Roasted Sweet Potato Risotto

The days may be getting longer, and warmer, but it is still winter and some comfort food is in order.  This recipe, adapted from REAL SIMPLE magazine, turned out so well that I thought I would share it.

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons olive oil 

1 medium onion, finely chopped

kosher salt and black pepper

2 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 pound), cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 cup Arborio rice

1 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (2 ounces)

2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano

3 1/2 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock, heated

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400, toss the sweet potato pieces with 2 tbsp. olive oil, spread on baking sheet and roast until tender and starting to brown, when ready begin step 2.

2. Heat the remaining 2 tbsp oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 3 to 5 minutes

3. Add the sweet potatoes and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 minute.

4. Add the rice and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the wine and cook, stirring frequently, until absorbed.

5. Measure 3½ cups of water. Add ¾ cup at a time and cook, stirring frequently until the liquid is absorbed before adding the next.  It should take 25 to 30 minutes for all the water to be absorbed.

6. Stir in the Parmesan and oregano.

Enjoy!

Going Locavore

As I posted earlier I have been reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver and have truly been inspired.  Her book has reminded me of what I know in my heart to be true, love your neighbor as yourself and for me that means voting with my wallet to support local farmers and businesses.
So, we are going locavore.

The Locavore’s Pledge
If not LOCALLY PRODUCED, then Organic.
If not ORGANIC, then Family farm.
If not FAMILY FARM, then Local business.
If not a LOCAL BUSINESS, then Fair Trade.

Consider these quotes from Kingsolver's book, "Buying your goods from local businesses rather than national chains generates about three times as much money for your local economy" and "if every restaurant got just ten percent of its food from local farmers, the infrastructure of corporate food would collapse".  Those are pretty powerful incentives to me.

Generally "Local" means a 100 mile radius from your home.  If you want to calculate yours here is a great site www.100milediet.org.  When I looked up my 100 mile radius I realized that I hit the local food jack-pot.  My 100 miles includes western Massachusetts, all of CT, Hudson Valley New York, Long Island NY, the eastern edge of Pennsylvania and most of New Jersey (yes, the Garden State).


Making the change to Locavore in February in New England seemed an impossible challenge but I have found that it is not as hard as I thought it would be.  My first step was to shop at Whole Foods, a store I love but often skipped since I bought into the its too expensive hype.  Yes some things are more expensive but many things are not and it is always a good idea to be a savvy shopper no matter where you go.  The thing I like about Whole Foods is that they label all local foods which makes it much easier.  


The second thing I did was to sign up for local milk delivery through  Hudson Milk Company
www.hudsonmilk.com.  Not only can we get fresh, local, glass bottled milk but we can also order eggs, butter, cheeses, breads and meat through them as well.  So far we have been getting milk, butter, eggs and amazing grass fed ground beef.  My husband told a neighbor on the train that we had switched over to milk delivery, and the neighbor exclaimed "you know that is twice as expensive!".  When my husband related this exchange to me, I was very happy to report that in fact a half gallon of delivery milk was the same price as a half gallon of organic milk in the supermarket.  So much for its more expensive - it is very important to do your own research!


Probably the biggest change we will be making is in our produce.  We have just signed up for the spring (I love to hear that word) CSA with Gazy Brothers Farm www.gazybrothersfarm.net.  This farm participates in our town's Farmer's market where we can pick up our produce during the season, it will be delivered to us in the off season - how great is that!  Again, I thought that this would be more expensive too but when I actually did the math it was obvious that this will actually be a big savings for us.  A 10 week share is only $200 which comes out to $20 a week for an entire box of produce.  Try buying that much produce from your local grocery store for only $20.  The best part is that 100% of my food dollars will go to the farmers, our neighbors.  You may not realize, but on average, farmers today receive only 19 cents on every food dollar spent, that is a lot of money on gas and middlemen.  


So far, we have not switched over completely - it is February after all and I am still using up what is in the pantry but I feel really good about the changes we are making.  The kids are also really excited and I am glad we are teaching them the importance of where their food comes from and about how to make educated choices.  I will keep you posted on our progress!


If you want to find out how you can eat locally, please visit Local Harvest. www.localharvest.org

Count Down To Spring

This has been a winter for the record books.  Living on the Long Island Sound usually protects us from extreme snowfall but not this winter.  Personally, I am done with the snow.  The other day while driving my son saw a tiny patch of grass and exclaimed "Look Mom, Grass!  I forgot what it looked like!".
That pretty much sums it up.  I really can't wait for spring.

If you want to count down with me visit:
http://mycountdown.org/Other/Spring/getwidget/

Re-Use It: Ribbon

I recently saw the Jane Campion film Bright Star - I cannot resist a costume drama.  In one scene, Fanny is arranging a gift basket when she reaches over and clips the end off the ribbon her sister is wearing as a sash.  She uses the little ribbon to decorate the basket.

A small moment, but it spoke to me.

I suppose some might see Fanny's act as cruel but she couldn't exactly take her carriage to Party City to get wrapping paper or disposable ribbons.  Resourcefulness is a virtue.

I guess the reason we don't use more real ribbons on presents is that it seems a luxury.  Of course, it isn't more expensive it just looks that way.  Perhaps we are just too used to living in a disposable society.

I love getting gifts tied up with real ribbons as much as I like giving gifts tied up with real ribbons.  I just can't bear to throw them out, not even the short pieces.  So, like a pac rat I keep them in a box in the basement hoping to re-use them for someone or something.  This is my box of ribbons.

If you save ribbon like I do, here is a great way to re-use them - turn them into book marks.  Ribbon has been used for book marks for ages, some bibles even have them sewn in.  You can remember a thoughtful friend when you open your book and they are much prettier than post-its.  They can even help you get organized.  I like to use a color coded system for marking favorite seasonal cookbook recipes: White = Winter, Light Green = Spring, Dark Green = Late Spring/Early Summer, etc.

Next time you receive such a lovingly wrapped present, don't forget that the ribbon is a gift too.

Sage

When I host Thanksgiving, which is most years, I make my favorite Sausage, Apple and Cornbread Stuffing.  A labor of love but worth the effort.  One of the key ingredients is fresh sage.  Thanksgiving is often the last time I can cut any fresh herbs from the garden and usually the winter savory and sage hold up pretty well even after a frost or two.   This year both varieties of sage in my garden didn't even make it through the summer let alone the frost, so I had to buy it.  

When I opened up that small plastic container of sage on Thanksgiving morning the gorgeous aroma of this sage almost knocked me over.  I have never grown a variety of sage that smelled so good.  After using what I needed for the stuffing, I put the extra stems in small glass vases on my kitchen window ledge and left them.
 

They spent the holidays there growing roots and observing the hub-bub of family and friends in the kitchen.  The holidays over,  I had some time to pot them.  It felt good to garden for a little while, albeit indoors.  I ignored the several feet of snow (literally) covering my garden and pretended it was spring.  Now my little sage-lings have been clothed in earth and sent to vacation in our sunny guest room window.  I can't wait to see them in the garden, and with any luck they will join us for dinner next Thanksgiving!

For a great article about sage and how the first American "goodwives" used it for Thanksgiving, visit Willow Pond Farm's website, www.willowpondherbs.com/kitchen/thanksgiving/index.htm.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

My thoughtful sister got me a great Christmas present this year - a gift card to Barnes and Noble.  I usually get my books used so buying a new book is a rare treat.  As soon as I saw the gift card I knew exactly what I wanted to buy, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.  I first heard about this book on one of my favorite radio shows Speaking of Faith when Krista Tippett interviewed Kingsolver about her experience of eating locally for one year.  For anyone who reads the place of  origin on their groceries knows that eating only local and seasonal food can be a challenge.  I was intrigued and could not wait to hear about how she did it.

So far, I am only a quarter of the way through the book and loving it.  As I read,  I  am equally horrified by the food culture in our country and inspired by Kingsolver's re-discovery of old fashioned food wisdom.  I have always considered myself as a  conscious consumer concerned with my family's heath and the environment.  I buy mostly natural and organic foods, few processed foods and rarely do we have soda.   But, this book has really raised the bar and made me re-evaluate my food choices.  Organic apples from Washington state are great if you live in Washington or Oregon but not not if  you live in Connecticut.

We spent this past frigid weekend visiting my in-laws in New Jersey, a home where there is never a bad meal.  My mother-in-law stocks up on our favorites for every visit and always gets the best of everything.  New Jersey is the "Garden State" and when they are in season there is nothing better than New Jersey ripe tomatoes, sweet corn and soft shell crabs.  But this weekend we dined on fresh strawberries, avocados, ripe tomatoes and pears all grown God knows where courtesy of Costco.  I was of course grateful for all the tasty morsels but seen in the light of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle  it seemed very decadent.

After a weekend away I had to get a few provisions so I went to Whole Foods where I planned to ease my conscience and find good local organic food to stock my pantry with.  Good and organic were in abundance, local, well not so much.  I looked at the produce aisle with new eyes and read all the labels: Washington, California, Florida.  The closest I got to fresh local fruit was a container of New York lady apples so I snatched them up.

I am not sure if I can go completely local just yet (school lunches) but I am going to try.  I am going to adopt the mindset and practices that my grandmothers and great grandmothers had and eat what is in season and cook accordingly.  I am hoping to join a CSA this year and will be buying eggs from my neighbor across the street once spring comes (too cold for the chickens now too).  It should be an adventure but the best way to vote is with your wallet and I want to make my vote count!


To hear the interview with Barbara Kingsolver on Speaking of Faith with Krista Tippett click on the link below.  You can also visit the Animal, Vegatable, Miracle website for more information http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/.
http://being.publicradio.org/programs/2010/ethics-of-eating/

Goin' Bananas

Bananas, one of the most common fruits in the produce aisle, they are there in every season and every store.  We are so used to seeing them that we forget that they are actually exotic and travel a long way to get here.  Everyone in my house wants them on the shopping list yet when they are here they rarely get eaten in time.  Black bananas in the fruit bowl are a common sight.

In my grandmother's youth bananas would certainly have been considered a luxury and wasting them would not have been an option.  Waste not want not - hence the invention of banana bread.  I don't like to waste them any more than my grandmother would, and considering the carbon footprint of a banana shipped to CT it would be crime to.

So when your bananas are goin' make some banana bread.  My friend Donna, who is also a thrifty Yankee gal (and Red Sox fan), makes banana bread all the time.  Her tasty loaves are filled with chocolate chips and often given to friends  - now that's a way to make someone's day!  I like banana bread but find that banana muffins make very convenient snacks, great with a cup of tea or in a lunch box. 

My favorite recipe is adapted from one of my favorite cookbooks: Dairy Hollow House, Soup & Bread, A Country Inn Cookbook by Crescent Dragonwagon

Banana Muffins:

1 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1/2 cup brown sugar 

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup of milk

6 tablespoons of melted butter

1 large egg beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 mashed bananas

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F .  Combine all dry ingredients, in a separate bowl mash bananas and set aside, combine all wet ingredients, add bananas to the dry ingredients followed by the wet ingredients, fold together gently until combined.  Add nuts or chips.  Fill paper muffin cups or greased muffn tin 3/4 full with batter.  Bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown and cooked through in center.  Enjoy!