Posts Tagged local food
Pierogies
Posted by castironidaho in Places we eat, Recipes on March 23, 2011
It seems like in the melting pot that is America, the one ethnic tradition that outlasts all the other aspects of language and culture is food. Pierogies are a delicious potato and cheese filled pastry, and are one of those kinds of ethnic foods, passed on to me by my mother’s Polish family. My mom’s parents, Mary and Henry Nebzydoski, both were the children of immigrants and both spoke Polish, although none of the language was passed down to my mother and her nine siblings. They were dairy farmers in rural Pennsylvania, my uncle still runs their farm today. My grandmother was a wonderful cook and I remember eating pierogies by the dozen as a child. We had contests on who could eat the most.
My grandmother was very Catholic, attending mass at her tiny local church almost daily in her later years. Pierogies, apparently, are a traditional Lent food. (Lent, for the unindoctrinated, is the 40 days before Easter. Right now it’s Lent.) Traditionally during Lent, Catholics don’t eat meat on Fridays. So this meatless dish was served on Fridays in Lent, and also made en masse by my grandmother and the church ladies, for a fundraiser.
Here’s a photo of my grandparents and eight of their ten children. The one in glasses is my mom. My grandmother Mary Nebzydoski is in the middle and my grandfather Henry is on the right. I’m not sure who the man with the cigar is, if somebody in my family knows, leave a comment!
A few years ago my mom compiled a cookbook of Nebzydoski family recipes. In it was grandma’s recipe for pierogies, calling for 14 cups of flour. This must have been the recipe the church ladies used. We split it in half and still had a LOT of pierogies. But none of them lasted long enough to be frozen for later!
Pierogies
Dough:
- 1 cup oil
- 6 eggs
- 2 cups water
- 2 Tbsp salt
- 7 cups flour
Mix all ingredients to make a stiff dough. Add a little more flour if it’s sticky.
Filling:
- 2 1/2 pounds cut up potatoes, boiled.
- 5 oz cheddar cheese
- 2 Tbsp salt
- 2 Tbsp butter
Mix like mashed potatoes. Add the cheese while the potatoes are still hot, and keep it fairly stiff as it will make it easier to make the pierogies.
To make the pierogies, divide the dough into 8 pieces. Roll out one of them as flat as you can get it. I found the dough to be a little stretchy and hard to get really flat and thin, but do the best you can. Cut into 4×4 inch squares and place a spoonful of filling on the middle of each one. Put a little water along the edges, fold over in a triangle, and squish them shut.
I put the pierogies onto a cookie sheet as I was forming them, so they wouldn’t stick together. Next, you have to boil them. (Pierogi dough is actually a lot like fresh noodle dough.) Drop them into a pot of boiling water a few a time, stir a little to prevent sticking. Remove with a slotted spoon when they float to the top. If they water gets too sticky and murky, you may need fresh water. Cool on a flat surface.
Next, you can either pack them between layers of plastic wrap and refrigerate or freeze them for later, or prepare them for eating.
There are two ways to eat pieorgies: deep fried in oil, or baked with butter and onions. Because we were serving a lot of people at once, the baking method was easier, so we chose that. As a kid, I always liked them fried, but now I’d say both are delicious. And equally unhealthy, because you need a LOT of butter.
We did two different versions, one traditional with butter and caramelized onions, and the other with butter, onions, and balsamic vinegar. We served them with homemade chutneys from last year’s garden, including chili sauce, green tomato and apple chutney, and sweet pepper relish.
Almost forgot to tell you that if you want to eat pierogies without all the work of making them, they’re on the menu at Salt Tears Coffehouse and Noshery, a new restaurant right here in Boise. Located in the same shopping center as the Collister Library, it offers an interesting and different lunch menu. We’ve only eaten there once but liked it. Salt Tears shares it’s space with an art gallery featuring all kinds of local art. The pierogies were the real thing, and we also tried the bread pudding and some kind of mini pizza.
– Katie
Marinated Sun Chokes (Raw)
Posted by castironidaho in Recipes on March 18, 2011
Use mandolin (or cheese slicer on grater), make thin slivers of Jerusalem artichoke. Julianne red onion as thin as possible. Chop fresh parsley. Submerge chokes and onion in vinaigrette. Let sit at least 1 hour. Add chopped parsley just before serving. If you have chokes now is the end of the season, dig them up now!
Like this:
Chiles Rellenos (Stuffed Peppers)
Posted by castironidaho in Food Preservation, Recipes on March 14, 2011
Literally a 15-minute winter dish if you’ve already frozen some peppers and canned some salsa. A Cast Iron standard, great appetizer or side dish. Healthier and better than the deep-fried version.
Anaheim peppers are always particularly prolific for us. I prepared these for the freezer by cutting them in half, removing the stems and seeds, and blanching them in boiling water for no more than 30 seconds. Then I froze them in ziplock bags. They freeze wonderfully and our guests really appreciated a fresh-tasting pepper in the middle of winter. I usually also freeze some peppers already chopped up, this way they take less space in the freezer and are ready to throw into whatever I’m cooking.
Ingredients
- 6-10 Anaheim peppers, cut in half and seeded. Ours were blanched and frozen last summer.
- Small jar of salsa. Ours was canned last summer but store bought or fresh made will also work.
- 1 can of any kind of beans. I’ve used white, black, or garbanzos.
- 1 cup grated cheddar cheese.
Mix salsa, beans and cheese. Spoon into the center of the peppers. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and peppers are heated through.
– Katie
Like this:
Locals Only!
Posted by castironidaho in Farm and Garden on March 11, 2011
Despite the March snow I can smell spring and taste peas. The daffodils, tulips, garlic and other bulbs are pushing through the surface reaching for the sky. I wish I could till my field, but it’s too wet. Instead, I focus on inside tasks like seeding, organizing piles, building stuff in the shop, marketing, networking and communicating on the Internet. And when all that isn’t enough, I cook. Today, it’s venison chili. First, I toast the Black Montana barley and add it to a pot of chicken stock. Cover and bring to a boil.
Since I returned to the Treasure Valley and started farming, the local food movement has blown up. I feel very lucky. In 2004 when I said, “I have a small CSA farm,” people looked at me like I was speaking Spanish. “What’s that?” people would ask. Back then I had the privilege and burden of being the first person to define this concept for a huge number of folks. Our literature for the farm was like a little booklet stuffed full of information about our farm and a special section on why people should care about local farms.
2004 Local Grub Brochure
Now I have a small quarter sheet flier on City Gardens and nearly everyone has heard of Community Supported Agriculture. I don’t have to explain. Wow, this is great! So I thought.
Back when we started, we used door hangers to find our first CSA members. We put on public events, basically we directly marketed our stuff. Farmer and eater met and knew each other. This we called local. Now local is such a buzz word it rolls off the tongue of the best intentioned (liberally, just like “green”). Tons of non-farmers are part of the movement now, not as eaters like in the past, but as advocates or middlemen. ( I often think if all these people joined a CSA it wouldn’t be so hard to find members or sell out at market).
These people want to organize us farmers. You see, we are toothless hill people who can’t speak to Americans like the well-heeled gorgeously dressed middlemen who now want to speak for us. In fact, we farmers are now suspects in mass deception. We are evil witches trying to convince the public we are local and organic when we may not really be. We clearly need these well spoken office people to help clear up this malignant group of ne’re do wells. We need an office full of these people keeping us honest and reassuring the public that these great watchdogs are on duty. And most importantly they need to be paid more than us.
Once the barely comes to a boil, turn down and let simmer.
I’ve spent the last 8 years toiling in the dirt trying to make a living. It ain’t easy. I have worked my ass off to grow my farm to the point where I am a full-time farmer with a part-time job. Unlike Guy Hand, who claims not to have an agenda, I have an agenda. It’s not a point of view that changes depending on what audience I’m speaking to. I came to farming because I felt the industrial world was a wasteland of toxic politics and deadly poisons. Just walk down to the Capital any day this week and ask about the Albertson’s Foundation head and Tom Luna. It’s been this way a very long time.
I farm because my agenda is not to live like we have in the past. Part of that is (small o) organic and the other is to do what I say and believe. The idea of a certifying agency is offensive and part of the world I left years ago. I don’t care what everyone else does, regulate the hell out of yourselves. This will drive the cost up. And what I hear is the price at the market needs to come down. This might come as a surprise to our BMW driving fans, but the working teachers, real estate agents, musicians, state employee… are saying the price needs to come down. This is why I don’t pay for those expensive certifications, not because I’m trying to pull one over on the T.V. addicted shopper that doesn’t have time to get to know the name of their farmer.
What I don’t understand is how the farmer became the bad guy. Seems to me this is media making noise over nothing.
Now, I’ll saute the venison sausage. And stick to cooking.
– Farmer Marty
Oregon Black Truffles
Posted by castironidaho in Recipes on February 3, 2011
Mushrooms are one of the only vegetables capable of sparking golden desires. They’re the meat of the vegetable world. (That’s why vegetarians are always eating Portobello burgers.) Truffles, a mushroom with a chocolate named after it, is the smoldering core of this hunger. If gold was a mushroom it would be a truffle and if chocolate was gold, it would also be a truffle (or something).
I wanted to actually taste this legendary fungus. I also wanted to see what they looked like and if all the hype was worth the money. Plus, Oregon Black Truffles are fresh and local in January. I procured my Oregon Black Truffles from local mushroom pusher Chris at Sweet Valley Organics. They were very fresh, high quality and a good price – plus delivery. Truffles should be dry and firm. If they are moist and squishy don’t buy them. Store them wrapped in a paper towel, in an air tight container, in the refrigerator.
White truffles are a bit different and much more pungent than black truffles, thus are treated differently in the kitchen. White truffles are eaten raw and black truffles are best cooked. Truffle oil and truffle salts are made from white truffles and are best from Europe (So I am told).
Legend has it that the truffles from southern Oregon and northern California don’t come close to rivaling the European variety. According to Chris, it’s taken the American mushroom hunters a while to figure out the best season to pick them and for awhile they weren’t very good. My 1997 edition of Joy of Cooking calls them “so-called summer truffles.” The Oregon Black Truffles I got were found on a Christmas tree farm under the trees, picked in the dead of winter. Now we know when to pick them, let’s learn to cook them.
I really liked the Oregon Black Truffle. They should not be treated like European truffles where they are grated and dusted on food like salt or cheese. These truffles need to be cooked to bring out their flavor. Owen, Lulu’s Pizza chef, made a truffle burger with caramelized onions and black truffles, and sharp cheddar. We also put them on a pizza with a very thin crust, extra virgin olive oil and mozzarella. I made three dishes: 1. Venison with truffle risotto and steamed spinach. 2. Truffle scramble (started out tortilla de patata) and 3. Black truffle miso.
I will cook with them again. Next time; black truffles and toasted Magic Valley barley or black truffles and north Idaho wild rice.
Cut them in thin rounds and use as liberally as garlic. Why not? I made 3 meals with $25 worth. They had a deep fungus of the earth taste (the beef tongue of mushrooms), but nothing that inspired lust. I don’t think there will be an Oregon Mushroom Rush any time soon. But if it were the post-apocalypse and the Tuber aestivum was the only fungi a hunter could rustle up in the dead of winter it would be a delicacy and worth much more than gold.
–Farmer Marty
