Will Work for Food - Wellesley Townsman

New Logo for Hilltop Farm

Martha MCDONALD HAS A FARM offering fresh produce and range-free chicken in Lunenburg, MA. Here is the logo Gates Studio designed that fits the style of her rustic farm.

Seasonal Recipes for Locally Grown Food

I have teamed up with a local cook book author and friend to begin bringing you some in-season recipes for locally grown food on this blog. Not many fresh vegetables are available this time of year in New England but you can usually find some chicken/pork/beef/lamb.

Roast Chicken Dinner
Adapted from The Complete Idiotʼs Guide to Cooking for Guys, by Tod Dimmick

Fun History: Steve Friedman wrote about this recipe in a New York Times article titled Cook and Tell Confessions of a Kitchen Romeo.

A roast chicken takes only minutes of prep, and then the oven does the rest of the work.
Bring out a roast chicken for a dinner for a group of people, serve with your favorite
Merlot or Pinot Noir, and everything is right with the world.
Prep time: 5 Minutes Cook time: 120 minutes
Serves: 4 guys or 6 regular people
1 whole free range chicken, approximately 4-5 pounds. What flavor!
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup water
3 large baking potatoes, scrubbed and cut into pieces about 2 inches square
3 onions, peeled and quartered
5 big carrots, peeled and cut into 2” pieces

Preheat the oven to 325. Rinse the chicken under cold running water and pat it dry with paper towels. Chuck the towels. In a bowl, mix the olive oil, lemon juice and chopped garlic. Place the chicken in a large roasting pan without the grill or a large casserole dish. Drizzle the chicken all over (even get a little on the inside) with the olive oil mixture. Then sprinkle the chicken with the Italian seasoning, cumin, and salt and pepper, (get some on the inside, too). Pour the water into the pan (not on the chicken, donʼt want to wash off the seasoning), and slide the chicken into the hot oven. Cook for about 2 hours, and then add the potatoes, onions and carrots around the chicken, adding a little more water if the pan is dry. Cook for another hour (the total cooking time will be about a half hour per pound of weight), or until chicken is fully cooked. If you have a meat thermometer, the meat should be 185 in the thigh.

Pull that masterpiece out of the oven, and let it cool for a few minutes, then carve off slices to serve with cooked carrots, onions and potatoes alongside. The drumsticks and legs are darker, richer meat, the breast is the white meat.

Zephyr Farm new logo

Farmer Michele has a sweet 'lil farm down in Rhode Island with farm fresh eggs people come from miles away to buy and her new logo adds a nostalgic look to her one-woman enterprise.

Cape Cod Times Article Local Food Seasonal Recipes

By Sarah Shemkus

sshemkus@capecodonline.com

April 01, 2009

Wanting to feel more connected to the sources of her food, marketer and Woods Hole native Valerie Gates has started trading her design and branding services for locally raised meat and produce.

The "Will Work for Food" project, as she has dubbed it, is already working with about 10 farms; sausage, steak and turnips are already starting to fill her fridge and pantry.

Related Stories

• Farming: Will work for food

She is talking with cookbook author Tod Dimmick who might produce a local food cookbook and there is even discussion of the two hosting a possible cooking show.

Below are some recipes incorporating ingredients from local farms, courtesy of Dimmick and Gates' husband, Barry Friedman:

Round The Bend Sweet Italian Sausage

Sweet Italian sausage, about 4 links

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

2 cloves chopped garlic

1 chopped fresh tomato

1/2 chopped fresh green pepper

1 can diced tomatoes

Leftover "jar" spaghetti or pizza sauce

Fresh grated parmesan

Fresh chopped basil

• Boil fresh sweet italian sausage from Round the Bend farm for 10 to 12 minutes until cooked through.
• Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet. Brown the sausage links in the skillet, turning occasionally until evenly browned all around.
• In a large saucepan, heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, add chopped garlic and sauté for 2 minutes until golden brown. Add fresh, chopped tomato and chopped green pepper and saute an additional 2 minutes. Add a can of diced tomatoes to the saucepan and whatever leftover "jar" spaghetti sauce, or pizza sauce, you may have. Chop browned sausage links into slices and add to tomato sauce mix. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.
• Cook spaghetti pasta as per 'al dente' directions on package, distribute to plates, sprinkle fresh grated Parmesan directly on the pasta, then add the sauce, and finish it off with a bit of freshly chopped basil. — From Barry Friedman

Tod Dimmick of TastingTimes.com writes, "This flavorful, simple, & healthy recipe is not a soup, but a sautéed vegetable dish. I learned about this from my Italian barber, and the Yankee in me loves to use greens that otherwise might be thrown out, such as broccoli or Brussels sprouts leaves."

Minestra (White Beans and Dark Greens)

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons crushed garlic

1 bunch of greens such as chard, kale, escarole, even broccoli or Brussels sprout leaves, stems removed.

1 can (15 ounces) cannellini beans, drained

Salt and pepper to taste.

Freshly shredded Parmesan

• In a large sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium low heat, and sauté the garlic for 3 minutes.
• Chop the greens coarsely, and blanch them in boiling water for 1 minute. Some greens, such as mature kale or broccoli leaves, will benefit from separating the thicker stems from the leaves, and cooking the stems first to soften them for a few minutes before adding the leaves. Drain, and add the greens to the garlic in the sauté pan. Sauté for about 5 minutes, until greens soften (The time required will vary according to the greens you use).
• Add cannellini beans, heat for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring. Serve immediately topped with salt, pepper, and freshly shredded Parmesan.

"This salad changes with the season, but the ingredients below are a fair representation. Italian or oil-based dressing may be used in place of the vinegar and oil. Make sure the flowers have not been treated with pesticides you wouldn't want to eat!"

Flower Bed Salad

Serves: 4

2 medium fresh romaine bunches , about 12 large leaves, washed and dried, leaves chopped into 2-inch pieces

2 cups spinach leaves, washed, dried, and chopped

1 apple, cored and sliced thinly

10 grape tomatoes, halved

1 handful arugula leaves, washed and dried

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

8 fresh, young nasturtium flowers. (Or the small single marigolds known as "signet")

Mix all solid ingredients except the flowers in a large serving bowl. Drizzle with vinegar and olive oil; arrange flowers on top, present for multiple compliments. A handful of toasted nuts adds magic.

The key to fresh herbs on pizza is to add them as the pizza comes out of the oven, so they soften, but still retain their color and flavor.

Fresh Herb Pizza

1 ball pizza dough (available in grocery stores - whole wheat has the best flavor)

1 tablespoon olive oil

2/3 cup pizza or pasta sauce 6 to 8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded

A handful small arugula leaves

A handful small basil leaves

A small handful (perhaps 12), young edible flowers, such as nasturtium

Salt and pepper to taste

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Set the pizza crust on a floured baking tray or pizza peel. Pour pasta sauce on the crust, spread it around with the back of the spoon, and sprinkle cheese over the sauce.
• Bake the pizza in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until the crust is crispy and the cheese is melted. Upon removing from the oven, arrange the arugula, basil, and edible flowers across the pizza. For added (and irresistible) flavor, sauté thinly sliced onions in olive oil in a skillet, and spread them in a thin layer on top of the mozzarella before cooking the pizza.