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Dishing Up Dinner: Locavore Leslie’s House |
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Written by Nancy Horn with assistance by Megan Gilman Photos by Peter Spain
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Sunday, 01 June 2008 |
I used to lie in a hammock under a lilac tree, swinging and thinking about my grown up food life, and whether I could have a farm. I wanted clucking chickens that would lay fresh eggs, a brown spotted cow to milk, furry sheep to shave for sweaters, and chubby pigs for bacon that would be made in the smoker my husband would fashion from some scrap lumber. I would compost and use the output in my vegetable garden. I would wear a bonnet.
Of course I was a “Little House on the Prairie” devotee, so these girlhood fantasies seemed attainable at the time.
But a local, homegrown life is possible! “Dishing Up Dinner” found us at the home of a couple, Leslie and James, that really is living the locavore life for a whole year. Their food shed is a 150-mile radius. They have chickens out back, a garden, and local sources for most staple items. Leslie makes bread daily (it’s a snap she says), and James brews beer. And no one wears a bonnet. We used a variety of yummy locally sourced ingredients to make a killer meal. What an inspiration. I may start that garden yet!
Nancy Horn opened DISH Café & Catering in 2002. Megan Gilman has been spicing up the DISH for three years.
Pork with Awesome Glaze! (Serves 4 locals)
• 4 boneless pork loin chops from Wolf Pack Meats
• 2 cloves garlic, from Great Basin Community Food Cooperative
• 1 tablespoon Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Honey Spice Mustard
• Salt, red sea salt from Hawaii where Leslie’s dad lives
• Pepper
• ½ cup lavender peach jam from Front Yard Farms (Leslie’s label! Peaches from farmer’s market; lavender from Leslie’s garden)
• 1 cup barley wine, homebrew by Leslie’s husband, James
• Shallots
• 1 teaspoon rosemary from a friend’s garden
• 3 tablespoons butter from Model Dairy
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 sprigs parsley from garden, for garnish
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (if you are making the bread pudding, the oven will be preheated already). 2. Also preheat an oven-safe grill pan or frying pan over medium-high heat. 3. Salt and pepper meat and sear on all sides until a nice brown crust forms, about 1 minute per side. The pan must be HOT! 4. Once the sides are all browned, finish in the oven, about 10 to 15 minutes until the meat is 140 degrees and let it rest on a platter. The internal temperature will increase about 5 to 10 degrees. 5. Place the grill pan with the drippings over medium high. 6. Add the shallots and olive oil and sauté until soft, about 3 minutes. 7. Add the barley wine and deglaze the pan, scraping up the browned bits. 8. Reduce by half and add the mustard. 9. Whisk in the jam and add the rosemary. 10. Add the butter and whisk again. 11. Taste and adjust seasonings.
12. Serve over pork.
Cranberry Almond Bread Pudding (Serves 8)
• 1 ½ cups fresh frozen cranberries from last year’s CSA basket
• 1 loaf homemade rustic wheat bread, cut into cubes
• 1 cup raw almonds from Auburn
• 6 eggs from Interpretive Gardens
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon stick, grated on a box grater
• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 cups half-and-half from Model Dairy
• 3 tablespoons melted butter from Model Dairy
TIP Sour milk can be used for baking or pancake batter!! Or to feed chickens!
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. 2. Butter an 8-inch square glass casserole or other baking dish. 3. Cube bread and mix with cranberries and almonds. 4. In a separate bowl, add half and half, eggs, honey, and vanilla. 5.Whisk well and add cinnamon. 6. Pour over bread and push down so the bread soaks up the custard. 7. Let stand 10 minutes, and press down again. 8. Drizzle with melted butter and bake 45 to 60 minutes until set. 9. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving. 10. Sprinkle with powered sugar and whipped cream or ice cream.
TIP: Freeze bread ends, stale bread, bagels, and the like until you have the equivalent of about a full loaf; use to make this dessert!
Swiss Chard and Bacon Sauté with Dried Fruit (Serves 4 sides)
• 2 bunches rainbow Swiss chard from backyard garden, well washed and chopped
• 1 cup dried cherries from farm in Mogul, chopped fine
• 2 leeks, chopped and well rinsed
• 2 cloves garlic from Great Basin Community Food Cooperative, minced
• 6 strips bacon from Wolf Pack Meats, chopped
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1. Heat large sauté pan over medium high heat. 2. Lower heat to medium and add bacon. 3. Cook until bacon browns, and fat is rendered. Do not burn! 4. Remove bacon to a plate. (Do not drain on paper towels! We need that tasty fat!) 5. In the same pan, with the rendered baconness, sauté the garlic and leeks about 3 minutes until the leeks are soft. 6. Add the chard, cherries and vinegar. 7. Sauté 5 minutes until chard is tender.
TIP: If you don’t have chard or don’t care for it, just use spinach and reduce the cooking time by half! Still good for you and still delicious.
Whipped Honeyed Acorn Squash
• 1 baked acorn squash
• Honey
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Pinch of cinnamon
• Butter from Model Dairy
• Half-and-half from Model Dairy
1. Bake squash (Leslie had a pre-baked squash in her fridge). 2. Cut off skin with a sharp knife. 3. Chop the flesh into a bowl. 4. Add the honey, salt, and pepper to taste. 5. Add a pat of butter, a pinch of cinnamon, and a bit of half-and-half. 6. Stir vigorously until the squash is pretty smooth. 7. Garnish with fresh herbs.
TIP: You can also make this recipe by simply cutting the squash in half, scooping out the seeds and placing cut side up on a cookie sheet. Add all but the half-and-half to the hollowed out holes in the squash and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for one hour. Serve as is, or take a big spoon and separate the flesh from the skin and roughly mix for a rustic look.
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