Week Thirteen of Dark Days Challenge

OK, I have to be honest here. That's the point of a blog, isn't it? I did sign on to create one meal per week of 100% local ingredients. But I didn't promise to create a totally new menu, did I? Frankly, I am getting just a little tired of potatoes and portobello mushrooms. But here is our menu for last night, with an additional dish from dinner tonight:

Roasted Potatoes with Carrots, Garlic and Rosemary
Brussels Sprout Salad
Bonus recipe from another dinner: Braised Brussels Sprouts and Portobello Mushroom

Roasted Potatoes with Carrots, Garlic and Rosemary
This is a simple dish
2-3 cups of potatoes (I used tiny delicious marble potatoes from the Klesick Family CSA box)
1 big fat carrot, trimmed and cut into fat matchstick shapes (this came from our garden)
1-10 cloves garlic (we're working on the last of the garlic from our fall harvest)
1 Tablespoon dried or fresh rosemary
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Note: if you are using larger potatoes, cut into small chunks.
Prepare all the vegetables and place in a large flat baking dish. Pour about 1-2 tablespoon of olive oil on them, sprinkle on the rosemary, salt and pepper. Stir well to coat everything.
Roast in oven 10 minutes, then take out and stir. Repeat until they are done.

I LOVE this brussels sprout salad.
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/brussels-sprout-salad-recipe.html

The first time I made it I sliced the brussels sprouts by hand. I made a small amount because it took a long time. When I made it yesterday, I used my food processor and zipped through 2 cups of sprouts in no time at all. They recommend a mandolin but I don't have one.


Additional recipe
I'm calling this additional because we didn't have it with our 100% local meal, but we had it for dinner tonight and it was very delicious.

Braised Brussels Sprouts and Portobello Mushrooms
2 cups Brussels Sprouts (these came from our garden)
2 large Portobello Mushrooms (these came from the Klesick Family CSA)
1 cup sliced leeks, trim and clean well (these came from our garden)
1 Tablespoon coconut oil (or your preference of oil for cooking)
1 Tablespoon Tamari soy sauce or Bragg Liquid Aminos
1/2 to 1 cup vegetable broth

Heat the oil in a large pot. Add all the vegetables and stir fry 1-2 minutes. Add the Tamari or Bragg's and the vegetable broth. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook until the vegetables are tender.

Week Six of Dark Days Challenge

1/8/10
It’s January. Not much left in the garden. Each year I set a goal to increase my winter gardening – but I have a long way to go before I would consider myself a successful winter gardener. This year I do have a few carrots and leeks and occasionally I can pick enough brussel sprouts for dinner for two. The chard and greens I put into our new greenhouse haven’t made it. It’s been very cold this winter. I am more hopeful for next winter. Last year 6 kale plants supplied all the kale I wanted all winter long. But this winter my few plants are only supplying a little kale, and I’m disappointed! I know I can buy it, but when you have had the experience of fresh tender kale, it’s hard to imagine it could be as good when purchased.

Last week we decided to order the NW Box (organic and local) from Klesick Farms http://www.klesickfamilyfarm.com/main/. This is a CSA, community supported agriculture. We got our first box this past week and I’m pleased! Great cabbage, leeks, potatoes and mushrooms. They also included a recipe for Potato Leek Cabbage Colcannon soup which I made for our weekly local dinner. I used homemade vegetable stock (instead of the chicken stock called for in the recipe) – after I washed the vegetables I trimmed them, and added some garlic, herbs and freshly ground pepper, and simmered them in water for about an hour while I fixed the rest of the dinner. To finish out the Colcannon, I didn’t use the bacon because I don’t eat pork, and I forgot to add the milk – and it was still great.

Menu
Steamed brussels sprouts (from our garden)
Potato Leek Cabbage Colcannon (from Klesick CSA NW box)
Bread (also included in Klesicks box)
Golden Glen Creamery butter (Bow)
Wild salmon roast, baked

Colcannon Soup with Potatoes, Leeks and Cabbage
Makes six 1 cup servings
Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ cups cabbage, cored and shredded
1 pound red or Yukon Gold potatoes peeled and cut in ¾ inch chunks
2 small leeks, white parts only, cleaned and sliced in thin disks 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
¼ teaspoon nutmeg or to taste
¾ cup milk
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
4 strips bacon, cooked nad crumbled for garnish (optional)


Directions
1. Place the butter in a 3-quart saucepan and melt it over medium heat. Add olive oil, and ¼ cup of water then the potatoes, cabbage and leeks. Cook over low heat, covered, about 10 minutes. The potatoes should be firm but almost cooked.
2. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cook, covered, about 15 minutes. The potatoes should be fully cooked but not falling apart.
3. Grate the nutmeg and correct the seasoning with salt and freshly ground pepper. Stir in the milk and parsley.
4. Serve immediately, garnished with the bacon if desired, or refrigerate, covered, up to a day.
Note: like most soups, this one seems to improve if made up to a day ahead. To reheat, place over medium heat and warm, stirring gently, to serving temperature. Be careful not to allow the potatoes to start to break down when reheating.
From www.stephencooks.com

Not local: salt, pepper, olive oil,

Dark Days Challenge Wanna Be 12/4/10

So this is the first dinner of the Dark Days Challenge - cooking one meal per week with ingredients that are local. I wasn’t able to get into the Urban Hennery’s Dark Days Challenge, so I’m creating my own. I’ve been focusing more and more on local food over the past year, so I don’t think this is going to be difficult, just a fun challenge. I didn’t have a lot of time tonight, so I wanted to keep things fairly simple. Good fresh local ingredients don’t need a lot of fussing. Food like this – crab, clams, fresh bread and butter, makes dining a pleasure!

I made a trip to the Waterfront Fish Market and Sno-Isle Food Coop, and a cruise around my yard. It’s hard to believe that I can get enough greens from the vegetable garden to make a salad in December.

Menu
Organic Salad greens
Topped with Holmquist Farm filberts and Snohomish County blueberries (frozen)
Dungeness Crab
Samish Bay Clams in Tomato Garlic Broth (recipe below)
Snohomish Bakery Multi-Grain Artisan Bread
Golden Glen Creamery Butter
Potatoes, boiled

Not local
Salt & pepper
Olive oil and white balsamic vinegar to dress the salad

From our garden – all organic:
Potatoes, shallots, garlic, parsley, chives, chili peppers, salad greens (chard, spinach, sorrel, kale, arugula),

Waterfront Fish Market, Everett
Clams, crab

Clams in Tomato Garlic Broth
2 servings
1 pound clams in shell
salt
1-tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup chopped organic shallots
3 cloves chopped organic garlic
1-2 chili peppers, seeds removed (more or less, depending on taste)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh organic parsley
½ cup red wine
14 oz can organic Diced Tomatoes, Muir Glen, (Sedro Woolley)

Soak clams in cold water and 1 tablespoon salt for 15 minutes. Drain, and soak again in cold water and 1 tablespoon salt for a second 15 minutes. Scrub shells.
Heat olive oil in large pot on medium heat
Add shallots, garlic and chili peppers and cook 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Add wine and tomatoes, bring to a boil then turn heat down to simmer 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Drain clams from brine and add to broth. Cook covered about 5 minutes. When the clam shells have popped open, serve. Remove and discard any clams that have not opened.