If It's Wednesday, It Must be Pizza

It seems we've fallen into a routine of having frozen pizza on Wednesday nights. Wednesday is the one day I go into the office to work so I'm not home to plan any more involved cooking and it is just feels right to have an easy night once in awhile.

This week we were able to keep to the plan to eat locally by having a pizza from Dogtown Pizza. The Dogtown website points out . . . "we make a true St. Louis style restaurant quality pizza and freeze it." This can be good or bad news depending on what you think of St. Louis style pizza.

If you're from St. Louis you immediately understand, if not, please let me explain. St. Louis style pizza starts with a cracker thin crust. (You may see the pizza even curled up a little on one side as it baked because the crust is so thin.) The pizza is topped with classic St. Louis style cheese -- a mixture of mozzarella and provel. Provel is a mixture itself, of cheddar, swiss and provelone. It has a goooey, stringy texture and a buttery taste. Either you love it or you hate it. I seem to think most people hate it, but it does seem popular in St. Louis.

My girls ate the pizza without noticing the cheese, but my husband and I are probably more in tune to St. Louis style pizza and noticed the cheese right away. As he said, "it would be a pretty good pizza with a different cheese."

This particular pizza was a sausage and pepperoni. The meats are made fresh daily in the Hill section of St. Louis, an Italian-American enclave. I did notice the meat to be particularly tasty.

I'll probably pick up another pizza this week from Fair Shares, but may try adding some more mozzarella to hide the provel flavor and texture.

Pesto Pasta!

Tuesday, May 24

Tonight's dinner featured the Mangia Italiano cresta pasta with a pesto sauce from Ozark Forest Mushrooms. Both come frozen from Fair Shares, but both retain a fresh flavor.

I sauteed 3/4 cup onion and 1 chopped garlic clove in 4 T olive oil, added 4 T pesto, a half red pepper chopped and a few left over grilled asparagus. After simmering a few minutes I threw in the already boiled pasta. The last step was tossing in about a half cup of shredded methusala cheese from Heartland Creamery. It is a hard cheese similar to a parmesan.

The pasta is very dense so I think I should have probably made more sauce. My husband is trying to eat low carb so he just took a small bite to taste. He didn't get much of the pesto flavor. I had leftovers for lunch today and found the flavor to be intense. The sauce seemed to sink to the bottom so the leftovers had more of the pesto.

The girls loved the dish and I think would have finished it off if I hadn't grabbed some for my lunch. The grilled flavor from the asparagus enhanced the sauce. You only got

Leftovers and Ribs

Tonight we had some leftovers and ribs. All of the items were either from a weekly share or purchased from Fair Shares. We're at the point in the week that I work on cleaning out the refrigerator to make room for the next week's food. The highlight of the meal was pork ribs from Hinkebein Farms in Cape Girardeau, MO. All of their meat is hormone free and antibiotic free, and as their website says:

The meat is very tender because the animals are not exposed to the stress of living in a feed-lot. Little shrinkage occurs in the cooked product because the animals have room to roam and run, thus building up more muscle.

I have been smoking ribs for years. I worked at Barney's Bar B Q throughout high school and college and believe a dry rub, slow cooked is the only way. My family thinks I make great ribs, but my husband thought these were some of the best ever. I used the Galena Street rib rub from Penzy's (I used to buy it on line, but they have opened a store on Manchester Road in Maplewood. It is worth the trip.) And slow cooked them with indirect heat on the Weber kettle yesterday afternoon. I wrapped them in foil and kept them in the refrigerator until tonight, when I reheated them in a 275 degree oven. The meat just fell off the bone, as usual, but the texture was better than usual.

I love dinners that use left overs, or as my uncle used to call them planned overs. While I was smoking the ribs yesterday afternoon I also grilled the last of the asparagus (tossed in olive oil, salt, pepper and grated parmesan cheese) and refrigerated it. Tonight we ate it cold with the ribs, as well as the left over kale salad and cole slaw I made to go with burgers yesterday. The cabbage was from Yellow Dog farms, which means all of the dishes in tonight's leftover/planned over meal were from local producers.

Tonight I finished on the strawberries in a smoothie. That means the only produce I haven't finished off from last weeks share is a little lettuce. Tomorrow night we'll have it with the pasta from Mangia Italiano and a pesto sauce I purchases frozen from Fair Shares last week.

Week Five -- Trout

Tonight's meal was worthy of an award. The trout was light, fresh and tasty, the salad screamed summer, the bread was both sweet and savory and the strawberries were a perfect finish. Knowing my family would probably like to give me an award for a job well done I have prepared a little acceptance speech:

I am deeply honored to receive this award. I know there are other moms who are equally deserving, but none of us could do it without the help of our food producers. I want to thank all the people who made this award possible. The folks at Troutdale Trout Farm, of Gravois Mills, MO for raising the light fish, the growers at Yellow Wood who grew the spring mix of lettuce, our friends at Sunshine who grew the strawberries and not to be forgotten Companion bakery for creating the seasonal Sundried Tomato bread. . . .

OK, I know that was silly, but the truth is I am very thankful for all these producers. These are real people taking special care to grow food with care for the food and the environment. These are people who were out in the rain and mud picking strawberries and lettuce. And trout farmers who make sure the fish get properly fed and cared for. And bakers who get out of bed early every day to make sure the bread is make fresh each day.

my part of the meal

In case you're interested in how I prepared the items, here's a quick run down--

We had kale left from last week so I cut some up to use in a salad. I had some of the dressing left from last week but I used shredded parmesan instead. I liked it much better with the parmesan. I also sauteed some Kale in butter and garlic and squeezed some lemon on at the end.

For the lettuce, I made the salad dressing that I made a few weeks ago using strawberry jam, olive oil and dijon mustard. (I was out of triple crown jam and didn't know it.) I also had feta available for anyone who wanted some.

The trout was really easy. (Jamie and Kevin gave me some great ideas when I picked up the food.) I put the trout in a shallow baking pan, topped it with olive oil, parsley and lemon slices. I baked it at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes. While it was baking I sauteed a garlic clove in butter and poured it on top when I plated the fish. Everyone in the family loved this. I'm sure we'll be getting more trout in the future.

My mother joined us for dinner and made an angel food cake to go with the strawberries. We had our perennial argument about adding sweetener to the berries. She always insists on adding something and my husband and I like to let then stand alone. We compromised by having two bowls of strawberries. I gave her some locally produced honey to sweeten her half. I have to admit both were tasty.

other items to look forward to

Other items in today's share that I didn't work into tonight's meal are a fresh pasta, asparagus and wheat berries. Scott really likes the wheat berry salad I made, but I want to try them as a sweet breakfast alternative to oatmeal. We'll have to see if I find time to try it soon or I'll forget we got them.

I also bought quite a few items not in the share like ribs, butter, cheeses, mushroom ravioli, pesto and eggs. When I got home I realized I missed picking up the hotdogs I've been getting each week, so I guess we have to eat something else when we need a quick meal. Maybe the pasta and pesto will do the trick.

If anyone has ideas for an easy cheese soufle I'd love to hear. I read about one in the Post this week and am thinking about giving it a try with the eggs and cheeses I picked up today.

Taco Night was a Disappointment

Friday night we had our Mexican Fiesta, as planned, but nothing stood out as really good. I browned the grass-fed ground beef and should have carefully seasoned it, but instead used a prepared southwest seasoning that I had on hand. It didn't have a taco flavoring. That was the first misstep.

I grated the Ropp Aged Cheddar cheese and tried some melted on the San Luis tortilla chips, but it was much too strong. A mild cheese would have worked better.

Of course some chopped fresh tomatoes would have been wonderful, but we aren't in tomato season yet, so I thought the Jasbo salsa would fill in nicely. Again, a wrong choice. None of us cared for the salsa. The jar lists all "normal" salsa ingredients, but something didn't taste right. Scott thought it had spinach in it because of the large leafy items in the salsa. It didn't look like any cilantro we are familiar with. We ended up throwing out the salsa since we knew we wouldn't be eating any more of it. I was hoping to like the salsa. I really like eating foods from local producers. But, I guess not everyone can have the same taste.

On another note, we tried the Jailhouse Brew sauce on hotdogs for lunch. It is a fun, funky mixture of mustard and jalpenos. My only complaint is it seems a little too sweet for some things. I also made some deviled eggs with it, which was also fun. I think this sauce will be a family staple.

Kale and Watercress

Yesterday I got my week-four share from Fair Shares. My challenge foods this week included

watercress and kale. We also got a lovely head of bib lettuce, a quart of bright red strawberries, and the makings of a wonderful mexican fiesta dinner, which will happen Friday night.

I decided to embrace the new foods and try the kale and watercress.

First, pictured on top here, is a kale salad. I used a recipe I found on epicurious.com from Gourmet magazine. It was very easy, but I couldn't find the ricotta salata cheese at my local market and tried substituting some gruyere I had on hand. My husband really liked the salad and had seconds. The girls and I didn't care for it. I would like to try it again with a different cheese. I have a feeling it was the gruyere I didn't like with the dressing.

Pictured below is a watercress and avacado salad. The recipe on epicurious called for six cups of watercress, but I ended up with less than 2 cups after getting rid of the thick stems in my share. I tried to cut back on the dressing and avacado, but it doesn't look anything like the epicurious website. No one cared for this salad, but I don't think I can blame the watercress, I think I ended up with too much dressing to get the fresh flavor of the watercress.

Tomorrow -- tacos! We'll be using American grass-fed ground beef, Ropp cheddar cheese, San Luis Tortillas and tortilla chips, Biver Farms lettuce, and Jasbo's Salsa. You'll have to wait to see how it comes out, but I'll give you a preview. I tasted the salsa and chips and can hardly wait.

Why am I Eating Locally? part I

I'm up to week four of my crusade to improve the world by eating locally grown and produced foods. The problem is, when I am asked to explain my motivations it's hard for me to really come up with any succinct way to justify changing my family's eating habits. It seems to me I just came to this decision over time as I heard multiple sources touting the benefits -- it just felt like the right thing to do.

For instance I read one source (quoting the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture) that stated the average fresh food on our dinner table travels over 1,500 miles. Here I am living in the heartland of America and I started noticing most of my food was being grown in Florida, California, and even Chili and Mexico. I even observed my daughter preferred buying bottled water which came from Fiji, yet we've never even been to Fiji because it would take too much of our limited vacation time to get there and back. I started to think about the impact on the environment moving this food products around the globe and realized I don't want to be a part of that. How many gallons of gas is burned to bring a head of lettuce to Missouri from California, when we can grow it here?

I also started becoming more interested in fair trade. My church, Manchester United Methodist, holds one of the largest fair trade markets in the country. Over the years I have increasingly becoming aware of the importance of fair trade and fair wages for workers. At this year's market I picked up a handy little reference book "The Better World Shopping Guide" that rated businesses on issues such as human rights, the environment, animal protection, social justice and community involvement. My daughters flipped through the easy to read book and started questioning some of our family purchases. I decided one way I can work to ensure a fairer wage for my food is through buying from local producers.

I have to believe buying locally makes a difference in my local economy, too. While I can buy cheaper tomatoes from the Wal-Mart super store, I know very little of that money is staying in my local town. Ignoring all the claims that Wal-Mart is unfair to employees, I have to wonder if a store can make a profit if it is paying a fair wage to the farm workers, yet also has to pay for shipping, storage, packaging, and marketing?

As I said earlier, these were just a few thoughts running in my head when I decided to start eating locally, but I've found other benefits along the way. First, I believe the quality of the food we have been eating is better. I am being introduced to new flavors for foods I've eaten for many years, like the fresh asparagus, and foods I've never tried before, like kale and watercress. Eating some of these vegetables within hours of being picked gives a whole new flavor and texture. I am also finding foods I've feared in the past are really quite good. With luck my children won't be near 50 years old before they find out collard greens are really good and a can be eaten in many ways.

I also know that by expanding the types of produce we are eating we are getting a more well-rounded diet. We regularly ate green beans, okra, and asparagus, but having expanded our eating horizon we have so many more foods in our diet -- adding different nutrients.

Last, I believe I am becoming a better member of my community, getting to know my local vendors, growers and producers. I've gone to local farmers markets for a couple of years, but this year I am working to get to know the people I am buying from. At this year's Fair Trade Market I took the time to get to know the person selling the meat. I enjoyed learning why they have chosen to raise their cattle grass-fed and why they are selling their meat locally, rather than selling off to a large corporation. This weekend, the CCSA I joined, Fair Shares, is sponsoring a picnic for those of us in the CCSA to get to know each other and meet some of the producers. I believe this community building experience will help reinforce my resolve to buy locally.

As I said at the start, I'm not really sure why I have started this journey, and I am sure over time some of my thoughts will become clearer. At that time I will write part II to this entry.

Mushroom Ravioli and other items

Tonight the girls and I had mushroom ravioli I picked up at Fair Shares a couple of weeks ago. It was really good. I served it with some slices of Companion baguette. We drizzled some olive oil on it. I also used some balsamic vinegar. I know I will be picking up more of the frozen ravioli because it was a nice local meal for a night I didn't have time to cook.

Last night we had my mother over for Mother's Day and served her a local meal. The main dish was grass-fed skirt steak. I used a southwestern rub and cooked it in the grill pan. For side dishes we had a spinach salad, adding some of the pea shoots and the end of the radishes, sauteed the end of the collard greens in garlic and lemon juice, and made a strawberry parfait using the local strawberries and honey. My mother still doesn't "get" what we are trying to do with eating locally, but she does agree that the food is fresh and high quality. I am hoping that as we learn more about the producers and share that with her she can see eating locally not only brings high quality food, but is also fair to the producers and makes a positive impact on the local community.

One for thing, this afternoon I spent some time studying the "swap list" and thinking about the extras I want to get this week. The one new thing I see is flour from the Missouri Grain Project, flour milled from locally grown organic wheat. I think this may be our next step in trying to eat locally.

Collard Greens have many faces

Yesterday I had the joy of trying my first Collard Greens. On first glance I was a little taken aback. The large, firm leafy greens kind of reminded me of tobacco leaves. (of course I've only seen tobacco leaves from afar, hanging to dry in Kentucky barns, but this is what I thought it would look and feel like close up.)

Lucky for me the people at Fair Shares know their food and take pride is sharing ways to use it. Yesterday Kevin walked me through my share, and when asked, gave me a few ways to use the collard greens.

First he explained the need to thoroughly clean the greens to get all the sand and dirt out. Then he said you need to cut the stems out of the greens because they are rather hard. (He recommended I save the stems for future vegetable stocks, but I just can't bring myself to think that far ahead. Mine went down the disposal.)

The first suggestion use was probably my favorite -- collard chips. (see photo above.) After cleaning and de-stemming, I cut the leaves into quarters, laid them on a cookie sheet, drizzled with olive oil and salt and placed them in a 450 degree oven for about 3 minutes. They came out light and airy, like a potato chip, and were rather fun to munch on. The 16 year old didn't care for them, but the 12 year old did -- and she is usually the harder one to please.

The second suggested use was to add the greens to a spaghetti sauce. I bought a quart of canned tomatoes at Fair Shares, sauted some garlic, added some seasoning (fennel, oregeno, tarragon, salt and pepper) and red wine simmered for about 15 minutes. I then added chopped collard greens, some of last weeks pea shoots, and some of this weeks mushrooms and simmered another 10-15 minutes. The end result was a nice fresh sauce to serve over some locally made pasta.


This weeks fair share meal included bread from Black Bear Bakery, collard green chips, locally made pasta, fresh mozzarella made from local goat milk and a pasta sauce made with all locally grown ingredients.
All the sauce got eaten, but I'm not sure the girls want it again soon. Katie took out the mushrooms and Molly just dipped her bread in it. We had locally grown strawberries for desert, but no one was really hungry enough to want a desert. The meal was very filling.

Tonight I move on to the lamb. I'm thinking lamb patties with a mint pesto sauce, made from the locally grown mint in the share this week.

Week Three Food -- Collard Greens ?!?!

Prairie Grass Farms Ground Lamb
Dry Dock Mint
Ozark Forest Fresh Mushrooms
Thies Spinach
Yellow Wood Lettuce Mix
Biver Farm Collard Greens
Sunshine Farms Strawberries
Trillium Farm Goat Mozzarella
River Hills Poultry Alliance Eggs
Martin Rice
Black Bear Bakery Whole Wheat Rolls