one local summer. burrow style.

Last year I missed the deadline to officially be part of One Local Summer. I played along anyway. From June to September, I bought no produce, dairy, meat or eggs that did not come from a local source.  It was fantastic.  Hard at first, but fantastic. I learned A LOT.  I made the deadline this summer for OLS, and I will also be posting weekly over at Heather Jane's place.

The challenge is to create at least one meal a week entirely of local goods and then blog about it.  They give us freebies on oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper.  But that's it. Fine by me.  I truly believe that the best meals are also the most simple, with a couple of nice undertones and without "crowded" flavors.

Of course, by the time I was finished cooking, things were scarfed down at a miraculous speed and I only ended up with photos of the ice cream making!

Menu:

Main Spinach Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing

Roast Chicken w/New Onions Mushrooms & Sage

Dessert Honey Lavender Ice Cream

For the salad:

Fresh, washed spinach

2 hard boiled eggs

6 slices of bacon, cut in 1" pieces

2 scallions, thinly sliced

1/2 C red wine vinegar

2 T ketchup (I actually made my own last summer, and am      on my last jar)

1/2 t salt

1/8 t pepper

Brown bacon, then place on paper towel to drain.  Stir fry scallions in drippings until tender, then mix in remaining ingredients and heat for about 5 minutes.  Pour hot dressing over spinach and toss in bacon pieces and egg.

For the chicken:

1 whole/cleaned chicken

2 bunches new onions, cleaned and trimmed

1/2 pound mushrooms (whatever you can get at the farmers market is fine!)

2 or 3 WHOLE bulbs of garlic with the tops cut off (I'm ashamed to say, these were still in my fridge from the fall)

sage. and lots of it.

1 T oil

salt

pepper

Preheat oven to 450.  Put the bird in a roasting pan (I use a cast iron WITH LID) and rub with the oil. Salt and pepper the surface generously, and then cover with the sage. Fill the cavity with as much sage as you have left. Surround the bird with the onions, garlic and mushrooms. (if it was later in the summer, I would have also added potatoes, carrots, and any other root crop I could get my hands on)

Cover tightly and bake for 1 hour. Slice, and serve with the veggies.  Scoop the individual cloves of garlic out of the bulb and serve on top of the chicken.

And the ice cream.  Oh, the ice cream. I absolutely adore cooking with lavender.  If you don't overheat during the cooking process, the oils will linger on your tongue for minutes.  Heaven.

3 C light cream

2 T dried lavender flowers (I used 3 T fresh)

2/3 C honey

4 large egg yolks

2 t all purpose flour (I omitted this, and it set just fine)

1 t rose water (optional. I didn't have any, but MAN would it be good with it)

Combine the cream and lavender in a heavy saucepan.  Bring to a simmer, remove from heat, cover, and let steep 20 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs until pale, then mix in honey (and flour, if you are using it)

Strain flowers from the cream and mix SLOWLY into the eggs. Pour the entire mixture back into the pan and cook on low heat, stirring constantly until the custard thickens slightly.  If you let the mixture boil, the eggs will scramble.  DO NOT let the mixture boil.  Once it has thickened, pour through a strainer into container (now is the time to add the rose water if you are using it) and chill overnight, or until cold. Then freeze using your ice cream makers directions, then place in the freezer for 2 hours.

One lesson I learned from last year:  Buy every jar of maple syrup they have left at the farmers market

One lesson I've learned this year:  As soon as the wheat flour is ready, I will buy every bag they have.

Comments

[melissa]

oh yummy yummy yum.

[Amy]

Seriously yum.

[heather jane]

I missed the deadline last year, too. So I started my own challenge. I'm doing it again this year, and I'll have mr. Linky up each Monday for people to link to their local meal posts. I would love it if you would post your meals along with us, so my readers can be inspired by you, too. ( I do understand if you aren't inclined to follow two challenges, though.)

This year I will use lavender in my cooking. I've attended a lavender festival in WA a few times, and I love it soooo much. Lavender lemonade, lavender ice cream. It's all so delightful.

[Raina]

Wow!WOW! That sounds all sooooo good. I like the challenge of 1 meal a week from locally sourced goods. Actually, I LOVE that idea and from now on am incorporating that as well. Might be hard in the winter, where we don't have much for fruit and veggies here in Calgary that are local. Anyways, it's a great goal.

[Tracy]

You are at the ice cream stage that I want to be at in a few weeks. And that sounds much like gelato, if you use corn starch rather than flour. Either way, need to try it. Soon.

[jessica]

That meal looks delicious!! I'm so trying out that ice cream!!!

[cloth.paper.string]

nice! especially the ice cream. i think i too will be pulling the last of the preserved and frozen stuff out for our first weeks of the challenge since our season is so far behind...

[Marcia]

How do you do with out bananas!!!

[erin]

um, where do you get the flour? and what am i going to have to do to get you to reveal that source?

[Alexis]

I've never cooked with lavender, but I really want to try it. Does it taste like it smells?

[molly]

yum. i'm going to have to try your chicken recipe. i've made friends with the mushroom guy and must buy from him every week now :)

[Tilly]

Ooh, that all sounds yummy and the lavender on the ice cream looks gorgeous.

[online jobs]

i've made friends with the mushroom guy and must buy from him every week now.I love that idea and from now on am incorporating that as well.

[Dating reviews]

One lesson I learned from last year: Buy every jar of maple syrup they have left at the farmers market..good luck