-easy, but any style egg would do the trick. The skillet was hot so it only took about one minute.

I put the bagel onto a plate, put the eggs on the bagel, and surround it with the crispy little potatoes. New potatoes aren't ready for harvest yet, but when the fingerlings are stored over winter a good amount of their starch converts to sugar, leaving them with an added sweetness which works great for something like this or potato salad.

We had a bag of New Minglewood's mesclun mix which has a perfect kick to it and really goes well with goat cheese - so I topped it all off with that.

I took my plate outside and joined the dog in watching the bees - about as good a morning as I could hope for. Total time: about 5 minutes (I had the coffee going already).

Tamara's ladies are in those boxes.

Mali waits patiently for her welfare check or some of my breakfast - whichever comes first.

One last look at breakfast.

This Is What's In The Fridge: Get Creative

With both of us out of town this past weekend - wedding and sibling graduation - we were unable to pick anything up at the market Saturday. I tried to plan accordingly and get enough stuff the previous Wednesday. We've made it to market day once again, but what for breakfast? Here are the contents of the fridge: Two French fingerlings, four baby turnips, one large white beet, a yellow potato, and a few eggs.

Not a dire situation, just calls for a little creativity - and really not a significant amount. While Tamara checked on the bees, I cleaned, peeled and cubed the roots for a white beet, turnip and potato hash. I soaked everything in some salted water and went outside to try to convince Mali (our dog) that by taking part in a game of fetch she was not in fact, as she seems to believe, ceasing to show her solidarity with her fellow proletarians. She again stood strong, although, I think she's beginning to see the potential fun in running after and returning with the ball.

I came back in drained the soaking hash and got the cast-iron skillet heated up with some olive oil. Once it was nice and hot, I added the hash-to-be, hit it up with a little salt, cracked pepper, and garlic powder from the Kilpatrick's. I let everything cook and crisp-up, taking about 10 minutes on medium to high heat and mixing it around every so often. I put the hash onto plates when all the vegetables had a nice brown, slightly crispy texture to them and fried a few eggs in the same pan - the fewer dishes the better. Meanwhile, I took a loaf of wheat-ciabatta that Tamara made yesterday, cut a couple slices, toasted and buttered them. When the eggs finished I dropped them on top of the hash, added the toast, and breakfast-time on the patio.

Making Pie

When I make a pie - and I do at least once a week - I always make enough pastry for two double crusted, or four single crusted pies. Take what you don't use, wrap it well in plastic wrap and freeze it until you need it. When the time comes, defrost it in the fridge until its soft enough to roll out. Then, pie time.

The first and most important rule for good pastry dough - assuming your recipe is sound - is keep it cool. For me that means putting the mixing bowl in the freezer for a few minutes between steps. If you keep everything cold, you shouldn't end up with tough dough - unless you overwork it - which could be a second rule, but falls well in line with the first, so never mind more rules. Pies should be fun and delicious not bound by needless legislation.

Use organic and local ingredients if you can - its better for you and the land. Not to mention it tastes way better.

Here's what you'll need:

5 cups flour, local and organic is best if you can find it - if you live upstate, check here.

1 or 2 teaspoons sea salt, preferably fine, but I'll use coarse if its all I have

3 tablespoons sugar - cane, raw, doesn't make too much of a difference once it melts

1 lb. of butter, that's right 4 sticks - it works great frozen, but it must at least be cold

1 cup water, keep it in the fridge right until you need it

2 tablespoons lemon juice, about 1/2 lemon - I add it right in with the water for simplicity

I use an electric mixer to save time, but it works just as well by hand if you are looking to take it easy.

First, mix the flour, sea salt, and sugar, take the bowl and put it in the freezer for a minute or two

Next, take all that lovely butter, and chop it up into inch cubes - I cut each stick lengthwise then cut it into about 8 or 9 pieces. Add it - a little at a time - to the mixing bowl. Mix until the butter pieces are about half the size they started, garbanzo bean size. Take the bowl and put it in the freezer again.

Start mixing it again and slowly add the cold water and lemon juice. Be careful not to over do it - it should be pretty shaggy looking.

Dump the bowl out onto the counter and make four equal sized balls. Flatten them by hand, forming inch-thick disks. Wrap any you aren't using immediately and freeze. Take what you are using right away and put it in the fridge while you mix-up the filling.

On this occasion I made raspberry-rhubarb pie. A friend brought

over a whole lot of rhubarb in the morning, and I miraculously still had berries in the freezer from last summer.

For the filling it's all about feeling. I chopped up all the rhubarb and mixed in the red and black raspberries. Then I added about a cup of honey (I was making two pies), a half cup or so of sugar, and a quarter cup of tapioca - which I use to thicken instead of cornstarch or flour. Tapioca absorbs moisture very well and helps provide a very nice texture for the filling. I use more with juicier fillings, like berry, and much less, if any at all with apple pie and the like.

Once everything is mixed, roll out the dough and fabricate your pies. I leave quite a bit of crust over-hanging, score it together with a fork, then roll it up along the rim of the pie plate, trimming any excess.

I usually bake at 425 degrees. I start with the bottom of the pie plate covered with foil and latter - once the top is browned - remove the foil from the bottom to cover the top and give the bottom a chance to crisp up as well. Usually an hour works pretty well. It takes some practice, but the rewards and mistakes are delicious.

Harvest Calendar - From Fog and Thistle Farm In Germantown

I was browsing the farm's website and found this great drawing - I had to share it. Availability varies a little throughout our region due to soil type, micro-climates, farmer's favoring different varietals, and the lengthening of the season through the use of hoop houses and row covers, etc. Obviously some farms simply focus on growing certain crops, but this should give you an idea of the crop diversity month to month in our area. Fog and Thistle grows an amazing range of produce. If you find yourself in the Germantown area you should stop in and check out the operations at the Germantown Community Farm, Fog and Thistle, and Fellow Worker's Farms.

Some Kale and Spinach from the Kilpatrick's wilting down to accompany the delmonico steaks from a 1/4 cow we bought from the Grant's of M&A Farm in Fort Edward. The Grant's sell eggs, beef and pork at the Saratoga Farmer's Market Wednesdays and Saturdays.

An Outline for Gnocchi

I have a tendency to use recipes for ideas, techniques, facts about particular foods, but not as strict guidelines - stepwise things - towards the near replication of someones else's creation. When it comes time to actually make something, I will likely google a few foods that I have on hand and maybe add to them a word like salad, or pasta. Searching things like turnip white beet spinach pasta, doesn't usually yield a single coherent recipe. So, you'll hear things like this from me a lot:

I don't have any measurements for you, but ...
The journey is half the fun, use these guidelines to discover your own sense of appreciation.
or, Unfortunately I have a tendency to document only with photos
or, I will try to be a little more comprehensive, and keep track of measurements in the future...
That being said, I had a few pounds of potatoes left - stored over winter by the Kilpatrick's - some greens, and mushrooms from Zehr and Son's Mushroom Farm. I used shitake mushrooms, the farm also grows oysters and both are incredible and would work a dish like this. I searched potato gnocchi, read a handful of recipes for the dough and consulted a great Italian cookbook, La Cucina: The Regional Cooking of Italy.

In my googling I found a recipe for gnocchi with a butter-sage sauce, bacon and mushrooms. I decided to use this as a launching point. I made the gnocchi fairly close to the recipe in La Cucina, although as usual with recipes for gnocchi, I had to fold in a significantly larger amount of flour. Once I got the dough to the right consistency, I rolled small handfuls into long, snake-like strips, then chopped them into inch long dumplings and put them into the freezer on lightly floured cookie sheets. The freezer part may not be essential, but it does give you more time to sit outside with the dog, change the music on the computer, figure out the sauce, get the water boiling, call your mom, etc.

With all the dough in the freezer, I moved on to chopping bacon from our pig. A couple pieces may do it for some, but I usually err on the side of more bacon. I fried it up with a little olive oil and started cutting the mushrooms and greens. I would have likely added a few cloves of garlic, but, our winter supply was exhausted (at the time, green garlic was not at the market yet, it is now, and works as a substitute for head garlic in any recipe). I removed the bacon when it was nicely browned and added the mushrooms to the grease and olive oil. I tossed them around for a few minutes then added the greens - a little spinach and kale combination. Once the greens wilted I added my secret weapon - a mixture of maple syrup and balsamic that I try to always have on hand. We buy syrup by the gallon and also get balsamic in large quantities from the co-op in Albany. I am constantly refilling a little jar with an ever-changing elixir of the two. It goes great with beets and other roasted vegetables, but here I used it as a base flavor in a light sauce. Cooking is a skill best improved through trial and error. I have had tremendous success using maple syrup and balsamic vinegar in a wide range of dishes, so I have to recommend it.

I boiled up the gnocchi, waited for them to float a while and removed to a colander. As usual I had way more gnocchi then we would eat in a single night, so I left some uncooked, and once they froze, put them in containers and stored them in the freezer.

Once the gnocchi were done I just added them to the wok I had cooked the bacon, mushrooms, and greens in. I added a dash of cream from Battenkill Creamery, a little more maple syrup, and some cayenne, salt and black pepper - and probably a good amount of other various spices. The end result was a nice sweet and savory, slightly creamy-sauced potato pasta - with a pleasing stick to your ribs feel to it.

Gnocchi are easy to make, a little harder to master, but with some hands on practice, I have found the right balance of potato, flour, and egg to get a fluffy, paradoxically dense dumpling. The result is a truly satisfying comfort food. Conveniently on this particular day, we had baked a loaf of bread as well.

Again, I will try to be a little more exact in my recording of recipes, but hopefully this was still slightly useful.