So, erm, I didn't have any spinach for the "palak" part of "palak paneer", but my garden is overgrowing with kale right now so I thought--heck, why not?  I blanched the kale first for 7 minutes in salty water to get the bitterness out and to get the right texture, and then proceeded with the recipe.  Honest truth?  Couldn't even tell the difference.  Had that been served to me, I would have been clueless that it was kale.  Oh, and FYI, I even emailed a friend in India to ask what a good term for kale is in an Indian language, but they don't have kale in India, so "Kale Paneer" it is!



Kale Paneer
Kale:  backyard
Paneer:  homemade, cowshare milk, ~20 mi
Onion:  CSA, ~50 mi
Tomatoes:  backyard
Cream:  cowshare, ~20 mi
[not local:  ginger, garlic, shit-ton of spices]

And for dessert?  Well, I must admit that technically these cherries are not "local", in that they come in spare change over 100 miles away.  However, they are off of the cherry tree planted in honor of our first son's birth on my husband's family's ancestral farm, so I'm calling that about as local as you can really get!



Cherry Clafouti
Cherries:  family farm, just over 100 mi
Milk:  cowshare, ~20 mi
Eggs:  my friend Megan, ~10 mi
Flour:  can't remember name, nearly 100 mi
[not local:  sugar, cinnamon, and ice cream {oops}]

This was my first foray into the world of enchiladas, and can I just say damn. I am sooooo making these again. And again. And again. And then, just possibly, again. And then maybe I'll make it again next week, too. This was also my second attempt at making homemade tortillas. This is actually really really easy if you have a tortilla press, which, fortunately, I do. However, I cannot get local corn flour (masa), only local corn meal. But I did just get my very own grain mill, so I put the corn meal through the mill and got corn flour--ha! I'm not sure it was quite fine enough, and it certainly hadn't been nixamatalized (sp?), but it worked well enough. The tortillas broke when I tried to roll them, but I'm not sure if that was the fault of the tortilla or my own skills at prepping them--more investigation is needed. I guess I'll just hafta make more enchiladas! Here's the breakdown:

Tortillas
Corn meal: Bridgeton Mills, ~20 mi. (ground into masa at home)
[not local: shortening, salt]

Enchilada Sauce & finished dish
Chicken broth: L&A Farms chicken, ~25 mi, then homemade
Flour: some local place, ~120 mi
Cheese: Amish farmer, ~20 mi
Onion: Good Life Farms CSA, 54 mi
Cilantro: backyard
Sour cream: homemade from cowshare cream, ~20 mi
[not local: truckload of spices, sugar]

Apple Cider Vinegar Salad
Lettuce: backyard
Honey: somewhere local, nearby?
[not local: vinegar, oil, garlic powder, salt & pepper]

And hey, all you gamers what read my blog? Guess what you're getting to eat on Thursday.... hehe

I finally found local flour! Well, mostly local! Er, local enough. ... hm. Damnit, it's 120 miles away, I'm calling it local.

Cabbage & Cheddar Pie

[Crust]
whole wheat flour: ~120 mi (can't remember the name of the grower)
butter: cowshare ~20 mi
[not local: salt, vodka]

[Filling]
cabbage: CSA, ~30 mi
cheddar: amish farmer, ~20 mi
onion: CSA, ~30 mi
sour cream: homemade, cowshare, ~20 mi
butter: cowshare, ~20 mi
[not local: salt, pepper]

Yeah, alright, it's not the prettiest picture I've ever taken (I'll make up for it below with the ice cream pic).  Partially, this is because I forgot that I needed to take pictures, and so it just wasn't set up properly.  Partially because, well, it's just not a very pretty dish.  But it tasted good!  The paneer potato balls are good, but they need a little work--a little something more.  Admittedly, this time we decided that the "little something more" was Major Grey chutney out of a jar, and decidedly non-local, but next time I've got other ideas.  These would go great with a cucumber raita, but we don't have any cucumbers yet.  Ah well, more's the pity.  The strawberry raita I did made was wonderful, but not particularly good on the paneer balls--great on it's own, though.  And the kale?  I don't know what I did, but it was knockout good.  I mean, damn.

Paneer Balls
Paneer:  homemade, cowshare milk, ~20 mi
Potatoes:  Good Life Farms CSA, ~35 mi
Cornmeal:  Bridgeton Mills, ~20 mi
Cilantro:  backyard
[not local:  many indian spices, lemon juice to make paneer, salt & pepper]

Raita
Strawberries:  Amish farmer, ~20 mi
Yogurt:  homemade, cowshare, ~20 mi
Ricotta:  homemade, cowshare, ~20 mi
Honey:  local, don't know where from exactly though
Ginger Mint:  backyard

Kale
Kale:  backyard
Butter:  cowshare, ~20 mi
Cream:  cowshare, ~20 mi
[not local:  pinch of sugar, salt & pepper, nutmeg]



Well, at least here's a pic worth looking at, if for no other reason than it's ice cream!

Strawberry Ice Cream
Strawberries:  Amish farmer, ~20 mi
Cream:  cowshare, ~20 mi
Milk:  cowshare, ~20 mi
[not local:  sugar, salt, vanilla, vodka]

Yee-haw! Hot salad, cold soup--what could be better? You know, every time I see that, I keep thinking of the Buddhist saying:

Before enlightenment: chop wood, carry water.
After enlightenment: chop wood, carry water.

Okay, enough of that. This is my second week of One Local Summer, and my dinner for this week was Hot Spinach Bacon salad with a cold corn chowder. You know, it only just occurred to me that I never really said what the One Local Summer challenge is. If you want lots of details, you can click on the link in my sidebar, but here's the idea: each week I have agreed to prepare one meal (breakfast, lunch or dinner) using only local ingredients. The three categories of ingredients that do not have to be local are: oil, salt & pepper, and spices. Since there are NO GRAINS GROWN HERE AT ALL (except the occasional ground corn), this will be a real challenge. But I'm up to it! The definition of local is variable, but 100-mile is a good rule of thumb. So, on to the entry!

Salad:
spinach--backyard
bacon--Royer Farms, ~30 miles
eggs--Meg's house, ~5 miles
honey--amish farmer, ~25 miles
[not local: vinegar, garlic {damnit!}, salt & pepper]

Soup:
corn--amish farmer CSA from last year, frozen, ~25 miles
milk--cowshare, ~20 miles
butter--cowshare, ~20 miles
chicken stock--homemade from L&A Farms chickens, ~25 miles
rosemary--backyard
[not local: ginger, onion powder, salt & pepper, cornstarch]

Both of these dishes were hurt by a lack of onions, but they're not in season yet, and I don't have any stored. Hrm... can you freeze onions? I shudder to can them (unless maybe pickled, and then that's not really the same thing). I also bent a bit on the ginger and garlic, classifying them as spices, which... er... um.... *whistle* Soon. You just wait until I can get my hands on a winter squash, some onion, a tomato, and some FRICKIN POTATOES! Yeah.

Dinner: Asparagus & Swiss Omelette with Strawberry Salad

This is a delightful omelette--one of our family's favorites.  Slice the asparagus into 1/4" rounds, saute lightly with onion or shallot, and set aside.  Make omelette whatever way you prefer, and stuff with asparagus saute and swiss.  Oh, yummmm.

Eggs: my friend Meg's
Milk: cowshare
Butter: cowshare
Swiss Cheese: the Swiss Connection
Asparagus: White Violet Center Farmer's Market
Green Onions: Good Life Farm's CSA
Lettuce Mix: Good Life Farm's CSA
Strawberries: backyard
Tarragon: backyard

not local: oil, salt & pepper, vinegar (is that a spice, by chance??)

The big Downtown Farmer's Market starts this weekend, and I expect I'll be able to branch out beyond omelettes soon!