by Anne Maxfield on December 10, 2010
Looking for a warm and comforting bowl of soup for a cold day? Here’s a recipe for a great creamy corn chowder put together without cream and with corn I froze from the overload this summer, potatoes from Farmer Paul, and local bacon from Dickson’s at Chelsea Market (my new favorite amazing bacon). It’s from Saveur with tweaks. Serves 4.
- 4 strips bacon cut into 1/2″ lardons (strips)
- 2 cups corn kernels (from 4 ears of corn if you have fresh)
- 2 tablespoons butter (could be less if your bacon renders a lot of fat)
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely diced
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 cups milk
- 2-3 medium new potatoes peeled and cut into 1/2″ cubes
- Salt and pepper
- 1 small jalapeno pepper (optional), seeded and finely diced
Heat the bacon in a large pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally until crisp. Reserve 2 tablespoons for garnish, leaving the rest of it (and the rendered fat) in the pot. Add the butter, thyme, garlic, onions, and bay leaf. Cover the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft, about 6 minutes. Add the corn, milk (jalapenos, if using) and potatoes. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce to low. Simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 25 minutes.
Discard the bay leaf. Partially puree the chowder either with an immersion (stick) blender, or by taking about a cup of the chowder and pureeing it in a blender or food processor until smooth. Add it back to the rest of the soup, and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with the bacon garnish, and enjoy.
If you got some of our chipotle salt for the holidays, using it to finish the soup gives it a nice kick.
by Anne Maxfield on September 13, 2010
People who know me know that I hate September. It’s the end of the summer, and all the good things that happen in the summer. Imagine how I felt when I went to pick up my basket this week, and saw beautiful arrangement of pumpkins in front of the barn…
Luckily there were enough great reminders of summer in my box that I was able to put the pumpkins out of my mind (kind of, sort of). This week there was a cute baby watermelon, just the right size for us, a few huge bright red tomatoes, corn, a cabbage, mini zucchini, summer squash, the tinest potatoes, along with some lovely red potatoes, leeks, broccoli, radishes and two shiny eggplants.
Now that I have leeks and potatoes, I’m going to make some sort of vichyssoise, but it might be hot, and I’m thinking of adding some bacon to it, maybe some corn, and thyme.
I could be very trendy with the watermelon, grill it, and pair it with feta, but why when it’s so good on it’s own? I’ve already gotten some ground lamb from the farm down the road, and made some yogurt, so the cabbage is getting stuffed once again. To continue on the lamb front, I have some lamb and curry sausage from our local butcher, which I’m going to pair with a recipe from Fine Cooking for zucchini and chick peas. Now I just need a night or two at home to start cooking. Must be September, right?
by Anne Maxfield on September 3, 2010
Last week, theAccidental Locavore was using up the last of the latest farmbasket and anticipating company so I whipped up a batch of potato salad and coleslaw. I’m not a big fan of mayo and egg based potato salad so my fat delivery system comes via bacon. Here’s my version of a French potato salad:
- Wash and cut into small chunks about a dozen small potatoes. I used small corollas, but new potatoes work fine too.
- Cook in salted water to cover, until fork tender.
- While the potatoes are cooking, slowly cook about 4-5 slices of thick bacon, sliced into 1/2″ matchsticks until browned and the fat is rendered.
- Drain the potatoes and put in a large bowl.
- Add 1 red onion chopped and about a tablespoon of fresh thyme (leaves stripped from the stems). You can also use fresh tarragon.
- Remove the bacon from the pan and add to the potatoes.
- Pour the bacon fat into a small heatproof bowl. Add red wine vinegar, salt and pepper and about 1-2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard. Mix well and pour over the potatoes. Toss until the dressing is absorbed.
- You may need to add a little olive oildepending on how much fat the bacon has rendered. I like my salad dressing to be a little more acid than oily so I usually do about a 50-50 oil to acid ratio, but it’s up to you to adjust to taste.
For the party colored coleslaw, shred in a food processor with the shredding disk:
- 1 small head purple cabbage
- 1 each red,orange, and yellow peppers
- 1-2 carrots (peeled)
Put in a mixing bowl. Add 1 onion finely chopped (I used a red one, keeping with the party colors)
Mix in:
- About a cup of mayonnaise (I used my own)
- 1/2 cup cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup juice from a container of dill pickles (if you have it)
- Salt and pepper
Adjust to taste, serve and enjoy.
by Anne Maxfield on August 2, 2010
If you’re like the Accidental Locavore, you probably haven’t given pimentos much thought. They’re the little red things inside green olives, n’est pas? Correct, but how did they get there, and what do they look like? In this week’s farmbasket, there was a quartet of pimentos, along with a little note: “we’re pimentos, roast us“. It’s hard to spot in this photo, but behind the cranberry beans. there’s a little green stem, that’s one of the pimentos. They look a little like a persimmon, but bright red, heavy and firm.
Since sometimes, I do what I’m told, I roasted them on the grill until the skins were blackened and they were tender. Then put them in a bowl with a piece of saran wrap tightly over it, to steam off the skins (this works for roasting all peppers, so remember it) and let them sit for about 1/2 hour. Then I took the skin off, cut out the center and seeds, and cut them into strips. They’re currently in a jar with some olive oil, awaiting a salad, sandwich, or even a cocktail olive…
As you can see from the photo, I got a mess of cranberry beans. Anyone have a good recipe for them?
Also in this week’s basket, the first cantaloupe of the season which I am going to finish as soon as I post this. It’s perfect, and so good! Corn, tomatoes, including the first of the heirlooms, salad greens, romaine lettuce, little round squashes, yellow and green, tiny potatoes, possibly corrolas, a beautiful purple cabbage, zucchini and summer squash, and a bunch of basil with the biggest leaves I’ve ever seen!
Don’t forget to send me your ideas for the cranberry beans!
On Friday, my first attempt at pickling, check it out.
