Eat Local Challenge, Weeks 3 & 4

I'm lumping the third and fourth weeks of this Eat Local month because quite frankly I don't have enough to talk about. Whether it is just a lack of motivation over the stretch, or just an inability to make this eating local thing to happen in a practical way, the food entering our bodies has been just shy of "local". Ok, way shy.

I don't want to embark on a long diatribe about how tough the Eat Local Challenge was this year, or how much or how little effort I ended up putting into it. I did what I could, and managed to come out ok, Challenge wise. I certainly earned a new level of respect for those who are diligent and creative enough to source each of their meals from local producers. I didn't believe it would be as difficult as I found it to find locally produced foods for each meal, or even a majority of meals, for each day.

We did manage to end the month on a high note. Thanks to fellow foodie Stacey Snacks, we put together this delicious Autumn Pasta with Butternut Squash & Italian Sausage. I borrowed this recipe from Stacey, and I am sure glad I did. Thanks, Stacey! Here is the recipe, as I found it. All of the ingredients, save the pasta, were locally produced and purchased either at Andronico's Market or were already in my kitchen. Here we go.



Autumn Pasta With Italian Sausage and Butternut Squash
Ingredients:
1 Butternut Squash, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 Italian Sausages, casings removed
2 Cloves of Garlic, Chopped
3 tbsp of chopped, fresh Sage
1 1/4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1/4 cup white wine
8 oz. penne pasta (about 1/2 box)

Coat a large, heavy skillet with olive oil. Cook the butternut squash on high, not moving around too much, until edges begin to caramelize, about 5 min. Remove from pan. Now, add your sausage, and break it up in the pan. After that has browned, about 5 mins, add garlic, sage, and white wine and simmer for 3 minutes or until liquid is evaporated.

Add chicken stock and butternut squash and simmer for 10 minutes, until squash is tender. While the squash is simmering, boil your pasta in salted water and drain. Add squash to pasta and serve. For a nice finish, add some shredded Parmesan cheese over the top.

Enjoy!

Eat Local Challenge, Week 2

Ok, so here is where we are at so far: Lunch during the work week is still a struggle. When you only have two eateries nearby your office, one that serves up reliably good sandwiches and chicken teriyaki, and the other who's cleaning regimen is rather suspect, you are not left with many choices. Subway? No thanks.

This week did afford us a beautiful day to visit the San Francisco Ferry Building Farmers Market, where we gathered some great local produce like organic fingerling potatoes and some late season Early Girl tomatoes courtesy of Dirty Girl Farms. We even found some amazing white cheddar cheese from the people at Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company. Lunch on those off days is pretty simple: A good baguette from Acme Bread, those incomparable Early Girls, and maybe some buffalo mozzarella Cowgirl Creamery.






The search for local food gets a little harder when you step into your grocery store. We managed pretty well on our last visit to Andronico's in the Sunset, walking out with Strauss Family Creamery non-fat milk, chicken breasts from Petaluma Poultry, and California-grown green beans. With a few other ingredients purchased at the Rainbow Coop earlier in the week, we fixed up a Tiny Kitchen favorite that has yet to make it onto this blog, until now. (I can't give away all of my secrets, at least not all at once, right?)






Rosemary-Garlic Chicken with Sauteed Almond & Garlic Green Beans

Ingredients:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 head of garlic
1 Lb. organic green beans, washed with stems removed
2 handfuls of sliced almonds
1 tsp. fresh rosemary leaves, chopped fine
3 Tbs. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 cup dry white wine
Pinch of dried Red Pepper Flakes
Salt & Pepper to taste



In a medium bowl, crush two garlic cloves using a garlic press. Mix 2 Tbs. of olive oil and chopped rosemary with the garlic. Add chicken breasts, pushing them around the bowl until they are covered with the olive oil mixture. Cover with plastic wrap, and let sit in the refrigerator for about 1 hour.

After the chicken has marinated, heat a skillet on medium-high heat and pre-heat the oven to 375 deg. Add the chicken to the skillet to sear. After a couple of minutes, flip the chicken breasts to sear the other side. Pour in the wine to loosen up the yummy bits stuck to the pan. Once the breasts are browned on both sides, remove from heat and move to a oven-safe dish lined with foil. If there are still bits of rosemary-garlicky goodness stuck to the pan, add a little more wine to loosen them, allowing time for the alcohol to burn off. Pour remaining juices over chicken, cover with foil, and put in the oven for about 30 - 40 minutes.

While the chicken is cooking, peel about 6 - 8 cloves of garlic. Using a vegetable peeler, cut thin slices of garlic so they resemble the almond slices. When the chicken is about 5 minutes from being done, heat about 1 Tbs. of olive oil in a wide skillet, and add red pepper flakes. Once the oil is hot, add the sliced almonds and sliced garlic. Stirring constantly with kitchen tongs, cook almonds and garlic until they start to brown.



Add the green beans. Stir the beans into the almonds and garlic so they are coated with oil and are sizzling. The almonds and garlic should still be browning, but not burning. After about 2 - 3 minutes of stirring steadily, remove from heat. The beans should be cooked, bright green, and not burnt at all.



Empty the skillet onto a plate covered with a paper towel to help soak up left over oil. Serve up the beans making sure to get plenty of the sauteed almonds and garlic into the mix.



These green beans have been one of our favorites for a while now, and the chicken was nice addition to an already great dish. Even better, it is a quick and easy dish for those of you out there without a lot of time left in your day for cooking.

Enjoy!

Eat Local Challenge, Week 1, or "Who You Callin' A Quiche?"

For this, the first week of the Eat Local Challenge, we're not doing bad so far. But I have to admit, after the first few days of trying to dine on mostly local fare, well, it's harder than I thought. First off, there are those days that you can't help but not eat locally because you have to go to a friends birthday party or a benefit dinner. But hey, that is what those exceptions are for, right?

The hardest part for me has been lunch during the week, hanging in that gulf between breakfast and dinner. Without taking steps to bring the raw materials for lunch from home, I am faced with two choices: Bring a frozen meal or eat at one of the less than exceptional (and less than local) eateries near work to stave off hunger until dinner comes around. In addition to tasting better than the food sold nearby, the vegetarian meals we keep frozen in the Tiny Kitchen can actually be considered local. Produced by Amy's Kitchen of Santa Rosa, the company states on their website that over fifty percent of their vegetables are grown within 200 miles of their facility.

And what do you do on those nights when you don't get home until 8:00 and have no time to cook an actual dinner? Well, there are always leftovers, provided you had anything left over, or you can turn once again to those handy pre-made meals. (I know, for someone who loves to cook, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot going on in the kitchen, but don't worry, I'm getting there.) The handy ready made meals we have been foraging on recently were all made locally, however I cannot vouch for their ingredients. Two of our staples are tamales from Primavera of Agua Caliente, California and papusas from Casa Sanchez in San Francisco. These delights can be found at local gourmet markets such as Rainbow Coop and Andronico's.

Dinner, on those nights where cooking is actually an option, has been an adventure. Finding locally grown produce has yet to be difficult this fall, and so in keeping with needing options for workday lunch I wanted to make something that would provide plenty of leftovers. The frittata, or "man quiche", is a mix of potatoes, tasty veggies, sausage and egg cooked into a delicious, gigantic savory pie. Here goes nothin'.



Tiny Kitchen Frittata
Ingredients:
4 Chicken Apple Sausages, sliced into rounds (Aidell's Sausage Co.)
2 Large or 3 small bell peppers, chopped
2 Large red potatoes, chopped into large chunks
1 Red onion, chopped into chunks
1 Poblano pepper, chopped
8 - 10 large organic eggs (Rock Island Eggs, Sonoma County)
1/2 Tbs. fresh Rosemary, chopped fine
1 Tbs. Olive oil (Bariani Olive Oil)
2 - 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
Salt & pepper to taste
(Vegetables were purchased at Rainbow Coop)

Mix 1/2 Tbs. olive oil with the potatoes and rosemary and set aside. Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a large, high walled, flat bottomed skillet, add the potatoes and cook for a few minutes until aromatic. Add the sausage and the rest of the vegetables and stir. Cook the mixture until it begins to brown.

Whisk the eggs together in a large bowl, and add to the mixture. As the egg filters through the vegetables, move them around gently with a spatula to allow the egg to cover the mix as completely as possible. Remove from the stove and place in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the top of the frittata is browned and the egg is fully cooked.

The varieties and generous portions of vegetables can be adjusted as you see fit; it's one of the great things about this dish. I may have been a little over zealous with the amount of veggies in this preparation, but it was yummy none the less. If you do use fewer vegetables, adjust the amount of egg accordingly. It's also an easy way to get rid of those extra veggies or eggs that are about to expire sitting in your refrigerator. This frittata will keep you stocked in leftovers for several days, making a great lunch for work or a quick no hassle dinner.

Enjoy!

Eat Local Challenge 2008

It is time once again for the Eat Local Challenge, a full month of devoting oneself to sourcing local ingredients for your culinary creations, discovering eateries that share the same passion you do for local and sustainable food, and of course for developing relationships with the food you put on your table and the people who produce it.

One could certainly argue that this devotion to eating locally produced foods should not be limited to a month long challenge, and should be incorporated into our daily lives as much as reasonably possible. But any forward motion in the right direction is a good thing, and if this month of eating locally inspires one more person to pay attention, then the challenge is a success. This month gives us all a opportunity to open a conversation about our food, where it comes from, and how it is produced.

For more info on the Eat Local Challenge 2008, visit their website here. For more info on eating local, sustainable foods, check out these sites:

100 Mile Diet
Eat Local SF
Locavores
Local Harvest
Food Routes

My Eat Local Challenge Pledge:
1: For me, local is Northern & Central California. I live in San Francisco but grew up in the Central Valley, and still consider it home. (Sometimes.) Plus, the Central Valley is the richest agricultural valley in the world, and I will gladly support those hard working farmers who labor each day to keep it that way.

2: Exemptions - Coffee. Although not local, I will continue to purchase coffee grown in sustainable conditions, by farmers who are paid a fair wage and given the working conditions they deserve. Spices, also, should I not be able to find a local source.

3: My goal for this challenge is to up the ante from last year, and discover new ways to make sure my food dollars stay local. It should be mentioned that no body is perfect, and while I will do my best to eat local in my home and at restaurants when I can,there will be times when it just won't be feasible. I won't insult anyone who is sharing their food with me by hoisting on them my own agenda or declining their meal because it may not be locally produced. I truly hope to challenge myself to find new ways of sourcing local food, and start thinking like a true Locavore. Most importantly, I hope to help spread the word about the values of eating locally through conversations with friends and strangers, and of course this here blog.

So, if I have enticed any of you to take the plunge and start eating locally, if even for a month, a week, a day, whatever, then I have done my job. I hope you all will join me. Enjoy!