The East
At the Farmer’s Market made the all time comfort food Macaroni and Cheese. The ingredients for the cheese sauce came from local sources (including the flour – who knew wheat was grown in NY?) and it was served with garlicky kale. Nothing like Mac and Cheese to make everything right in the world.
Macaroni and Cheese
Jennie at Daftly Smitten made a rib sticking cabbage soup with leftover cabbage and kale. The raisin bread was homemade and doesn’t any slice of bread taste better with melted swiss cheese on top?
Stacey at Fessenden Farmstead tried her hand at homemade pasta and made gnocchi with winter squash. The squash came from the freezer and the gnocchi were served with a white sauce, baked with a topping of parmesan cheese. Her local farmer’s market is still going strong so collard greens were available for the week. They were sauteed in bacon grease (saved from a heritage hog) and then simmered in chicken broth.
greens and frittata
Marissa at Food in Jars spent a car trip thinking up her meal for the week. The blue potatoes were a little wrinkly but roasted up nicely. The rest of the simple local meal consisted of still fresh greens for salad and a yummy frittata with eggs, ham, hard goat cheese, onions and chard.
Sophie at Late Bloomer’s Farm went a step further and used a local recipe! She lives nearby toTaunton Press, publisher of Fine Cooking. The delicious Red Wine Braised Short Ribs were made with everything from the meat to the vegetables to the wine and even the bay leaf from local sources. All of that put together makes for a hearty meal.
Mangochild at Living in the Local Zone was in the mood for soup this week. A warm potato soup with red onions fit the bill. No dairy was used so it was a little bit of challenge to puree the potatoes in order to give the soup the correct consistency. Chopped carrots were added at the end to give the soup some texture and it was served with sauteed kale and more onions.
Local Kitchen couldn’t believe the last bag of kale was used! It seemed like there would be enough to last forever. The good news was the stash of frozen green beans was discovered. This week’s meal was a simple roasted green bean with potatoes and bacon. Roasting vegetables fills the house with warmth and the addition of the potatoes made it a filling main meal.
Roasted Green Beans with Potatoes and Bacon
Fresh vegetables are becoming scarce up in the Northeast Kingdom but Annika was up to the challenge. She made a crustless quiche with baked delicata squash and steamed beets. Living in Vermont has the advantage of having your local cheese come from Cabot Creamery!
Peg at Palmyra Silver used her infamous homemade pancake mix to whip up some blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Lucky for her, King Arthur Flour is local enough (I have King Arthur flour too but I don’t think DC is anywhere near VT!). Toss in some summer picked blueberries and homemade vanilla extract and that makes for a delicious healthy meal. Please share your recipe for homemade vanilla!!
Simple Life in France connected her dark days meal with her interest in global change. She writes about food as a need but does everyone really need kiwi and pineapple that come from half way around the world. Oh to live in a an area where olive oil is local! Another gratin was made this week, this time with leeks, fennel, rice, bread crumbs, walnuts and olive oil all from local sources. The gratin was eaten before a final picture was taken!
What Did She Do Today is a fellow knitter as well as cook (how do we find time to do all these things). She and her hubby cooked up some meatloaf, fingerling potatoes and asparagus frozen from last summer. The list of local ingredients in the meatloaf is impressive. Earlier in the week, Amy made a local dessert, maple custard. Custard has to be one of my all time favorite desserts, it’s so soothing and comforting.
Maple Custard
Thrift at Home tried her hand at growing bean sprouts. The mung beans sprouted successfully and were used to make Egg Foo Young. Her sister showed up just in time to help eat the main dish that was served with rice, roasted apples and homemade yogurt.
Amber at Unstuffed had her local meal for breakfast. Pumpkin pudding was made with frozen pumpkin from the previous autumn, homemade brown sugar (wow!) and soy milk (double wow!). Served with bread and jam. What a tasty meal.
The South
Jennell at Delicious Potager has overcome her childhood hatred of lasagna enough to want to make it for a Dark Days meal. Homemade noodles layered with sauce canned from summer tomatoes, add in local ground venison and you have a delicious meal.
Hippychick is already harvesting broccoli! My broccoli plants are still a gleam in my eye. This week she ate buck naked broccoli along with tenders from homegrown chickens and fresh noodles tossed with homemade pesto. Stay tuned for how broccoli is used next week!
Naked Broccoli
My friend at mommy porch loves pork as much as I do! Brunch is always better with pork sausage. Brunch consisted of the pork patties, sauteed apples, cheese grits (I LOVE grits), scrambled eggs and biscuits. I think that meal would have lasted me for several days. mommy porch had never made biscuits and they came out pretty good. To make even easier biscuits, add a little more liquid so that the dough is moist and drop them on the baking pan with a spoon. That way, you don’t have to worry about kneading them too much.
Windycityvegan is better late than never with her meals for weeks 10 and 11. Tomato soup made with tomatoes from a friend’s garden, bread from local flour (you NC folks are lucky with that flour) and hummus made with local chickpeas (again, where can I get local dried beans in DC? I think I need a road trip south) make for a comforting meal. Her next meal was a lot of work but worth it. Pasta does not need eggs to be made as windycity and her daughter discovered. The best part was watching her 3 year old roll out the sheets of pasta. The noodles were dressed with a homemade spinach and mint pesto and served with homemade vegan meatballs. Yum!
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