She Ate a Dark Days Dinner December 29, 2009

I'm realizing that the Dark Days Dinner might be something I didn't really mention before.  I've been blogging about one dinner a week that is totally local.  This is for the Dark Days Challenge set forth by the (not so) Urban Hennery Blog.  I've been doing okay with keeping up with the blogging, though I might have missed one or two.  Each Monday there is a recap posted on the Hennery blog, so you can see what everyone is doing.

Tonight I broiled steak tips from Lasting Legacy Farm.  I just seasoned with local salt and a little pepper. 

Veggies were a combination of Jerusalem artichokes (Wake Robin Farm), Fingerling Potatoes (Meadows Mirth Farm), and Delicata Squash (Nippo Brook Farm). 

I diced all of them, put some local butter, veggies, local salt, pepper and thyme from my friend's garden which was dried by me, into a clay baking pan, and put them in the oven on 350 degrees, covered, to roast.  I added a little bit of apples (Butternut farm) after the veggies started cooking.  It was a delicious medley.  This was my first time eating the Jerusalem artichokes, and I really liked them.  They did have an artichoke flavor, and were firmer than the fingerlings, once cooked.  I didn't skin them, I just scrubbed them well before dicing them.  This is what the farmer recommended.  That was good news to me, I don't love peeling, and certainly not something with such an odd shape.

Applesauce, canned this fall, accompanied the meal, along with a glass of cider, that I pressed this fall and froze.  

It's fun to be pulling from the food that I have worked hard to put by.  More of that to come, in the later winter months, when I'm tired of root veggies, and I whip up a bowl of the zucchini, eggplant and tomato soup I love so much.  But for now, we are enjoying the bounty of the in season local crops, and as always, appreciate the farmers who work so hard to get it for us.

Okay, so the food shot isn't going to make it into any magazine, or anything,but it at least looks edible, so it seems that I'm improving in the food photography.

Oh, exciting egg news!  This week we got a dozen on Sunday, 15 on Monday and 10 today.  The ducks are still being lazy, not sure that they will lay until Spring, even with the lights, and the Anconas are out laying the Dorking/Buff Orpington coop at more than 2 to 1.  If you are local and want good egg laying hens, I highly recommend getting chicks from myself, or Yellow House Farm this Spring.  I can't tell you how impressed I am with the breed, they are serious about converting that food into eggs.  They have been very winter hearty, even going out to frolick in the snow. 

Comments

[Sara Zoe]

That's amazing they are laying so many eggs even in this dark time of year! So what are you doing with all of them?

[Christopher Ouellette]

This dinner was great, thank you

[Amy Ouellette]

I provide eggs to my parents too, so I'm not as overwhemlmed as one might think. So far we are eating them for breakfast, and Husband makes a work out shake with them, but I'm gearing up for something more fun soon.

[Amy Ouellette]

Your welcome.