Sans Twinkie

While the rest of metabolically deranged America is off spinning themselves into a tizzy over the uncertain fate of a chemically engineered, "cream"-filled yellow sponge cake snack, I've been busy cooking up some power food.  Specifically, a delicious and wholesome potato-leek-bacon-egg skillet.

The potatoes (here, a purple variety) and leeks are from my weekly CSA haul.  The eggs sourced from a nearby road-side stand as well.  I diced the potatoes and sliced the leeks.  Usually, I'll parboil my potatoes before frying, but here I employed a fine dice so they would cook up fast and complete.  In a non-stick skillet with a healthy dollop of ghee, I added the diced potatoes and cooked over medium heat.  I prefer to use ghee because it remains stable over medium-high heat (it doesn't easily oxidize), helps achieve that golden-brown texture, and is delicious!

Once the potatoes are crisp on the outside and tender on the inside, I add the leeks, and cook over medium heat for another few minutes.  Once the leeks are tender, I add some chopped bacon and cook until crisp.  I then lightly season the mixture with sea salt and fresh ground black pepper.  Finally, I add four beaten eggs to the mixture - swirling and tilting the pan to cook the egg.  Once the egg is mostly set, you can simply place the pan under your broiler to cook the top of the egg skillet.  Alternatively, you could slide the entire egg mass onto a plate, invert the pan over the plate, then carefully flip the plate-pan assembly such that what was once the top of the egg skillet is now face down in the pan.  This will cook off the rest of the soupy egg in a flash.  Quarter the egg skillet and serve hot.  Or you can allow to cool, wrap in wax paper and take it to go for a nice picnic snack.

Real Food.  Served, sans: Enriched wheat flour, sugar, corn syrup, niacin, water, high fructose corn syrup, vegetable and/or animal shortening – containing one or more of partially hydrogenated soybean, cottonseed and canola oil, and beef fat, dextrose, modified corn starch, cellulose gum, whey, leavenings (sodium acid pyrophosphate, baking soda, monocalcium phosphate), cornstarch, corn flour, corn syrup, solids, mono and diglycerides, soy lecithin, polysorbate 60, dextrin, calcium caseinate, sodium stearoyl lactylate, wheat gluten, calcium sulphate, natural and artificial flavors, caramel color, yellow No. 5, red #40.[10].

Fun Guy

If by "Fun Guy", you are referring to me, rolling around in the sticks and fallen leaves, frolicking among the ticks and slugs on the forest floor, then yup, I'm your guy.  I've been known to contort my body to get that perfect shot.  Oh snap!  You mean 'fungi'.  As in mushrooms.  Toadstools.  You know, puffballs, morels, truffles.  These enigmatic organisms are unique enough such that they earned their own scientific classification Kingdom.

Well, in my Kingdom, mushrooms pair very nicely with butter and wine.  And grass-fed steak.  Seriously, I find mushrooms of all shapes and sized a compelling photo subject and I hope I've captured that here.  I don't know much about these spongy pawns.  But I suspect someday I'll learn the ins and outs of foraging for food…without poisoning myself.  Until then, I'll stay safely tucked behind the lens.  With the ticks and slugs.

Lawn Mower Salsa

I mowed the lawn yesterday.  Hang on, this story gets better.  While running the mower past the garden, I noticed a respectable number of green tomatoes clinging to their vine.  Knowing there was little hope for these to fully ripen given the time of year, I harvested the fruit and proceeded to build a grilled, green tomato salsa.

I gave the dusty orbs a bath, tossed them with some sliced onions and olive oil, then placed them on a grilling tray.  I placed the grilling tray on the Weber for about ten minutes - over high heat - until the tomatoes and onions were slightly charred.  Once cool, I chopped the green tomatoes and onions and placed into a mixing bowl with a coarsely chopped red tomato, fresh-picked basil, and the juice from one-half lime.  Finally, I tossed it all with fresh ground black pepper, sea salt, and a few tablespoons of olive oil.

Be warned that the result will be a bit more sour than your off-the-shelf, HFCS-loaded jarred salsa; but the grilled onion and ripe tomato should provide a nice sweet balance to the finished product.  Also, it may be best to let this salsa chill at least one hour before serving.  You can pass that time by edging your yard with the weed whacker.

Autumn Transition

I took a stroll around my yard this morning.  A mug of AeroPress-brewed coffee in one hand, camera in the other.  Major bed head freak flag flying.  I should have taken a photo of that!  Anyway, under the flat-light sky, I was reminded how much I love October.  It is the epitome of seasonal transition.

Meteorologically speaking, it is truly the no-holds-barred month here in New England.  We can - and have - experienced it all during the month of October.  Summer heat, snow, hurricanes, record rainfall, frost.  Images of this epic clash all around.  Summer roses, still in full bloom.  Exploding mums.  Chlorophyll giving up the ghost.  And an obligatory friendly scarecrow; with a wry smile as if he's thinking, "So long summer, you put up a good fight, but time to pack your bags and head South."

You know, if you really want to scare crows away (and any other creature for that matter), I can send you an 8-by-10 glossy of me sporting my infamous bed head.  Thanks for reading.

CSA Visit

Once a week, between mid-April and mid-December, I visit Arrowhead Farm & Orchard in Newburyport, MA to collect my weekly CSA haul.  Briefly, a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program typically involves pre-paying a local grower for a season of produce.  In a way, it is a bit like buying stock in a company.  Your payment is directly invested into all tasks related to operating a farm - seeds, supplies, fuel, and labor, to name a few.  Your investment pays dividends in the form of seasonal vegetables and fruit.

Throughout the year, we 'eat with the seasons' - lots of tender greens in the early Spring, which are replaced by classic summer veggies such a tomatoes, beans, peppers, stone fruit and cucumbers.  As the days shorten, late Summer fields yield sweet corn, melons, potatoes, and apples.  Squash, sprouts, hearty greens, and various root vegetables round out the late Fall season.

Occasionally, I grab my camera before I head to the farm for the weekly pick-up.  This week (29 September 2012) after I filled my bags with lettuce, beans, kale, tomatoes, apples, potatoes, and first-of-the-season delicata squash, I walked around the farm's grounds and took a few photos featured here.