Dark Days Week 7

Another week down and over halfway to the end of the dark days challenge.

We started off the week with beef taco meat for our leftover spelt tortillas we had made in week 6. Cascade range beef, home canned tomatoes, corn from the freezer we grew last summer, Rockridge apple cider vinegar, cumin, chili powder, brown sugar and home canned chicken stock.

Rockridge Cider roast chicken grown for me by Shawna of Pastured Sensations, Nash’s kale, home grown roasted acorn squash and spaetzle made from Lentz spelt. Next time I would use at least 50% white flour to make the spaetzle as we just didn’t like the texture or taste of this but it was so fun to make and came together quickly at the last minute.

A New Year’s Eve comfort meal for 6. Braised cabbage, carrots and onions from Nash’s, Akyla Farms smoked ham with home canned apricot preserves and mustard glaze along with potato and fennel gratin ala Ina Gartin.

The potatoes were from Michael Pilarski, cream from Golden Glen and the fennel from the market several weeks back. Let me tell you the top was dark (note to self: convect roast means top down heat, convect bake means bottom up) but the insides were gooey and succulent. This one is a keeper and worth every bite of cream.

Everything slow cooked around 325 for hours in casserole dishes and went straight to the table. There was nothing done on the stove top or at the last minute when you have guests to enjoy. I’m doing this dinner again and again. So easy, so yummy. I could have even prepped the casserole dishes the night before and put them in the fridge if I had wanted. Of course I waited until the last minute the morning of instead because organization is not my strong point.

Carrot, beet and apple juice. I bought a 15 pound bag of juicing carrots for $6 and about 10 pounds of beets from Nash at the market on Saturday. I’m pickling, lacto-fermenting, roasting and juicing my way through them. The apples are from Tonnamaker’s. I found a box of juicing apples there for fifty cents per pound. Those are going into cider and sauce tomorrow.

There are some great deals at the market this time of year. Sadly, that means we are nearing the end of the apples and carrots which surprised the heck out of me last year. Since I was new to this I just assumed things would continue all winter like they do at the grocery store. I know better this time!

One other thing to stock up on when you see it because it too will soon be gone – onions and garlic. Leeks and chives won’t be up until April. My freezer is full of frozen roasted cloves of goodness that I pull out and add to each recipe and I realized last winter when the onions disappeared that onion powder works just great in most recipes.

Carrot kvass, beet kvass, ginger carrots and fermented carrots all sitting on the counter for 3 – 7 days until fermentation begins and then they’ll be moved to cold storage. In this state they will last all winter. I use whey from raw milk as my starter so the good bacteria takes over before the bad bacteria can set in and that way I don’t need to use so much salt. If you don’t have raw milk you can use the whey that weeps out of your yogurt.

 Reuben biscuits made with Lentz spelt, Pleasant Valley Munschli, leftover ham and Charlotte’s delectable sauerkraut. Charlotte, if your family won’t eat that sauerkraut bring it on over here and let’s swap for something! That was the best kraut I’ve ever eaten.  I do think these would have been even better if they had been split and stuffed with kraut post baking. 

What really made these good though was a homemade thousand island dressing for dipping.  I combined mayonnaise, ketsup, zuchini relish, mustard, honey and Rockridge orchard apple cider vinegar for a tasty sauce.

Crab dip! After eating only salmon all year I finally ventured into Met Market and asked the fishmonger what they had that was local. The crab was! Oh happy dance.

I made up some homemade old bay seasoning and mixed the crab with fennel, dried dill and home canned cherry bomb peppers. We served it with Nash’s napa cabbage “chips” and toasts of melted Pleasant Valley gouda on Macarina baguette. Ah Met Market. It’s like they have everything there already prepared for you…

Homemade whole wheat flour pizza from Azure Standard white whole wheat (Dufur, OR) and contraband pepperoni. I forgot to buy it from Olsen’s at the market. I did find out that Golden Glen has fresh mozzarella at the market each week which is a huge relief since Julie of River Ranch stopped selling it this year. Home made mozzarella is fun and all but I’m having some serious time management issues lately…

Note the bite taken out of the crust on the right side.  This is what happens when you let a preschooler build the pizza.  I *think* I remembered to make sure he washed his hands first…

Homemade barbecue chicken pizza with my homemade whiskey barbecue sauce and the last of the roasted chicken. If only the whiskey were local but Wade of Rockridge Orchard recently got his distillery license and has made it as far as pear brandy so I’m hoping the future can only hold local whiskey for me. Otherwise I just may rig up a distillery of my own…

Home canned bone broth. A gallon of chicken broth from leftover chicken carcasses I’ve been STOCKpiling (get it?) and two quarts of crab broth from the leftover shells. I’m thinking corn and crab bisque is in my future.

Happy Dark Days to You!