Monday, January 28, 2008

Dark Days Eat Local Challenge: Week 14

Quiche and frittata have become dinner staples around here as a great way to use up those extra eggs. And yes, I admit to throwing in a couple more than the recipe calls for when our fridge is full up. This is a ham and cheddar quiche with spinach and herbs fresh from our garden. The quiche is paired here with herb foccacia bread. Everything is from our farm but the dairy, which is from down the road.


This week we also enjoyed some braised goose breast from the geese Jim hung to age intact. This technique is regularly used for wild game, aging it before dressing it, which leads to a fuller bodied flavor. They were a beautiful deep red color, looking more like beef than fowl. I browned the breasts in goose fat and then deglazed the pot with some red wine. I then put the whole in the oven to cook at a low temp for about 40 minutes. The meat was delicious and tender, though I definitely could have backed the time down a bit in the oven because I didn't use the whole bird. Carrots are the only non local item here. In my potatoes, I also combined some bleu cheese and spicy salad microgreens, which were quite tasty.

Also on the menu this weekend was a Thanksgiving redux. We still have several turkeys in the freezer, and with my in laws visiting, it seemed a great time for leftovers. Everything in this meal was local, even the sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes. The green beans were from our garden this summer, but weren't very tasty. I think this was the batch I forgot to blanch, which stops the enzyme action in the bean and helps preserve the flavor.

4 comments:

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homemoma said...

sounds yummy

Omelay said...

that sounds delicious. black beans for dinner here. i love them.

Anonymous said...

Wanted to share a recipe with you that was in that Frittata, Quiche style.
i call it a 'Puff', since it puffs up when it bakes.
It's a very easy to make... and the ingredients are flexible.
Take enough small chunks of bread to fill your (lightly greased)baking dish. Layer them in the dish with whatever interests you at the moment. If you are interested in a sweet dish, use cut up fruit (with cinnamon & sugar). If you are looking for a savory meal, use crumbled bacon or sausage (with salt, pepper, and similar seasonings).
Whisk together several eggs... fewer (1-2) for a small dish,more (3-5) for larger dishes. Add enough milk to cover the contents of the dish completely. Bake at 350 until a knife inserted in center comes out clean... this should be around 45 - 50 minutes.
i made this last week, and combined several types (sourdough, wheat, french)of leftover bread that were layered with a combination of crumbled sausage, and sauted onions and garlic. i served it with a salad of greens from our still producing little (covered) raised bed for an easy, low impact, but still wonderful dinner.
---linda