BATTLE OF THE ANTS

I'm still a little sad that otter pops aren't local because if they were I'd list them a billion times in this space. It's been hot, and otter pops are a cure-all, that's for sure. But when I tore myself away from the otter pops and actually had substantial food, I did a good job. I had an all-local salad for lunch almost every day (a big deal since I am not a fan of the mixed greens, but with radishes and hard-boiled egg and a little cheese, I can ignore the greens part!). It cooled off a bit over the weekend and I made some things that I wanted to try...namely making cheese and making pasta. Success!

But first, the breakfasty sorts of items...

Here we have a heart breakfast. Really hearty. It's an omelet sort of thing (steak, eggs, cheese), plus a cut-up tomato and some wheat toast with strawberry jam. I don't think I ate again until dinner time.

HEARTY BREAKFAST
- toast: Moscow Co-op (8mi) wheat bread made with Shepherd's Grain (Columbia Plateau farmers, Spokane mill/distributor) flour.
- strawberry jam: Pokey Creek Organics in Santa, ID (60mi), purchased at the Moscow Farmers Market (8mi)
- eggs: Hufford Farm, Deary, ID (33mi), via the Co-op (8mi)
- "cooking cheese": WSU Creamery, Pullman, WA (2mi)
- leftover tenderloin pieces: Eaton Beef, Colton, WA (10mi)
- tomato: one of very few at a stand at the Moscow Farmers Market (8mi) [I forgot the name of the farm]
- not local: salt, pepper

Continuing the trend of things with eggs, I liked the Uova e Spinaci Cotti alla Fiorentina I made two weeks ago that I made it again...only this time I threw some salami into the mix. Salami wasn't on my shopping list, but when I went into Ferdinand's to get cheese I saw a few hunks of "WSU Meats Salami." I couldn't resist. It is super good. I am assuming that some of the pigs down the road gave their lives to become extras in my breakfast.

SPINACH & EGGS & SALAMI
- spinach: Santa Creek Farm, St. Maries, ID (70mi) via the Co-op (8mi)
- egg: Hufford Farm, Deary, ID (33mi), via the Co-op (8mi)
- salami: WSU Meats, Pullman WA (2mi)
- butter & milk: Rosauers brand (Spokane-ish, Inland NW cows), purchased in Moscow (8mi)
- not local: salt, pepper

Next we have a bona fide dessert! I was watching Alton Brown's Good Eats on Friday night, and he made Dutch Oven Cherry Clafouti. I don't have a dutch oven and I don't cook outside, but I knew there would be cherries at the farmers market the next day and so I bookmarked the recipe and planned to make it on Saturday...and so I did.

The cherries almost didn't make it into the clafouti, though, because they were all going directly into my mouth. Note to self: buy more cherries next week.

This dessert is super easy and super good.

CHERRY CLAFOUTI
- cherries: Tonnemaker Hill Farm, Royal City WA (130mi), purchased at the Moscow Farmers Market (8mi) // I realize Royal City is outside the 100mi radius, but I didn't realize that when I was shopping at the market 8mi away. I could have walked past their table and purchased from someone else, but frankly I consider anyone who comes to my local farmers market to be "local". As the crow flies, it's within the 100mi limit, and it's in a county that borders mine. I say local.
- eggs: Hufford Farm, Deary, ID (33mi), via the Co-op (8mi)
- honey (substituted for sugar): Harvard Honey Bees, Princeton, ID (28mi), via the Co-op (8mi)
- milk: Rosauers brand (Spokane-ish, Inland NW cows), purchased in Moscow (8mi)
- flour: Shepherd's Grain (Columbia Plateau farmers, Spokane mill/distributor), purchased at the Co-op (8mi).
- note: the recipe calls for vanilla, which would not have been local, and I made it without it anyway.

Finally, the pièce de résistance: Red Casunziei (beet ravioli). Excuse the mixing of languages, but I was excited about it. I've wanted to make this recipe since the moment I saw it pop up in my feedreader (June 6, if you must know): How Sweet It Is: Casunziei/Casumziei (Beet Ravioli) with Brown Butter and Poppy Seeds (from the blog We Are Never Full).

I had to wait until I had time to do this one up right, because it required me to make my own ricotta and pasta. I had never done either before, sad to say. But now I'm a pro. Well, I've done it once and no one died. Ricotta is totally easy. Who knew? Probably all you people making your own ricotta. Making pasta is a little bit of a pain in the butt, even with a roller (I have the pasta attachment for my KitchenAid but not the roller attachment—that thing is pricy! I have one of those hand-crank rollers, though. Up next will be pasta from the pasta attachment, like lasagna noodles or fettucine, because that hand-crank thing is not my favorite.). When I was making the sheets to cut ravioli from, I thought to myself "there's no way in hell my grandmother had the patience to do this." I called my dad and asked and he couldn't remember a time when my grandmother made pasta by hand, although I'm sure she did since she was born in 1926 and purchasing pasta probably wouldn't have been the norm in their small town with only twenty or so Italian families. But I could be wrong, since their family also had a grocery store in the 50s. Dad does remember my great-grandmother taking up the entire kitchen table with all the pasta-making/rolling equipment, though.

But I digress. The point is the skill wasn't passed down to me by anyone...but I did a good job today. A really good job. I would totally make this dish for a dinner party.

FOR THE RAVIOLI:
- flour: Shepherd's Grain (Columbia Plateau farmers, Spokane mill/distributor), purchased at the Co-op (8mi).
- eggs: Hufford Farm, Deary, ID (33mi), via the Co-op (8mi)
- not local: olive oil

FOR THE STUFFING:
- beets: Affinity Farm, Moscow, ID (8mi)
- potato: generic "local" bin at the Co-op
- ricotta: made by me from Rosauers brand milk (Spokane-ish, Inland NW cows), purchased in Moscow (8mi)
- milk: Rosauers brand (Spokane-ish, Inland NW cows), purchased in Moscow (8mi)
- "cooking cheese": WSU Creamery, Pullman, WA (2mi)
- not local: nutmeg, vinegar for the ricotta

FOR THE SAUCE/TOPPING:
- butter: Rosauers brand (Spokane-ish, Inland NW cows), purchased in Moscow (8mi)
- sage: my backyard
- "cooking cheese": WSU Creamery, Pullman, WA (2mi)
- not local: poppy seeds, salt

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Them's good eats!

Labels: foody, one local summer 08