Back at it again!

Local Foods Challenge 2011

July 18-Aug 16 (30 Days)

Last year's "Eat Local Food Challenge" was so much fun and educating that a few of us have decided to make it an annual challenge! So we are back at it again--starting tomorrow! For the past week, I have been mindful on my change in diet coming up so I have been picking up items here and there to make my kick-off a little less bumpy than last year's. Thanks to last year's challenge, I know exactly where to go for those hard-to-find items...like local milk. I also have remained fairly local since last year's challenge by growing a garden, keeping chickens, saving back meat in the deep freeze, and learning how to preserve items like canned tomatoes, peppers and salsa...drying beans, freezing corn and berries, and jamming! This morning I took time to inventory what local food items I have and here's my list:

Pantry:

Weisenberger (Grits, Cornmeal, Flour, Muffin Mixes) Midway, Ky

Sliced Whole Wheat Mountain Crunch Bread Berea, Ky

Beans: Salamander Springs Pintos & Black, Jacob’s Cattle Kidney Rockcastle Co, Ky

Strawberry Jam, Blackberry Jam, Apple Jelly, Pepper Jelly Homestead

Dairy:

J.D. Milk & Cream Berea

Kenney’s Cheddar Cheese Berea

Eggs Homestead

Meats:

Beef Homestead

Whole Frozen Chicken Homestead

Benton’s Bacon Sweet Water, Tn

Sliced Ham Middlesboro, Ky

Produce:

Onions, Garlic, Tomatoes, Potatoes, Corn, Cukes, Zukes, Squash, Peppers

Dried Mushrooms Homestead and Farmers’ Mkt

Misc:

Honey, Molasses

Herbs: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, Thyme, Basil, Mint, Tarragon Coriander

Restaurants:

Boone Tavern: Berea

Black Feather: Berea

Smokey Bears?: Corbin

Virgil’s Café: Newport, Ky

Mia’s, Stella’s: Lexington

Where We Can Shop:

Knoxville Farmers Mkt, Earth Fare has 65 local items

Whitley County Mkt, Laurel Co Farmers’ Mkt

Berea Farmers’ Mkt, Happy Meadows Health Food Store

Good Foods Co-op, Lexington Farmers Mkt

Happy shopping!

K

What I've carried away

Now that I’ve participated in the local foods challenge, I’m looking back on the positives and negatives and determining what things I’ll carry with me from this point onward:
• I’ll continue to make Kentucky flour (Weisenberger) and local cornmeal a part of our regular kitchen provisions.
• I still have reservations about raw milk. I drank it, loved the taste and had no ill effects, but there’s such a division of information out there, from those who insist the benefits outweigh the risks and that anyone who says otherwise is part of a government conspiracy to those who imply that raw milk is synonymous with Russian roulette. If I buy any more, I’ll at least do a stove-top pasteurization.
• Simple is good. I like sauces and elaborate meals, and because of this adventure, I’ve revisited many of the meager cooking skills that I had let slip over the years, but sometimes, a stripped-down-to-the-barest-flavors meal is not a bad way to go. When I was a kid, there was one of those cartoons-between-cartoons that warned us, “Don’t drown your food (in mayonnaise or ketchup or goo; it’s no fun to eat what you can’t even see…).” I appreciate that now.
• Cheese. Why would I ever rely solely on individually wrapped processed cheese products again? Well, price could be a factor, but I at least plan to incorporate some local cheeses into our sandwiches, pasta dishes and casseroles.
• My quest is to find a local baker. The art of breadmaking is a humble, ancient act, and I’d like to retain a human connection there.
• I'd like to work some regular celebrations of local foods into my family’s routine, be that an all-local day each month or an annual July challenge. Fruits especially will be celebrated with minivan treks to find peaches, apples, strawberries and blueberries in season.

Week 4: The Menu

Breakfast Options:

Biscuits and Gravy

Yogurt and Blackberries

Cantaloupe

Poached farm fresh eggs and Buttermilk Wheat Bread with Blackberry Jam

Lunch Options:

Hot Ham and Cheese

Corn Salsa and tortilla chips

BLT baby!

Caprese Salad (Basil, Heirloom Tomatoes and Mozzarella)

Cucumber & Dill Salad

Dinner Options:

Ky Bison Ribeye and Sweet Potatoes baked with apples and Sorghum

Ky Farmed Prawns over fresh pasta

Cedar Smoked Zucchini, Squash and Pepper

Mozzarella, Ramano and Tomato Confit over fresh Pasta

Pork Chops and Apples

Dessert Options:

Black Berry Peach Cobbler

Cantaloupe

Baked Sorghum Apples

I don’t think I’m suffering at all! McDonald’s, you can have your French fries and Big Mac back!

Virgil's Cafe

If you find yourself in Northern KY and are looking for some wonderful local fare, check out Virgil's Cafe in Bellevue.  According to their website, they serve locally-sourced, in-season food as much as possible, and they work to be accomodating to any type of diet: vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free.  Welll....I figured I'd see if they could accomodate a locavore as well!  I asked my waiter, "What are the chances you can make an entire dinner out of completely local ingredients?"  He said, "Well...lemme talk with the chef, and I'll see what I can do!"

He came back to report that the chef was in the walk-in cooler that very minute, gathering ingredients to make me a strictly local meal.  Now, I wanna point this out:  How many times have you gone to a typical chain restaurant, and requested "extra cheese" or "no onions" and the waiter kinda half-nods...and when your sandwich arrives--there's extra onions, no cheese?  

Happens to me a LOT.

That's what's so different about these local fare restaurants--you don't get into serving local fare because you're a cut-throat business owner wanting yet another chain restaurant.   You do it because you want to support your neighbor down the street who grows carrots, and the cattle farmer who has the best beef in town, and you want to make the community you live in a better place to be.   The atmosphere in a local fare restaurant, co-op, or Farmers' Market is so very personal, and friendly, and welcoming....completely opposite of a typical chain restaurant trip or grocery store visit!

So anyway, enough about my sunny revelation--because you really just wanna hear about the food, don'tcha??

Well here it is, my friends.  We started with a Kenny's Cheese Tray:

And then the main event? Korean Short Ribs with TONS of veggies--all locally grown!  And though the dish normally comes with rice, the chef gave me potatoes since they were locally sourced:

Let me tell you, this was a feast!  I loved it so very much...I really used to take going to restaurants for granted.  I would go a couple times a week, just so I didn't have to cook--it was cheaper, easier, and just as good for me, right?

Wrong.  

I have such a huge a appreciation now for going to a restaurant--its a new, exciting, special event all over again--and I swear you can taste the difference in these local restaurants. I know you can definitely feel it in the atmosphere.

The staff at Virgil's was so easy going, and good natured--after seeing me taking pictures of my food, they asked, "So what's this for anyway?"  I told 'em all about our blog, and our project, and told 'em I'd definitely be back there again-even after my "30 days" are up.  I have learned about so many cool places, and met so many interesting people I never would have known about if it weren't for this eating local thing.

I feel like I've made friends there, and I really want to go back and visit them--and have them cook me awesome food.

After all, that's what friends are for, right? ;)

Oh, and another reason you should eat there?   Because Guy did:

Go check it out, and let me know what you think!  Tell 'em "that one girl with the blog" sent you. :)

~Mel

I went out of state! Did my radius move with me?

This weekend I was in Cincinnati...and I was pretty nervous about leaving my 100 mile radius for the weekend---do I pack all my food for three days and still eat only Williamsburg-local?  Or do I move my radius and become a Cincinnati Locavore for 3 days?

I decided to do a little of both.   I already know where to buy my food in Southeastern Kentucky. I wanted to see what it was like shopping in a town where I don't know my bean grower, or my milk producer, or my cattle farmer!  I packed my picnic basket full of potatoes, carrots, and tomatoes from Whitley County Farmers' Market, and Weisenberger muffin mix just in case I needed some emergency rations.  I must say, my mom and dad were good sports for the entire weekend.  Their favorite thing to do when I visit is to take me alllllll over Cincinnati, to every restaurant I've ever loved---my dad's favorite part is knowing he fed me a good meal that made me happy! :)  After half-jokingly asking if I could just put my challenge on hold for three days, they acknowledged that I've always been their "strong-willed" child and started coming up with places for us to buy local on a Saturday night.    After a few failed attempts, we wound up at Jungle Jim's--the end all, be all when it comes to international food...but do they really sell local, like their website suggested?

For the first half hour, I wasn't convinced.   Everywhere I looked, there were amazing displays of international cheeses, and seafood, and exotic fruit--but where was the local section?  I milled about aimlessly until I found an employee in the dairy section, who really and truly rescued my stomach for the weekend.   He informed me, "There's a little bit of local in each section, you just have to know where to look...here, lemme show ya!"   He escorted me about, and my cart started filling with local eggs, swiss cheese, milk, yogurt, cottage cheese (oh my gosh, I had forgotten how much I love cottage cheese!) and even some tomatoes from Dry Ridge, KY.   In the meat section, there was some ham from Cumberland Gap...and when I looked closer, it was produced right in Middlesboro--just a hop, skip and a jump from my Whitley Co home!  I decided that even though technically I was in Cincinnati and Middlesboro is more than 100 miles away...the ham totally counted in my local adventure. ;)

I will say, I was really disappointed in the produce section.  According to the Ohio Proud website, Jungle Jims was a huge seller of a variety of local products--but the only one I could find was a section of corn that merely said "Ohio Grown"....well, Ohio is mighty big, and I needed to know where in Ohio it was grown.   I spent a whole lot of time looking at labels and hoping to get lucky while in the grocery store--and it made me even more aware of where my food is coming from.  Our culture has gotten to where we pay more attention to the nutrition facts--I often see customers in the local grocery store turning the label around to see calories, or if the product has high fructose corn syrup--but we don't ever check to see where the product was made.

I was shocked at how many everyday products had traveled over 1,500 miles to get to the grocery store shelf-including apples, peaches, jelly and even the honey!  So I want to challenge you, my dear reader:  Next time you're grocery shopping, take a second to locate the state (or country) on the back of the label.  I think you might just be surprised at how far your food has traveled to reach your grocery cart!

~Mel

Bob and his Friends!

[ British accent ] And now is the time for Tomato Confit [ /British Accent ].....

HEIRLOOM TOMATOES....beautiful...irregular and presumably so full of flavor that after one bite you could boast about how good it was for the remainder of your life and try to make everyone feel like you know something that they don't know and how much richer your life is than theirs because you've had this amazing tomato experience and they haven't. -David Libovitz

When tomato season comes upon us, do you ever wonder "what should I do with all these tomatoes!" You've gotta try this recipe! Grab whatever tomatoes you can get your hands on....I prefer my homegrown-(literally- unlike other mkts ) heirloom tomatoes. Right now I have Stupice Heirlooms-basically like the "earlygirl" coming out my ears! Grab a cookie sheet, some fresh herbs and your tomatoes and taste the best tomato concoction known to man.

Confit of Tomatoes

Fresh Herbs:

3 twigs of Rosemary

4-5 Bay leaves

5-6 Twigs of Thyme

Then throw them on top of your cookie sheet and generously sprinkle with olive oil. Salt and pepper.

Halve tomatoes and put the cut-side down on top of the

herbs. Slice 3-4 garlic cloves and sprinkle on top of the tomatoes, garnish with your whole bays leaves scattered on top as well as a little more salt.

Throw into the oven for 45 min at 350 degrees. You

might want to put the pan on top of a bigger

one just incase the juices drip over.

Once the tomato tops have browned take out and

let cool for 10 min. Then use a tong to peel off the skin.

Now what?!

It's time to eat.....add this flavorful pulp to homemade pizza, pasta, on fish or chicken.....anywhere you wanna good concentrated flavor of tomatoes!

Happy Eating! - k

Day 16: Lot-sa Pasta

Taking this challenge has made me one busy girl!

The first week had it's definite difficulties. I had to adjust to make more time for food preparation, I must remember to take my food with me when I'm away from the kitchen and make time throughout the week to pick up local items I've been purchasing from now....new friends.

Top 5 things I've learned so far through this project:

1 Sugar is in everything! Eating locally really cuts down your sugar intake.

2 Sorghum and honey are great substitutes for almost anything.

3 I really miss cinnamon

4 I can't live without the house wine of the south....Sweet Tea.....though truly good with honey

5 Now that I eat food that's more nutritionally packed, I eat less food....which means I lose weight without even really trying!

Some food items are quite limited and scarce. I was getting tired of eating

eggs and potatoes, bread and honey. I knew for me to make it to the end I had to get more creative!

So I decided this weekend to make PASTA!

I already had the flour from Weisenberger Mill and my farm fresh eggs.....a very simple recipe for making AMAZING Pasta!

Each round is a portion that I cut into strips and let

dry for 3 days....or immediately eat fresh.....which I did both!

Life is so much better with PASTA!

Last night and today for lunch I had fresh pasta and my homemade bolognese sauce made from my very own tomatoes and fresh veggies bought from the farmers market. It was amazing!

You gotta try it!

_______________________________________________

Pasta Recipe:

2 ¾ Fresh Flour

5 med Eggs

Dash o’ Salt

½ C warm water

1 Tbl Olive Oil (optional)

Bolognese Sauce Ingredients:

15 Tomatoes (peeled and seeded if preferred), crushed

1 med onion, finely chopped

1 carrot , scraped and finely chopped

1 Tbsp butter or Olive oil

3 cloves of garlic, busted

5 med-sized basil leaves (fresh) chopped

Salt & pepper to taste

2 Tbsp Sorghum Molasses

1 lb of ground meat

Peeling Tomatoes:

With a sharp paring knife, cut an X on the bottom of each tomato. Using tongs or a slotted spoon, place 3-4 tomatoes in rapidly boiling water in a 6-8 quart pot for 15-25 seconds. Be careful not to cook the tomatoes. Let cool then peel.

Bolognese Sauce:

Use two pots, one for your stewed tomatoes and one for your meat and veggies. Throw your crushed tomatoes, garlic, salt and pepper in your pot on medium heat and let it begin to boil down. This will take about an hour, stirring occasionally.

In the other pot, start sautéing over med heat your onions and carrots in butter or olive oil. Sweat your veggies down until they begin to look translucent and caramelized, then add your meat. Brown the meat and set aside.

Once your stewed tomatoes have reduced to a thicker sauce add sorghum and basil. Let it reduce a bit more until you like the consistency, then add your meat.

Voila! Happy eating! - k