Dark Days Eat Local Challenge: 2008

I haven't made it to the farmers' market lately though we do have two markets in the area that are open year round. My CSA has a winter share that delivers every other week but the first two deliveries have been organic Florida citrus that John picked up while visiting his sister at Christmas. Seasonal, for sure, and he was already making the drive but not quite local. Our latest delivery also included some turnips with greens, braising greens, salad and broccoli.  I decided to try out another option of fresh veggies by sampling the veggetable box avaible from Food Matters and I hope I don't end up with way too much food so that I am wasting things...I better start entertaining more.

Well, friends came up from Richmond to visit for the weekend for an evening of hockey and another that was filled with watching the superbowl.  I figured that I better get some food made up in advance but it was unlikely that I would be able to fit in a trip to the open markets.  We would have to see what I had in the house. I have a Peruvian Chicken and Sweetpotato Stew on the menu and was tempted to make a variation of chubble bread after seeing it on Bri's blog last week.

So I set to chopping onions (these were the last of the local onions in the house, I sure hope I get some in a CSA box or I better make it to the market next weekend), grinding peanuts and cutting up sweet potatos (yes, I did get out my chef's knife).

The stew turned out pretty well, I made it on Saturday and then warmed it up and put it in the crock pot for people to eat during the game -- adding the cilantro after the second heating.

The chubble bread was really fun to make. It really wasn't hard as most of the heavy kneading is done in a stand mixer.I made a few changes, I subbed smoked mozarella for the cheddar, romano for the Parmesan (because that is what I had on hand and added fresh garlic and oregan rather than the dried. It was absolutely yummy and it was hard not to scarf it all down as it came out of the oven.

• onion, Twin Springs Fruit Farm, Ortanna, PA (72 miles)
• sweet potato, Olin Fox Farms, Reedville, VA (81 miles)
• peanuts, Producer's Peanut Company, Suffolk, VA (148 miles)
• Patrick Henry corn meal, Byrd Mill, Ashland, VA (76 miles)
• chicken, Cibola Farms, Culpeper, VA (55 miles)
• flour, Byrd Mill, Ashland, VA (76 miles)
• smoked applewood mozzerella, Blue Ridge Dairy, Leesburg, VA (32 miles)
• garlic, Twin Springs Fruit Farm, Ortanna, PA (72 miles)

nonlocal:  cilantro, parsley, olive oil, romano cheese, yeast, spices

Comments

[Bri]

Yay! You made the chubble bread too! I'm so happy that on such a glutinous occasion as super bowl, AND having friends over, you still featured local ingredients. I think your choice of smoked mozzarella must have been AWESOME! The ones I made with smoked cheddar had such depth of flavor, that any smoked cheese would be fantastic. I'll have to make it again. Yours look like they turned out great! Thanks for linking to me :)

[Wanda]

That looks yummy. I especially like the looks of the stew.