hoe cakes with savory sour cherry chutney

Note: This post was previously published here as a part of my freelance work, and was written by my darling boyfriend, Adam. 

Cherry season, in this area, is fleeting and fickle. Cherries are a delicate fruit, prone to weather damage,  and during their short peak period of ripeness (only a little more than two weeks!) they’re prized pickings for birds and other pests.  Any local cherries that make it to your fridge are a thing to be treasured. 

So now that all of us CSA members have them, let’s revel in cherry season. Let's wring every drop of local cherry possibility from these few short weeks. Of course, you can bake a cherry pie or make cherry ice cream. You can freeze them, can them, or dry them. Or you can do like we did and make a sour cherry chutney.

We began by slowly caramelizing Emanuel Stoltzfus's dashing candy onions, then added the cherries. To ballast their tartness we added a few spoonfuls of wildflower honey. We bolstered the savoriness with the copious addition of black pepper and fresh thyme.The result is a fruity spread that’s sweet and sour, and a perfect compliment to cheese.

To make a dish of it, we spread it atop old fashion hoe cakes. These quaint little corn meal pancakes are said to have originated in the rural South. Farmers, the story goes, would heat the flat metal ends of their hoes in a fire and grease them up as impromptu griddles.  They drizzled batter right on their searing farm tools to cook a quick lunch in the field.  We finished the hoe cakes with some creamy Camembert, but goat cheese or blue cheese would work just as well.

Savory Sour Cherry Chutney

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cups of sour cherries

½ medium onion, chopped (about ¾ cup)

¼ cup honey

3 Tbl of thyme leaves

Fresh cracked black pepper to taste

Directions:

Begin with the hardest part: pitting the cherries.

Next, in a medium sauté pan, sweat the chopped onions in olive oil over medium heat until they begin to brown.

Add the pitted cherries and bring to a simmer. Then add the honey. Feel free to use more honey if necessary to balance out the sourness of the cherries.

Pick the thyme leaves from the stems and add them to the chutney. Crack a generous amount of black pepper into the sauce until it begins to taste rich and spicy.

Continue to simmer the chutney until it has reduced to a jam-like consistency.

Hoe Cakes

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup course ground corn meal

½ cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 cup water

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, salt and baking powder. Slowly whisk in the water (you can use milk instead if you prefer) until it resembles thick pancake batter. Depending on the brand of flour and cornmeal you might have to add some extra liquid to get the right consistency.

Let the batter rest for a few minutes to activate the baking powder and hydrate the cornmeal. Meanwhile, place a 10” skillet (or large-sized hoe) on medium heat and lubricate it with a small pad of butter.

Ladle the batter into the hot skillet and spread around evenly with the bottom of the ladle. After bubbles begin to form around the hoe cake, flip it and cook the opposite side until brown. Repeat until all batter is used, this recipe should yield three large cakes.

Next, using a jar lid, cut perfectly round, finger-food-sized pieces from the larger pancakes. Spread the chutney around the cakes and melt your cheese of choice on top using an oven set 400 F for approx. 5 minutes.

snapshots from a shared blogosphere

Today, I’m excited to announce a new project that I recently took part in. We all know (or you should) how much I love food, especially international cuisines. So I’ve teamed up with a group of bloggers around the world to stop and drop on the same day, at the same time, to photograph what we were eating. 

The Lineup:

Jessica, San Francisco, 8:00am

Me, Philadelphia, 11am 

Julie, London, 4pm

Judith, Seoul, midnight

It’s amazing what a cuisine will say about a culture, and this project has me itching to go eat my way around the world. Food is something people want to share with each other because it’s a deep rooted and meaningful piece of ourselves. The memories you have from being young, the meals your mom used to make, the restaurants you visited with your best friends in high school - traditions and memories develop around food, and the way in which each culture does it is unique. 

Here in Philadelphia on a Saturday morning, I had four friends walking in the door. As they arrived, I was putting the finishing touches on a brunch spread I had prepared using my favorite local and organic ingredients. For me, two things are important when it comes to food: home cooked and ethically-sourced. It’s not necessarily the most common way to consume food in this country, but it is one that is held in high regard. People here love a home cooked meal. And people here love food they can feel good about. Also, it should be noted that brunch is a very American thing…a brilliant custom if you ask me.

The Menu:

Baked Ricotta: made with Wholesome Dairy Farm’s Grass-Fed Raw Milk and Dutch Way Dairy Heavy Cream

Maitake Mushroom & Egg Scramble: mushrooms sourced from Greensgrow Farm and Sandy Ridge Farm eggs

Homemade Bloody Mary’s: made with tomatoes sourced at Greensgrow Farm, home brewed pickles, Clover Creek Cheese Cellar Pirate Blue Cheese, and Sky Vodka

Rosemary and Sel Di Gris Popovers: made with rosemary sourced in Philadelphia’s famous Italian Market, Sel Di Gris purchased from The Meadow in NYC, King Arthur Organic Flour, and Wholesome Dairy Farm’s Grass-Fed Raw Milk

Home-brewed Iced Tea: with ginger, chamomile, cinnamon sticks, clove, rose hip, and Walt's Swarmbustin' honey. 

Peach Preserves: made by Fifth of a Farm

We sat around the table for a good two hours. There were several foreigners in the group - something that is very common in our melting pot of a country - and the conversation went from talking about one person’s country to the next. That’s the lovely thing about brunch, you sit and enjoy the food, and then you sit some more and enjoy each other. It’s a long drawn-out custom that is perfect for the weekend, and a good way to enjoy the company of friends. I should also mention that at my house, dogs are always welcome, so we had three dogs playing underfoot and providing us with plenty of intermittent laughs. 

And that is how we Philadelphians do it. Head on over to Thread & Bones to see what was simultaneously occurring in the culinary worlds around the globe.

navigating the greensgrow cheese fridge with katelyn repash

Note: This post was previously published here as a part of my freelance work.

Last week I had the great pleasure of sitting down to talk cheese with Greensgrow’s new Fresh Food Assistant Manager, Katelyn Repash.

Katelyn came to Greensgrow this season fresh off a line of great experience. She began to meddle in the local food scene while attending Dickinson College; from there she worked at a livestock farm in Emmitsburg, MD and spent two years apprenticing at Charlestown Farm in Phoenixville. This past winter she made the big move to Philadelphia, and found herself in a brief stint with DiBruno Brothers before coming to Greensgrow. Needless to say, this girl knows the local farm scene, and a heck of a lot about cheese.

And a good thing too because Katelyn has taken over the dairy fridge. This summer she’ll be bringing in new farms and varieties to delight our little Greensgrow senses. For all you Calkin’s and Keswick Creamery fans, no fear. She’ll be keeping the staple producers in good stock, but keep an eye out for fun new varieties such as the Keswick Wallaby, a mild aged cheese that will melt in your mouth…or on your mac n’ cheese. After bringing a few varieties home myself, I personally got excited about the new Keswick Creamery Dragons Breath. Made with three different kinds of hot peppers – habañero, birds eye, and jalapeño – it adds the perfect amount of creamy spice to set your cooking on fire. One to keep an eye out for in future CSA’s is Stoudt’s Lady Bell Swiss. The brewery turned cheese maker has smoked this Swiss variety, and Katelyn describes the flavor as, “kind of bacon-y, a little gouda-y, but not as sharp.” 

No matter which variety you’re going to try next, you’ll want to make sure you taste them at the optimal temperature. For most aged varieties, such as Ely Farm’s Washington’s Crossing or Calkin’s Creamery’s Cow Tipper, Katelyn suggests letting the cheeses reach room temperature; while fresh cheeses such as Wholesome Dairy’s Ricotta are best consumed cold or baked in an oven.

Now, let’s get to a Q&A with Katelyn!

If you were going to make a five cheese cheese plate with all of the options in the Greensgrow fridge, which would you choose, and what would you pair them with?

I typically go for sweeter, mild, and nutty cheeses if I’m eating them by themselves. If I had to build a cheese plate the lineup would be Wholesome Dairy Ricotta, Washington’s Crossing, Firefly Farm’s Merry Goat Round, Calkins Cowtipper, and a fresh chevre. These all lean towards flavors that are sweet, nutty, and/or fresh, and are the go-to cheeses if I’m building a cheese board for dessert.

Some of my favorite cheese pairings involve our classic farmstand items as well as new and occasional items. Recently, I’ve been wild about Washington’s Crossing cheese from Ely Farm. I like to eat it paired with a fruit jam like those we sell from Fifth of a Farm. I’ve also been curious about coffee and cheese pairings, and I often add a fresh cheese like quark, chevre, or ricotta to my weekend brunch spreads with some maple syrup to compliment the freshly brewed Rival Bros. coffee. We’ve also been trying out some new Epic Pickles flavors and their sweeter pickles really compliment the spicy cheeses such as Keswick’s Dragon’s Breath (pictured above).

You’ve brought some new farmers to the selection, which is one that you are particularly excited to be carrying and why? 

I’m really excited to start carrying goat’s milk cheeses from Yellow Springs Farm. When working in Phoenixville last year we were a host site for their CSA, so I have tried out many of their cheeses. I think they have some unique items. They do a lot of aged goat cheeses with very interesting rinds. This week we will have their chevre flavors as the first CSA cheese for the season, and then we’ll start stocking their cheeses in our retail fridge! They also make a goat’s milk yogurt that’s very light and fresh and we’re hoping to stock that as something new on the farmstand!

What is something that excites you about the local cheese market? How do you think it stands up against others around the world? 

The most exciting thing, to me about the local cheese market, is the wide variety of styles being produce within a radius of 150 miles. In any given week, we’re able to bring in local goat, sheep, and cow’s milk cheeses in nearly any style we could imagine (from classics like cheddar and ricotta to inventive alpine and brie styles). Some farms have their own signature cheeses developed specifically for the milk they are using. Since we’re not known for a particular cheese regionally, there’s a lot of freedom to try new things and there’s always a customer base looking for unique dairy items.

Which cheese in the fridge is your personal favorite, and what is the best way to use it?
My favorite cheese in the fridge right now is Washington’s Crossing from Ely Farm (pictured above). Lately I’ve been shredding it finely to add to sauces or roasted vegetables. It adds a creamy, subtly sweet flavor when blended into sauces. Over the weekend I made a dish with leeks and pancetta in a white wine cream sauce, and I threw a half cup of shredded Washington’s Crossing in at the last minute to melt – it was perfect!

So what’s the wild card – the one that people might hesitate over, but absolutely need to try?
The wild card in general is anything with a bloomy rind (brie and camembert style soft cheeses). We rotate which ones we bring in and try to only have one or two at a time because we know customers are hesitant without sampling them first. Bloomy soft cheeses can be a gamble because they have a strong flavor. I’d still encourage people to try them – it’s a worthwhile risk. Two that we’ve stocked recently which I really enjoyed were Noblette from Calkins Creamery and the Merry Goat Round from Firefly Farm. I’m hoping to bring them back soon. They are great cheeses for entertaining, and we’re always happy to pass on the backstory about our farms to our customers – they both have a story to go along with them!

Thank you, Katelyn! And thank you, Greensgrow, for letting us explore the cheese fridge!

empire brewing company

Empire Brewing Company is a long-time favorite spot of mine back home. It's a local brewery with great food, fun times, and a good attitude. I grew up going there with the family, and have since made sure to visit almost every time I'm home.

Sustainability

Empire is the first business in central NY to use 100% NY State produced renewable energy, and the good efforts don't stop there. The restaurant uses locally sourced food as much as possible, and really promotes the concept. You'll see "eat local" signs all throughout the place, right down to the coasters. The owners also have a garden that provides produce for the restaurant as well as a farm stand nearby. All of their spent grains and fry oil get put to use for local livestock, and paper products are biodegradable. With so many measures taken, one can sure feel good about going there to grab some beer and food.How's that for sustainability? 

Beer

My favorite thing to do when I go to Empire is to order a beer flight. I can never finish the whole thing, but for only $10 you get to sample a whole line up. Certain brews are always included, and then there are two seasonal picks as well. My personal favorite beer at Empire Brewing Company is the Black Magic Stout. 

The Food

There are a lot of great menu items at Empire, but my no-fail is the lobster bisque. I've been eating it since I was a wee one and each time it goes down so easy. The soup comes with blue corn croutons in it that are particularly tasty. Blue corn sprinkles the menu throughout and is a signature of the restaurant. Also good, are their flat breads and fajitas. Pictured above is the Mediterranean plate which is a great accompaniment for the bisque. 

minted greek yogurt sauce

This yogurt sauce came about as the result of a successful farmer's market trip. The freshest ingredients - mint, young garlic, and beets - had my appetite feeling all inspired. I haven't been eating much dairy, but throw a small dab of this on the side of some marinated beets, and you can't go wrong. Finish the plate off with a sauteed fillet of fish and fresh salad, then boy, you have a meal. Even in the smallest amounts, its strong herb and lemony flavors brighten up any dish.

Ingredients:

1 Cup Greek Yogurt

1/2 Cup Packed Mint Leaves

1 Green Garlic Clove

2 Tbs. Sesame Oil

Juice from 1 Lemon

1/2 Tbs Salt

Directions:

1. Peel the outside layer from your young garlic, and slice each clove. Saute over medium heat in a bit of olive oil until just see through. Remove from flame.

2. In a food processor, whip yogurt until light and airy.

3. Add mint, garlic, and salt and continue to run the food processor until garlic and mint are chopped into little specs of green.

4. Stir in lemon juice.

5. Taste and add more salt accordingly.

no impact man

The cold hard truth is that in order to keep our planet clean and healthy for the generations to come, humans need to consume less. The average American produces over 1,600 pounds of garbage and 27 tons of air pollution a year. The air pollution we cause comes from our use of natural fuels and electricity, mainly consumed through transportation of ourselves and the goods that we consume. Often, those goods not only use energy in their transportation half-way around the world, but also in their production.

But what if we were to limit our consumption? What if we were to live making as little an impact as humanly possible? It's a radical thought, but not too radical for Colin Beavan, the No Impact Man. In 2006 Colin and his family decided to live producing as little environmental impact as possible. What does that mean? Try no packaged goods, electricity, driving, even toilet paper. They made the decision to only consume food that was produced within 250 miles of their NYC home, which if you think about it, means no coffee, olive oil, pasta, kiwi, or any other goods that are not produced in upstate NY. 

As radical as Colin's project is, he makes several very great points. To start, the purpose of his experiment is to see what, after a year, they can and cannot live without in order to cut back on consumption. He believes that optimism will incite change, and even points out that it's not always about how can you go without something, but how can you make it work in a more sustainable way. If we can get back to a communal way of life, we can understand how our own impact effects others, and we can work together to provide what everyone needs in an efficient way.

A huge proponent of the eat local movement and a lover of green goods, I was deeply moved by Colin's documentary. It's not about flip turning your life upside down, but about questioning your habits and believing that we can repair what we've already destroyed through simple changes. What you can do to make a difference? It can be as easy as purchasing a reusable shopping bag or a water bottle and committing to their use. Below are several of the things that I can commit to myself as of right now. I hope to make more and more changes in the months to come, and I hope you'll join me. We're all in this together.

My Commitments to Less Impact:

1. To cut back on my use of plastic ware  I will bring a set of silverware to work along with the plate and mug that I already have.

2. I will never use ziplock bags again, just reusable containers.

3. I will walk and ride my bike as many places as possible, no being lazy!

4. I will continue to eat local, and try to do so in a bigger/stricter way.

5. I will buy the majority of my clothing from thrift and vintage stores.

6. I will get reusable bags for bulk foods at the supermarket, and no more plastic bags in general.

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Check out the No Impact Project for more ideas on what you can do to help create change