Eggs

Recently laid eggs from Sebastopol, CA. Look at the color of the yolk!

Given the frightening exposées about factory-style egg laying farms, I have always thought it would be lovely to have my own small chicken coop...until I went and actually visited some chickens and decided I have romanticized chicken coops. Turns out I am a bit afraid of chickens, and putting my hand beneath them to pull out the eggs fills me with dread (they look at me with those scary, beady eyes, and won't they peck me?). And. The. Smell. I admit that I have an extremely sensitive nose, but visiting the chicken barn at the Sandwich, New Hampshire fair almost knocked me out.

So, for now, I buy my eggs at the Dairy Bar across the street from our house, which come from an organic farm in Western Massachusetts and taste wonderful. However, I am determined to become more friendly with chickens because there are many brave women in my life who don't seem to mind standing up to the chickens: my mom gathers eggs from the coop at Coonamessett farm in Falmouth, and my friend Carol has her own coop on Long Island. Geri walks up Gold Ridge in Sebastopol to buy inexpensive and beautiful eggs from her Mexican neighbor, and Susan gets eggs from a colleague at work whose chickens lay more than he can eat! After eating some of these eggs, the difference is incredible: they are often smaller than mass-produced eggs, but the yolks are a spectacular golden color and the flavor is unparalleled. There may be chickens in my future, but maybe Andrew will be putting his hand in the nests for me...maybe in exchange for a lifetime of perfect omelettes?

Farm fresh eggs from Concord, MA, courtesy of Susan.

Baking Bread

Baker Andrew has been on hiatus for some time, due to the demands of his work schedule, so sous-baker Catherine has taken over. My mom and sister swear by the no-knead bread recipes that have been circulating in food magazines and on websites, so I decided to try my hand at this simple approach to bread baking. While I have produced nice loaves of whole wheat bread in the past, I find that I am a bit impatient with the details of mixing, kneading, and rising, and the results are rarely guaranteed (hence, Andrew is bread master). In this case, however, the process is very easy and demands almost nothing of the baker. The results, as you can see here, were MIRACULOUS! This loaf not only looks picture perfect, but it has a lovely, crunchy crust and moist, chewy interior, just like I have always dreamed of making. It is truly simple and - if you have the right pot - anyone can make this! I was able to use flour milled in New England, but am considering trying some of the local wheat flour available at Dave's Fresh Pasta in Davis Square...the price has prevented me from buying it...

No-Knead Bread

from Margaret Foster's recipe box:

Begin 12-18 hours before baking.

In a large bowl, combine:

3/4 c. whole wheat flour

2 1/4 c. unbleached white flour

3/4 t. yeast

1 1/3 c. cool water

1 1/4 t. salt

Cover and let rise at room temperature for 12-18 hours. At the end of this time, flour another bowl and transfer dough (which will be very wet) to this bowl. Sprinkle top of dough with flour liberally. Let rise about 2 hours more. At 1 1/2 hours into this rise, preheat the oven to 475 and put the cast-iron casserole with the lid into the preheating oven. After half an hour of preheating, gently transfer dough into heated casserole (be careful!), cover with lid, and bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove lid and continue to bake until crust is a medium caramel color (10-15 minutes). Remove bread from pot and cool on rack. Do not cut for 1 hour. (if you are using a pot with a plastic handle, like a Le Creuset pot, you should unscrew and remove the handle to prevent damage)

Easy as pie? Nope, much easier.

Spring Lambs

We announce the birth of Ivy and Lego, Geri's newest lambs! They were born to Queen Bess on the morning of Andrew's birthday, so we were given the honor of naming them. Ivy was named for the song "mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy...", and she will be used for breeding when she is old enough. Lego will become dinner, so we named him after "leg-o-lamb" to remind us (mostly me) not to become too attached...for now they will live and grow happily on Geri's Sebastopol farm, among the apple trees.

Food Storage

A favorite breakfast treat for me: New England milk and yogurt blended with our frozen summer raspberries and blueberries (and a touch of New Hampshire maple syrup). Yum!

A New York Times columnist recently wrote that it is erroneous to think that people living in cold places can sustain a trendy local diet in the winter. Who can imagine pulling carrots from the frozen tundra or subsisting only on kale, and who can sustain themselves on a cute home-grown garden? Well, I have a lot of conflicted thoughts about how trendy and elitist this approach to food is (perhaps for another post), but this guy seems to have missed out on the fact that human beings have been growing and storing food for thousands of years and - with the ease of modern technology - we New Englanders can still have access to local food in the winter! In the West household, we have been rewarded with tasty winter treats because of our good planning: frozen berries, peaches, and apple sauce, pesto, canned pickles, dried sage, rosemary, and thyme, and oven-dried tomatoes. I could certainly have done more this summer, but I have little space to store it - I dream of the day that we have a root cellar and a chest freezer.

You might recall that I canned pickles this summer from New England cukes and dill - they are delicious, crisp, and fresh!

Seasonal Produce

Our friend John pointed out this fun seasonal produce map on epicurious.com (a site I love to use to find recipes). For our region they tell us:

"The growing season is currently dormant here; opt for items from storage, such as apples, pears, and root vegetables."

Ha, no kidding!

Veggie Stock

We are overrun with parsnips. What to do with all these parsnips? And that pesky turnip I can't stand? Well, my solution is to make and freeze vegetable stock. This is the simplest of tasks and uses some of those root vegetables that get out of control at this time of year.

Step 1: Wash veggies - in this case, I have used one carrot, one parsnip, a turnip, and an onion. Cut these into large pieces and cook in about 1 tsp. of olive oil, just until the sides are brown. I have found this gives the vegetable stock more flavor.

Step 2: Fill the pot with water, add a bit of salt, some black peppercorns (or ground pepper), and a couple of bay leaves. Bring to a boil and simmer until the stock turns a rich brown color.

Step 3: Strain and cool, then freeze! I put the stock in yogurt containers, which are about 4 cups each. This is perfect for thinning soup, steaming veggies, making rice, etc., especially when my vegetarian friends come for dinner.

Why we do this...

The other night I was getting an almost-midnight snack, looked down at my plate, and realized THIS is why we embarked on this food adventure! This little snack, made of fresh Iggy's bread, Kate's butter, and homemade plum jam, is composed entirely of local ingredients. It is the perfect tartine (French for bread-and-butter) and made my mouth water. The bread is flavorful and the perfect texture, with a hearty crust and a chewy, moist interior. The butter tastes fresh and creamy, and our homemade jam tastes like the plums off the tree...and the combination is magnifique!

Oh la la!