ValleyLocavore

Recipe: $3 Thighs for a VIP

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Nelen) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:56:00 +0000

Recipe: $3 Thighs

Last night I made some chicken thighs I got for $3 down the street at C-Town. I'll be honest, I couldn't get my hands on some local thighs. Just not happening. It was the sauce that made this dish. I cooked the f.. out of the thighs in boiling, over-priced olive oil to get the fat nice and seared. These were some cheap-ass thighs so the skins came right off and curled up into little dead bees, after giving up the flavor. It took around 8 minutes to cook four of them both sides. I removed the thighs and eliminated about half of the oil leaving enough to cover the bottom of the pan and stirred up the fried bits skin and meat to begin the de-glazing process. Then I added four very small chopped onion from Bashista. They went ape shit in that oil. Then I added a couple of handfuls of rosemary and thyme, stems and all from my plants on the window. That got the oil really cracking. I turned it all down and put in four thinly sliced garlic cloves that I had softened in the second half of the oil that was just sitting there anyway. So that cooked for a bit with the lid on, then I found some cheap white wine and added about ¾ a of a cup of that. That got the oil going again and I let that cook down for about 10 minute with the lid on.

By this time, the stuff was looking pretty brown and didn’t taste like much so I took out the onions to add back to the sauce later and added a bunch of salt and pepper and a hunk of butter from VT. I cooked that down a bit and then added a bit more water and cooked it all down again with the top on.

At this point, the sauce tasted great but needed a bit of an edge which is when I remembered the greens. That day I also bought a long green bunch of leaves from C-Town, the place down the street. It is very intense with the texture of thin cactus and the taste of super strong cilantro. I washed the greens, called something that starts with a "k", ripped the bunch in two and threw it into the sauce, adding more water and putting the top on. Cooked that down for around 10 minutes and it was awesome. Perfect. The onions were added back to the sauce. Out came the warm chicken thighs from hiding on the back burner and on went the sauce. I served it to the guest, a VIP, with capusta (cabbage, stewed). Not a bad meal for $3, plus some onions, garlic, cheap wine, oil and greens that start with a "k."

Good bye Kale Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Nelen) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 03:19:00 +0000

Good-Bye Kale Recipe

For a meal we served to guests the other night, I thought that a good send off to our friend would be ease off of the all kale diet by using up the scraps of kale left over from dinners gone by. So I took some beans we got from our grain share, pinto's and cooked them with a bit of olive oil, some left over stock from beets, water and bay leaf. When the beans were nice and soft, I added some ribbons of crispy kale to give it some color and veggie-ness. The marriage of kale and legume was complete in this simple and surprising delicious dish. A legume is basically, a round dried thing that is good for you, not much different than an leafy thing that is good for you together to make for a satisfying meal. Other legumes are clover, lentils, peanuts.

Good-Bye Kale Recipe
Beans with Good-Bye Kale Month kale.

1 half bunch left over kale from Kale Month
2 cups pinto beans
Olive Oil
1-large onion, sliced medium thin

Soak beans over night. Drain, cook until tender with good amounts of olive oil and salt. IF YOU HAVE IT, add a parmesan rind and some fresh herbs. About 45 minutes. Saute onion in oil. De-rib, roll and slice kale into ribbons. Add to onion and cook until crispy. Remove from heat and stir into beans. Add olive oil, salt and pepper with a dash of vinegar or wine, if desired.

This is the last of the kale recipes. February is chicken month, including eggs. Stay tuned!

Recipe: Restaurant Kale Part 2 - Deconstructed Kale

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Nelen) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 03:18:00 +0000

Kale, De-constructed

I love restaurant week in New York because the portions are so small. You go, the place is great, the food famous, the reservation, hard to get. Then you eat and the food is so scant, in such small amounts, that you have to focus on every bite.

That was my experience a couple of weeks ago in at Promenade des Angeleis, on 23rd and 10th. We got there, had to take a cab, rain, and so on. Inside it is early still, only 7:30 and the place is dead. Then our friends show up and speculations are made, newspaper articles referred to and so eventually the food comes, we get soup and a terrine and a fish dish with tiny anchovies and from the regular menu, brandade on crostini...the rest I don't remember but I do remember the kale and during restaurant week, kale is the one dish you get a decent portion of.

Before deconstructing the kale salad, I become painfully aware of the waitstaff. When we are served our first course and then our main course, all of these waiters converge on us at once. It must have something to do with the way they run the place. It seems as if the entire staff has staged an intervention of food and each us is served, by a separate person, simultaneously. It is like we are a car and they are the pit crew. Or we are a foodie mosh pit.

This particular kale dish was ripped leaves, massaged in oil with strips of good prosciutto, the thinnest slice of button mushroom, really not even worth mentioning or even including in the dish but then shaving of parmesean, quite an outstanding delicious bit of parm, and all in a vinaigrette along with unnecessary pomegranate seeds. It was the best kale salad I have ever had and I must say it is because of the quality of the prosciutto, olive oil and cheese -- mushroom, pomegranate seeds notwithstanding.

Such is restaurant week. Regular people go to expensive restaurants where they get a little window of luxury. Kale really shines in this context where trend and abundance meet in a perfect storm. Kale is cheap. It grows in snow. No one yet has the nerve or has figured out how to make kale expensive so it is one dish at restaurant week that you get a lot of.

Recipe: Whole Foods Kale Kugel

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Nelen) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 03:18:00 +0000


Mushroom Noodle Kugel, courtesy of Whole Foods Market in Hadley

This comes recommended by a friend, Sarah Kanabay at Whole Foods in Hadley. She refers to kale as the 'poster child leafy green' which probably is why we love it so.

This recipe for a dish called Kale and Mushroom Noodle Kugel is as comforting as comfort food can get. I think that I might agree with one individual who commented about the dish that the substitution of ricotta for cottage cheese is a good one. As one individual commented on the store's website, ricotta might suffice rather than cottage cheese, to which I agree.

ALL of these ingredients can be local. If you are a real purist, egg noodles and the ricotta itself can be made at home with local ingredients. I have not yet tried this but will do so once I can figure out how to make noodles. This recipe features quite a few Whole Foods ingredients which can be substituted, of course. Where is the fun in cooking if you don't get to substitute?

Serves 8

This hearty dish features mushrooms, kale and egg noodles, bound with cottage cheese and sour cream for richness. Use a variety of mushrooms in place of the button mushrooms, if you like.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons 365 Everyday Value Unsalted Butter, plus more for buttering
1 (16-ounce) package 365 Everyday Value Wide Enriched Egg Noodles
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 lb white/button or cremini mushrooms, sliced
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon fine sea salt, divided
1 bunch kale (about 3/4 pound), stemmed and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon finely chopped thyme
4 eggs, beaten
1 1/4 cups low-fat cottage cheese
3/4 cup 365 Everyday Value Organic Low Fat Sour Cream

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9- x 13-inch dish; set aside. Cook noodles in boiling, salted water until al dente. Drain, rinse and drain again; transfer to a large bowl. Heat butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Add mushrooms, pepper and 1/2 teaspoon salt; cook until mushrooms are very tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in kale and cook until wilted, 2 to 3 minutes; add thyme. Add to noodles, toss and set aside. Whisk together eggs, cottage cheese, sour cream and remaining salt. Fold into noodles. Transfer to prepared dish, press down gently, cover with foil and bake 30 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake until lightly browned, about 10 minutes more. Serve warm or room temperature.

Nutrition

Per serving: 360 calories (90 from fat), 10g total fat, 4.5g saturated fat, 170mg cholesterol, 520mg sodium, 52g total carbohydrate (3g dietary fiber, 6g sugar), 19g protein

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/3112

Whole Foods Note to Avoid Lawsuit: We've provided special diet and nutritional information for educational purposes. But remember — we're cooks, not doctors! You should follow the advice of your health-care provider. And since product formulations change, check product labels for the most recent ingredient information. See our Terms of Service.

GREEN STREET CAFE RIP

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Nelen) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 20:16:00 +0000

Last Saturday night, Green Street Cafe's final supper, the place was hopping. Food, fireplace and jazz were in full swing and although by 7:30 they were out of pirogi in brown butter and lamb meatballs with hand made noodles. But what they had left was better than anything else you can get in town.

GSC owners Jim and John never stinted on quality, never compromised which was why the food was honestly good, why they had their fans, why they were so intense. John and Jim made the soup Nazi look like a neophyte.

For the 20 or so years Jim and John were in business, they insisted, in their way, on perfection from their wait staff, the best food that they could afford and at times could not afford and in summer grew their own produce for the restaurant. There was a grill outside on Fridays featuring lamb burgers, in summer, along with Jim's heirloom tomatoes.

Winter featured a lovely menu including the weird yet delicious duck leg cooked in the fireplace and mussels, cooked in a mustard wine sauce and served with bread.

Always in season was the ongoing battle with next door neighbor, Smith College. Smith was the landlord and has been trying to throw them out for years. Basically they wanted the place back. It didn't fit in with their expansion plans and Jim and John went down swinging. Little details like the wrecked cars in the parking lot that abutted Smith's engineering school (see photo above taken by Paul Shoul) was the latest Green Street's latest retaliation against their oppressors.

Now John and Jim are moving on. "We're doing a CSA," says John. "I want to sell 1000 shares!" he adds, just to throw down yet another gauntlet. But they were good to their staff and to some regulars who called the place home for a while. Family dinner, a restaurant tradition of feeding the staff before diners show up, was always on the table. This can't be said for most other restaurants. It is pretty old school and requires management that cares and treats the staff like family. Of course, family takes many forms.

In the middle of service on Saturday, the band called Jim over to sing. The place fell silent when he raced down the stairs. Sidling through the crowd to grab the microphone Jim fixed a withering gaze on his guests. "This is dedicated to the staff," he said and began to sing, "You Make Me Feel So Young."

Goodbye John and Jim. You gave more than what you got.

Recipe: Kale Chips

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Nelen) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:48:00 +0000

Kale Chips:

Who needs defense when you have Tom Brady and Kale Chips?

•    1 head kale, washed and thoroughly dried
•    2 tablespoons olive oil
•    Sea salt and pepper, for sprinkling

Directions

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.

Remove the ribs from the kale and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces. Toss in large bowl with salt and pepper. Lay pieces of kale out on baking sheets, dark green side up. Bake until crisp in top half of oven for approximately 25 minutes. Have a look at them every 8 minutes to ensure even baking. Serve while warm, immediately, in a large bowl. Pair with beer. If somebody looks up and says, “Hey, these chips are black!” pass the dip. (Yogurt and lemon with white pepper works well.)

For a more formal presentation, kale makes an elegant entry in its long leafy shape. Just remove stems with scissors and skip the step of cutting the kale leaves. Cooking directions remain the same. Long kale chips can be served in various vessels such as pewter beer steins and other football game ephemera. Pair with a nice Pinot Noir. If somebody says, “Hey, who brought the lawn clippings?” squirt some organic lemon on the chips.

Either way, kale chips are an effective transportation device for salt, like popcorn. But that's cool. They're so healthy, it is impossible to eat too many! Go Pats!

Recipe: Don't Try This At Home Kale

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Nelen) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:39:00 +0000

Think you have mastered kale? Think again. When somebody says, 'kale chips' (#1000 out of 1000 on the Aggregate Nutrient Density Index) can also be a snack food,' you have to try 'em.

So I tried. I tasted kale chips two years ago in Hartford. A restaurant owner passed them out. Delicious black squares salty and with a bit of something else, not sure what. I learned that her kale chips were dehydrated. Don't have one of those machines so moved on in the research.

Discussing kale with some kids in Great Barrington, a woman named Sharon said she loved kale chips and made them all the time. She baked them in the oven, real hot, oil and salt. Easy!

She said the secret to kale is to make sure it is very, very dry before cooking. "So I leave all of the cut leaves on the table to dry overnight. Then my partner comes home and she says, "Is this an art project?"

Further investigation revealed several recipes, all of which involved drying before baking. The dehydration method, I ruled out since I don't have one of those machines. Being a locavore, I try to keep the grid to a minimum.

Anyway, I remember the business about drying and take a couple of recipes and put them together. I follow the first steps, all recipes specify cleaning, cutting away the stems and drying. After drying, baking instructions ranged from 250 to 350, depending on the recipe. I wash the kale and decide to stick the leaves in the oven, very low, to DRY them right away rather than having to leave them out on the table over night. Seems like a quick way to do the overnight method. But it was a one-way ticket to Pompeii. When I took out my sad little squares of kale, they were ashen, like burned notes lire, like an art project. They tasted of blackness.

In the end, we went out to dinner at Hope and Olive in Greenfield, where I knew kale would be on the menu. The place never disappoints, never forsakes our local bounty, no mater what the season. Way out in front of the food curve, Hope and Olive was first to feature mead, hard cider and grass-fed beef on its menu.

Last night, Hope and Olive's Kale Salad featured ribbons of kale. If you try to make this salad at home, massage the kale as described several posts ago, before adding the other stuff. In this case, the other stuff was white rice, sliced beets, the exotic red and white stripped kind, bits of squash, not sure what kind, roasted whole pecans maybe with a hint of sweetness and apple.

It should be noted for those who are trying to make the dish, is that the roots are cut into MATCHSTICKS. This is a step that must not be ignored because scale is important when it comes to mixing this much different food together. You don't want to let the kale ribbons get lost in great lumps of other produce. How wonderful this salad is. An entire meal.

Can kale the super food also be kale, the super star of snack foods? Stay tuned.

Recipe: Restaurant Kale, Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Nelen) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:01:00 +0000

Bread Euphoira is my morning place, my second family, a source of friendship, coffee, sugar, advice on things. Things such as kale for example.

Recent forays into the restaurant world investigate how this tough, obscure little plant is playing out in eating establishments across America. Perched on a ridge in the foot of the hilltowns in my little part of the country is a place run by a mad baker and his wife with a stalwart staff including Molly and Sean. Molly wants to learn to how to make kale. Has a friend who grew up on a commune, intentional living, works wonders with kale. Molly specializes in Mac and Cheese and aspires to Commune foods.

For her, kale is an unattainable feat. We discuss kale for a couple mornings and she, in conversation, pauses for a brainstorm and says, “Oh, right here, he knows how to cook everything, ask him about kale!” Sean comes into the conversation, nods, and recites the following about kale. (It should be noted that he is tall and fair in complexion with dark hair and glasses perched almost a third of the way down on his nose. Molly is a sprite with a great black shock of straight bangs.)

Sean says: “I always blanch it. You have to blanch it. After blanching it, no vinegar. Kale is too bitter already, do butter. I like butter.” He later adds that oil is OK but definately not vinegar. Sean talks restaurant talk. You will see what I mean by the recipe below.

So I go home and try it and it works pretty well. Couple of weeks later I go back and discuss kale with Molly again. She blanches at the idea of blanching and I can’t say that I blame her. What is blanching anyway? Steep in boiling water. What is steep, how long is the boil, what kind of boil, what kind of pan? You can use any pan deep enough to take the kale with some water on top to ‘cover.’ Bring the water with some salt to a boil, put the kale in the pot until the it withers a bit, or is ‘shocked’ by the water. This will soften the kale but not overcook it making kale attainable, less elusive, for all mankind, not just those in The Commune.

RECIPE: Sean’s Kale

1-Bunch Kale
Butter (or oil)

Blanch kale until al dente (not too soft, with a bit of a bite)
Serve as a ‘hot side’ meaning warm, on the side, maybe tossed with butter and salt and pepper with whatever else you have like red pepper strips or pickled onions, hard boiled eggs, etc.

NOTE: wash kale, remove stems and roughly chop before beginning this recipe -- MN

Recipe: Street Kale

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Nelen) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 12:21:00 +0000

"Street Kale" otherwise known as urban decoration. Photographed on 22nd bet. 8th and 9th, NYC

Street Kale: It's what's for dinner....

This urban food, while similar to kale purchased by the man at stores and farmstands, is worthy occupation fare during times of strife. Preparation requires cutting off leaves at the stem with a leatherman knife or tie off with guitar strong then soak for 5 to ten minutes in water bath to remove traces of street urine. For quick consumption, de-rib, roll leaves into cigar shape, cut into little stubs and fry in skillet with ghee, oil for free butter pats found at the breakfast bar in extended stay hotels near Chinatown. If you have enough fuel but no fat or a good knife, de-rib with fingers and blanch kale leaves in boiling water for five to ten minutes. When ready, text friends #dinner.

RECIPE: Put Me In Coach Kale

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Nelen) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:00:00 +0000

Source: Recipe Box

Kale is a worthy substitute.

If kale could talk, "Put me in coach," would be its mantra.

Take a random recipe plucked from box unearthed in a basement or estate sale. The basics are there such as salt, fat, acid and with that in place, substitute away. Here, for example, a vintage Newspaper Recipe for Greek Tortellini Salad ("This potluck-size salad can be made several hours ahead.....") has the basic ingredients for a side dish that can sit for a bit under cover and for the ingredients potentially not in your larder, such as a package of plain or tricolored refrigerated cheese tortellini, feel free to substitute with kale.

In this case the other ingredients are peppers, onion, olives, vinegar, oil, mint, lemon juice, sherry, salt, garlic powder, crushed red pepper and feta cheese....more than enough action to make this dish work with kale as the star. Because of kale's star power due to flavor, nutrients, fridge endurance and winter availability, the dish can be made with far fewer ingredients.

A quick massage and ribboning of the kale (see below) with addition of onion, vinegar, oil, an herb you might have on hand, an alcohol you might have on hand (not beer) instead of the sherry, real garlic and some cheese (not swiss) as an option makes for a sustainable version of this Vintage Recipe Box recipe.

Recipe: Massaged Kale

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Nelen) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:13:00 +0000

Mountain View Farm: house, barn, tractor, sky, summer '11

Recipe: Massaged Kale

To say that kale is healthy is like saying the earth is round. Kale is so healthy it is at the top of the list that ranks foods by evaluating a range of micronutrients including vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and antioxidant capacities. The ANDI score is formerly called the Aggregate Nutrient Density Index and it ranges from produce to dairy with produce leading the pack with a score of 1000 for kale, according to documentation provided by Whole Foods. Carrots have a score of 336 and oats 53, trout 36 and swiss cheese 15, just sayin! By working olive into the nutrient packed fiber of this hearty, hearty, green, the leaves relax and luxuriate in a bath of garlic, lemon and salt.

Give it a good rub, lots of payback. A massaged kale salad will keep in the fridge with dressing or up to three days.

Massaged Kale Salad

1 Head of Kale

1 T olive oil

honey, about ½ t

juice of one lemon

2 T chopped almonds

salt & pepper

Remove stems from kale with a sharp knife or scissors and roll individual leaves of kale into cigar shapes. Cut width-wise so the kale becomes like ribbons. Place kale ribbons in a bowl and massage olive oil into pieces. Toss with lemon, salt, garlic and add almonds if you like. Pepita seeds are also great with kale.

Recipe: Jack's Kale Crostini

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Nelen) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 13:33:00 +0000


Recipe: Jack’s Kale Crostini

This kale on toast delight is from the recipe box of Jack Algiere of Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture where the kale is in season, the extended season, that is. This seasonal farmers' market sells produce from Stone Barns' own hoop and green houses and meat from the farm's livestock. At Stone Barns Farm in upstate New York, farming is what farming would be like if millionaires built the place. The buildings are originally the dairy and hay barns that made up the Rockefeller estate. Food in situ, food at the market and food in the restaurant where menu features seasonal dishes in multiple courses, is worth a visit. Stone Barns is a non-profit farm and education center. The restaurant, Blue Hill at Stone Barns is located on the farm as well. Both are open to the public.

Kale Crostini - Jack Algiere, Stone Barns, NY

Ingredients

1 lb kale, deribbed

1 t salt, or to taste

¼ to a third C olive oil

¼ C grated Parmigiano cheese

1 lemon, juiced

½ t cumin
2 anchovies

1 handful of almonds or pine nuts

Procedure

1. In a skillet, sauté kale in some of the olive oil, to darken.

2. In a food processor, pulse the garlic, the remainder of your olive oil, anchovies and nuts.

3. Add the sautéed kale to the food processor. Pulse a couple of times to roughly chop.

4. Finally, add the salt, cumin and lemon juice. Taste and adjust for seasoning. Pulse until the mixture reaches your desired consistency.

5. Slice your loaf of peasant bread or other crusty bread.

6. Lightly toast the slices of bread in an oven, until golden brown.

7. Spread the kale mixture on the bread and enjoy

Recipe: Kale with Farro and Chicken Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Nelen) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:53:00 +0000

kale with farro and chicken soup

Sick boyfriend, two days after Christmas, looking for something simple, easy to digest, healthy and without sugar or caramel! In fridge is a couple of chicken legs from our meat share (Chestnut Hill Farms) and on the top of all the cupboards are jars and jars and jars of grain, we just received from our grain share (Pioneer Valley Heritage Grains) so what else but a chicken soup with faro, an ancient grain that I don’t know how to make yet. Turns out the farro gets cleaned then toasted then cooked with 1.5 C water until water is absorbed. The rest of the dish is business as usual and after a day he was all better, the boyfriend, that is....local chicken and grain make all the difference.

1 C farro

2 chicken legs

1 onion

2 peeled parsnips

1T thyme dried

pepper grind 2-3

1 large clove garlic

2 C carrots, diced

2 onions, chopped roughly

1 bunch kale, stems removed, cut into thin strips

¼ C apple cider

1 C chopped carrots

Clean and brown faro and set aside. Make stock with chicken legs, onion, parsnips, thyme and pepper by bringing 2 quarts of water to a boil over the ingredients and reducing it to simmer for 45 minutes. When stock is finished, strain out liquid and set aside the meat. Return stock to pot and add carrots, parsnips and farro. Bring to boil and let simmer for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, remove chicken meat from bones and shred meat. Set aside. In large cast iron stock pot, sautee 2 onions with kale, cut very thin in 1 T olive oil. When browned, add apple cider. Simmer on low for 10 minutes. Add stock and pieces of chicken. Bring to boil, cook on low for 10 minutes and remove from heat. Serve warm in large bowls with crusty bread.

Recipe: Dino Kale Sunny Side Up

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Nelen) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 16:41:00 +0000

Dino Kale Sunny Side Up

Grab some kale out of the snow or off the shelf at the store or off a dusty table at your deep winter storage CSA. Cut it up into ribbons, discarding the ribs. If it is at all possible, get what is called "Dino" kale which is so named because of its wrinkled form. Dino kale is sweet. This recipe calls for a nest of fried kale with a fried egg on top. Take the ribbons of kale and drop them directly into a fry pan of almost, but not quite smoking oil. Remove after around a minute. They will be almost, but not quite, brown, yet nice and crispy. Blot to remove oil using a cloth, not a paper towel....not the Shroud of Turin either....and salt lightly. Fry an egg and gently place it on top of the nest of kale. Deep winter acts of love deserve bumper stickers.

WEEKEND FORAGER: Wine, Wenches & Whole Foods

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Nelen) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 19:00:00 +0000

Recently my mother
lost the whole notion of a yearly, holiday 'cookie party' and replaced it with something entirely different.

Instead of women from the neighborhood coming over in the late afternoon bearing shortbread and chocolate kiss peanut butter cookies in metal tins, there will be only wine. No food, just wine.

Since my father died, she hasn't been the same. After a few weeks of mourning, she moved into hyperactivity. Things were being eliminated. Old clothes, papers and now the cookie party, out the window. The idea for "Wenches and Wine" came from her sister in New York. So now, typical mom gifts such as a scarf, a nice book or a tasteful print are out the window. This year mom is getting booze for X-mas. Her favorite is "chard" of the Three Buck Chuck variety.

A trip to Whole Foods in Hadley (no wine at this Trader Joe's) to test the latest holiday samples revealed two surprises: Wine fit for a discerning wench and Veggies (some) fit for a locavore.

VEGGIES

Marqulela Stevenson (pictured above) offered shoppers endive boats last week at Whole Foods. Parked just inside the front doors, Marqulela offered samples of the veggie with a dipping sauce. It was a rainy night. Many shoppers came by and devoured bits of endive boats that contained tofu from Connecticut, and watermelon radish from Vermont and carrots from Winter Moon farm in Hadley. Oh, holy night. I learned from Marqulela that the carrots, 500 lbs of them, are periodically hauled to the store on a bicycle from Winter Moon Farm on Bay Road to Rt. 5. Dipping sauce: peanut butter, rice vinegar, lime, soy, sesame oil, none local, delicious and might be replicated with maple syrup, rhubarb reduction, sea salt from the Cape and melted butter. But that is for purists.

WINE

In the wine department a is guy giving out samples of Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot which sells for $35.88 per case. Called "Three Wishes" the wine comes from California vineyards with wine to spare. According to Don Williams, head of the wine team at Whole Foods Hadley, this is not just extra wine with a Whole Foods private label, it is quite "quaffable." Two reasons: recent years in California have produced consistently good vintages; and vineyards have made quite a bit of it. The wenches found "Three Wishes" to their liking. Responses ranged from "lighter" to "maybe just a third glass." Patsy will give a case to her sister who will share it with New York wenches.

The California wine isn't local but the negative carbon footprint carrots from Hadley are a plus.

Have I got a brisket for you!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Nelen) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 18:56:00 +0000


Stevie Pierson, author of "Brisket, a Love Story" At Stone Barns in NY, a woman talking and gesturing and signing books shared her concept for happiness and love: Brisket. If you have a chart that shows what the cuts of beef are on a cow, you will see that the chest of the animal, No. 7, is known as "Brisket." Next to the word "Brisket" on the cuts of beef chart is the explanation, "Jewish Pot Roast." If you have a meat share, ask for brisket and if you go to the grocery store, pot roast or brisket will buy you an economical cut of meat for a song. But it is protein plus sugar that really nails it. According to Pierson, brisket + onions is the perfect combination. The book "Brisket, a Love Story," outlines many, many other ways to attack the chest of a cow. They include comment and recipes by a constellation of foodie super stars including the doyenne of Jewish Cooking, Joan Nathan, the dynamo of Italian cooking Mario Batali and many others, some just regular people.

Brisket Recipe: via Joan Nathan, via "Brisket, a Love Story"

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Nelen) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 18:51:00 +0000

Recipe:

My Favorite Brisket (Not Too Gedempte Fleysch) Adapted from Jewish Cooking in America, by Joan Nathan
Serves 10

Basically, this is what you'd offer your future in-laws to ensure their undying affection. This is a taste-great, feel-good classic Jewish brisket, but while the recipe has been in the family for years, Joan is not averse to a new tweak or twist: Add a jar of sun-dried
tomatoes, dry or packed in oil, for a more intense flavor. Or add a 2-inch knob of ginger and a few large strips of lemon zest to the pot. Remove them before serving. Note: Not Too Gedempte Fleysch means "Not too well stewed." I didn't know either. - Stevie Pierson, author, Brisket, a Love Story

2 teaspoons salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 (5-pound) brisket of beef
1 clove garlic, peeled
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 onions, peeled and diced
1 (10-ounce) can tomatoes
2 cups red wine
2 stalks celery with the leaves, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 sprig thyme
1 sprig rosemary
1/4 cup chopped parsley
6 to 8 carrots, peeled and sliced on the diagonal

Preheat the oven to 325°F.

Sprinkle the salt and pepper to taste over the brisket and rub with
the garlic. Sear the brisket in the oil and then place, fat side up,
on top of the onions in a large casserole. Cover with the tomatoes,
red wine, celery, bay leaf, thyme, and rosemary.

Cover and bake in the oven for about 3 hours, basting often with the
pan juices.

Add the parsley and carrots and bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes more,
or until the carrots are cooked. To test for doneness, stick a fork in
the brisket. When there is a light pull on the fork as it is removed
from the meat, it is fork tender.

This dish is best prepared in advance and refrigerated so that the fat
can be easily skimmed from the surface of the gravy. When ready to
serve, preheat the oven to 350°F. Reheat the gravy in a pan on the
stove. Some people like to strain the gravy, but Joan prefers to keep
the onions because they are so delicious.

Trim off all the visible fat from the cold brisket. Then place the
brisket, on what was the fat side down, on a cutting board. Look for
the grain (that is, the muscle lines of the brisket) and with a sharp
knife, cut across the grain.

Put the sliced brisket in a roasting pan. Pour the hot gravy on the
meat, cover, and reheat in the oven for about 30 minutes.

WEEKEND FORAGER: Chocolate Under Glass

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Nelen) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 16:47:00 +0000

Pop-Up Heavenly Chocolate

At his permanent pop-up shop on the first floors of Thorn's, chocolate mogul Bud Stockwell is celebrating beauty, the holidays and his new digs with rows and rows of hand made chocolates festooned in crystallized ephemera. At the new pop-up (yet permanent) Heavenly Chocolate, candy resides under glass in the prow of a curved wooden counter that is manned by pretty women. They are expensive, (the chocolate) they are sophisticated, they come wrapped in gold and they never disappoint. Most of the chocolates are hand made, mostly by Bud, who spends lots of his time bent over a boiling vat of molten cocoa, dipping and carefully rolling -- that is just for the truffles. Other varieties of perfection include a rosemary flavored caramel and an edible little Santa Claus. Locavores will appreciate that rosemary, mint and pear flavorings come from Bud's garden. This claim can only be substantiated by tasting the stuff.

If you are in the mood to shop and nibble, check out the new Heavenly Chocolate on the first floor of Thorn's. Just walk in the front door and list to the left toward the stairwell at the back. The chocolate will be there, under glass waiting to jump ship.

-MN

Fill your bowl....

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Nelen) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 23:54:00 +0000

Thanksgiving Forager Look No Farther: Barn in Hadley Has it All

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Nelen) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 19:32:00 +0000

Dear Friends,

Please join us next week for our annual Thanksgiving store extravaganza!

The farm will be open to the public on the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving with a wide array of fresh, locally-grown items to make your holiday feast abundant.

Our own organic veggies...

We will have available: carrots, beets, sweet potatoes, leeks, parsnips, onions, rutabaga, winter squash, cabbage, turnips, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, spinach, lettuce, mixed salad greens and more!

We will be selling our vegetables individually by the pound.

We are also offering a special pre-order bulk-rate of over 55lbs of mixed veggies for $65. We do still have a limited number of shares available. If you'd like to buy one, please send an email with your contact information to info@nextbarnover.com and mail a check to Next Barn Over Farm, P.O. Box 92, Hadley, MA. 01035.

Farm Fresh Thanksgiving Pies...

What's November without a mad dash of pie-making? We are continuing the pie tradition from last year and many years previous at Food Bank Farm (thanks to the lovely folks at Hillside Organic Pizza who are once again letting us use their incredible kitchen). This year we will have our standards: apple, apple-cranberry, wild blueberry, pumpkin, maple-walnut, pecan, and take-and-bake apple and apple-cranberry. New this year: sweet potato, german chocolate pecan, and a gluten-free crustless pumpkin. We make these pies with many local and organic ingredients including our own pumpkin and sweet potatoes, apples from Cold Spring Orchards, wild organic blueberries from Burke Hill Farm in Maine, organic cranberries from Cape Cod, maple syrup from Dufresne sugar shack in Williamsburg, Mapleline Farm milk and cream, and Diemand Farm eggs. Our crusts are made with organic flour, cabot butter, and non-hydrogenated organic oils.

Additional items for your holiday meal...

Fresh, organic cranberries from our friend Monica in Buzzard's Bay on the Cape, fresh apples and cider from Cold Spring Orchards in Belchertown, heavy cream from Mapleline Farm in Hadley (whipped cream for the pie!), farm-made garlic thyme butter, homemade ready-to-fill pie crusts, Hadley chestnuts, our own popcorn, Donavan Farm potatoes from Charlemont, and other treats. We will also have our standard farmstore items: goat cheese from Westfield farm, Cabot cheddar, El Jardin's delicious bread, Sidehill yogurt and eggs from Lynn's Laughing Layers.

The Thanksgiving store will be open:

Tuesday 11/22, 2-6 pm

Wednesday 11/23, 10-2 pm

Come join us!

-Ray and Tory at Next Barn Over Farm

Thanksgiving Stuffing: Local Chestnuts - Local Apples - Local Everything

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Nelen) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 17:13:00 +0000

Thanksgiving stuffing with local chestnuts, winter apples, kale and sausage.

This dish is made from local ingredients. Chestnuts provided by Sunset Farms of Amherst, MA and apples and cider were grown and made at Bashista Farms in Southampton, MA. Bread from Berkshire Bakery.

Ingredients

1- 7" length of sausage

1- onion, diced

2- C crusty bread, cut into pieces and toasted individually

1- bunch kale, remove stems and slice thinly. If kale is very tough, blanch for 5 minutes to tenderize

1- Baldwin Apple (a tart, heritage variety, propagated in Lowell MA by Colonel Baldwin in 1740) cored, peeled and cut into small cubes

2- C chestnuts, roasted (to roast, score with “X” on flat side of nut, roast on baking sheet cut side up in 425 oven for 20 min and peel immediately) peeled and roughly chopped

1/2 to 1 C apple cider

Directions

In generous frying pan or cast iron stockpot, brown sausage, (in butter if necessary) remove, quarter length-wise and slice thin.

Add chopped onion to sausage fat. If additional fat is required to season pan, add butter.

Cook onion until translucent.

Add cubes of bread, chestnuts and slowly brown.

Add sage and apple browning slowly to meld flavors.

Add remainder of cider and cook down until stuffing is moist but not soggy.

If cooking stuffing inside of bird, add only 1/2C cider and remove from heat.

Finish with 1T of chopped sage and stir over low heat until incorporated.

Vegan Thanksgiving Stuffing: Eliminate sausage or replace with 3 C Chanterelle or oyster mushrooms.

Gluten Intolerant Stuffing: Substitute bread with rice cakes.

Serves 6

Guest Blogger Gig -- Farmers Market "Locals buying from Locals"

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Nelen) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 18:39:00 +0000

October 11, 2011

Peach Pop, Peach Sparkler

Small towns make for small communities. It is October and I am my coffee place in Northampton Coffee place. It is so hot out!

Just saw anti-sugar guy, Craig Fear. What a name! Thin guy, used to be vegan, now not vegan, used to live in Long Island, now lives here. He is a food coach. Parents with overly chubby children come to him for advice. He tells the whole family to stop drinking soda first, then pizza goes, then pasta, then everything that is processed and before you know it, a family of five has lost a collective 100 lbs. Exercise is also involved.

Because in almost all processed food there is corn syrup because everything is a little bit sweet. This is of course not local and nothing gets on the nerves and puts on the pounds like white sugar. Ask anybody, not just Craig blames obesity on this stuff. Sugar isn't hard to stop eating. You just have to kick it to the curb.

But how, locavore, you say, is it possible to do no sugar in New England? Honey is a good source of sugar. It is indigenous, it is as local as the flowers around it, and as a special bonus, honey in the pure or honey comb state can stop you from sneezing.

Due to the fact that the bees in your community are interacting quite intimately with the flowers in your community, the pollen that flies around contains stuff from the local bees that prevents allergies from setting in. The bees and the people are intertwined. Eat the honey of the bee that pollinates the flower. That way the pollen won't be a stranger to your body. You will not be allergic. And you won't be fat. Nothing to fear.

Simple honey is easy to make. Buy local honey that is in a raw a state as possible. That means honey comb or at least honey that is raw in a jar. Follow the recipe below and keep around in a jar and use where sweetness is required. I put it with local peaches, picked over the weekend at Clarkdale, a fourth generation orchard up in Deerfield where the river runs through it.....Ben Clark is the go-to guy and his fruits, apples, peaches, grapes and cherries, can be had for canning, for eating and for infusing all things good and liquid.

SIMPLE HONEY
1 C Honey
3 C Water

Dissolve honey in hot water and allow to cool. Put into jar and place liquid in fridge. Keep on hand for use where sweetness is needed such as in the following recipes.

PEACH SPARKLER
5 C fresh peach flesh or canned peaches
1/4 C honey water
1 sprig fresh rosemary
Club Soda or Champagne

Bring peaches, rosemary and 1 C water to a slow boil. Add 1 T honey water, as desired.

Set over low heat and bring to just below boiling point. Simmer for 20 minutes, then leave to cool at room temperature for 15 minutes. Remove rosemary and puree the contents of the pan in a blender for about 2 minutes. Strain and keep in a cool place.

To serve, club soda or Champagne into glass. Add a teaspoon of Pureed Peach and serve with sprig of rosemary.

HONEY
Warm Colors Apiary
Bonita & Dan Conlon
2 South Mill River Road South
Deerfield, MA 01373
413.665.4513
http://www.warmcolorsapiary.com/Honey.asp

PEACHES
Clarkdale Fruit Farms
303 Upper Road
Deerfield, MA 01342
413.772.6797
http://www.clarkdalefruitfarms.com/

CRAIG FEAR
Pioneer Valley Nutritional Therapy
Northampton, MA
413.559.7770
http://www.pvnutritionaltherapy.com/

Wendell Berry, environmental activist and poet to receive award next week in Cambridge.....

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Nelen) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 16:43:00 +0000

painting by Robert Shetterly, 2003

How To Be a Poet
by Wendell Berry
(to remind myself)

i
Make a place to sit down.
Sit down. Be quiet.
You must depend upon
affection, reading, knowledge,
skill—more of each
than you have—inspiration,
work, growing older, patience,
for patience joins time
to eternity. Any readers
who like your poems,
doubt their judgment.

ii
Breathe with unconditional breath
the unconditioned air.
Shun electric wire.
Communicate slowly. Live
a three-dimensioned life;
stay away from screens.
Stay away from anything
that obscures the place it is in.
There are no unsacred places;
there are only sacred places
and desecrated places.

iii
Accept what comes from silence.
Make the best you can of it.
Of the little words that come
out of the silence, like prayers
prayed back to the one who prays,
make a poem that does not disturb
the silence from which it came.

Preservation Nation: Peaches

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Nelen) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 08:07:00 +0000

Well, due to time constraints and fruit flies, my man didn't get to help with the peaches. In the end, I processed only six jars worth of and froze the rest. For two reasons: a) processing is a hot, sweaty, labor of love and slime. If you don't jump on it when the peaches are on the counter, right in from the orchard, you get a house full of guests in the shape of small winged insects. b) freezing is fast. My man, although interested in canning, is like most. He is attracted to canning the way people are attracted to arcane old ways such as caning chairs or whittling an apple into a figure of the last supper. Interesting in theory.

We didn't have time for 'processing' five bushels of rotting peaches together but I did and now the two of us will enjoy the bounty of summer and fall in the form of fifty gleaming jars of tomatoes and peaches lined up on the top of our cabinets in the kitchen. Many of the peaches had to be frozen rather than canned. Canning is more beautiful and takes less space in the freezer but as Tim Wilcox recommended on his blog you really can get away with halving them and throwing them in a zip lock for a deep freeze. To can peaches, meaning skin, core, cut out nasty bits, shove in clean jar and 'process' in a massive canner, take a certain amount of focus and man power. Also peaches are so fragile they wither before your very eyes. In the nation of preservation, time is of the essence. Nature and peaches as well as tomatoes and cukes wait for no one. If you don't act fast, it is humans zero, fruit flies one.

Two years ago I canned maybe 12 jars of tomatoes which lasted me until Christmas. Last year I did 24 which lasted me until February. This year I have 42 which is ten less than on can per week which is about what you need if you figure tomatoes won't be in season again till August and then you have only about eight weeks. Obsessive? Well, see what you have to eat in January when a winter share produces bunches of kale, potatoes, maybe a leek or two and enough cabbage to feed all the Russians in West Springfield. Cost? About $2 per jar not including the jar. Time? I won't lie to you. It takes lots of time. Maybe a couple or four full days?

This year we have captured and put up the following for winter: 10 bags of frozen oven roasted tomatoes, good for making ketchup, 15 bags frozen blueberries, good for any winter repast requiring fruit, pickles in a crock fermenting away, a gallon of cider that will get hard as the fall progresses, good for getting drunk, and, thinking about all this conjures the picture of a housewife on the cover of Life Magazine from around 1962 where she is sitting on her front lawn with all of her possessions strewn around her. That is what it is like putting up food for winter. All of your food is just there, in front of you, lined up and ready for the coming of winter and whatever else nature might have in store this year.

Photo by William Eggleston

Preservation Nation: Oven Roasted Tomatoes in Your Sleep

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Nelen) — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 13:06:00 +0000

Oven Roasted Tomatoes

Saying that this procedure of shape changing tomatoes is easy is like saying there is nothing better in summer than a fresh off the vine tomato, especially if you get to pick it yourself. So easy, this recipe can be done in your sleep. Great on their own or as a bit of awesomeness in salad…or when you find them in the freezer in May, with asparagus.

a) buy a bushel of plum or cherry tomatoes.

b) pre-heat oven to 525 for plum, 425 for cherry.

c) line one baking sheet with parchment paper....(only if pan is aluminum)

d) slice lengthwise and remove cores

e) place on baking sheet, skin side down

f) sprinkle with olive oil and kosher or sea salt. about 2 T of each

g) roast in middle of oven for 1 hour

g) turn off oven and go to bed

h) do not open oven till morning

i) eat several, place in jar for refrigeration or freeze in freezer bags.

Recipe complements of Chef Donna Fisher