100% Local Without Even Trying

Some nights I make a very conscious effort to prepare with as much local food as possible. As virtuous as that might be, I think tonight's serendipitous local meal is even better. I still had green beans and cabbage on hand from last week's CSA pickup, and was simply looking for a way to use these items. We're in an unusually warm stretch for late September, so grilling seemed like the thing to do.

I decided to grill the pork I had frozen, along with some of the local potatoes I have in great abundance. It so happens that the pork is locally produced, from Whole Foods (they are now carrying quite a bit of local pork and grass fed beef). So both of the items on the grill were local, as were the sides of green beans and red cabbage. The beans I just steamed. I chopped the cabbage and tossed with this great Maple-Mustard Vinaigrette, and it turned out to be a great combination. I topped the pork with Curried Mango Grille Sauce from Stonewall Kitchen--an hour away from us in York, Maine. OK, so the mangoes they used are probably not from New England but at least the company is! I suppose I could have topped this off with a local New England wine, but had none on hand...that was a Malbec all the way from Argentina.

I was pretty pleased that I've built up such a good supply of local foods at our home that such a meal would come together without even focusing intentionally on a local theme tonight!

Cucumber Salad with Maple Mustard Vinaigrette

Here's a quick look at how I used some of my CSA veggies on hand. I chopped cucumbers, radish, red pepper and tomato. Then I tossed it with a bit of goat cheese and this very tasty maple mustard vinaigrette. Yum!

It was very tasty, but my Google+ post about it generated some ideas for tweaks and alternate use. Eric Coffman suggested finely chopped red onions and Raj Melville voted for some cilantro and a bit of lemon juice. Jennifer Ragsdale thought this could be used as a topping for fish, which I think is a good idea. My own self-critique is that walnuts or sunflower seeds might be nice for extra crunch. (hint: if you're using Google+ and like food, you might want to circle these good folks!).

Storm Cooking: When Irene Came to Town

The challenge: plan a meal for a crowd with ingredients that could also be prepared without any power. Why? My night to cook at the Cape Cod cottage coincided with the pending arrival of Hurricane Irene, and with it, a good chance power would be knocked out.

My strategy: Plan A, with power, was to make a meat sauce with the batch of CSA tomatoes I had on hand along with some ground beef and Andouille sausage. We were fortunate--our power was just knocked out for about an hour, while many fellow Bay Staters lost power for a full week. So the recipe I used for the sauce follows. My backup plan was to make a hearty main dish salad with the tomatoes, cucumbers, cannellini beans, and sausage (it was precooked and I figured it could last the afternoon on ice).

36 ozs tomatoes, coarsely chopped (I used fresh--nice way to use a large quantity before they went bad--but canned would work)
1 cup red wine
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
2 handfuls fresh basil, chopped
3/4 ground beef
2 medium pre-cooked andouille sausage
several tbsp olive oil
1.5 lbs pasta, short shape like fusilli or penne
salt, pepper and grated parmesan cheese to taste

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large pot. Brown the sausage in the pan, then remove the sausage and set aside to cool. When cooled, slice the sausage into half circles.

Add a bit of extra olive oil if the pan seems dry, then add the onions, saute about 5 minutes until softened. Add the garlic, saute for another minute. Stir in the beef, cook until it starts to brown, about 5 minutes. Pour in the red wine, cook until most of it has been absorbed. Add the tomatoes, sausage and basil. Cook for at least 20 minutes, more is better!

Start water to boil for pasta around time you put the tomatoes on, or 15-20 minutes afterward if you want the sauce to simmer longer. Cook the pasta al dente according to package instructions. When ready, reserve a bit of the cooking water. Drain the pasta, combine with sauce in a pan over low heat, adding a touch of the cooking water. Give it a couple minutes to finish. Add salt & pepper to taste, and pass cheese at the table.

Wine: Served this with a great value Nebbiolo I got for around $12. Unfortunately the bottle got tossed before I made notes on the details, but will aim to figure it out and update here. A Chianti or most other Italian reds would work too.