Vegetarian/ Vegan Glazed Apple Jelly Turnovers

2 cups flour
14 tbls chilled unsalted butter or vegan spread, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large egg, lightly beaten (or 1/4 cup applesauce)
2 tbls sugar
1 tbls chilled heavy cream (or a blend of 3/4 cup Silk vegan soymilk, vanilla 1/4 tsp, 1/8 cup vanilla soy powder, 1 tbls rice syrup, 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp coconut extract, 1/2 cup oil, 1 tbls lemon juice)
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp salt

In a large bowl, mix together with a beater, the flour, butter, egg (applesauce), sugar, cream, lemon juice, and salt and pulse until the dough starts gathering together in big clumps. Turn the dough out onto a counter and gather it together. Shape the dough as directed in the recipe you’re making.

The Apple Jelly recipe can be found here, though you can use any jelly or fruit preserve that has a very thick consistency. Bake at 380 degrees until lightly golden on the bottom.

Mix until smooth, one cup powdered sugar and five tsp of fresh lemon juice. Dribble on top of each turnover until daintily glazed. Avoid drowning them in the glaze or you will loose the flavor of the fruit inside the pastry.

Bruschetta Pizza for Wine Tasting

This Bruschetta pan pizza was well baked for a crisper crust to make for easier handling while at the last of the 101 wine tasting classes that my good friend Bridget O'Malley of Gates Circle Wine and Liquor of Buffalo, NY lead this year. The pizza dough recipe can be found in the Pizza by Demeter post. The basil and oregano were from my garden and the tomatoes and garlic from our local farmer's market.

I made this to pair with the 2009 Bechtheimer Stein Gewurztraminer "Spatlese". Served chilled, this under $15 wine has a light golden hue and is a blend of sweet tropical, ginger, and spice flavors that pairs well with Asian dishes, desserts, and this pizza.

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NY Locavore Challenge - Coming up this September!

What is the Locavore Challenge?

Show your support for local, organic farmers, food artisans, markets, co-ops and restaurants by taking the Locavore Challenge this September. Join a collective movement of new and seasoned locavores by registering for the Locavore Challenge. Choose your level of commitment (Bite-sized, Meal-sized or Feast-sized) and the activities and events you plan to participate in.  

It's your personal challenge, but TOGETHER we are showing NY that there are thousands of us... hungry, active and ready to change our food system. Register at the link above and send me an email when you do so I can keep of my extra challenge of recruiting the most people ever!

I will be committing my family to the challenge of eating nothing but local, seasonal, and organic for thirty (30) nights, for the whole of September. And to do this I need a bit of support. Eating locally, seasonally, and organically is not too difficult when you live on your own or if you incorporate only part of the three into your meals. However, to apply all three to every meal can be very pricey for a family of five. So to meet the challenge and photo blog about the dishes every evening in September, I am looking for the support of a few benefactors who would like to see what is feasible and in turn would like to support a worthy effort.

1. I will list the breakdown of cost alongside the ingredients in each recipe.

2. I will show price comparisons to commonly used conventional non-organic and non-local ingredients typically found in stores.

3. I will make recommendations of ingredient exchanges for meals that incorporate foodstuffs that cannot meet those three requirements.

4. I will blog weekly observations to be posted either Saturday or Sunday as to the successes or difficulties of that week along with information that can be used by others who are also committing in what ever way to the challenge.

If you would like more information about this specifically, would like to participate in the challenge (even if you're not in NY), or want to learn more about this blog, don't hesitate to comment below or send me a message!

If you would like to also donate to this blog's specific challenge, scroll to the bottom of the page and make a donation. I'll include your name in the weekly observations!

Thank you for your support!

Locally raised all organic hen - Baked Chicken

This hen, from Badger's Millside Farms in Hughesville, PA, came with a gizzard packet wrapped in brown paper. Their chickens are pasture raised, not crammed into a long house 24/7. The differences between pasture raised and long house raised are many, from smell, size, skin and muscle texture, to organ tone and color; you can see why organic is the way to go.

Old Bay Seasoning (or a blend of the following spices and herbs: mustard, paprika, celery seed, bay leaf, both black and red pepper, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, cardamom, salt, mace and ginger) 

and pats of butter tucked inside the bird, between wings and legs and the body and on top of the breast. Bake at 375 degrees for approximately one hour or once it reaches a temperature of 175-180 degrees in the thickest point of the breast.

Fry up the liver in a bit of butter and use it to make your brown gravy. Using the browned butter, make a roux adding barley flour and add watered down wine and parsley. Finely mince the liver and stir into the gravy.

This bird will feed about four people very well. Save whatever's left to make chicken stock, which can be frozen for up to three months.

Organic Lemon Garlic Tilapia with Sweet and Basmati Rice blend with Walnut and Blue Spinach Salad

Keep things simple when the Summer heat is unbearable. Light proteins with subtle flavors will keep you refreshed and energized when exhausted by triple digit weather. Serve with un-sweeted iced tea or a large glass of ice water. The fish can be pack boiled, no more than 8 minutes. A pat of homemade garlic butter and lemon wedges keep it flavorful without overwhelming you. A blend of rices and a large spinach salad add a nice touch to an ordinary filet of fish.

First Zucchini of the Year (grown from seed) and Herb Salad

I was inspired by this and many other similar books - 

Grow Great Grub: Organic Food From Small Spaces

Chiavetta's Long Chicken Wings and Seasoned Fries

This is how you cut a chicken wing. Remove the web and the tip and then crack the center of the joint and lay flat. Separate your wings ten (10) per one (1) gallon zip bag and add 3/4 cup of Chiavetta's Barbeque Marinade. Zip the bag closed and roll the wings to ensure each are fully coated. I recommend doing this any where from 24 to 48 hour before grilling so that the marinade saturates the meat and doesn't just flavor the skin.

Cut potatoes into aprox. 1/2 x 1/4 x 4 inch cuts.

Curry, Celery Salt and Olive Oil. Zip bag, toss, and freeze.
Bake at 425 degrees until crisp.

Sweet Paprika, Parsley, Garlic, Sea Salt, Pepper, Olive Oil. 

Zip bag, toss, and freeze. Bake at 425 degrees until crisp.