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Thursday, August 29, 2013

Chicken and Biscuits



Rose’s Famous Chicken Pie
Clearly, I need to order a supply of chickens and soon! Recently, a copy of The Rocky Ridge Review dropped into my mailbox.  This year is the 100th anniversary of the completion of the farmhouse at what is now the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum in Mansfield, MO. During a visit taken nearly 20 years ago I purchased The Laura Ingalls Wilder Country Cookbook. (My favorite souvenirs to purchase are something practical and this cookbook is pretty, has beautiful pictures of the farm house, and some great recipes.) I have never forgotten being in the home of my favorite childhood author. The trip was so enjoyable that I reread each of The Little House books which Laura wrote in the home, the books written by her daughter Rose, plus a couple of biographies of Laura and Rose.
There are a couple of recipes in particular which I use from this book. The Golden Pork Chops is my go-to recipe for when I cook a pork chop. Each summer I think about Rose’s Strawberry Pie which puts other pies to shame. The hands down favorite is one which takes two days to prepare (and worth every moment) it is Rose’s Famous Chicken Pie.  Moist chicken covered with gravy speaks to my Midwestern heart. It may sound simple, but the time-intensive recipe yields a fabulous taste sensation. To make this pie you just need to brown the chicken pieces, cook the pieces for a couple of hours, remove the chicken from the bones, make the gravy, bake in oven, and serve over biscuits. See how simple it is? Just time consuming, but well worth it.
Since the cook has spent so much time preparing this meal, the side items are vegetables with minimal preparation and biscuits. You must have biscuits to go with this dish and not just any biscuit.  I choose what my friend Jo and I refer to as Fat, Fat, and Flour biscuits which are made from butter, cream cheese, and self-rising flour. They are the absolute best biscuits I know. Believe me, you don’t want the best chicken pie to have a subpar biscuit.
Since I now have a strong craving for Rose’s Chicken Pie, I just need the chicken. Enter Heritage Foods USA which is working to revive heritage chicken breeds which risk extinction if a consumer market is not established to save the breeds. Originally, I ordered only beef from them, but plan to order chicken from them now and in the future.  Just waiting to get a list of items to order from a friend, then the order will be compiled and my heritage breed chickens will be on their way to my kitchen. I can taste the pie now.




Thursday, August 22, 2013

Plenty Fundraiser (farm, food, and fun)



The days are long, but the weeks are short and Plenty will soon arrive. Plenty is the Rolling Harvest Food Rescue fund raising event designed to celebrate and highlight the local food harvest of local farmers (including my CSA farm Tinicum CSA).  The October 5th event will also seek to raise money for Rolling Harvest.

You see, Rolling Harvest is doing very well in bringing fresh local produce to food pantries, hot meal sites, and other locations to benefit those in need and in meeting the demand as their supply allows. Each year of operation brings increased donations and distributions. Volunteers can be found doing whatever tasks need to be done. They will glean the fields when needed, pack boxes or crates with produce donated by our local farmers, pack their cars and vans, take inventory, make disbursement decisions, and deliver the produce to those in need.  

Deliveries to food pantries and hot meal sites clearly illustrate the need for fresh produce among the offerings. Most inventory is a collection of shelf-stable food products with some chilled and frozen food items. Frequently, these food pantries have two or three refrigerators for the dozens of families and individuals using their services. 

Rolling Harvest has begun to receive donations of sustainably raised, natural, antibiotic and hormone free meats from Doublebrook Farm in Hopewell, NJ and from Applegate Organic Meat. Applegate is donating these meats to the Bucks County Opportunity Council in partnership with Rolling Harvest who then distributes the packages to area food pantries. Yet, this donation is only a fraction of what Applegate is doing for Rolling Harvest. The family behind Applegate is hosting the October 5th fundraising event in Pipersville. With the donation of these highly perishable meats Rolling Harvest is in need of an appropriate transportation vehicle. Proceeds from the event will help purchase an appropriate vehicle.

Food is being provided by Gravity Hill Farm, None Such Farm Market, Blue Moon Acres, and Tinicum Farms CSA, and will be prepared by Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton who are the 2013 James Beard winners and are the creators of Canal House Cooking. In addition to fine food, there will be music and entertainment during the evening. To help support Rolling Harvest Food Rescue with a tax-deductible donation or to purchase the $65 tickets go to their website at www.RollingHarvest.org or contact them at 267-293-0085. Enjoy the evening and I will see you there.  

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Canning Season has arrived



When tomatoes are piled high at the farm market, it’s official:  canning season has arrived. This year I took a more serious and planned approach to my canning. No longer would Grandma’s heavy pot serve as a makeshift water bath canner.  Nor would there be an aesthetically challenged granite canner on my stove. Instead, a beautiful stainless steel water bath canner with glass lid has a place of honor in my kitchen.  This year I intend to can the bounty and place it in my pantry to be used as I please during the year.

First to be canned were the peaches.  Peaches are so beautiful when they are piled on a farm market table. I love their smell and great cobblers and pies have been made by many and enjoyed by many. But my preferred method of using peaches is in a barbecue sauce for chicken, pork, and seafood. (The recipe I use, Zesty Peach Barbecue Sauce, comes from the makers of Ball Canning Supplies and is found at the  freshpreserving website.) The first time I made this sauce the ingredients were not as finely diced as the recipe directed but the result were akin to a relish, which I love more than a sauce.  Seeing the pieces of peaches and red pepper in the relish are pretty to look at.  The adjustment is now a permanent change and the recipe is forever on the don’t forget to can list.

Home-canned tomatoes and tomato sauce beat the grocery store variety and having a few jars on had during the winter allows me to have a pasta sauce I like and can alter at will. So this year canned tomatoes will have a home in my pantry.  Putting the tomatoes through a food mill to remove the skins before canning is a small price to pay upfront, but skins in my sauce? No way! One might think canning tomatoes is simple – just can them. No, I need to decide  which size jars to use (pints or half pints), If they should be sauced or left whole,  how many pounds  for me and for my mom, sand if the  sauce should  be spiced or left plain. Glad I can handle these big decisions in life.

After some tomatoes were canned, I made catsup. Four years ago I had my first taste of homemade catsup and I now refuse to purchase it from the store. For just a few hours of work I can reap the catsup benefits all year long. No store bought catsup holds a candle to the homemade variety. So each August for the last three years, I have been making the catsup to use and to give to friends.  While hours of time are required to cook down the tomato and onion mixture, most of that time is not spent standing at the stove. After tomato, onion and garlic are chopped and put into the pot to cook down, I clean any mess while the mixture bubbles away.  Then, I work around the house.  After the first reduction is done, sugar and spices are added and the waiting begins again. Once the second reduction has occurred, the catsup is ladled into jars, and placed in a water bath canner for ten minutes. Until the time arrives to ladle the catsup into jars and place in the water bath, the day is easy-peasy. Then five minutes of work before there is a need to   wait for the processing bath to be over. During the bath, the canning equipment is cleaned.  The only downside is the CSA share does not give pounds of tomatoes, so I have to purchase tomatoes from a farm stand, the onions do come from the share, and the garlic comes from my friend Barb. (The spices came from the mystical island where all spices grow under the ever-shinning sun.) Maybe, just maybe, I will invite you over to have some catsup.


Saturday, August 3, 2013

Good bread, Gouda bread




Good bread, the kind which is not wrapped in plastic and stamped with a best by date, is the bread everyone should love to eat and insist on eating. Unfortunately, my local grocery stores do not offer such a loaf of bread. What they offer is trophy wife bread: looks pretty, but no substance. I want bread that looks good, tastes fabulous, and has substance. This is real bread, it does not remain soft two months after you purchase it (such a loaf sits in my office-I will let you know when/if it begins to mold). Bread, all food really, should expire, but should never carry an expiration date. The bread I need has risen in importance as my Tinicum CSA share box is filled with veggies perfect for sandwiches and the recent heat wave dictated: Don’t heat the kitchen!  

So when my friend Vince told me about a great bakery he discovered I knew I would have to check it out. AliceBakery & Confection is located in North Wale just 10 minutes from me, but an hour from Vince.  Vince told me he purchased enough breads and rolls to last a month and he intends to drive to the bakery once a month to stock up on breads and rolls. If someone is willing to drive an hour to buy bread, you can bet the bread is good.   

Before I drove to the bakery, I checked out their website and perused their menu of breads and pastries. I decided on my first bread. A Gouda cheese bread made with 3 year old Gouda cheese. It would be perfect for a veggie sandwich, as a side with soup, or as toast with scrambled eggs.  I bought the bread, went home, sliced it, and began making my lunch. First, I put the bread slices into the toaster oven. While the slices were toasting away, I sliced onions, green peppers, and tomatoes (how did I forgot to add carrot and zucchini?). All the sliced veggies, along with the beloved lettuce, went onto the sandwich. (Plantain chips with sea salt were on the side.) The result was wonderful, fabulous, and perfect for a summer day’s lunch. Later, I had the bread, toasted, with butternut squash soup.  Scrambled eggs were the last meal to share this bread. More bread was needed. Life must have bread. 

Certainly, this bread will again grace my table, but I wanted to try the Gorgonzola & Tri-Colored Cracked Peppercorn bread. I envisioned roast beef, caramelized onions, and lettuce and my mouth was watering. The reality was much better than the vision. Another excellent bread, this time with a hint of gorgonzola and pepper. On the menu this week is bruschetta, tomato and cheese sandwiches, and possibly an egg salad sandwich. I think each will work well with this bread.  What bread will I choose next time? 

To the right: Desserts from Alice's. I would love to tell you I made them, but it would be a lie.