Sunday, December 07, 2008

Local Booty Report: 12.7.08

So I haven't done a local booty/bounty report in a loooong time, and since I got to go to the West Seattle Farmer's Market today ALL BY MYSELF (thanks, mom!!!), I thought it was a good time to do it again.

So starting in the front left:
Rock Island Red Dried Apricots ($4) - Pipitone Farms, 160 miles
Celeriac ($3.25?)- Willie Greens Organic Farm, 43 miles
Tall Grass Bakery Bread ($5.25) 13 miles
2 bunches Collard Greens ($5) - Willie Greens Organic Farm, 43 miles

Back row:
1 bunch Baby Carrots with tops ($2.50) - Whistling Train Farm, 25 miles
1 (lb?) bag braising greens ($4) - Willie Greens Organic Farm, 43 miles
2 Heart of Gold Winter Squash ($3?)- Whistling Train Farm, 25 miles
1 12 oz bottle Hazelnut Oil ($13) - Holmquist Hazelnut Orchard, 118 miles
Total: $40

Not a bad local haul! I'm forecasting some smoky collards in my future, probably with some biscuits and gravy. Because, you know, it's been a while.

I've never had celeriac before, so I'll be researching some recipes on that one. Any tips or recipes would be mucho appreciated!

I'm totally stoked about the bag of braising greens! I used to buy an non-organic Trader Joe's product like these almost weekly, back when we lived 2 miles from TJs. Even though they need some washing, it's totally nice to have all the greens stemmed and chopped already. Gooooo, greens!

The dried apricots are sooooo good! In the past, we've purchased their dried peaches and sun-dried tomatoes, which are also awesome. But dried apricots will always have a special place in my heart as my favorite dried fruit. I'm forseeing some appearing in my hot cereal this week!

Oh, and this is the first time I've ever purchased (or eaten?) hazelnut oil. It is divine! I love hazelnut flavor, and this stuff is delicious. I ate some (a lot) of the Tall Grass Bakery bread dipped in some of this golden goodness, and although the first bite is kind of aggressive, it really mellows with repeated application. I can't wait to try cooking with it! I'm thinking the braising greens would do just fine with it. And it will probably make an appearance as part of a salad dressing as well.

Some Foods I've Eaten...

Curried Acorn Squash Soup
Ok, remember a few posts ago when I was dissing all squash soups? I decided to take it as a personal challenge to make one that was actually satisfying. And I think I did it!

2 cups of roasted acorn squash (scooped out of the shell)
2-3 C stock
1-3 tsp madras curry powder
1/4 C cashew cheese
Juice of 1 lime
salt to taste

I had leftover roasted acorn squash from the other night, and I threw that in there with water and the curry powder and started heating it through. But it was too thin and boooooring...so I threw in some lime juice and more salt (and more curry powder). It was better and brighter, but still thin. I almost added coconut milk, but I was afraid that a) I would waste the rest of the can and b) that it would thin it out too much. What to do?!? I finally settled on stirring in some cashew cheese. And it was totally the right thing to do! I pureed it with my immersion blender and tasted it: It was creamy, spicy and sooo comforting. My curry powder is Madras style curry powder, I bought it at Market Spice at Pike Place Market. Your mileage my vary, depending on the type/age of your curry powder, so, you know, add it to taste like the salt. :)

I don't have a picture (which is probably a good thing), but I also made a Chocolate Bundt Cake from The Joy of Vegan Baking and topped it with Chocolate Hazelnut Frosting (using the Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting recipe from JoVB). It got off to a rocky start, because the cake stuck to the bundt pan and thus looked reallly crappy once reassembled. It was super soft and luscious, but didn't hold together all that well. When I got the cake cut and put on plates, it was NOT at all aesthetically pleasing - kind of like garbage on a plate. BUT! Don't judge this book by it's cover! Because it was soooo unbelievably delicious. The chocolate hazelnut frosting was crazy delicious. I used some oregon-made hazelnut-hemp butter instead of peanut butter, and it was fabulous. Make it! Now!

4 comments:

jessy said...

that's some glorious local booty! jealousface! ;) and how awesome that you shopped on your own, too! yay!

i've never had celery root before - but we picked one up 2 weeks ago and it's been staring at my from my fridge! ahahahaa! i think i'm gonna cook it and smash it up - maybe add in some other root veggies to the mash?! i dunno - but i'll be checking out recipes, too - and checking back to see what you do with yours as well! fun produce is the best - gotta love trying something new!

your soup sounds super stellar - and so does the bundt cake - i am picturing it in all its awesomeness now! mmmmmmmmmmmmm!

you better believe i'm gonna be on the look out for some hazelnut oil! jeebus, it sounds absolutely amazing!

Anonymous said...

Celeriac, I've done it like any other root veg. It takes well to roasting I've found, and I like it with some acorn squash to balance out the bit of tanginess I find in the celeriac. I have a friend who likes to do a mashed potato/celeriac combo too...

Score on the local goodies! I'm jealous on the apricots, that not something I'm finding out here in Connecticut, lol. And just as a note, curry acorn squash soup ROCKS!!! Yum. Glad you found a squash soup that works for you :-)

Bethany said...

10g of C is a lot. I take about 1g per day and that seems like a lot. but hey, I've been sick for a long time now.

bundt pans are exciting because they hold the danger of busting up a cake. but I'm still drawn to them :)

I'm so clueless that I saw those collards in your pile of goodness and didn't do the math and figure out that smoky collards were on the horizon. And I took the class. Bad, Bethany.

squash soup looks yummy. if you have voluptuous vegan and some time to kill, her groundnut stew is awesome. use a very small turnip instead of the yucca if you want to keep it more local, cheaper and easier.

Tami said...

Except for the fact that I'm gazillion miles away, I would have gone with you. It sounds like fun!