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Dark Days Challenge: A weekend lunch

by Jen Maiser, Editor

Did you know that I am obsessed with pickles? I have a shokutaku tsukemono ki -- a Japanese pickle press that makes quick work of pickles made from many different things in the kitchen. This week, I learned that turnip and radish greens tossed with salt and a square of kombu makes for a delicious pickle that was a perfect condiment to the short rib sandwich you see above. The quick pickle doesn't take long -- you can eat it within a couple hours, and the crock stays in the fridge and I add little bits of vegetables to it when I think about it.

The pickle press is a perfect way for a locavore to add some dimension to winter meals. I was craving crunch and texture, and it worked perfectly for this meal. 

My Dark Days meal this week was eaten alone. The small casserole that you see in the background has white beans topped with canned tomatoes and cheese (inspired by this wonderful recipe), served with roasted beets and a short rib sandwich with turnip pickles, and a local pale ale.

Purveyors who helped create this delicious meal are:

• Prather Ranch
• Cowgirl Creamery
• Eatwell Farm
• Dirty Girl Farm
• Tierra Vegetables
• Acme Bakery
• Anderson Valley Brewing Company
• Rancho Gordo

Dark Days Challenge: Brunch with a Friend

by Jen Maiser, Editor

When friends give you chanterelles, you make a fabulous brunch! Last week, I was gifted a couple of pounds of wild chanterelles by a benefactress friend. She and her partner had foraged about forty pounds of chanterelles from Santa Cruz. 

It's a bumper year for this wild, native mushroom and the stories of large swaths of chanterelles in local forests have been whispered among the food community here. 

"Let them dry out some," advised a friend, "they're really wet and heavy right now." I kept them out in the kitchen, drying, for five days before cooking them for brunch this weekend. They lost a full 50% of their weight, and their flavor concentrated down to a decadent, meaty flavor. 

Once I had the chanterelles in hand, I called up my friend Jeanne and invited her over for a weekend brunch -- belatedly ringing in the New Year.

 

One of my favorite things to do is to plan menus, and this one came together over a couple days. When we sat down to our all-local brunch, we ate: 

• Sauteed chanterelle mushrooms topped with poached eggs (Soul Food Farm), 
• Fatted Calf bacon, 
• A salad of Star Route Farms little gems, roasted beets (Heirloom Organics), Oro Blanco grapefruit (Tory Farms) and frico made from Capricious Cheese (Achadinha Goat Cheese),
• Della Fattoria bread, 
• Apple cider (Hidden Star Orchards), 
• a non-local (and delicious!) prosecco and Gewürztraminer from Navarro Vineyards. 

This was a decadent, awesome meal eaten over a slow, lingering, laughter-filled couple of hours. It was a fun way to celebrate the amazing bounty of our area. "If these are the Dark Days," Jeanne said, "bring 'em on!"

Dark Days Challenge: Decadent Breakfast

 

by Jen Maiser, Editor

I hope that you had wonderful holidays, friends. Mine involved travel to Southern California where I spent time with my family and travel to Portland to see great friends, eat great food and have generally a fantastic time ringing in the new year.

This weekend, I found myself back home with piles of laundry to do, Tivo to watch, and general organization to accomplish to get ready for my work week. 

Anyone who bumped into me on Saturday probably laughed, as I was a bit harried. I landed from Portland, took public transit home to drop my bags, and then rushed back out to hit the farmers market before it closed. Eating local sometimes involves getting groceries on a farmers market schedule instead of a more convenient supermarket schedule, but once I was at the market, it was fun to walk around and wish my favorite vendors a happy 2010.

I filled my market bags with essentials -- veggies from Swanton Berry Farm and Heirloom Organics, satsuma mandarins from Hamada Farms, a cooked chicken from Roli Roti, lamb and pork lard from Marin Sun Farms, eggs from Soul Food Farm, chorizo and crepinettes from Fatted Calf, and a couple pieces of cheese from Cowgirl Creamery. This grocery list was a little more meat-heavy and expensive than my normal list, but my fridge was bare and some of the meat would be going into the freezer.

Sunday morning, I took some time to make the delicious breakfast you see above. The meat was a bit of a cheat, as it was already prepared by Fatted Calf. Each week, they offer a seasonal "crepinette" -- a sausage that is mixed with something in season and then wrapped in a bit of caul fat. This week's was a pork crepinette with olives, pimenton and orange zest which makes a pretty perfect package of deliciousness. 

About a year ago, my friend Sam taught me to make these perfect potatoes from Delia Smith. They are really decadent and wholly delicious, and made a perfect accompaniment to my breakfast.

For sides, I supremed a grapefruit that I had carried back from the Santa Monica Farmers Market and cut up some radishes for crunch.

I'm usually a quick-breakfast type of girl, and rarely spend the time to make myself a breakfast this decadent -- it was fun, though, to spend the time and energy putting together this local meal.

Happy 2010, everyone!