wild for salmon and sorghum beer

Happy Small Business Saturday! Today I'm digging up some pictures from a very simple and very delicious dinner from the summer. Featuring, of course, one of my favorite local small businesses! Wild for Salmon is based in my hometown of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. They harvest the salmon themselves off the coast of Bristol Bay, Alaska and truck it back to Pennsylvania to sell from their base warehouse, farmers markets, and small stores around our area! And wow! Is the product impressive.

The day we picked these fillets up, Pork and I left em in an olive oil, gluten free soy sauce, (our own)garlic, and ginger marinade for a few hours before tossing them on the grate over a nice bed of coals right before sunset. complimented, of course, with local mashed potatoes creamed up with our favorite raw milk and butter from another local vendor. believe me when I say these fillets are melt-in-your-mouth good. I'm glad I have a small vendor like Wild for Salmon I can trust to deliver a sustainable and high quality cut!

Although not AS small, I can't leave out my fish-pairing of choice, Dogfish Head's Tweason'ale. A totally quenching honey, strawberry, and GLUTEN FREE sorghum beer! I had a taste of this great brew in a tiny cafe in Philadelphia last winter and finally got a growler of my own during a trip out to Delaware in August. Just writing about it is making me itch to order a case.

I hope ya'll are having a great late autumn! and staying warm for those in the northern terrain!

x danielle

Wild for Salmon
Dogfish Head

roasted breakfast potatoes

every weekend morning, regardless of if I work or not, I force myself out of bed early enough to whip up something delicious. as a farm raised kid, I go for the meat/potatoes/veggie&egg a guiltily 9 outta 10 times. pre-shredded frozen potatoes are almost always kept in stock for the frequent occasion when we want to indulge in a pile of hash browns without the prep.  I could write a novel on potato dishes, but I digress.

this morning I decided to go for the just-as-delicious-but-longer-cooking roasted potatoes. this roasted potato recipe is so easy and even easier to modify to your tastes. it's especially great to roast along side a larger meal or even in the middle of the night for a quick, cozy snack. feel free to use your favorite type of oil in place of evoo, swap in sweet potatoes in lieu of reds, or play with all your go-to spices!!

oven roasted potatoes

• 3 med-large potatoes, diced into half inch pieces
• 1-2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 TBSP fresh chives, chopped
• 1 tsp garlic, minced or powdered
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• 1 sprig fresh oregano

               preheat oven to 475 degrees F            
               combine in a large bowl oil, diced potatoes, and salt, pepper, chives, and garlic
               lay coated potatoes in a single layer into a roasting dish or baking pan
               top potatoes with fresh rosemary and oregano
               bake 20-30 minutes until browned, turning once or twice

pepper preservation: freezing

this past summer I was luck enough to grow sweet and hot peppers for the first time in my own garden! my partner and I had a blast planning, selecting young plants, and caring for our pepper gardens over the summer. although our yield(particularly the sweet pepper yield) was a bit smaller than expected, we were excited to preserve our goods for the months to come.

most of the hot peppers were either diced and dried for the spice rack, or pickled for later. besides the handful used to bulk up my canned tomato sauce, I was left with only a few pounds of sweet peppers. so in lieu of the salsa I anticipated making(next year!) I opted for the easiest option I know, dicing and freezing. freezing veggies is one of the easiest and fastest way to store your garden bounty! and even better, this same method can be used for tomato, greens, peas, corn, carrots, berries, and more! just be sure to look up the blanching time for your veggies of choice.

freezing fresh peppers

• fill large pot with water and bring to boil
• fill large bowl with ample ice water
• after water boils, drop peppers in a few at a time and allow to boil(blanch) for 2 minutes
• immediately transfer to ice water to stop from cooking
• pat dry, core, deseed, and destem peppers
• cut peppers into pieces as desired(I cut half into pepper rings and the other half into thin spears)
• lay flat on cookie sheet with a small space between every piece
• freeze flat for at least 20min, up to 45min, or until peppers no longer feel moist and begin to harden(it helps to have your freezer on the lowest setting or closest to 0°F)
• bag peppers in airtight freezer bags and keep for 18mos or longer

slow cooked roast stew

local veal roast, hungry cold bellies, and a crock pot that needs broken in means roast stew for ages. 

ingredients:

• 3-4lb lean, beef roast(chuck, bottom, round, etc)
• 4 med potatoes, chopped into bite-sized pieces and peeled if desired
• 2 celerey stalks, chopped
• 1 med-large onion, thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 5oz Can Tomato Paste
• 2 C of fresh or frozen Peas, Carrots, and/or Green Beans
• 2 TBSP gluten free flour
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp cilantro
• 2-3 fresh basil leaves
• Salt, Pepper to taste

Throw that big ol' roast in the bottom of the pot and dump your vegetables, tomato paste, garlic, and spices(minus the flour!) on top. Cover and set to the low 300s, or a low crock setting, and let it sit for the next 10-12 hours. About 30 minutes before you serve, whisk together about two tablespoons of your flour of choice and a bit of water to make a paste-like substance. Throw that into your stew and mix it around to a get a fuller stew broth.

You can continue cooking long enough for the roast to fall apart naturally along the fat lines, or you can remove 1-2 hours from the end of your cook time, chop, and return to the crock to finish stewing.

The best part about slow cooking these stews and soups is the luxury of using frozen meats and veggies. Frozen goods can often go straight into the crock from the ice box. After half a day soaking in your veggie broth goodness, those frozen pieces will be thick, juicy and full of a flavor rarely achieved when fast cooking meats. And frozen vegetables are a great alternative to fresh produce in these barren, winter months. But don't you worry. Warm weather and a plethora of fresh, local produce is just around the corner.