9 July 2008: ONE LOCAL SUMMER UPDATE

This meal is actually from last week, but I didn't have an opportunity to post on Sunday. In celebration of the 4th, I wanted a local 'All-American' meal--Hot Dogs and the works.

Local hot dog buns were hard to come by so I decided to make my own with flour from New Hope Mills (44 miles), milk from Evans' creamery (78 miles) and an egg from our backyard 'flock' (we're down to two chickens and a rooster..does that still constitute a flock?). Below are the buns, hot from the oven....

The all-organic, nitrate-free beef and pork hot dogs were from Engelbert Farms in Nichols, NY (52 miles) and were served with a side of local sauerkraut (Shelley's Pickles and Plums, Ithaca-12 miles) and roasted potatoes from Sabol's Farm (24 miles).




It's officially zucchini season here. For years I hated those green torpedoes with a passion. My father grew them by the boatload and neither of my parents could ever dispose of a single one so it was zucchini-bread-cake-cookies-brownies-meatloaf-soup-dip-jello (ok, I'm lying about the jello). But recently, I have discovered the grilled zucchini. Brush with a little olive oil, sprinkle with some thyme fresh from the garden and voila! you have something edible. These zucchine were from Mandeville Farms (Spencer, NY-24 miles)

Now, what would a summer holiday be without marshmallows? (Warning: this next section is NOT local). Somewhere I got a wild hair across my a** and decided to try to make homemade marshmallows. They were suprisingly E-A-S-Y although incredibly messy. Despite the disaster zone my kitchen became, they were delicious and I'd probably do it again.

1 July 2008

We've been doing a fairly good job of including at least some local food into each meal this week and had two that were exclusively local. The benefits of summer hitting us smack in the face and my being out and about in the countryside perusing farmstands. I had the pleasure of visiting Evans' Creamery in Norwich this past week. They are a small, independent processor that sells yogurt, milk, butter and these awesome lassi's to our local markets. The whole milk gallon has cream on the top, as do their yogurts. Absolutely to die for (and so good for you). More about that in an upcoming post. So I chose to focus the meal around some cream I picked up while I was there and created a local version of Pasta Carbonara.

Leendaluu's Local Pasta Carbonara

1 lb fresh linguini (Little Ithaca-12 miles)

3/4 c grated Wild Man Kefir Cheese (Finger Lakes Dexter Creamery-33 miles)

4 eggs (my backyard)

Parsley (my backyard)

1 c. cream and 1 c. whole milk (Evans Creamery-77 miles)

1 thin ham steak sliced (Cobblestone Valley-44 miles)

Saute diced ham in small amount of olive oil til edges are turning brown; set aside. In large stockpot, bring water to a boil and and add a splash of olive oil; add pasta and cook until tender. While pasta is cooking, beat together eggs, milk, cream and cheese in large bowl. When pasta is done, drain and place in serving bowl that has been warming in 300-degree oven. Immediately pour in egg mixture and toss thoroughly. (Heat from pasta will 'scramble' eggs to creamy consistency). Garnish with ham and fresh chopped parsley.

We served this with a sougdough boule from Just Desserts (12 miles), Hillcrest butter (35 miles), and grilled baby zucchini (Local farm featured at Wegman's but I can't remember the name...).

*I forgot to upload the photo but I will later. Warning, however, my mad photo skillz makes it look more like a plate of vomit.