Iowa White Spread Asparagus Pizza

A springtime pizza featuring the gorgeous La Quercia Iowa White Spread, caramelized pear, asparagus and WI Sheep Dairy Cooperative Pecorino, and small amount of cubed mozzarella.

I made a whole wheat pizza crust.  Heated oven to 500 degrees and put baking stone on the top rack.  Turn broiler on for ~10 mins once oven is heated and prior to baking pizza.  (Cook's Illustrated tip! - it really heats up the stone.)

After rolling out the crust and another slight rise (I make rectangular pizzas - fits better on the peel, the stone, and the cooling rack).  Baked empty crust for 3-4 mins; just enough to 'toughen up' the crust.  Remove and let cool.

I spread the Iowa White spread, pear, asparagus and shaved Pecorino and a small amount (approx. 1/4 cup) of small cubes of mozzarella.  Bake until golden.  It was spectacular.

And for Susan - here's a photo of the barn cats.

 

 

Local Meal

Oh, Sunday nights are so different when one doesn't have to work on Monday! We enjoyed Sunday by working in the yard all day and then making a local supper. I forgot to take a photo.

Salad: a mixture of Forellenschluss lettuce, lemon balm and radishes and from the backyard topped with Hook's bluecheese (Mineral Point, Wisc). Dressing of olive oil and local apple cider vinegar.

Fish was a Lake Michigan perch from Dill Pickle Food Coop. Corn fritters were made with corn and eggs from Grass is Greener Gardens; Great River Milling whole wheat flour and seasoned with chive, a green garlic and other herbs from the backyard.

Happy Feb 1st

I like February. It is gradually getting lighter around 5:00 every night. I can see the difference riding home on the train.

We haven't been to the farm in a couple weeks and it will be a couple more before we go again. The snow is mostly gone from Chicago - I wonder what it is like in Wisc.

I was asked if I would consider a new position at work today. I don't know any of the specifics, but one of the senior managers may be moving to a new department and we have worked well together so she asked if I would consider going with her. I said, "I'm always willing to listen to offers." It caught me by surprise. At this point, I am all about trying to leverage a position that would allow me to work from home (and by home I mean the farm). A work from the farm position would be ideal for a couple of years to allow us to get the farm and Bill's business up and running. We'll see what happens and what the position turns out to be. It is nice to be asked regardless.

I made some parsnips last night. Wow, why has that taken me so long? Washed, cut in half lengthwise and tossed with 1 T olive oil and 1 T butter and placed cut side down in 350 for 45 minutes. Definitely on my list to plant this year!

Weekend visit

We spent Saturday with Bill's brother and his lovely wife - two of our favorite people. They drove down from Minneapolis to visit. We went to the farm on Sunday morning.

It was great to bounce our farm building plans off of them as they are both creative people with great ideas. While Bill and I were driving home this morning he joked that going forward, he doesn't need to read or research construction anymore - he will just call his brother and say, hey you know anything about ____? His brother is a wealth of information.

We ate pretty local too.

Squash soup made with Squash from Pine Row Farm and peppers grown and frozen by my parents. Lamb Stew from Grass is Greener. Beets from Genesis Growers in Illinois. Blue cheese from Hook's. Greens for the salad weren't local, but they were organic from Driftless Market. I made a pound cake with Organic Valley butter, although the flour and sugar weren't local. Topped with a cranberry compote from local cranberries.

The weather this weekend was unlike anything I have ever seen. Everything was 'flocked' with frost and snow. I've seen fake flocking at the holidays, but I've never really seen the real thing like it was this past weekend. There was no sun, so everyday the flocking on the trees and grasses continued. It was spectacular.

Got Zucchini? Make fritters!

I had a huge zucchini in the fridge that my mom gave me. We typically like the young, smaller ones better, but I'm not one to say no to a free zucchini. She actually gave me 3 of them. I've made loaves of zucchini bread and last night I tried zucchini fritters.

We topped them with a dollop of homemade mayo and chopped tomatoes. Delicious!

It was pretty local too. Zucchini from my mom and dad. Bread crumbs were from my own homemade bread (most of the wheat was from Great River Milling in Wisconsin. Eggs were local from Southern Wisc. Garlic, onions, herbs were from my own backyard. Didn't need any milk. Tomatoes (topping) were from my Wisc garden. And a glass of Bauer Kearns wine!

If you haven't tried making your own mayonnaise, I urge you to try - it is delicious!

Zucchini fritters from grist.org
4 cups grated zucchini (1 ½ to 2 pounds), squeezed dry
About 1 ½ cups of bread crumbs, flour, or cornmeal (I used ¾ C ww flour, ¾ C bread crumbs, a ¼ C amaranth grains)
2 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs, beaten
4 scallions, chopped including the greens (I used freshly pulled onions from the garden)
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 cup chopped herbs—any or a combination of parsley, cilantro, basil, mint (I used mint, lemon balm and sorrel)
salt and pepper
A splash of milk or buttermilk, if needed, to give the batter a spoonable texture
Olive oil for the pan

Sprinkle about 1 ½ teaspoons salt over the grated zucchini and set it aside in a colander to drain for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the remaining ingredients together except the oil. After 15 minutes squeeze any excess water from the zucchini and then mix it with the batter. Season with a big pinch of black pepper. Film a large skillet (or two) with 1 Tablespoon or so olive oil. When the pan is hot (on medium heat) drop heaping tablespoons of batter into the skillet. Cook over medium heat until golden brown on the bottom. Flip and cook the second side. Eat while hot with sour cream, yogurt, or salsa verde.Substitutions: grated eggplant, butternut squash, sweet potato, cubes of roasted vegetables

Additions: cheese, other spices or herbs, seeds or nuts.

Piglet photos

A friend and I visited Prairie Crossing earlier this spring. Prairie Crossing is a planned community - which normally I stay clear of - but this is a planned conservation community. They have their own farm! We were visiting for their plant sale and then we did a self tour through their farm and greenhouses. They also rent greenhouses and land to beginning farmers under a land share agreement.

When we were there we saw the new piglets. I don't know the breed, but these are so cute.

Last night we had a local supper.

Goat kabobs from Mint Creek Farm. As future goat raisers, I figured it was time to figure out if we like it or not - as neither Bill nor I had ever had goat. We liked it. Bill liked it more than I did. I don't need meat in my diet like Bill does. I marinated the kabobs in some vegetable oil, lemon juice and cumin. We then grilled them.

Zucchini Skillet Cakes w Capers & Pine Nuts. - recipe from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Suppers. Delicious! The zucchini were grown by my parents, the eggs were from my co-op (from Southern Wisc), the chives, garlic and marjoram were from my yard. The bread crumbs were made from my own old homemade bread. Non-local ingredients were: lemon juice, pine nuts and capers.

This was all enjoyed with a glass of lovely white wine from a local Wisconsin vineyard - Bauer Kearns Winery. A delicious wine and surprisingly not coyingly sweet.

I forgot to take a photo. I assume the photos of the piglets are cuter anyway.