Day 08 Local Eating Community Giveback

 March 14, 2011

Breakfast

Plain Swallowtail Yogurt w/ Honey

Lunch

Slice of Honey Buckwheat bread

w/ whipped honey

Dinner

Haddock & Oyster Stuffing

w/ Golden Beet & Arugula Salad

Jeio Crede Prosecco of Valdobbiadena

A wonderfully local dinner that was fairly easy on the pocket.  the Beets are from the day before so that was as easy as slicing them up, tossing with cider vinegar from Ricker Hill Orchards, a spoon of honey and a couple handfuls of Olivia's Garden Arugula that cuts into the sweet with a nice spicy pepper and crisp crunch.

As for the fish, I purchased it today on my bicycle commute home.  It has been really nice being back on my summer bike... mostly because of the two inch nobby tires with carbide studs that are on my winter bike. They are great when I'm in the midst of a blizzard, but not so great when the roads are clear... and now with most of it melting away from my route Im back on my Surly LongHaul trucker !

If your interested you can check out my bicycles here !

 Ok I digress, so where was I, Ok, I stopped in at Free Range Fish and went with a pound of the cheapest haddock at 5.99/#... from there it was home to a smiling Cassi who was ready for a relaxing night with the kitties and some warm food.  After the cupboard inspection, we found that we had a jar of dried wild foraged mushrooms (lobster, woodear, chanterelle, morel, & maitake mushrooms), and in the fridge were some Damriscotta oysters from the weekend that we never cracked open as well as some odd and ends of our favorite local breads stashed away in the freezer.  We got to work with me chopping and Cassi peeling...a stuffing stock was made with shallots, garlic, leeks, re hydrated mushrooms, white wine, and raw oysters.  From there we chopped the bread in tiny cubes, tossed in local sunflower oil and baked till crisp.  Seafood Stuffing over haddock is a favorite of ours and once the weather warms up we don't make it often so we decided to celebrate the flavors of late winter and accompany it with a non-local beverage.  A little Italian bubbly courtesy of Bisol Jeio Crede.

A wonderful Prosseco that Cassi and I had the pleasure of learning more about from Mateo Bisol himself.  He is the grandson of Jeio, his family grows their grapes on is the prestigious Cartizze hill, where his families roots can be traced back to the 16th century. 

After a wonderful dinner we decided the only better way to finish off this night was with dessert.  Luckily Cassi had hunted down some Ricker Hill Macintosh apples at the market early that morning so it was an easy decision to make our old stand by...

Dessert

Apple Crisp 

w/ Maple Ice Cream

the ice cream consist of 1cup heavy cream, 2cup raw milk, 1/3 cup maple syrup and a dash of sea salt

the apple crisp is simply sliced maine apples topped with a

crisp that is Maine Butter, Maine Grown Oats, and honey

mmmmm Im hungry lets go look in the fridge !

Day 230 LocalrootZ Project (August 21, 2010)

Farmer's Market Goodies

After being away for a couple weeks we needed to stock up...

Frying peppers, tomatoes from our garden as well as Fishbowl, ground cherries, eggplant, mini watermelons, onions, shallots, lacinato and red russian kale, spinach, apples as well as some Manchego cheese and oatmeal bread !

Breakfast

Tomato Medley

w/ shallots & manchego cheese

Dinner

Curried Haddock

w/ Kale, Viking Potatoes, peppers, garlic & shallots

Glass of Coastal White Wine

Dessert

Apple Crisp 

w/ Maple Ice Cream

Alright we are back and rejuvenated !  Gonna try to get back to the day to day meals and hopefully spend more time describing recipes and such !  Sorry for the laid back posts of the last month but with a hectic schedule and a vacation to plan, the blog got set on the back burner.  I'm ready to finish these last four months strong though... fall is my ultimate favorite season hands down !

Transportation Today

Errands : 12 miles bicycle

4 miles walking

Day 164 LocalrootZ Project (June 15, 2010)

Breakfast

Plain Swallowtail Yogurt

w/ Honey

Lunch

New Leaf Salad Mix

w/ Pepperjack Cheese

 

Dinner

Curried Haddock & Collards

w/ Fresh Tomatoes

 

 

We have been utilizing the curry powder that we have had in the cupboard since the start of the project alot more as of late... not really sure why it took this long but it really adds a nice zing to an otherwise very familiar dish. Its funny... even though I started the project explaining that we would use up alot of the ingredients we had in the cupboards, we really have yet to touch any of them with the exception of the cinnamon, baking soda and now the curry powder.  Maybe Ill start integrating some of those old bags of rice and such in the coming weeks.... we shall see ! 

Transportation Today

Work Commute : 22 miles bicycle

Day 123 LocalrootZ Project (May 05,2010)

Breakfast

Plain Swallowtail Yogurt

w/ honey

Lunch
Maine Sea Biscuits

Dinner 

Spring Green Salad

 w/ fermented slaw

Baked Italian Style Haddock

w/ Spinach

Poverty Hill Farmhouse Cider

Today I replicated last weeks dinner of Italian style parm... starting with cornmeal and herb dusted haddock that pan fried in Caldwell Farm butter and sunflower oil.  That gets topped with a sauce concocted of Snell Farms green garlic onion, Olivia's Garden Cherry Tomatoes as well as the key ingredient which is lovage from Thirty Acre.  Lovage has a very celery like taste but when added to the sauce it opens into a more complex array of garden style veggies making it perfect for the early spring when resources are low ! After the sauce is laid, I grate a nice ball of Swallowtail Mozzarella and Ragged Island Romano cheeses on top and bake for about a half hour.  I like to serve it over a bed of fresh Rippling Waters Farm spinach to give it a little crunch and texture.  I was very pleased with the results the second time around... especially since it was shared with Cassi's mom Debbie and her other half, Rick.  They seemed to enjoy the dinner and were curious about the source of some of the ingredients as well as the preparation.  My favorite part of cooking dinner for friends and family is the act of inspiring people to cook more... and based on how the conversation dipped into making more time to cook a priority Id say we were successful at inspiring ! Any how it was a very pleasant meal and our attempt at a Mother's Day celebration.  A bit early I know but we have a wedding in Gloucester, MA this weekend and will be staying along the coast of Rockport leaving us many miles away on the actual date.

Transportation Today

Work Commute : 18 miles bicycle

 

Day 117 LocalrootZ Project (April 28, 2010)

Breakfast

Plain Swallowtail Yogurt

w/ honey

Oat n Honey Cookie

 

Dinner

Baked Italian Style Haddock

w/ Spinach

 

 

 

 

We are absolutely loving these tomatoes !  Todays dinner was amazing... I found a special combination that is one I need to share...

All Local Ingredients; Cornmeal, Thyme, Savory, Haddock, Cherry Tomatoes, Green Garlic, Red Onion, Lovage, Spinach, Mozzarella and an Egg.

It was quite easy and probably took a total of an hour, with most of that time spent waiting on the tomato sauce.  It started with me coating the haddock in egg then cornmeal/herb combination and slapping it onto a pan of hot butter.  As that sizzled to a crispy brown crust... I cut up the tomatoes from Olivia's Garden and squeezed out the seeds... adding them to a mixture of sauteed green garlic and onions. With the sauce pot full and the tomatoes cooking down into a sauce I added a cup or so of finely chopped lovage... that is the combination I as talking about ! Mmmmmm lovage is so good in a tomato sauce.  Anyhow... from there its the simple lay the pan fried fish in a glass pan... ladle your finished sauce over the top then grate a nice ball of Swallowtail Farm mozzarella.  Bake for about 25 minutes at 375˚ and presto.  Paired with some fresh baby spinach chopped into strips and sprinkled with some sea salt to finish off the dish.

"looking forward to the leftovers"

Transportation Today

Work Commute : 18 miles bicycle

Day 074 LocalrootZ Project (March 15, 2010)

Breakfast

Gala Apple

Lunch

Plain Smith Farm Yogurt

w/ raw honey

Dinner

Baked Haddock & Wild Mushroom Seafood Stuffing

w/ Roasted Yukon Gold

and Honey Glazed Carrots

Dessert
Baked Apples and Oats
w/ Honey Ice Cream

a loaf of mother oven spelt bread to start the stuffing

A jar of soaked Chanterelle, Wood Ear & Black Trumpet Mushrooms

Butter simmering leeks, stuttgarter onions and garlic ready for the mushroom stock

Strained mushrooms with broth added to the simmer pot

Mushrooms and clams go in the food processor (our dinner guests are not mushroom fans so Ill hide em this time) 

 

Puree and add to the simmer pot... then add the loaf of mother oven bread that got toasted in the oven

Layer haddock fillets and cover with seafood stuffing

prepare sides roasted yukon golds, honey roasted baby mokums & purple haze carrots

 

Dinner is served !

 

 So Cassi and I made a decision that since Monday usually ends up being our premium dinner night, that we spend the most time preparing... maybe we should start bringing friends over to enjoy the fruits of our labor.  Today was the start of this idea and we opted to invite our newly engaged friends  Becky and Doug over.  They are always great company and Doug being a wine expert always pleasantly surprises us with plentiful bottles from his cellar !  Tonight was a perfect meal that made Cassi and I realize how much we love sharing our table with other people.  We capped of the night with a sweet white dessert wine that accompanied a not so delectable dessert... it tasted fine but the batch ended up being a little soupy compared to our usual cream textured ice cream... oh well not every ice cream batch can turn out stellar !

Transportation Today

Work Commute : 18 miles Bicycle

Day 039 LocalrootZ Project (February 08, 2010)

Breakfast

Blueberry Pancake

w/ Maple Syrup

Lunch

Braeburn Apple

Nantes Carrot

Dinner

Seafood Pesto n' Greens

w/ Spelt Bread 

Eleanor Buttercup & Ash Goat Cheese

 

 

Monday Monday... seems like it happens every week !  Back to work but fortunately the great part about Mondays is Cassi and i have plenty of time to eat and cook.  Today i stopped @ Free Range Fish on the my bicycle trip home from work and picked up a few haddock fillets with the only idea in my hed was to stir fry it with some greens.  When I returned home I realized we had a nice handful of Maine Shrimp left over from Sundays pizza so I made quick work of what I had and threw together a wonderful meal.   The addition of the "pesto" I use this term loosely considering it is just pureed basil mixed with a dash of seaweed and a smidgen of Sunflower Oil.  The end result turned out nice and it makes for a wonderful addition to numerous dishes !  After dinner Cassi and I took a nice walk down to Leroux Kitchen in order to burn up some tax $$ on some new items for the kitchen... what fun we had in a big empty kitchen store shopping for an hour or so.... stay tuned and you will see some of the new dishes and toys we got in our shopping spree !

  Transportation Today
Work Commute : 15 miles Bicycle
Errands : 6 miles Walking 

Day 034 LocalrootZ Project (February 03, 2010)

Breakfast

2 Apples

Braeburn, Enterprise

Lunch

Smiling Hill Farm Plain Yogurt

w/ Raw Honey

Dinner

Baked Haddock & Stuffing

w/ Roasted Shepody Potatoes

 

(that's Merrimac making her blog debut such a sweetie...at least until we fill the food dish, then she could care less about us !)

This meal was one of the our favorites!  This meal has been in our rotation for years but i must say I went above and beyond this time and it paid off.  First thing I noticed was the stuffing... I used all the heals I had saved from Mother Oven's Spelt Bread as well as a handful of old slices of Aroostook Wheat which made for a very wholesome based that I toasted in the oven @ 300˚ tossed lightly with canola oil and a smattering of sage and rosemary saved from the herb garden.  In a sauce pan I melted a half stick of butter as I pureed two bulbs of garlic, a redwing onion, a large stuttgarter onion, a handful of clams and a tad of seaweed.   Then scoop the puree and into the melt butter on medium heat.  After the mixture begins to slightly brown i added 2 cups of water and simmered for 10 -15 minutes as the bread toasted.  I then pulsed the bread cubes in the food processor and added to the simmered mixture.... cover let stand for 10 minutes.  Butter large glass pan and place 2# Fresh Haddock on in the pan... topp with the stuffing mixture and bake @ 400˚ for 30 minutes or so... I always put the tray onto the top rack for the last five minutes to brown up the stuffing a bit... an tadda ! A true New England meal paired with some straight up roasted potatoes and a bit of sea salt !

Transportation Today
Work Commute : 15 miles Bicycle
Errands : 3 miles Walking