by Anne Maxfield on January 2, 2012
Desperation, coupled with the prospect of a new year and the expectation of resolutions, can be a powerful motivator. With all that in mind, the Accidental Locavore decided to tackle the black-hole of forgotten food, otherwise known as the freezer. The goals were simple, open the door, see what was in there, decide if it was still edible/worth saving and try (desperately) to make order out of frozen chaos.
Because of recent Charcutepalooza challenges requiring the use of large areas in a small freezer, I’ve spent the past few months rearranging the deck chairs, so to speak, but have not tackled the larger issues. The recent addition of a gift of three containers of puff pastry, while welcome, also presented its own set of challenges (note to self: two of them could happily go upstate, where there’s not a holiday big enough to get me to clear out that freezer).
What I found:
- 3 frozen pizzas
- 2 Indian dinners
- Banana leaves
- 3 containers of pine nuts
- Duck rilettes
- Fois gras
- 3 containers of puff pastry
- Mushroom risotto hors d’oeuvres
- 3 kinds of ravioli
- Gnocchi
- Cod fillet
- Part of a small bottle of sake
- 2 bags Chinese pork dumplings
- Banana bread
- Baguette
- 3 Bagels
- 3 kinds of bacon
- Pork skin
- 2 kinds of Italian sausage
- 2 batches of pesto
- Coq au vin (tossed)
- Corn
- 2 bags artichoke hearts
- Rice
- Ground pork
- Duck
- Duck leg confit
- Pork sausage
- Duck livers
- 2 types cooking chocolate
- Kafir lime leaves
- The ginger I was looking for yesterday…
- Thai chiles
- Hangar steak (tossed)
- 8 ice packs
- Bag of chimichurri rice
- 2 small containers of split pea soup
- Bag of meatless meatballs
The verdict: took an hour. Not sure if it looks any better, however I do know what’s in there (lots of duck & pork) and (vaguely) where it is. Have shelves for meat, veggies, pasta, puff pastry, bread etc. Put the small stuff and ice packs in the door, added the pesto to the shelf with the pasta. Took some of the bacon and the ground pork out to thaw to make albondigas for Frank for dinner tonight. Heated the mushroom risotto hors d’oeuvres and brought them to Zhu Zhu’s amazing New Year’s Eve dinner.
What’s in your freezer?
by Anne Maxfield on April 22, 2011
The Accidental Locavore doesn’t mess around with meatloaf or recipes for meatloaf. When I’m working with ground meat and seasonings, my instinct is to turn it into meatballs. Albondigas, lamb meatballs, veal meatballs with baby artichokes (a great spring dish), I take the small round route. Luckily for me (and our friends), my husband makes a terrific meatloaf! He’s a good cook, just doesn’t do much of it. Along with the meatloaf, he makes lovely omelets, steak pizzaiola, and an occasional waffle (but that’s a whole other blog). Usually he likes to make meatloaf for a crowd, but the other day I talked him into doing a small one for the two of us. Here’s what goes into it;
Frank’s Amazing Meatloaf: Serves 2 with lots of leftovers
- 1/2 pound ground pork (we use local ground meat and turkey from our farmers upstate)
- 1/2 pound ground turkey
- 2 eggs (also local eggs)
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs (make your own in the food processor or they can be plain or flavored, panko would work too)
- 1 onion chopped
To taste (or optional):
- Worcestershire sauce (about 2 teaspoons)
- Ketchup (about 1 tablespoon)
- Dijon mustard (about 1 tablespoon)
- Montreal Steak Seasoning (about 1 heaping teaspoon)
- Salt and pepper (if you use the Montreal Steak Seasoning, go easy here, otherwise start with 1 teaspoon each)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl add all the ingredients, and mix until just combined. In a loaf pan, put 1/2 the meatloaf mixture. Top with 3/4 cup grated pepper jack cheese, or fontina. Add the rest of the meatloaf mixture to the pan. Top with strips of bacon, overlapping them to cover the top, trim or tuck in the ends of the bacon to fit the pan. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and top the bacon with 1/2 cup tomato sauce, or about 1/2 can tomato paste (you could also use ketchup). Return to the oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Serve, share and enjoy!
Recently he’s been adding a package of baby spinach that he sautes with a little garlic, and puts in the middle of the meatloaf with the cheese. Not only does it taste good, but it looks lovely when it’s sliced and plated (not that the two of us are competitive in any way).
My rating: 4.75 stars: Big plus for me, I get to sit back and watch and the meatloaf is always delicious. Moist and tender, with the added surprise of the melted, cheesy center, the smoke of the bacon and tomato sauce on top. It’s great stuff, try it and let me know what you think.
by Anne Maxfield on February 4, 2011
Greek lemon-egg soup or avgolemono is one of the go-to recipes when the Accidental Locavore has a cold. The other great cold remedy is any form of albondigas. This week’s cook-along recipe was taken from a recipe from Food & Wine magazine for Tangy Lemon-Egg Soup with Tiny Meatballs, but after making it, a better bet would be the meatballs from the Food & Wine recipe, combined with the version I’ve always made, Greek lemon soup from the Silver Palette Cookbook. The Silver Palette recipe is easier, and I think better tasting. You can do it with or without the meatballs.
For the lemon-egg soup (adapted from Silver Palette):
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 cup long grain rice
- 3 egg yolks
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- salt and pepper to taste
Pour the broth into a pot, and bring it to a boil. Pour in the rice, reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook for about 25 minutes until the rice is just tender. Meanwhile whisk the egg yolks and the lemon juice together in a small bowl until well combined. When the rice is done, remove soup from the heat, and ladle 2 cups of hot broth into the lemon/egg mixture. Whisk to combine, and whisk this back into the remaining soup. Return the soup to medium heat, and cook until soup is just steaming. If you’re adding the meatballs, they go in here, cook for 8-10 minutes to cook the meatballs. Do not let it reach a boil. Season to taste. Serve and enjoy.
For the meatballs:
- 3/4 pound ground lamb
- 1/3 cup onion, minced
- 2 teaspoons mint, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons dill, finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- Flour for dusting
- Salt and pepper to taste
In a medium bowl, mix the lamb with the onion, mint, dill, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Form into 1″ meatballs. Lightly dust with flour, shake off the excess and drop into the soup. Cook for 8-10 minutes until the meatballs are cooked through. Serve and enjoy.
by Anne Maxfield on December 31, 2010
As with the albondigas recipes, the Accidental Locavore has also worked and eaten my way through a lot of short rib recipes. This one is from Gordon Hammersley’s Bistro Cooking at Home. You can make them in the oven, or a slow cooker, your choice. This serves 6 but you can easily cut it back to 2 or 4. Figure two short ribs per person unless they’re huge. When I cut down the recipe, I usually just cut down on the vegetable oil, beer, and broth, everything else just adds flavor. Serve them with your favorite mashed potatoes, I usually add a lot of horseradish to them when I serve them with these ribs, it really brings out the flavor and helps to cut some of the richness.
- 6-8 pounds beef short ribs
- Salt & pepper (I use kosher salt for everything)
- About 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1/2 pound bacon cut into 1″ pieces
- 2 medium sized red onions sliced into 1/2″ rounds (cut across the onion to make rings)
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste (if you buy it in a tube it costs more, but you always have it for weird amounts like this)
- 2 bottles stout beer (I use Guinness, and the cans are fine too)
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 2 cups beef stock (1 can, and some water is fine)
If you’re using the oven, preheat to 350. Salt and pepper the short ribs. In a large heavy pot (ovenproof if you’re baking them) heat the oil until very hot. Sear the ribs in batches if you’ve got a lot of them, until brown on all sides. Remove the ribs from the pan, and pour off the excess oil, but don’t clean the pan. Add the bacon and cook until it’s rendered it’s fat, about 5 minutes. Add the onions and cook until lightly browned, about 6 minutes. Don’t worry if the onions start to fall apart, they will. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for another 2 minutes. Add the beer, vinegar, beef stock, and the ribs. Bring the liquid to a boil. At this point you can cover the pot and cook in the oven until they’re fork tender, about 2 hours and 15 minutes. Alternatively, just dump everything into the pot of a slow cooker, cover and cook on low while you’re at work. When you’re ready to serve, remove the ribs, and onions from the pot, and pour the remaining liquid into a wide saucepan. Bring the liquid to a boil and cook until it’s reduced by at least a third (your call as to how thick you want the sauce). Taste and check for seasoning. Add the ribs and onions back to the sauce, serve and enjoy!
Thanks to Michelle Girasole of the Sassy Ladies for suggesting more recipes for slow cookers, it reminded me about this great recipe.
