One Local Summer Week 5

Meals during week 5 have alternated between the incredibly simple but local type and the type where a local item is featured but you could hardly claim even half of the ingredients as local.

K and I participated in our own way in Kitchen Gardeners International's Food Independence Day this 4th of July. We started the day out with a simple eggs from Potomac Vegetable Farms, bacon from Baker Pork, whole wheat honey toast from a local bakery topped with butter from Blue Ridge Dairy and home canned strawberry jam from fruit picked in our u-pick share from Great Country Farms, and topped off with a fresh brewed cup of DogWatch Dark Blend from Black Dog Coffee, local coffee roaster, with a splash of non-local soy milk (lactose intolerant) for me and a tall glass of whole milk from Trickling Springs Creamery for K. We snacked on the first peaches and apricots of the season while enjoying some local cheese in the middle of the day.

For dinner (no pictures, I was too busy cooking and chatting with family) I baked caramelized onion buns made with farm share onions, whole wheat flour from Wade's Mill to hold broiled hamburgers made with ground beef from Millcreek Farms, served with a small side salad with farm share lettuce and cucumbers. This was followed by what I like to think of as baked berries with a little bit of cake. I used the recipe from The Kitchen Sink, only I used about double the berries and increased the pan size to 2 qt in order to spread out the surface area to accommodate. What resulted was so good that it didn't last long as I was snacking on it even before the burgers were out of the broiler. Altogether the only non-local ingredients were the vinegars, sugar, oil and vanilla. I call that a day worth celebrating

Another meal this week is closer to the second type but I think that I pulled it off. The chicken is from Whole Foods but the butcher assured me that the PA location sticker meant that the chickens were raised there not just processed. I have no local source of soy sauce or sesame oil and I am working my way through the my existing sources of vinegar before obtaining a local variety. Also the red bell pepper is not local, but is a sliver leftover from another dish earlier and the week and would have had to be thrown out if not used soon. Other than that everything is from our shares, the farmers market or my back porch.

I marinated the sliced chicken breast in soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, minced ginger, a dash of orange juice as I washed, sliced and assembled the rest of the ingredients. It always helps to have everything ready to go, all you have to do is wait a minute then dump another bowl of stuff in. The instructions called for lots of garlic but as I was using scapes I omitted it.

I heated the olive oil and a dash of toasted sesame seed oil then added the chicken to cook on all sides. It gained a nice golden hue from the marinade. Then I removed it from the pan and refreshed with another dash of the sesame oil before adding in the onions, garlic scape and more ginger.

After a minute or two I slowly added the remaining broccoli, bell pepper, peas and lastly sliced chard as I stirred. Once the chard had begun to wilt I added the chicken back in along with the reserved sauce and heated it through. I had too much liquid (by adding the OJ and having very hydrated meat and veggies) so I removed the solids to a serving plate and reduced the sauce significantly before pouring back over the dish.

I some how missed getting the final shot but I assure you that it was delicious.