Archive for food discovery

12 Aug 2010
food discovery • locavore log

On Roots

I do not know why it took me all those years to finally cook an entire Reunionese meal for friends.

Maybe it was because I did not think anybody would be interested. I am relieved to say that was not at all the case. In fact, I was asked to please make more of them in the future. I don’t know why I am surprised. Reunion food IS good.

Maybe it was because I felt I would have to get all those exotic ingredients , and that felt wrong. As it turns out, a lot of things grow or can grow in Virginia, but yes, I had to get some things grown far away – It was special, I got over the reluctance.

Maybe it was because I was not sure I could cook it right.  Get the right cut of meat. Or be able to use a specific technique successfully. In fact, by carefully selecting the menu, one can make a fairly authentic Reunionese meal in Virginia.

Or maybe it’s just that as one gets older, one goes back to one roots.

reunion-meal-venison-004

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sylvie | 13 comments | Tags:
31 Mar 2010
food discovery • locavore log • Meat/poultry Recipe

Smoking Bacon

Bacon’s my friend (especially the kind that comes from a pastured pig).

A few weeks ago I read Brett Laidlaw’s post on Trout Caviar about smoking bacon. He wrote  it just about 2 years ago, but I only recently read it.

I knew we had to try it.

We did.

smoked-bacon-025

It just so happened that I had two pork sides in the freezer Read more

sylvie | 3 comments | Tags:
06 Apr 2009
Farms • food discovery

Fragile Promises

Cherry blossoms in early April are incredibly lovely, aren’t they? and incredibly fragile. They open their snowy petals for pollinators to do their jobs when the chance of freeze or frost is still real and so one wonders: is this too early? will a frost come and wipe out this year’s crop? or will they survive and turn into Bing? Royal Ann? Somerset? Lapins? Viscount? Will it be sorrow and frustration or will it be joy and good picking?

2009-04-04-cherry-on-top-23

On April 4, Garrick Giebel and Ann Grenade opened their hilltop cherry orchard – aptly named “Cherries-on-Top” – in Flint Hill, VA for Rappahannock’s own little cherry blossom festival as well as for people to meet them, the new orchard owners.

You see, Garrick and Ann did not mean to operate a cherry orchard. The property went to the market in 2007, following the accidental death of its prior owner. The pair bought in 2008 for its incomparable views. It came with 800 cherry trees. Read more

sylvie | 4 comments | Tags: , , , ,
03 Jan 2009
Cookery • food discovery • locavore log

Fast Food, Slow Food

pate-eating-006

My baker was really starting to slack.

He was supposed to bake for a New Year’s eve party. I would make pate, he would make bread, our hostess would “ouh” and “ah”. A 911 call came in. As a member of a local rescue squad, he responded. I guess that’s as good an excuse as one can get… That night, the hostess got Cardamom Custard Tartelettes, Pear & Quince Jam Tartelettes and a bottle of homemade peach liqueur. She still “ouh”-ed et “ah”-ed and promptly whisked the bottle away whispering, “if you don’t mind, I won’t serve that tonight”. I don’t mind.

So, my baker would bake for New Year’s Day and I would serve the Pate that day. Another 911 calls came in on New Year’s day morning, and so I served Hoppin’ John and Garlicky Vinegared Mustard Greens instead.

Eventually, a batch of country baguettes was baked the day after New Year’s day. By then, the Venison and Pork Terrine (made of all local ingredients, except for the Juniper berries) had nicely mellowed. The mache and lettuce, although battered by several days of cold temperatures (below 15 F/ -9C), are still yielding enough for a few big bowls of salad.

So this is lunch for the next few days. Grab & sit. No pan to wash. Fast food at its best.

Verdict: While the baguettes taste wonderful, the Terrine could have been salted more. It’s a good thing I had a jar of Spicy Plum Chutney from the Virginia Chutney Company on hand: the chutney, locally made in Washington, VA, really complemented the terrine very well, and helped to forget that I had under salted it. Hey, I am still developing the recipe. I don’t mind making more (I will) to perfect the recipe – as long as there is baguette to try it with. Nobody minds being guinea pigs for terrines & pates in the house. Mustard greens doesn’t  quite get the same welcome. I don’t understand…

Note for the Locavore Log: mache & lettuce greens for the salad, pork & venison used for the pateas well as some of the pickles immedatiately local; flour for the bread… I wish!

sylvie | 3 comments | Tags: , ,