FoodieTots.com

I’ve written before about our quest for artificial growth hormone-free milk that led us to sign up for milk delivery from our local creamery. Why hormone free? Artificial growth hormones (rBGH) have been linked to type II diabetes and cancer. While many of the major retailers have since banned rBGH milk from their shelves (kudos to Wal-Mart, Kroger/Fred Meyer, Chipotle), it is still being produced and distributed to our public schools. I am fortunate to be able to afford organic milk, but the majority of kids who rely on school meal programs don’t have that option. The USDA is about to reauthorize the Child Nutrition Act (CNA) so write today to urge them to give the schools the option of offering  artificial hormone-free milk to our schoolkids. Visit the Food & Water Watch action site RIGHT NOW to send an email. The comment period ends October 15, so comment and forward the link to your friends today!

(Note: the Food & Water Watch message does not ask USDA to mandate the choice, it merely asks them to allow schools to make their own choice.)

The first few days of the Eat Local Challenge were not terribly successful, as they coincided with a work conference that required me to eat several meals in a hotel. One lunch was particularly comic in its seasonal schizophrenia, with asparagus atop sweet potatoes. The weekend farmers market visits enabled me to re-stock the fridge with dairy, bread and produce to be better prepared headed into this week.

My ulterior motive with the challenge is to be more disciplined in eating not just local foods but healthier as well. My requirement to eat something local at every meal has forced me to eat better at breakfast, which is by far my biggest problem area. I am not a morning person, and despite my love of coffee I do not have the skill or patience to make my own first thing in the morning. So I wind up eating unhealthy pastries along with my morning latte. Now, I could claim compliance by buying the locally-baked pastries at my local coffee shop, but I’m trying to improve upon that by actually eating the wonderful local yogurt I always have in the fridge. A slice of locally-baked bread, toasted, with homemade plum jam rounds out the meal and really doesn’t take all that long. I am fortunate in that my son usually eats his breakfast at daycare, so I have some time to get into a healthy routine before he learns from my bad example!

We have had some good mostly-local dinners. This hearty sweet potato and sausage saute was perfect for a rainy evening. Sunday was grilled flank steak and squash, Monday was the leftover steak in veggie-loaded salsa rice. And for those curious, scroll down to the bottom of this post for a list of the local products we’ve eaten this week, and their sources.

Recipe: Sweet Potato & Sausage Skillet Saute

Ingredients:

• 2-3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 T olive oil
• 4 links Italian sausage, cut into 1/2″ pieces
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 bunch tatsoi (or spinach), rinsed
• 1 T soy sauce
• red pepper flakes
• salt & pepper

Instructions: Bring a pot of water to boil and cook sweet potato chunks until just tender, about 6 minutes. Heat olive oil in skillet over medium high heat and brown sausage. Remove from pan, reduce heat to medium and add garlic and onion. Cook 3-4 minutes until soft and translucent. Drain sweet potatoes and add to skillet. Place tatsoi on top, pour soy sauce and additional olive oil over top, cover and let cook until tatsoi is wilted, about 4-5 minutes. Stir in sausage, red pepper flakes and season with salt and pepper. Serve over quinoa or rice. Makes 4 servings. Enjoy!

Farms of Origin

• steak, Fauquier’s Finest via Let’s Meat on the Avenue, Va.
• milk & butter, South Mountain Creamery, Md.
• sweet potatoes, tatsoi, onions, Potomac Vegetable Farms CSA, Va.
• squash, tomatoes, Medina & Sons, Va. (@ Alexandria West End market)
• goat cheese, yogurt & Amish-baked sticky buns, Tom the cheese guy, Pa. (@ Del Ray/West End markets)
• apples, pears, grapes, Papa’s Orchard, Pa. (@ West End market)
• rye bread, Uptown Bakers, Md. (@ West End market)

This is a favorite fall meal, when we’re in the mood for roast chicken but it’s still nice enough outside to grill. The only problem is that we rarely have cans of beer in the house, but I improvised by pouring beer into an empty coke can instead. The beer steams the chicken from within resulting in an incredibly moist chicken. I also stuff the can with fresh herbs (green onions, parsley and garlic chives here) to add even more flavor. And, as with an oven-roasted chicken, the leftovers and bones can be used for several more meals during the week.

Recipe: Beer Can Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 can beer
• several stems green onions
• fresh parsley
• ¼ c butter
• 2 T brown sugar
• 1 T cumin
• 1 t cayenne pepper
• salt & pepper
• 1 whole chicken, 3-4 lbs.

Instructions: Preheat the grill to medium (350*). Open the beer can and pour out (drink) about half. Poke several holes around the top, and stick herbs in the can’s mouth. Place on a large plate or stand. (If you don’t have a stand, you can balance the chicken on the grill using the can and its legs to form a tripod.) Soften the butter and stir in the sugar and seasonings. Rub the mixture under the chicken’s skin and all over the exterior. Place the chicken over the can and carefully transfer onto the grill. Grill over indirect medium heat for 1 hr. to 1 ¼ hrs. Remove from grill (very carefully!) and let stand for 5 minutes before carving. Serves 4.

Recipe: Grilled Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 2 large sweet potatoes
• 2 T butter, softened
• 1 T brown sugar
• 1/2 t cumin

Instructions: Cut sweet potatoes in half lengthwise. Spread butter over cut sides, sprinkle sugar and cumin over the top. Wrap in foil and place on grill, away from the flame, for 40 minutes. Serves 2-4. Enjoy!

Farms of Origin

• free-range chicken, Smith Meadows, Va.
• butter, South Mountain Creamery, Md.
• white sweet potatoes, a Virginia farm, Del Ray Farmers Market, Va.
• herbs, Potomac Vegetable Farms CSA, Va.
• beer, Starr Hill Jomo lager, Va.

Quinoa is one of my favorite quick side dishes. A high-protein ancient grain*, it has more health benefits than cous cous, a mild nutty flavor and is just as simple to prepare. The cooking process is the same, you bring 1 part quinoa and 2 parts water (or broth) to a boil, cover and cook over low heat for about 10 minutes. Like cous cous, it is infinitely adaptable. Here’s the version we had Tuesday night with our salmon; it would be equally nice paired with chicken or pork chops. You could also add dried cranberries, raisins or cherries in addition to the apricots.

Recipe: Quinoa with Apricots and Pepitas

Ingredients:
1 c quinoa
1 c water
1 c chicken broth
1/4 c pepitas (pumpkin seeds), toasted
1/2 c sliced dried apricots

Instructions: Toast the pepitas in a medium hot skillet until golden (optional). Add quinoa, water, broth and olive oil in saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir in pepitas and apricot pieces, cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for 10 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed. Makes 4 servings. Enjoy!

* Like buckwheat, quinoa is technically a seed, not a grain. But the high fiber qualifies it as a “whole grain,” in my opinion.

There’s no reason to pack up the grill just because the calendar says summer is over - fall is a great time to grill, particularly here in DC where summer humidity (and mosquitoes!) drives us indoors too much of the time. Char-marked root vegetables are a fun way to blend summer flavors and seasonal produce.

Recipe: Grilled Butternut Spears

Ingredients:

• 1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into thick slices
• 2 T olive oil
• 2 t cumin
• 1/2 t cayenne pepper
• sea salt

Ingredients: Whisk seasonings into olive oil and toss half of the mixture with butternut spears. Let sit for 20 minutes. Wrap spears tightly in foil and place on upper rack in grill over medium high heat for 20 minutes. Remove from foil and place on grill rack, sear for 2-3 minutes more per side. Brush with remaining oil mixture and enjoy.

Farm of Origin: Butternut squash from Norma’s Farm, Alexandria West End Market.

Today is the first day of the Eat Local Challenge*, which lasts the month of October. Despite my enthusiasm for the One Local Summer challenge, I hesitated a bit before deciding to join the ELC. It’s not that I don’t think we can eat entirely local, but more that I was wondering whether we really should. I’ve decided that we will give it a go, but not be overly dogmatic about it. And I hope to discover and share a few ways busy families can incorporate local foods into their menus without going to crazy extremes.

Our Eat Local Challenge goals for the month are to:

• Eat one local ingredient at every meal.
• Explore local sources/alternatives for seafood, snacks and sweets - the three “s” pitfalls.
• Extend the “buy local” enthusiasm beyond food.

As I was thinking about this post yesterday, I received an alert that DC’s oldest independent bookstore chain, Olsson’s, had abruptly gone out of business. They had recently closed my favorite location, one that (along with my favorite chef) helped revitalize a neighborhood of DC that I was told not to walk through after dark when I first moved here. Apparently they were unable to save the remaining locations in the bankruptcy proceedings. It’s a stark reminder of one of the reasons I started eating locally, which is to support our local economy, our local small and family businesses and farms. I love that we have the option, in our neighborhood, of shopping somewhere other than the Big Red Giant, and would like to keep it that way. I will be heading over to our new (!) children’s bookstore ASAP - and pledge to buy something in one of our neighborhood shops each week this month. (No, not gratuitous consumerism - I’ll be looking to get an early start on my holiday shopping.)

This month is also marked by Blog Action Day, October 15, when bloggers from around the world will blog on the topic of poverty. I launched FoodieTots on Blog Action Day last year, so you can bet we’re participating this time. Stay tuned for how.

Anyone else giving the Eat Local Challenge a try? Or here’s a starter challenge - will you buy one local ingredient each week? I’ll personally suggest a recipe or menu around your item if that helps - just shoot me an email at foodietots at gmail com! Happy eating, locally!

We’re a mixed faith family here at FoodieTots, and as the non-Jewish spouse I’ve had a lot of fun over the past years learning about Jewish culinary traditions. Rosh Hashana, which falls right in the peak of the fall harvest, brings honey-dipped apples and other sweet treats to start the new year. Wishing those of you who celebrate a peaceful respite from the daily grind … and a happy harvest to the rest of you!

Tonight’s dinner menu:

• apples, pears, challah + honey*
• matzo ball soup
• gelfite fish + horseradish
• quinoa with apricots + pepitas
• lemon roasted zucchini + carrots*
• maple-glazed roasted salmon*
• homemade plum ice cream*
• sokol blosser evolution wine (oregon)

* = locally-sourced

For the final glimpse back at our summer vacation, I’ll share a few of our favorite places to chow down during breaks from good old-fashioned digging-holes-in-the-sand fun on the beach.

Devil’s Punchbowl at Otter Rock is one of my favorite spots. Not only are the views spectacular, the little cove beach buffered from the wind and uncrowded, but there’s a Mo’s seafood shack*, Flying Dutchman winery and ice cream truck all perched atop the bluff. Nothing says summer like a fried oyster sandwich and cup of clam chowder, chased down with a glass of pinot and huckleberry ice cream cone overlooking the Pacific. Bliss.

Also on the 101 en route from Lincoln City to Newport, Riptide BBQ pit serves some tasty brisket and pulled pork. And when you get to Newport, Rogue Ale’s global headquarters is a must visit. Oh, there’s also a pretty cool aquarium down there, but we didn’t have time for that this trip. Pig ‘n Pancake is a local breakfast chain, with real, tasty food. As in, real Northwest berries and strawberry sauce that is strawberry red, not red dye #5 red …. and a kid’s menu that has actual kid-sized portions, plus small-portioned combos for adults. The Dungeness crab benedict is quite yummy.

*There’s are several Mo’s locations along the Coast. The one in Lincoln City is perched over the Siletz Bay and offers a pretty spectacular sunset view.

September is a wonderful month at our local markets, with tomatoes and peaches mingling with winter squash, sweet potatoes, the return of salad greens (arugula!), and sweet, crisp apples. Now that we’ve roasted, salsa-ed, gazpachoed, and preserved a gazillion tomatoes, we’re embracing fall and highlighting a few DC-area bloggers who are making the most of the season’s fresh produce.

SQUASH
One of my favorite squash vendors, Three Way Farm at the Del Ray Market, reports that summer zucchini is winding down fast with the shortening days. I shredded and froze a few more pounds today, and am ready to embrace butternuts, spaghetti, acorns and all the other winter squash that add serious heft to my fall market basket…

• The Arugula Files makes a Italian Sausage, Arugula & Squash Soup, with butternut squash.
• Dish-trict shares Brown Rice with Butternut Squash, Wild Mushrooms & Salami.
• And I made grilled butternut spears, getting the most out of our grill while it’s still warm.

APPLES
“Appy? appy” need an appy!” is a frequent refrain in our house these days. Aside from the stash of little delicious, honey crisp and such we keep on hand for snacking, I buy some of the bigger, tarter varieties for cooking. (Jonagold and Matsu this weekend, from D&S Farms at Del Ray.)

• Tiffany at The Garden Apartment perfects the Apple Pie, with Jonathan apples from Bigg Riggs.
• Capital Cooking’s Lauren shares an Apple Crisp recipe, for those who want to skip the crust.
• I made a savory Apple Celery Soup, with Bigg Riggs’ lovely Rambo apples.
• And for still more apple ideas, check out Everyday Food’s Apple Fest round-up.

MISCELLANY
Of course it’s not all squash and apples, check out a few other seasonal ideas.

• Sylvie, the Rappahannock Cook’s Upside Down Plum Spice Cake, with Italian blue plums.
• The Food Scribe’s Lemon Cucumbers & Beets, with fun heirloom cucumbers from Evensong Farm.
• Everyone seems to be pickling these days, and The Slow Cook offers Pickled Okra (one of quite a few pickle recipes he’s posted).
• Grape & Goat Cheese Pizza from Food Rockz Man.
• Speaking of grapes, Ramona at Houndstooth Gourmet made an eye-catching Gorgonzola Cheese Blintz with Concord Grape Sauce. Yum!

We will be participating in the Eat Local Challenge for the month of October, so check back for updates & we’ll see you October 24 for the next FarmFreshDC round-up.

My favorite local coffee shop, Buzz, has delved into campaign politics with a spirited competition between elephant ears and donkey tails. Now, I’m happy to see elephant ears have made their way to the East Coast (although these are actually palmiers, not authentic elephant ears), but it’s fair to assume given our neighborhood that they’ll be taking second place come Election Day.

In more serious matters, Buzz is holding steady in first place (popular vote) in the Washington Post’s cupcake wars. Now, the reviewer gave Buzz mediocre ratings, and I am seriously questioning his judgment. That “funky” taste in the red velvet cupcake’s frosting? Cream cheese. As opposed to the sugar overloaded frostings of so many other, lesser pastry chefs. Buzz’s mini cupcakes were a hit at the toddler’s birthday parties and are our family’s preferred pastries. So, please, support Josh Short and vote early and often!