Day 165 LocalrootZ Project (June 16, 2010)

Breakfast

Plain Swallowtail Yogurt

w/ Honey

 

Lunch

Maine Sea Biscuits

Dinner

Garden Salad

Lasagna w/ Red Sauce

and Aroostook Wheat

Glass of Coastal Red

Dessert

Strawberry Ice Cream

We were very happy to have a small pan of frozen lasagna from our last pasta making marathon.  It will be standard after this dinner.  So quick and easy to just throw it in the oven for 30-45min and presto we have dinner... I had also harvested a 1# bag of assorted salad greens from the plot and rooftop early in the morning.  It is so satisfying to enjoy the bounties of all that hardwork we did in the early spring months and it is paying off tremendously!

 

Transportation Today

Work Commute : 22 miles bicycle

 

 

Day 156 LocalrootZ Project (June 7,2010)

Breakfast

Plain Swallowtail Yogurt

w/ Honey

Lunch

Garlic Root Soup

Dinner

Lasagna Night!

w/ Garlic Bread

the mess that ensues when making lasagna from scratch...

Plenty of spinach, swiss chard and kale....

Filling is a mixture of Tourmaline goat cheese, Tide Mill Ricotta, Swallowtail Mozzarella, Egg, Sage and Salt.

Noodles are made with 100% Maine Hard Wheat Flour

and Sparrow Farm Eggs

Tomato Sauce is made using 100% Olivia's Tomatoes with loads of garlic...

Topped with some thin sliced Swallowtail Mozzarella and shredded provolone.

Bake for 45 minutes at 375˚.

 Side of some Aroostook Wheat Garlic Bread

the much anticipated final product !

Transportation Today

Work Commute : 22 miles bicycle

Day 055 LocalrootZ Project (February 24, 2010)

Breakfast

Macintosh & Fuji Apple

Plain Smith Farm Yogurt

w/ raw honey

Lunch

Leftover Monkfish Pesto

w/ fresh sunflower sprouts

Dinner

Pesto Kale Lasagna

w/Garlic Aroostook Bread

Glass of Coastal Red

Another long lasagna cooking night that started with all these

great ingredients....

Let's start with the sauce... a little sunflower oil in a sauce pot ; add chopped garlic, onion, shredded chantenay carrot and saute

Through a handful of tomatoes and some basil in the food processor and puree...

 

add pureed basil and tomatoes to into the garlic onion carrot mixture... put heat on medium, stir and simmer for about an hour.

in another dish add 12oz Ricotta with 1/2 cup Mozzarella, 1/4 cup Romano, Two Eggs and a pinch of dried herbs (oregano, sage, thyme)

Blend together well....

Now it's pasta time...

3 cups Hard Red Wheat Flour combine with 4 eggs... knead into a ball and let rest 15 minutes

run through pasta rollers 3- 6 times... slowly moving the rollers closer together until you reach your desired consistency.

  

so with the noodles finished and modeled by the beautiful Cassi its time to saute some greens (curly & red russian kale) as well as boil the noodles...

 

 

 From there its time for assembly... I went with a layer of noodle, scoops of ricotta mixture, spinkled greens, cover with sauce repeat, repeat and then I topped it off with a layer of pesto and some shredded mozzarella.  

Into the oven for 45 minutes @ 350˚

 

 

So that is how we make a 100% local lasagna in Maine !  Unfortunately Scott from Olivia's Garden in New Gloucester informed me that his tomatoes are in the process of transition... meaning a complete restart, causing a 50 day lapse in tomatoes !  Oh well they were great while they lasted...the wonders of hydroponics.  The newly acquired ricotta & mozzarella from Swallowtail Farm were fantastic and Im so glad to have them as an addition to the new Portland Winter Market... speaking of which it is coming around in just a couple days, that means we need to finish up the stuff we got there last week ! Welp... back to the kitchen !

Transportation Today

Work Commute : 15 miles Bicycle

Errands : 3 miles Walking

Day 040 LocalrootZ Project (February 09, 2010)

Breakfast

Gala Apple

Lunch

Homemade Pretzel

(gift from my boss mostly Maine ingredients)

Baby Mokum Carrots

Dinner

Spinach Ricotta Lasagna

Glass of Coastal Red

 

So this dinner took quite awhile to make... close to three hours and I wasn't the happy chef I usually am.  Not sure what today was all about but I was in a bit of a funk to say the least... sometimes I just get a little frustrated & depressed about our current American society and all the careless things people are capable of doing.  Ill be starting to rant a little more about what these issues are in the future but for now Im gonna describe the extended lasagna cooking marathon that took me from a rage of anger to a somewhat pleasant dinner companion for Cassi.  It started with Olivia's Garden tomatoes (both Geronimo & Cocktail)  mixed with a bit of garlic, onions and a tad of oregano & sage... pureed in the food processor than transferred to stovetop for an extended 1-2 hour simmer.  As that was simmering I pulsed a few handfuls of Olivia's Basil mixed with a touch of Ragged Island Romano and a touch of sunflower oil.  Pureed into a true Maine pesto... Cassi & I then proceeded to make the lasagna noodles.... 3 cups of Maine Red Spring Wheat Flour combined with 4 fresh straw farm eggs.... mixed and flattened with our pasta maker over and over and over and over.... the most time consuming part of the recipe.  From there I sauteed some garlic, onion and about a pound of fresh winter spinach from Goransen Farm in Dresden.  In a small bowl I combined about 3/4# of Echo Ridge Ricotta Cheese with two eggs, sea salt and a touch of Romano.   Then as you can see below the construction began...

What an absolutely lovely treat, a lot of hard work but very rewarding and filling.  Plus I don't have to worry about what to make tomorrow because the leftovers will be on our mind all day Im sure !

 

 

 

 

Transportation Today
Work Commute : 15 miles Bicycle