Food: In Season

Recipes for a four-course local meal

We’re still full from our food issue (last month, by the way), but we decided to continue expanding our recipe selection, along with our pant sizes. The kind bloggers at FarmtoPhilly.com agreed to help us out by mixing up a whole meal of delicious, local dishes you can serve at home, or bring to a potluck. Each recipe is by one of their stable of food experimenters, and you can see more of their work at their website. So, get to it—we’re getting hungry just typing this.

Main Course: Honey-Glazed Pork Chops
recipe by Nicole Wolverton

• 4 pork chops (Country Time Farm)
• 1/2 cup (or more) of buckwheat honey (Bee Natural)
• salt and pepper

Season pork chops with salt and pepper, and brush generously on both sides with honey. Grill chops to your liking, continuing to brush honey onto chops throughout grilling time.

Appetizer: Muchroom Tart with Spelt Crust
recipe by Kevin Parker

Shell:

• 8 tbsp. cold butter, cut into 8-10 equally-sized pieces
• 1 1/2 cups spelt flour
• 1 tsp. flour
• ice water

Filling:

• 1 1/2 pounds mixed mushrooms
• 1 tbsp. fresh thyme, minced
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup red wine or vermouth
• 2 oz. grated cheese
• 1 egg, slightly beaten

Directions:

1. In a food processor, combine the salt and flour by pulsing for one to two seconds. Add the butter and process until the texture is consistent, but no more than 10 seconds.
2. Pour mixture into a bowl. Gradually add water, one tablespoon at a time, as you form a ball of the dough with your hand. Once it coheres, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for one hour.
3. Meanwhile, add butter (or oil) to a wide-bottomed frying or sauté pan, and apply medium heat. Add onions and sauté until soft. Add a handful of mushrooms and cook until they are softened; then add another handful. Continue until all of the mushrooms are cooked. Add thyme, stir and cook until thyme is fragrant. Add red wine, or vermouth, and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, leaving only a small amount on the bottom of the pan. Allow to cool.
4. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and place the baking rack in the center of the oven. Roll out dough in a circle, alternating sides and liberally dusting with flour as you go. (I use my granite-topped kitchen table, which has the advantage of staying cold. A piece of marble or a stone cheeseboard would work as well.) Roll out the circle until it is two inches larger than the tart pan you’re using. If the dough tears, patch it with dough taken from another spot, as your circle won’t be remotely uniform. Carefully transfer the dough to the tart pan, pressing the dough into corners. Remove excess dough that drapes over the side of the tart pan by rolling the pin across the top of the tart pan, using it to patch any tears. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
5. Fashion a piece of aluminum foil to the size of the tart pan, brush the bottom with oil and place inside the tart pan, against the dough. Weight the foil down with dried beans or rice (or even an appropriately-sized pot or pan). Cook for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Turn the heat down to 350. Remove the foil and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from oven.
6. Add the grated cheese and egg to the mushroom mixture and stir to incorporate. Then, add the mixture to the tart pan. Cook for 10 minutes or until the mixture is set.
7. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Sidedish: Sugar Snap Peas with Bacon and Green Onions
recipe by Jackie Merchant

• 4 slices thick cut bacon (Meadow Run Farm)
• 2-3 spring onions, sliced lengthwise and cut into half moons (Red Earth Farm)
• 1 pound sugar snap peas (Red Earth Farm)
• 1/2 cup cold water
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Brown bacon in a medium skillet over medium high heat. Remove with slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel. Crumble when cool.
2. Add onion to the pan and sauté in the bacon drippings until tender, about five minutes. Add sugar snap peas and water to the pan, cover and cook for five minutes. Uncover and cook off most of the remaining liquid. Stir in crumbled bacon and remove from heat. Salt and pepper to taste.

Sidedish: Smashed Potatoes and Broccoli
recipe by Allison Kelsey

• 1 lb. potatoes (Highland Orchards)
• 3/4 lb. fresh broccoli (Highland Orchards)
• 6 oz. plain, thick yogurt (Pequea Valley, low fat or full fat–nonfat is not recommended)
• 3 tbsp. butter
• 2-3 tbsp. snipped chives
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Peel and cut the potatoes in pieces. Boil in water until tender. Drain.
2. Trim and cut the broccoli into pieces. Put stalks at the bottom of the steamer, florets on top. Steam until tender.
3. Combine broccoli, potatoes, butter, yogurt and chives in a bowl and smash by hand with a potato masher or big fork. (If you use a mixer, you risk ending up with a gluey purée, rather than a toothsome mash.) Seek out broccoli stalks for extra diligent smashing. Stop when you’re satisfied with the consistency. Salt and pepper to taste.

Dessert: Rhubarb Cobbler
recipe by Marisa McClellan

Fruit base:

• 4 cups of chopped rhubarb (Culton Organics)
• 1/2 cup maple sugar (Patterson farms)
• 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar (Green Meadow Farm)
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Cobbler topping:

• 1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour (Daisy Flour)
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 cup butter, very cold (Green Meadow Farm)
• 1 cup milk (Dutch Meadow Farm)
• 2 tbsp. maple sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and butter a pie plate or small baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, combine the rhubarb, maple sugar, vinegar and cinnamon. Stir together. Pour the fruit into the baking dish and set aside, so the rhubarb starts to relax and produces some syrupy juice in combination with the sugar and vinegar.
3. In the same bowl, combine the dry topping ingredients and whisk until incorporated. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it is pea-sized. Pour milk in and stir until the dough just comes together into a wet ball.
4. Spread the cobbler topping out over the fruit and sprinkle the top with the remaining two tablespoons of maple sugar.
5. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the fruit is tender and the topping is brown.
6. Serve with ice cream, sweetened crème fraîche or vanilla yogurt.

Salad: Spring Greens Salad with Raspberries and Goat Cheese
recipe by Erin Gautsche

Salad:

• 6 cups baby greens (Green Meadow Farm)
• 4 oz. sharp chevre (Shelbark Hollow Farms)
• 4 oz. local raspberries
• 10-15 mint leaves, torn

Vinaigrette:

• 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tbsp. white balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp. fresh mint leaves (Lancaster Farms)
• 3 young garlic bulbs (Tuscarora Organic Growers)
• 5 local raspberries (take from your 4 oz. container)
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Blend all vinaigrette ingredients, except raspberries, in a small food processor or blender until smooth. Choose a few raspberries and add to the mix, pulsing until the vinaigrette turns a deep, rosy pink.
2. Place salad greens in a large bowl and add the vinaigrette a few tablespoons at a time, blending between additions, until the greens are lightly coated. Add remaining raspberries, mint and crumbled goat cheese to dressed greens. Lightly toss and serve. Salt and pepper to taste.