Normally, before I jump on board with one of the challenges, I make sure that I have some staples and buy extra of those things you always need to have on hand like flour, onions, garlic. Well, this one I happened upon after it had already started and then I didn't manage to get to the market last weekend. I have one red onion (and there were no yellow onions at the market this morning) and no all purpose flour (although I do have whole wheat and buckwheat flour). Yes, and there are grits and corn meal. I am debating on ordering the white flour -- I kind of prefer to use the King Arthur White Wheat Flour when a recipe calls for white flour and I am never certain of the impact of having a 5 or 10 pound bag of flour delivered by USPS or UPS. Just not sure it is the most efficient. I do have domestic olive oil and organic sugar from Florida and a little left from my friend's daughter's inlaws' sugar farm down in Louisiana. (Are there enough apostrophes in that sentence?) I guess eating local and looking at where things originate has become more a part of my everyday grocery shopping whether I am participating in a challenge or not.
I whipped up some soup based on what needed to be used up soon and then picked up some greens, cheese and pears for a salad and some sour dough bread to eat with it at the Dupont Circle Farmers' Market today. I had some potatoes from my CSA which needed to be used along with some cauliflower from the a couple weeks ago when the cab driver bought me vegetables at the Old Town Market. I had recently had a broccoli cheese soup at supper club and riffed on the recipe to make a cauliflower cheese soup with the local ingredients that I had on hand.
Spicy Potato Cauliflower Cheese Soup
- 4 cups cauliflower florets
- 3 cups cubed potatoes
- 2 cups water
- 3 chile de arbol
- 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 1/8 cup jalepeno slices
- 5 ounces cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
- boil potatoes and cauliflower in water with chiles and celery salt until tender (I used my pressure cooker for this
- mash with a potato masher
- mix in tomato sauce and finely chopped jalapeno slices (the recipe I adapted from used diced tomatoes with chiles)
- mix in cheese and heat gently until melted
- Enjoy!
non local foods: chile de arbol (Rancho Gordo, Napa, CA) , celery salt, salt, pepper, olive oil (Monrovia, CA), balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard
- cauliflower: not sure of the name of the farm but I know it is in Charles County, MD (20 miles)
- potatoes: Olin Fox Farms, Reedville, VA (81 miles)
- water: tap, Occoquan Reservoir, VA (13 miles)
- tomato suace, pantry made this summer from tomatoes from Shlagel Farms, Waldorf, MD (16 miles)
- onion flavored cheese curds: Fields of Grace Farm, Remington, VA (44 miles)
- jalepeno slices, found these a little freezer burnt in the freezer -- sure they came from the Del Ray Market but who knows which vendor
- mixed salad greens, Archor Nursery Galena, MD (74 miles)
- pear, Black Rock Orchard, Lineboro , MD (63 miles)
- feta cheese, Keswick Creamery, Newburg, PA (94 miles)
- honey, my mother's bees, Kents Store, VA (86 miles)
- sour dough bread, Atwater's Bread, Annapolis, MD ? (33 miles)