locavore dinner

I've been reading Barbara Kingsolver's book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, about the year she and her family spent eating only local foods. I thought about doing it for the month of August, but then got distracted by work and vacations and all that the end of summer brings (hello Dutchess County Fair--I don't think that fried dough was locally sourced!). We did, however, manage to have at least one dinner this summer that was totally local: the steaks and corn came from Willow Brook Farm in Copake, the peas came from our garden. It was delicious and really made us think about where our food comes from.

It's a serious commitment to live a completely locavore lifestyle. But it isn't very hard to pay closer attention to how our food is sourced. Living in a farm community makes it a little easier for us, and growing vegetables ourselves made it much easier. I've started thinking about next year's garden all ready, and part of the planning involves really trying to feed my family for at least a few months from the garden without having to run to the market every other day. We'll keep up the Saturday trip to the farmer's market to get fruits and those veggies that we aren't growing, and also to keep up with the neighbors and help support the local farmers.

It's been amazing watching Vivian interact at the farmer's market and at the farms we've visited this summer. She is becoming aware of where her food comes from and that the chicken she petted at the farm will become someones dinner, and the cute lamb in the field will have the same fate. She asks questions of us and of the farmers, most of them leaning toward the gruesome: "did you chop his head off?" "did the blood go all over the place?" But I'm happy that she's thinking about it. Fred and I joke that she may become a vegetarian one day, but more likely she'll want to go to the slaughterhouse to see how her food was prepared. I haven't gotten to that point yet, but am working towards it. If I can raise a 5 year old who thinks about where and how her food was grown and slaughtered then I think we're moving in the right direction.

The last of the peas

We grabbed the last big batch of the peas before heading back to the city (even though it seemed like a lot of pods, it turned out to be about half pound of actual peas). Pea plants don't like really hot weather, so we lost some pods during the last few weeks of steamy temperatures. I also got most of my plants in the garden late, so we are enjoying peas about two months after their traditional harvest.

I wanted to make a fresh pea puree, and I saw some scallops at the market and thought the two would be perfect together. I had no idea it would be as easy to make as it was. Fred found a recipe for the puree on epicurious.com. It called for curried scallops, but we went in a more purist route: pan seared with salt and pepper.



This is how we made it (adapted from epicurious.com)

about half pound of fresh peas
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 scallion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 pounds sea scallops, tough ligament removed from side of each (about 9 or 10 scallops)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil


1. Simmer peas on stovetop with water for about 6 minutes (do not drain). Add butter, scallions, lime juice, and 1/4 teaspoon salt to a coarse purée with an imersion blender. Don't puree for too long, keep it a little lumpy for texture.

2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot, then sauté scallops, turning once, until browned and just cooked through, about 5 minutes.

3. Put a scoop of the puree on each plate and top with the scallops. Give it a little squeeze of lime right before serving.

braised radishes

Well the radishes in the garden are pretty much done. OMG, did we grow too many of those things. Fred suggested that we not grow them next year, and I had to agree. Although the peppery bite is tasty, there is a limit to how many radishes two people can consume.

Eating them raw with butter and salt didn't turn to be as exciting as we had hoped, so we turned to braising them. A farmer at the Millerton Farmer's Market suggested this, so I found the recipe at thekitchen.com. A combination of shallots and balsamic vinegar make this really delicious. The vinegar cooks down to a syrupy consistency while the shallots caramelize, and the radishes lose some of their strong, peppery flavor. This is definitely a grown up dish. Not really the flavors that most kids would like.




Now that the radishes are done we've moved on to the other spring vegetable that we are harvesting in the middle of summer: peas. I plan to pick a bunch this weekend and make a simple pasta of peas with mint and some sort of cheese. Feta? Goat? Not sure yet.