Cooking Floyd: Summer Eating Has Commenced!

We have been seriously craving that first summer tomato.  Ours are only now beginning to ripen but tomatoes started showing up at the farmers market last weekend.  I resisted buying them there but ended up buying 2 reds and 2 golds when I stopped at Wades Orchard to pick up peaches.  I couldn't wait for ours.

And in that same vein, greedy as Michael and I were for that first taste, I forgot to take pictures of the tomato and fresh mozzarella salad we had with supper.  But it was awesome!  Chunks of red and gold tomato, cubes of mozzarella, sprinkled with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper, garnished with ribbons of lemon basil and drizzled with first press oil from last fall's harvest of Sevillano olives.  So, so good.

I did remember to take a picture of dessert.  Sliced farm fresh peaches surrounding a scoop of strained yogurt, garnished this time with lime basil and drizzled with honey.

The entire dinner conversation consisted of "mmmmmm...." and "I love summer!"  This is the big reminder of why we eat seasonally and preserve.  Out of season store bought fresh produce just can't compare.  Even in season store bought produce that's been shipped in from god-knows-where has nothing on our local crops.  It doesn't even compare with our own preserved produce in winter.  Summer eating is our reminder, reinforcement, and reward for our efforts of growing, preserving, and eating local.

Husbanding Floyd: Fulfilling Destiny

One evening last week during the brief respite we had from the current heatwave, we had the windows open and were enjoying a breeze when we heard a god-awful cacophony coming from the chicken coop!  Immediately our protective instincts kicked in and we rushed down to chase away whatever predator was after our chickens to find...  nothing.

Assuming they were having a sibling spat and establishing pecking order, we returned to our own coop.

Water Bath Canning Workshop

Dawn Barnes of the Floyd County Cooperative Extension is offering a water bath canning workshop on August 3^rd from 5:30 – 8:30 pm.  Please click on the Food Preservation Workshops tab above for details.

Preserving Floyd: Salt Preserved Herbs Part II - The Reveal

Salt civilized the world.

Salt is necessary for the body to function.  Since the body doesn’t produce salt it must get it from outside sources. In earliest times, that meant getting salt from the meat of animals (who got it from naturally occurring salt deposits) and plants. Later its preservative qualities were discovered enabling people to create and save all kinds of food; dairy into cheese, vegetables and fruits into pickles and ferments, meats and fish into hams, jerkies, etc. The ability to cure and ferment allowed people to get through periods of little fresh foods, take longer journeys, trade foodstuffs, and explore. Salt itself was a highly valued and traded commodity, as well as finding its way into ceremonies and rituals of many religions. Its importance can be seen in common phrases like “salt of the earth” denoting someone of sound values and common sense or “above the salt” indicating a person’s societal position of wealth and power. In many ways, the development of civilization and society was salt-centric allowing us to be here today to discuss the merits of salt as the #1 culinary discovery.

Today we're going to finish up the Salt Preserved Herbs.

Cooking Floyd: Reader's Request - Walnut Acres Honey Sesame Seed Peanut Butter

Back in February I did a post on making nut butter and waxed lyrical about the joys of Walnut Acres Honey Sesame Seed Peanut Butter.  Yesterday I got a comment from a reader requesting a reproduction of that yummy spread.  Michael selflessly volunteered to act as taster so I set off on a search for any information I could find.

Walnut Acres and the Keenes' philosophy were very influential in my life starting in my teen years and affecting choices I made concerning my career as a cook, gardener, preserver, and cooking at home for my family.  I knew Walnut Acres had been bought out a few years after I moved away from Mifflinburg, Pa which was just a few miles away from Walnut Acres' Penns Creek location.  But nothing prepared me for the heartbreaking story I found of the Keene family's desperate deal to keep the farm afloat and the trusted Walnut Acres brand's demise at the hands of dot com idiots playing at being organic Big Food giants.

It was with mixed feelings of sadness, nostalgia, and disgust for corporate food entities that I set about playing with my ingredients.

Gardening Floyd: Garlic & Shallots

Back in mid-April I posted this photo of the allium bed:

That's garlic in the back, shallots in the center, and leeks in the front.

Michael harvested the garlic and shallots over the weekend and they're curing downstairs:

The garlic and shallots are covering two thirds of the floor in that room and it's probably still not enough to see us all the way through until the next harvest but we're getting closer.

Spice Rack Challenge July: Basil

Coconut Scallops with Crispy Shallot, Basil and Sesame Sprinkle

This month's challenge is timely since I just harvested the first overload of basil from the garden.  This year we planted Genovese, Lemon, and Lime basil.  So in addition to the recipe for the challenge I put up more than enough pesto to get us and a couple of other households through the winter.  And that was just from the first harvest!  The tomatoes haven't started coming in yet but they will shortly and it's nice to know I'll have enough basil to be indulgent with it!

The recipe I adapted for the challenge came from an advertisement in the July 2005 edition of Food & Wine that I came across while sitting in a waiting room.  I really hate it when waiting room magazines get defaced by people ripping out pages.  The page that's missing always contains the continuation of the article I'm reading.  So I saved other possible readers that frustration and just swiped the whole magazine.  C'mon, it was 6 years outdated anyway.