Archive for the ‘Farms and Farming’ Category

« Older Entries

A Garlicy Arrival

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

garlic1

This morning I was woken up by the most wonderful box of fresh garlic. The mailman’s buzzer at 8am had me a little out of sorts, but when I realized what he had delivered, I forgave the early wake-up call. Korrin & Caleb of the Roots CSA had sent me a gorgeous spread of three of their garlic varieties — Music (spicy, large cloves), Killarney Red (developed in Northern Idaho, good raw), and Chesnok Red (excellent for cooking, stores well).

Though I’m heading out of town for the weekend, I’ll definitely be putting these to the test upon my return. In the mean time, here is a recipe for my favorite way to enjoy fresh garlic, courtesy of Alice Waters:

Whole Roasted Garlic (from Chez Panisse Vegetables)

Use garlic that is in season that has not begun to sprout. Select good-looking, firm heads (allow one per person). Peel just the outer skin from the upper half of each head; arrange the heads, root end down, in an oven-proof dish just large enough to hold them snugly in a single layer. Add enough stock or water to reach about 1/4″ up the sides of the dish, drizzle the heads with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt. Cover tightly with foil, and roast in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes. Check them to make sure that there is still liquid in the bottom of the dish. They should be fairly soft at this point; if not, re-cover and roast a little more. Add a little more olive oil and let them continue to roast, uncovered for 5 to 10 minutes. Serve immediately with grilled bread and a little goat cheese. Diners pull apart the cloves and squeeze out the puree within.

Posted in Farms and Farming, Recipes, Summer | No Comments »

Weekend in Vermont

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

farmersdiner

Vermont seems to be one of those states that is home to the local and seasonal movement. Gorgeous red barns, rolling green hills and everywhere you turn you can get local cheese, grass-fed meats, fresh bread, delicious corn, arugula and of course, blueberries.

This past weekend, I met my husband up in Burlington. On Friday night, we splurged and ate at the Inn at Shelburne Farms. It was absolutely incredible.  Before we even opened the menus our lovely waitress, Emily, explained that over 60% of the menu is not only local, but grown or raised on the premises of the farm.

We started with their Feast of the Fields appetizer that changes nightly. This was a selection of whatever was harvested from their land that particular day.  Friday night was a mix of roasted zucchini and eggplant, radishes, three different types of cucumbers, cheese and a homemade eggplant spread. Super beautiful and delish.  We also began with a locally smoked cavendish quail that sat atop a warm corn salad.

For entrees, he ordered a wild striped bass in a roasted cherry tomato and roasted zucchini ragout and I had a grilled pork tenderloin with a blueberry sage sauce and a cauliflower-vidalia gratin.  My husband was doubtful about the fruit sauce with the meat but when he took his first bite all doubts immediately disappeared. Our dessert was a raspberry lemon curd tart and a trio of homemade ice creams and a sorbet:  a scoop of each corn and cheese ice cream and a raspberry sorbet.

We needed to work off dinner the next day so we climbed to the summit of Camel’s Hump mountain and then headed to the famous Farmer’s Diner in Quechee.  The entire menu is a based upon what they can source from within 70 miles and the restaurant is in an old Airstream trailer. The food was great and it was fun.

So if you head to Vermont anytime soon, you will have plenty of great eating to do, most of which is effortlessly local and seasonal.

Posted in At The Market, Buying Local, Cafes, Farms and Farming, Restaurants, Rural Life | No Comments »

Johnson Farmer’s Market

Tuesday, July 20th, 2010


market3

market2

market1

My husband is doing an art residency in Johnson, Vermont at the Vermont Studio Center for the last two weeks of July. He called me the other night thrilled that there is a farmer’s market every Tuesday in Johnson.  And the report was 100 % positive. He said it was amazing.  A number of local, organic farms with kale, tomatoes, green beans, garlic and prepared foods using local ingredients, like tamales, burritos and wood-oven pizza.

One farmer from neighboring town, Jeffersonville, was making organic icies out of fruits he harvested from his farm. He would steam the berries, add a little organic sugar for sweetness and away he went. He had the black currant and said it was out of this world.

But his favorite thing was the kale.  He cooked up our normal old way and had uncooked green beans on the side.  He said it reminded him of home.  Love that.

While he is in the making art in the hills of Vermont, I remain in sticky New York City making a refreshing salad from the beets I got from my CSA.

Roasted Beets with Pomegranate Cumin Vinaigrette

2 bunches of beets

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Trim the beet greens and reserve for another use. Place the beets unpeeled in a shallow pan with about ½ cup of water and cover with foil.  Roast for about 45 minutes of longer if the beets are large. A pairing knife should be able to slip through without resistance.

Drain beets and peel under cool water. Cut into chunks, dice or slice thinly and toss with the vinaigrette.

Vinaigrette

1 garlic clove
1/3 cup pomegrante juice
3 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Combine all the ingredients up to the oil in a small bowl.  Gently whisk in the oils and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Posted in At The Market, Buying Local, Farms and Farming, Recipes, Rural Life, Summer, Travel | No Comments »

The Clarksdale Farmer’s Market

Sunday, July 11th, 2010

pickles

This past week my husband, his family and I traveled to the Mississippi Delta. We went for a celebration of the patrons of The Box Project, to which my husband’s family has been involved for the past 24 years.

We ate our way through the south, feasting on our share of fried catfish, shrimp and grits, dry rub ribs, coleslaw and plenty of sweet tea.  Even though not always seasonal or healthy, it was delicious.

But when I visit a new place, the first thing I like to do is find the local farmer’s market.  It is always where I am happiest. You can learn so much about a place by speaking to the farmers and seeing what is grown locally. When we hit two farmers’ markets, we were offered a glimpse of what is thriving in the south this time of year.

The little farmer’s market in Clarksdale, Mississippi had some of the most gorgeous and delicious tomatoes I have ever had.  In fact, the farmer we spoke with said that he keeps a little shaker of salt in his truck to snack on his tomatoes.  We bought a couple and moved onto the Health Crops stand run by students from the local high school.  They are a part of a program where the local teenagers learn to garden.  A bottle of Kool Aid pickles was the inspiration of one of the students and once you tasted it you knew exactly what the brining liquid contained!

Here is Dennis’ recipe for his inspired Kool Aid Pickles:

-White vinegar
-Cherry Kool Aid
-Cucumbers

Allow the cucumbers to sit in the brining liquid for about two weeks for the best flavor.  Click here to see a video of Dennis’ own explanation.

Posted in At The Market, Buying Local, Farms and Farming, Food Preservation, Pickling, Summer, Travel | 1 Comment »

Strawberry Fields in Green Bluff

Thursday, July 8th, 2010

IMG_2265

IMG_2266

strawberries

Strawberries are ripening here in the Northwest, so my mom and I took the opportunity to take my niece out to her first ever strawberry pick. We discovered that she loves squishing strawberries almost as much as she likes eating them! Green Bluff is a collective of farmers in an area just outside Spokane that offers you-pick events for berries, peaches, apples and other fruits throughout the year. We were lucky to get a chance at this year’s crop as they lost nearly 60% to a late cold snap. Fortunately it was a hot day here (finally!), and the berries were perfect. We were able to scoop up a couple flats in time to keep the little picker from getting a sunburn.

Posted in Farms and Farming, Rural Life | No Comments »

Picking Our Dinner in East Hampton

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

pickdinner1

pickdinner2

pickdinner3

Our good friend, Rob, hosted a reunion of sorts for eight of us at his house in East Hampton last weekend.  It was filled with early morning surf sessions, tennis matches, midday naps, late afternoon world cup viewings and late night dinners.

On Saturday morning, Gemma offered me the amazing opportunity to pick vegetables with her at a farm called Quail Hill.  I must’ve been the happiest human on the planet that day as the dirt filled my fingernails. I found myself surrounded by snap peas, fava beans, string beans, snow peas, english peas, garlic scapes, summer squash, zucchini flowers, radishes and many types of lettuce.  Raspberries were on the cusp of ripeness, too.

On the way home we stopped and a fish market to round out the meal.  It was such a treat to cook for a crowd and with the exception of lemons, olive oil and sea salt, we used only local, seasonal ingredients from the day.  Rob even had an herb garden from which I nipped basil, mint, lavender, sage and dill to finish off the salad and the grilled fish.  I’m including the recipe for the pesto we made with the basket of garlic scapes that we plucked from the farm.

Grilled Garlic Scape Pesto

A handful of garlic scapes (about 10)
1 cup of olive oil (some for coating the scapes before grilling)
1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons sea salt

Toss the scapes in olive oil to coat and place on a hot grill.  Grill until browned but not charred and remove from heat.  (Alternatively, you can broil the scapes)

Chop and place in a food processor with toasted pine nuts and pulse.  Drizzle in the olive oil and add water if necessary to desired texture. Season with sea salt.

Posted in Buying Local, Farms and Farming, Recipes, Summer | No Comments »

NY Times Talks Local Food

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

The awareness around eating seasonal and locally grown food has certainly increased dramatically within the last year or so. I’m feeling like it’s finally hit the main stream with Jamie Oliver on TV now doing what hundreds of activists across the US have been doing (or trying to do) for decades. The New York Times has also been doing quite a lot on the subject recently, and featured an interesting debate today about the role of government in making local food more easily available. The arguments generally stem from the limited (and dwindling) number of slaughterhouses available for local farmers to use and the expensive, industrialized standards that keep small farmers from building their own slaughterhouses. The article is definitely worth a read…and many of the comments below are very well informed. If you’re interested, you can check the article out here.

Posted in Farms and Farming, Resources | No Comments »

Farmer’s Almanac: Hemlock Hill

Sunday, March 21st, 2010

IMG_1797

IMG_1796

IMG_1799

Finally, Spring has arrived! I spent the first weekend of the season about an hour North of the city in Westchester, where new life is spurting up wherever it can find an opening between the fallen branches and leaf piles left behind by the intense snows of just a few weeks ago.

In anticipation of the growing season, we visited beautiful Hemlock Hill Farm. John DeMaria, whose family has been running the 120 acre farm since 1939, was tending the store and took a few minutes to let us in on the season’s big “crop”. While fresh (even live) poultry, and frozen lamb, beef and pork are available this time of year, compost is the season’s most important product. This “Black Gold” allows John to make good use of, and little money off of some of the animal parts he cannot sell. Lamb skins, for instance, used to be a decent source of income back when people were interested in tanned hides. Not so much any more, so the farm encompasses these into it’s compost along with the animal waste, remnants from the butchering process, and vegetable matter they’re left with throughout the year.

The farm is open 7 days a week, so you’re in the neighborhood, I’d recommend stopping by and saying, “Hello”. Otherwise, if you’d like to learn more, there was a great article about Hemlock Hill in the New York Times that I’d recommend. I’m hoping to be able to check back in with John throughout the year and see how things evolve on the farm. The baby lambs and goats will certainly grow fast…and it won’t be long at all before fresh fruits and vegetables finally start arriving at local markets!

Posted in Farms and Farming | No Comments »

Winter Grills at Blue Hill

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

Last night I had the opportunity to visit my favorite restaurant, Blue Hill at Stone Barns for an educational course on winter grilling. The 5-course menu included grilled parsnips, a slider-style vegi burger, grilled lobster, blue hill’s incomparable heritage pork, and a dessert that incorporated “grilled milk”.

The food was fantastic as usual, but what made this a truly unique experience was the opportunity to hear directly from Dan Barber, the creative director of Blue Hill, and his grilling chef, Adam Kaye. All the food from the evening was prepared on a custom-designed grill which traps all the juices and allows for adjustable height in the heating surface. The owner of Grillworks, Benjamin Eisendrath, who makes The Grillery was there to discuss his product and the inspiration behind it. We also heard  from an expert in carbon sequestration and use who discussed the process of carbonizing bones for use as charcoal. He and Dan talked about the opportunities this presented to reduce waste, provide great fertilizer for the fruits and vegis grown on the farm, and perhaps the potential to infuse new flavor elements into the smokiness of grilled foods.

It was a truly memorable meal that was as inspirational as it was delicious. It makes me so happy to know that there are people like Dan and his staff who not only aim to  maximize flavor, but are also always looking for new and inventive ways to reduce waste and increase productivity. And it’s such a privilege to be able to take part in their journey towards what may become a model for the 21st century way of eating.

Posted in Farms and Farming, Resources, Restaurants | No Comments »

Return of the Neighborhood Butcher

Monday, October 26th, 2009

meatrecipesThis morning, the Brian Lehrer Show (WNYC public radio) had a segment on the return of the local butcher. They talked about the return of the “old, old” butchers — the ones that knew the farmers personally and who purchased their meat as whole animals. They were the great experts of “nose to tail” eating, with the knowledge on how to best use every part of the animal. They were once, and are becoming again, a wise and caring link between the farm and the meat on our table.

A whole new generation taking up this art and providing us with the best quality meat — and the expertise to teach us how to use it again. Dickson’s Farmstand Meats just opened around the corner from me, and the other day I ventured in to find a couple cuts for a small dinner I was hosting. I didn’t want to spend much, so ended up with a couple of pork chops — not usually my favorite, but with a little guidance from the (very young) expert behind the counter, I managed to cook the first pair of pork chops I actually liked. I love it when the food does the work for me! For those of you New York area, you might also check out Jeffery’s Meat Market, and The Meat Hook (opening next month in Brooklyn).

The chefs in New York are really behind this movement as well, and have begun a mini-movement based around the “nose to tail” philosophy. April Bloomfield, who is famous for her high class English Pub food is just about to launch her new venture, the Breslin Bar. Bloomfield is planning a very meat-centric menu…and really putting that whole “nose to tail” ideal to work. I can’t wait to try it out!

Posted in City Life, Farms and Farming, Resources | No Comments »

« Older Entries