Tomatillos

I love tomatillo salsa. I love roasted salsas. I love grilling.

I was in grilling heaven last week when we got tomatillos (from St. Isidore family farm) in our share from Fair Shares, and there was a roasted tomatillo salsa recipe in the Fair Shares newsletter. It was really easy and it was a big hit with the whole family. Even my mother who is afraid of spicy foods loved it.

I roasted the tomatillos, garlic, an onion, and jalapenos in a foil pan on the weber grill. Put it all in the food processor and chopped to the consistency I like. (I had about 20 tomatillos, three jalapenos, one onion and 2 cloves of garlic) Very easy and very tatsty.

Everything in this mealwas local. The chicken was from Greenwood Farms. According to the Greenwood Farms website, "Greenwood Farms is the home of Naturally Raised Beef, Pork, Lamb, and Chicken, Free-Range Eggs, and "Jersey Girl" Grade A Raw Milk—all of which are raised without the use of antibiotics, steroids, or added hormones. We believe that working in harmony with nature is the best way to produce foods that are both healthy and delicious. so everything we sell is raised in a way that puts the health of our customers, the animals’ well-being, and the needs of the earth first." With that said, you should know the chicken was smaller than most roasters you see in the big chain grocery stores. It was probably the size of a small fryer, but the meat was so good it easily fed all five of us once we put it in the wrap with the tomatillo salsa, cheese and some tomatoes.

I roasted the chicken on the grill, along with some potatoes and carrots. When the chicken was done I started the tomatillos and corn, from Theis, which I had wrapped in foil with some butter and seasoning. We also had a lovely yellow watermelon from family owned Lee Farms in Truxton and tomatoes from Ivans Heiloom,

The next morning we had it on scrambled eggs with sausage, tomatoes and cheese in a breakfast wrap. (again all local)

You can really see the tomatillo salsa here because in the the base layer, but it is soooo good!

Membership in Fair Shares-- It works for Me!

Last week when went to pick up my share from Fair Shares I found we had pickling cucumbers in our share. I wanted to trade them for something else but was told trading on produce is on hold while the summer bounty is arriving. Kevin, one of the great staff members at Fair Share, suggested I try making refrigerator pickles. I thought, oh, yeah, are you crazy. But I took the picklers home and sat them on a shelf in my refrigerator.

For days I had those things staring at me each time I opened the refrigerator and I started to wonder if this whole Fair Shares thing is worth it, but every time I questioned it, I new the answer was YES!!!

In the early spring I joined Fair Shares, a combined CSA (community supported agriculture) to try to eat with more awareness of where our food comes from, and to try to make less of an impact on the world. On their website Fair Shares explains they, "work with local farmers and producers to collect, organize and distribute a well-rounded example of the freshest, seasonal, sustainably produced foods available in St. Louis all year long. Members of Fair Shares know who produces all the food we feature, plus we give menu ideas, recipes, and storage and preparation tips in our newsletters and on the forum." I can tell you that is all true.

Once a week I go to the Fair Shares warehouse to pick up my share in that week's bounty. The nice thing is I don't have to search out the growers and producers, they have already done it. Throughout the week they are talking with growers and producers finding what is available and making orders to get us members a variety of foods from local sources. They place orders with Hearltand Creamery to get cheeses, Companion to get breads, Mangia Intaliano to get a variety of pastas, to name a few. In the summer they are also dealing with area farms to manage the produce coming in each week, ensuring the members get a well-rounded variety of food.

There are currently 315 members in Fair Shares and the small staff ensures we each get quality food each week, without taxing the small producers providing the food. The staff has organized and plan where we each get all the food, but on different weeks. Just think how difficult it would be for a family farm to prepare 315 chickens in one week! Instead the plan has some of us receiving beef, while others receive lamb, and others receive trout, etc.

Produce is at the mercy of the weather and what the farmers can get planted and harvested. In the Spring lettuce was plentiful and we received it each week. In mid-summer tomatoes and peaches are plentiful. The staff carefully figures out how many tomatoes and peaches we receive for our share, based on what the farmers bring to the warehouse. On one week we may get three tomatoes, an another it may be six. Like the farmers we are supporting we are at the mercy of heat and rain.

How does this benefit me? I like that I am supporting local growers and producers and making less of an impact on the environment. My food is not being trucked in from thousands of miles away. I don't have to make the trek on Saturday morning to the Tower Grove Farmers Market to see what the local producers have available for the week. And, more importantly, I am not given the choice of what food I will buy each week. That may not seem like a benefit, but if I had not pre-payed for my share, I would have never bought leeks or kale or turnips from the market. Since I have pre-payed for the food I take it and find ways to eat it. And I've found I like it!

Each time I research and cook a new food, I picture my grandmother finding new ways to eat her whatever was coming up in her garden that week. I have fond memories of eating rubarb pie and fresh pears at my grandmother's home. If that is what is in season, that is what she ate. I am also finding ways to save the abundant foods, like tomatoes and peaches for use later in the year, when fruits and vegetable will be in short supply. I've been freezing peaches, blueberries and tomato sauce and last night canned, yes, canned!, three pints of pickles. (using those challenging pickling cucumbers)

I highly recommend everyone find a way to eat locally and seasonally. Support local producers! And if you need ideas for what to do with those pickling cucumbers, or leeks let me know. We can figure this out together.

Summer's Bounty

Eating locally produced and grown food is very easy this time of year. In fact, we are having trouble keeping up at times. My grocery shopping habits in the past would not have included plums, peaches, melon and blackberries in one visit. I probably would have chosen one fruit, and probably apples or oranges, since they have a longer shelf life.

This week I got all those fruits in my share from Fair Shares, as well as cucumber, tomato, okra, corn and mushrooms. We also got pork chops, tortillas and a dozen eggs. Meals have included pork chops with plum sauce, Indian style Okra, sliced tomatoes, ears of sweet corn and peach blueberry pie.

While at Fair Shares on my pick up day I opted to buy extra, while everything is in season so I could freeze some for later. But, by Friday night I figured out I didn't buy enough so we made the trek to the Tower Grove Farmers Market to buy more. Like my share from Fair shares, there was an abundance of fruits and vegetables everywhere. I bought some more blackberries and tomatoes to freeze for the summer.

I also enjoyed talking with some of the vendors that we get items from through Fair Shares. I stopped by the Hinkebein booth to pick up some bacon and had a chance to say how much I enjoyed the pork chops the night before. I told the person at the Mangia pasta booth how much I enjoyed their pasta after explaining how we get the pasta through Fair Shares. I also stopped by the Salume Beddu booth to buy another kind of bacon, but when we started talking I opted to buy some salsicca bolognese, as well. We are having it for dinner tonight. He recommended it with pasta, olive oil, garlic and swiss chard. (Luckily I noticed the swiss chard available at a booth in the last aisle so we are set to start cooking.)

Eating locally means eating with the seasons. And that means peaches and blueberries last week, and peaches, plums, melons and blackberries this week. This is the way our grandparents would eat and it makes sense. The fruit has a richer, more vibrant flavor. I already miss the strawberries of early summer, but am enjoying the later summer fruits. I am adjusting the way I think about cooking to what is available and finding the little bit of extra time is worth it because of the fuller flavors. My only fear is that I am not freezing enough to get me through the winter when fruits and veggies will be in shorter supply.

Update:

Here is a picture of the pasta we made with the sausage, pasta, swiss chard and cheese. I found a recipe on epicurious that was very similar to what the guy from Salume Beddu suggested. I added tomatoes and used Mangia spinach pasta because that is what we had on hand. I liked the swiss chard with the sausage. The sausage had a cinnamon and nutmeg flavor which seemed to be enhanced by the swiss chard. I used Methuselah cheese from Heartland Creamery. It was a really easy dish, taking less than a half hour from start to finish.