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Posts Tagged ‘Eat Local Nevada County!’

Eat Local Extravaganza

July 22nd, 2011

Four Frog photos_lettuce It’s almost August, which means it’s almost time for the Eat Local Extravaganza!

2011 is looking to be a good year. With local produce just starting to really roll in due to the long, wet winter and mild start to the summer, absence has made the heart grow fonder, and I am yearning for lots of local treats. Sadly, stone fruits are scarce this season, but leafy greens are bountiful, tender, and sweet.

Have you been wondering about some of the local products carried at BriarPatch but having been quite willing to pull the trigger on a purchase? August is your opportunity to try tons of items, as every weekday will have local and regional food samples ranging from olive oil to ice cream and everything in between.

The Gold Country Chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation will be holding a screening of “Farmageddon” at the Holiday Inn Express in Grass Valley on Tuesday, August 2 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are available at the customer service window for $10. A no host welcome reception will precede the film at 6:00 p.m. and after the film, Mark McAfee from Organic Pastures will be available for an open discussion.

Wendy of In The Kitchen will be teaching a class on canning tomatoes on August 3 from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. The class is $50 and should be great for all of you new to the world of canning. Plus, it will be fun, and you’ll go home with canned tomato goodness.

BriarPatch is sponsoring a farm tour at Riverhill Farm in Nevada City on Sunday, August 14 at 9:00 a.m. Alan and Jo are amazing people and are sure to give a very interesting tour of their farm. As the location of my CSA, I can personally attest to how beautiful the land is – a definite not-to-be-missed opportunity.

Local tomatoes should just be getting bountiful around August 28 when In The Kitchen is hosting their very first open kitchen event. The Community Canning Day is $15 and goes from 9:00 a.m. to noon. Imagine a mess of tomatoes brought from yours and every other attendee’s gardens, questions answered, and canning commenced. It should be a lively time indeed. Space is limited, so reserve your spot early.

Of course, you can look forward to many local food oriented blogs from Kathy and me on the BriarPatch webpage as well as blogs from Wendy of In The Kitchen, Kathy, and me on the Eat Local! America national co-op site.

Hooray for local food! Let’s get cooking.

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Tags: BriarPatch Co-op CSA eat local extravaganza Eat Local Nevada County! food film in the kitchen Local local food Riverhill Farm

A Flower Feast

August 18th, 2010

David, our produce manager, popped his head into my office just before the end of my shift yesterday. His eyes were shining with excitement as he said, “One of our local farmers just brought in edible flowers. Do you think you could put something up on Facebook about them tomorrow?”

Shoot, I’d do one better than just put it up on Facebook. How could I resist the concept of local, edible flowers for my Eat Local dinner? And if I was going to eat it, I should blog about it, right?

I clocked out and headed to the produce department, giddy with anticipation. I was going to craft a dinner around flowers! Awesome, awesome, awesome! My brain began to spin with options. Obviously, I was going to make a salad with the flowers as the main ingredient. Local greens, blackberries, and Sungolds rounded out the edible posy. We had some green beans we had picked during our last visit to our CSA farm. If I kept it simple and tossed them with some regional butter, they’d compliment the sweet greenness of the salad. Then a little bit of protein… Charles helped me out with that decision – regional chicken it was (and it was reduced – score!).

The minute we walked in the front door, I started warming up the stove-top, cast iron grill and put a pot on to boil for the green beans. Then I began arranging the salad. I must admit that almost half of the local blackberries didn’t make it into the bowls. They’re wild, so they have that wonderful untamed tang as well as sweetness. A healthy amount of Sungolds, sliced in half so their juices incorporated with the greens were next, and then I added the flowers. It was like arranging in a vase, but better, because it would soon end up as our meal. As soon as the green beans and chicken were cooked, dinner was served. dinner!

The flowers gave a green pop to the palate. I especially enjoyed the nasturtiums. They presented a sprinkling of spice across the tongue followed by a delightful burst of mandarin oranges. Charles wasn’t as enthusiastic about his edible arrangement, so I helped myself to his nasturtiums too. Because of the wild, green flavors of the flowers accompanied with the chicken and green beans, I’d recommend a Sauvignon Blanc made in the New Zealand style. It complements the range of flavors wonderfully.

A little bit of exotic beauty for dinner – it’s so great to work in a place where I get to be introduced to so many wonderful, new experiences, especially when those experiences are on a plate.

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Tags: blackberries BriarPatch Co-op Eat Local Nevada County! local food Riverhill Farm

A Feast of Color

August 5th, 2010

Color! One of the things I love about cooking during our peak produce season is the huge amount of color that I can incorporate into any dish. The varied hues of heirloom tomatoes, the vibrant purple of eggplant, the glowing greens of freshly washed herbs — it’s a feast for the eyes as well as the tongue.

My past few CSAs have been a rainbow of produce – tons of basil, patty pans, chard, collards, radicchio, amazingly sweet onions, mint, lemon verbena, Japanese eggplant, strawberries, and so much more. I love to spend a few moments gazing at my box before I place it lovingly in the car.

The drive home is a feast too, with the amazing aromas of the herbs and strawberries mingling, filling the vehicle with so many tantalizing smells, Charles and my stomachs begin to rumble louder than the gravel road.

And then the joy of turning those aromas into meals! I love the bounty of summer.

Cheesy Tomatoes Love Herbs

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1/2 cup bread crumbs

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 teaspoon water

1 egg

1 package 8 oz Sierra Nevada Cheese Company Chevre, made into four rounds

4 very thick slices of fresh tomato (heirloom or slicing)

2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil, plus a drizzle for dressing

1 small head of curly endive (or you could use traditional endive)

1 bunch cilantro (or you could use fresh basil)

1 bunch wrinkled cress (or you could use radicchio)

drizzle of red wine vinegar (If you use the basil & radicchio, use balsamic vinegar instead.)

How-to:

Mix breadcrumbs, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Add water and work until crumbly. Beat egg is a small bowl. Dip Chevre rounds in the egg and then the bread crumbs. Place in fridge for 15 minutes.

Place tomatoes on plate and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Add olive oil to a skillet and heat on med/high until the oil is hot but not burning. Carefully place the Chevre rounds in the oil and cook 45 seconds, then flip and repeat. Place rounds on tomatoes.
Toss greens with the drizzles of red wine vinegar and olive oil. Add a little seasoning if desired. Heap 1/4 of the greens on each tomato slice, and voila!