Local Seasonal Eats

Buffalo Wings - Photo:Lindsay

The busy summer days have, unfortunately, resulted in some very simple dishes this past week.  With all the great seasonal ingredients, you really want to make something unique and different but between boating, baseball games, and making any excuse possible to enjoy the few non-rainy days, simplicity has been high on my list.

We started the week out with some baked hot Buffalo wings ala Good Eats with Alton Brown.  I’ve been catching up with some old episodes of, what is in my opinion, the best food geek show out there.  After watching his tribute to the Buffalo Wing, I thought about the wings I had picked up from Jordandal Farms, at the Westside Community Market, a few weeks back.  Although, like most Good Eats recipes, there were a few more steps then I would have expected, the baked wings came out crispy and flavorful.  With a side salad of fresh greens topped with a light vinaigrette to balance out the high calorie wings, this made for one heck of a meal.

Beef and Broccoli - Photo:Lindsay

After a Wednesday market teaming with broccoli, I decided to make the most of the sirloin tip chunks that had been in the freezer for a few weeks.  A quick search on Epicurious’ iPhone app (will launch iTunes) revealed a recipe for Quick Beef and Broccoli.  Sounded like a great meal for after our evening workout.  So, with just the most elemental of prep (cleaning the broccoli and trimming it right into a storage container when I got home from the market) we had a meal in as long as it took to boil some rice.  While I thought it was OK, Lindsay was less than impressed, and wished it had some more flavor.  I guess with convenience you sometimes get the occasional bland dish.

BBQ Onion Burger - Photo:Lindsay

Deciding I wouldn’t let another beef dish go down this grey path, I decided to go all out with a BBQ burger on Friday.  With advance apologies to the folks at Fountain Prairie farms, who recommend only using a little salt and pepper on their burgers, I went a bit more extreme.

To start off, I mixed the meat with chopped bacon and roasted garlic chips. Some reserved bacon grease and a Tbsp of butter was used to slow caramelize a coarsely sliced onion.  After 30 minutes of cooking on low, when the onions were a translucent light brown, I mixed in what might easily be the quickest and simplest homemade BBQ sauce (recipe @ allrecipes.com).  The burger was topped with a slice of everyday cheddar from Bleu Mont Dairy, a heaping helping of the onion mixture and a few pickles.  To “healthy” this meal up we served with it Green Beans from Xay Lo Garden and seasoned shredded turnips. Needless to say flavor was not an issue here, but an outside table setting made it a lot easier to clean up the inevitable mess.  It was a happy and very satisfying mess.

Asparagus and Beet Panzanella Photo:Chad

As we continue to develop this blog, we’re trying to figure out the best way to communicate our story and our project while also being able to balance the amount of time needed to make all of the updates and posts.  As such, I’m going to try to limit the number of individual meal and recipe posts in favor of more unified ‘what we made this week’ type posts.  Additionally, I’ll be directing you to the blog or site where we got a recipe, unless it’s a family recipe, or something not available elsewhere online.

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Now onto this weeks post.  I finished off the end of a travel week for Lindsay with a modification of a recipe for panzanella I had seen on In Jennie’s Kitchen the same day I read about the rhubarb and strawberry jam.

Her recommendation for making a “bread salad” intrigued me.  The skeptic in me said, this is just a salad with homemade croutons, and warm asparagus.  This is both somewhat true and completely false.

Yes, if you were to make this same salad in a somewhat different order the croutons would stay mostly crisp, and the addition of the warm asparagus would just be a pleasant, if somewhat different, take.  However, tossing the crisp bread cubes with the dressing and other ingredients, and then letting the bread soak up some of the flavor makes this dish both comfortable and unique.

I added roasted beets and raw beet greens to mine and served it with a baked piece of salmon from the local fishmonger that I had marinated in a garlic and dill paste.

The meal was perfect in its complexity of both texture and taste, with the sweet salmon balanced with the fragrant dill and garlic.  While maybe better suited to a meal of it’s own, the salad was tasty and unique.  The beets and greens adding that unique flavor that I can only assume people who really love them understand.  I can’t say that I disliked my addition of the beets, but next time will try it as Jennie intended.

Cayenne and Garlic Linguini with Spicy Cilantro Pesto Photo:Lindsay

On Friday we wanted to see what a “processed” meal from the Farmer’s market might look like.  The convenience items you can get at the farmer’s market have very little in common with those mass-produced, artificial ingredient filled items that the modern grocery store is full of.  Obviously, simplicity is something we need in our lives, and having a few ingredients in your kitchen that can be thrown together to make a full meal is both satisfying and comforting.  Knowing that these ingredients are made locally and from local ingredients, and also contributing to the local economy all make the meal even more enjoyable.

We used a package of RP’s Cayenne and Garlic linguini and after preparing it as directed (4 min.), tossed it with some thawed Spicy Cilantro pesto from Renaissance Farm, a handful of halved cherry tomatoes from Don’s Produce and a small handful each of Butler Farm’s Feta and shredded parmesan.  While boiling the pasta I threw a couple slices of the garlic bread in the toasted oven and whipped up a quick farmer’s market salad.  In less than 15 minutes we had a deliciously spicy pasta dinner made from local ingredients and products.  This is what eating local is all about.

Radish Top Soup Photo:Lindsay

Since radishes are in season right now, we’ve been eating a lot of them. Normally, we just chop the greens off and throw them away.  But I was looking in the Victory Garden book for the storage techniques for radishes and it said to cut the tops off and store them separately from the radishes.  Store them for what?!  Well, a few pages later we found a fantastic recipe for Radish Top Soup.  We used the tops of radishes we had gotten over the last two farmers market visits from Roots Down Farm, Lor Garden, and Thor Farm.

We didn’t put the heavy cream in the soup, and honestly, we think that if you add cream, it would be almost too much.  The soup has such a wonderful flavor and already has a nice, thick, texture.  The cream really isn’t necessary.  We served it with some garlic herb croutons on top, which added a wonderful flavor to the first few bites.  We froze most it of it, and hope it reheats well.

If you have any other ideas of what to do with radish tops, please share them in the comments.

Asian Beef Salad Photo:Lindsay

On Thursday night, having just had the beef roast the night before, we wanted to try to use some of it up, so we made an Asian salad with roast beef, cherry tomatoes from Canopy Farm, Australe lettuce from Snug Haven, salad mix from Black Earth Valley, and spicy Asian radishes and sugar snap peas from Roots Down Farm. We made an Asian-style sesame dressing which accompanied it, but since the dressing wasn’t very good, we’re not going to share it with the masses.  We’ll have to come up with a better sesame dressing for next time.

Beef and Dill Potato Pasty Photo:Lindsay

Then, on Saturday, we decided to use up the rest of the beef by making and freezing some individually sized Cornish pasties.  We wanted to use the dill we had gotten at last week’s farmer’s market since it was going a bit limp in our refrigerator, so we started scouring the internet to find a recipe that would include the beef, potatoes, and our quickly diminishing dill.  There really wasn’t a recipe that satisfied him, so we kind-of mashed a bunch of them together to make these Dill Potato and Leftover Beef Roast Pasties.

If you’re not familiar with pasties, they’re traditionally a little dry, so you’ll want to eat them with some sort of sauce.  Lindsay prefers ketchup, but Chad likes his with Sriracha sauce. Also, if you’re in the mood for a history lesson, the origins of the Cornish pasty are also quite interesting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasty.

Our pasties came out crispy, but firm enough you could eat with just your hands, like you’re supposed to.  The dill was subtle, but present, and the beef stayed tender, even through it’s second cooking.  We’ve already reheated a few of these and will look forward to pulling them out of the freezer for a quick meal.

Rosemary and Garlic Grilled Beef Roast Photo:Lindsay

Wednesday night, after being inspired yet again by Cooks Illustrated, we decided to try grilling a beef roast.  We had picked up a rump roast a few weeks ago from Pecatonica Farms and decided to try it on the grill instead of in the oven as traditional roasts are cooked.

We let the roast sit in a garlic and rosemary salt rub for 24 hours before cooking it, to add to the flavor.  Then, after heating up the grill, seared the meat on all sides, cooking it for about 10 minutes. Once seared, we turned the primary burner down to medium and turned the rest of the burners off. The partially cooked meat was moved into an aluminum roasting tray with drainage holes punched in the bottom which was set on the cool side of the grill.  We then cooked the meat with the lid down for about 45 minutes, rotating the tray halfway through cooking, until the thickest part of the meat registered at 125 degrees.

The roast was delicious and juicy.  We served it with some fresh grilled asparagus from Priske Farm, which was dressed up with a little bit of orange and thyme (again at the recommendation of Cook’s), and some leftover stuffing from last week’s butterflied roasted chicken.

Since the roast was 4 lbs and there were only two of us eating it, we had to come up with some creative ways to use the rest of the meat.  Look for those in upcoming articles!

Asparagus Ravioli with Buttermilk and Leek Alfredo Photo:Lindsay

On a recent trip to the farmer’s market, we got a chance to talk to the folks at RP’s Pasta and after discussing their use of local ingredients in their pasta, picked up a package of asparagus ravioli.  We stored it in the freezer, and this week we decided to get it out and give it a try.

Because we had extra buttermilk laying around, we wanted to somehow use that to make a sauce to go on the ravioli.  Our friend Google lead us to visualrecipe.com’s Buttermilk-Leek Alfredo Sauce.  Not only did this let us use up the buttermilk but also finished off the leeks from Happy Valley Farm.

In addition to the Asparagus Ravioli with Buttermilk and Leek Alfredo, we also made some garlic bread with a French baguette from Stella’s Bakery, which was finished off in just one meal.

To make sure we’d have plenty of garlic bread on hand in the future we decided to make some toaster-oven ready frozen slices using a day-old loaf of Stella’s Basil bread.  To do this, we made a butter and garlic mixture, brushed it on the bread and stuck it in the freezer for later using wax paper to separate each slice.

Before Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food came into our lives, we thrived on packages of pre-made freezer garlic bread, so this is our local “real food” alternative! We haven’t used any of it yet, but we’ll let you know if it turns out okay or if you should steer clear of this homemade alternative .

Strawberry Salad Photo:Lindsay

Monday night we wanted to use some of the strawberries from Heck’s Market that we hadn’t used in our strawberry rhubarb cobbler because fresh strawberries don’t usually keep very long.  We also had some spinach we had gotten from Natalie’s Garden Greenhouse, so we used that along with some of the sheep’s milk feta from Butler Farms  to create a tasty summer salad.

But what kind of dressing do you want to use on this fruity salad?  A while ago we had used some pre-made dressing we had gotten at Whole Foods which had poppy seeds and a sweet taste, so we looked up some recipes featuring poppy seed dressing online.  We found exactly what we were looking for at AllRecipes.com.

The finished Spinach and Strawberry Salad had a sweet, yet tangy poppy and sesame seed dressing that very nicely balanced all of the salad ingredients.  Since we only needed two salads, we saved the rest of the dressing in mason jars so they’re easy to shake, combine, and use later.

Carnitas Photo:Lindsay

Carnitas are usually found on the weekend menu at places that serve authentic tacos.  You know, the kind that come with onion, cilantro, and a wedge of lime. Carnitas meat is a slow cooked pork that in another meal would be shredded, but in this incarnation is coarsely chunked and broiled at the last minute to get a crispy crunch on the outside.  My new-found faith in all things Cook’s Illustrated was reaffirmed, when I found a simple recipe to make these delicious Pork Carnitas at home.

We used the pork butt I had picked up from Jordandal Farms at the Westside Community Market.  Lindsay did most of the work for this one, slow roasting the meat while I worked a rare Sunday shift.  I came home to a delicious smell very reminiscent to those weekend tacoreia visits.  After they were done braising, we separated the pork into small chunks and tossed it with the reduced braising liquids.

The pieces were spread out over a cooling rack used for baking.  We placed the rack on a baking sheet 8” under the broiler, and used the few minutes while the meat browned to chop up radishes from Thor Farm, cilantro from Lem Park Farm, and onion to garnish the tacos.

I also like pre-heating my tortillas on a dry electric griddle to make sure they are pliable.

As expected the Cook’s recipe didn’t disappoint, with rich flavor, and a satisfying crunch in every meaty bite.  The radishes chopped with the onions and cilantro lent a nice flavor too.

The recipe calls for sour cream as a garnish, and after biting into the first taco I understood why.  While very flavorful, the broiling does seem to dry the meat considerably, and with low moisture onions and radishes as garnishes, the tacos by themselves tend to be a bit dry. I didn’t have sour cream on hand so I served these with some extra salsa, which worked perfectly adding the needed moisture.

All in all, these made for a great Sunday recipe, and one I’m sure would impress some taco-loving friends.

French Onion Soup Photo:Lindsay

French Onion soup is for some reason indelibly linked with hotels for me.  As far back as I can remember, any time I stay at a hotel and have to order room service, I always see French Onion soup on the menu and I visualize a bubbly crock of tender caramelized onions topped by a baguette sopped in broth and covered with bubbly cheese.  The reality is never quite that good, with salt usually being the primary taste, followed by a realization that room service can never quite deliver fast enough to keep the soup hot.

When I made beef stock from the soup bone I picked up from Jordandal Farms, I knew I wanted to take a stab at something a little different and French Onion Soup definitely fit the bill.  For those of you out there like myself who had never made this before, the recipe seems a bit strange, cooking down four pounds of onions to a small browned layer at the bottom of a Dutch oven.  To further deepen the flavor, Cook’s Illustrated recommended deglazing this layer three times instead of the usual once.  Once the soup portion was complete, we ladled it into two large coffee cups (the only oven safe small bowls we have) and topped it with toasted baguette slices from Stella’s and the Gruyere we picked up from Forgotten Valley.

We made a light dinner featuring the soup and a farmer’s market salad.   The soup was perfect with almost no saltiness to speak of, and a flavor so rich and deep, I can only say that the Cook’s research got it 100% right on this one.

If the onions we planted decide to cooperate at harvest, I will be remaking this soup, but hopefully doubling the batch.

Chicken with Leek and Mushroom Stuffing Photo:Lindsay

After our success with the Drunken (Beer Can) Chicken, we felt confident taking on another whole bird.  This time around, we decided to cook it in the oven using a method called butterflying.

We started the meal the day before by creating a good high-temperature brine and soaking the thawed bird in it overnight.

When it was done brining, I went about removing the giblets and rinsing out the inside cavity.  The butterflying process is straight forward, but perhaps for some, a bit gruesome.  Using a sharp set of kitchen sheers, you cut up both sides of the spine, removing the strip from the bird, then flipping it over onto a cutting board so the cavity is facing down and the breastbone up, you apply pressure with your palm until the bone cracks and you’re left with a flattened bird.

Now that the bird was butterflied, we needed to finish prepping. Cook’s Illustrated recommended drying out brined chicken to ensure a more crispy skin, so I put a baking rack over a large mixing bowl, and let the cleaned and butterflied chicken dry over the next few hours.

During this time, I began prepping the chicken’s accompaniment, a Leek and Mushroom Stuffing recipe modified from Cook’s.  This was my first opportunity to use the dried morels, and after just four hours soaking the morels had plumped back to their original shape and texture, and I was left with a little more than half a cup of morel infused water to make my chicken stock with.

I placed the prepared stuffing in a “bowl” made out of two sheets of foil with the sides turned up, and when laid cavity side down, the smaller chicken (only about 1 3/4 lb.) barely covered the mound.  The chicken was rubbed down with olive oil and cooked at 450 for just under an hour, rotating once.  Near the end of the cooking time I sautéed some asparagus with garlic and butter.

The timing worked well, with the chicken and stuffing finishing at the same time as the sauteed asparagus.  With stuffing, roasted bird, and grilled veggies the house smelled a lot like the holidays, and what could be better than a little holiday in May!

It was great putting together a meal like this knowing that most of the ingredients came from local vendors.  We used the whole chicken from Pecatonica farms, leeks from Happy Valley Farm, dried morels from our trip to Muscoda, asparagus from Priske Farm, and an Egg from Hammerand Farms.  My next chicken challenge: picnic style fried chicken. Stay tuned!