Breakfast:
Yogurt (Stonyfield Farm, Londonderry, NH)
Cheerios (exempt) with milk (Crescent Ridge Dairy, Sharon, MA)
Whole wheat toast with honey (Golden Meadow, Holliston, MA)
Lunch:
Leftover potato omelet (potatoes from Drumlin Farm, Lincoln, MA; onion from Blue Heron Organic Farm, Lincoln, MA; eggs from Pete and Jen’s Backyard Birds, Concord, MA)
Apples (Autumn Hills Orchard, Groton, MA)
Dinner:
Shepherd’s pie made from short ribs braised in red wine and maple syrup and a sweet potato crust (meat from River Rock Farm, Westport, MA; vegetables from Drumlin Farm, Lincoln, MA; wine from Sakonnet Vineyards, Little Compton, RI; maple syrup from Shattuck’s Sugarhouse, Belchertown, MA; herbs from my yard)
Sautéed collard greens (Drumlin Farm, Lincoln, MA)
Apples (Autumn Hills Orchard, Groton, MA)
Wine (Rhode Island Red, Sakonnet Vineyards, Little Compton, RI)
Notes:
The shepherd’s pie recipe was tailor-made for the Eat Local Challenge, literally. I got the recipe from Jason Tostrup, chef of the Inn at Weathersfield in Perkinsville, Vermont when I wrote an article last year for Yankee magazine on classic recipes with a twist. Being a local foods guy, his twists included swapping the Irish character of the dish for more of a New England flavor. Local beef? Check. Maple syrup? Check. Sweet potatoes? I don’t know if they’re New Englandy or not, but I just got them in my farmshare this week, so check. The recipe, which you will soon have, is to-die-for. I saved the best for last.
The short ribs were a lucky find. You may remember how I was whining incessantly at one point about my lack of local meat. Well, as it happened, the Seasonal Cook (who did the Eat Local Challenge last year, incidentally) had special ordered some 50 lbs. of beef (or was it 100?) from River Rock Farms in Westport, MA, and just happened to get her delivery right around the time I showed up on her doorstep with cash. Coincidence? I think you know better. Passwords were exchanged. I left with some meat. A happy ending if there ever was one.
Well, except I also needed local wine for the recipe. I had Nashoba Valley and Westport Rivers in mind as Massachusetts vineyards, but I didn’t come up with anything in a dry red from them at my local wine store. Too lazy to go anywhere else, I found a bottle by Sakonnet Vineyards in Rhode Island instead. It was called Rhode Island Red, named after the famed brown-egg-laying chickens that, presumably, stomp their grapes. Delicious! I vote for extra straining.
I didn’t even know there was room in Rhode Island for wine what with their johnnycakes and coffee milk (it’s a small state), but I thought the wine was pretty good. It was indeed red and wine-y and didn’t make me vomit. Sometimes, that’s all I ask. It also made me remember what a much more pleasant individual I am with a glass of wine at dinner. Maybe that’s why I felt the need to carve “I heart collard greens” onto my kitchen wall with a paring knife.
More wine, please.
Oh, we have to talk about this shepherd's pie! Oh my gah.
OK, I'll wait for the recipe.
But, wow.
Posted by: cookiecrumb | October 01, 2007 at 12:13 PM